JP5513544B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer.

  In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a thin film such as an insulating film, a metal film, and a metal compound film is formed to form an integrated circuit on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as a wafer) that is a substrate to be processed. The process is done. The film forming process is performed using a film forming apparatus such as a CVD apparatus, a PVD apparatus, or an ALD apparatus as a substrate processing apparatus.

  The film forming apparatus uses a plurality of process gases for forming a thin film. For example, in a high dielectric constant insulating film (High-k film) used for a gate insulating film or the like, a precursor, a reducing agent, a plasma gas, an additive, or the like is used as a process gas. For example, as described in Patent Document 1, the process gas is supplied from a process gas supply source to a process gas introduction unit of the substrate processing apparatus via a gas pipe.

JP-T-2007-530796

  The process gas is supplied to the substrate processing apparatus through a gas pipe. In addition to pipes and tubes, for example, angles and elbows for changing direction, tees and crosses for branching, etc. , Many different joints are required. These joints and pipes and tubes are connected and assembled by using automatic welding.

  In this way, the gas piping requires many parts. In addition, since a large number of parts are assembled and processed, the structure becomes complicated. For example, a piping cover or the like must be processed and molded into a complicated shape. In addition, a mantle heater that heats the process gas may be attached to the gas pipe, but depending on the pipe structure, a specially shaped mantle heater may have to be prepared.

  Because of these factors, there is a situation that the substrate processing apparatus, for example, the film forming apparatus, tends to increase the product cost.

  Further, since many parts are used in the gas piping, for example, maintenance requires much labor and time for disassembly, inspection of parts, and reassembly. For this reason, labor saving and shortening of the maintenance are also hindered.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus that can reduce product cost and can save labor and shorten the maintenance time.

In order to solve the above problems, a substrate processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a processing chamber that performs processing on a substrate to be processed using a plurality of gases, and a gas supply mechanism that supplies the plurality of gases. A gas supply unit that is provided in the processing chamber and receives the plurality of gases supplied from the gas supply mechanism; a gas introduction unit that is provided in the processing chamber and introduces the plurality of gases into the processing chamber; A plurality of gas flow paths arranged on the processing chamber and guiding the plurality of gases from the gas supply section to the gas introduction section; and a heater for heating the gas flowing through at least one of the gas flow paths. An inlet block, and the heater is a rod heater, the inlet block has a rod heater insertion hole, and the rod heater is inserted into the rod heater. Is inserted into the hole, the a mounting surface for mounting the inlet block of the processing chamber is flat, portion where the gas flow path is connected to the gas supply unit, and the gas flow path within the gas inlet portion Each of the connected portions is provided on the lower surface of the inlet block, and the lower surface of the inlet block is flat .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a substrate processing apparatus that can reduce the product cost and can save labor and shorten the maintenance time.

The top view which shows an example of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention Sectional view along line 2-2 in FIG. Sectional drawing which follows the 3-3 line in FIG. 4A is a sectional view showing an example of an inlet block, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view showing a gas pipe according to a reference example. Sectional drawing which shows the piping cover which concerns on a reference example Sectional drawing which shows one example of formation of an inlet block

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings to be referred to, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. In this description, the case where the present invention is applied as a substrate processing apparatus to a film forming apparatus for forming a thin film on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as a wafer) will be described. An example of the film forming apparatus is an ALD apparatus that forms a high dielectric constant insulating film, for example, a hafnium-based high dielectric constant insulating film, on a wafer. However, the present invention is not limited to the ALD apparatus, but can be applied to other film forming apparatuses such as a CVD apparatus and a PVD apparatus. The present invention is not limited to the film forming apparatus, and other substrates such as an etching apparatus. It can also be applied to a processing apparatus.

  1 is a plan view showing an example of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is taken along line 3-3 in FIG. It is sectional drawing.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the substrate processing apparatus 10 is provided in a processing chamber 11 that performs a film forming process on a wafer W using a process gas, and the processing chamber 11 is provided with the process gas. A gas introduction unit 12 to be introduced into the inside of the processing chamber 11 and an inlet block 13 for introducing a process gas from the process gas supply mechanism 14 are provided in the processing chamber 11.

  The processing chamber 11 of this example is mainly composed of a chamber 11a, an exhaust ring 11b provided on the chamber 11a for exhausting gas in the processing space 15, and a lid 11c provided on the exhaust ring 11b. Is done.

  A mounting table 16 for mounting the wafer W is provided inside the chamber 11a, and a loading / unloading portion 17 for loading / unloading the wafer W into / from the processing chamber 11 is provided on the side wall of the chamber 11a. The mounting table 16 moves up and down in the chamber 11a to raise and lower the wafer W between the chamber 11a side and the processing space 15 side.

  The exhaust ring 11 b has an exhaust path 18. The exhaust path 18 is formed in an annular shape above the chamber 11a, and is formed so as to surround the periphery of the processing space 15 that is cylindrical in this example. At least one location of the exhaust path 18 is connected to an exhaust mechanism such as an exhaust pump (not shown). A side wall-like baffle ring 19 is provided between the exhaust path 18 and the processing space 15. The baffle ring 19 is formed with a plurality of exhaust holes 19 a for exhausting the process gas released into the processing space 15.

  The lid 11c is provided on the exhaust ring 11b. The processing space 15 is formed by being surrounded by the lid 11c, the exhaust ring 11b, in this example, the baffle ring 19 and the mounting table 16 that has risen to the bottom of the baffle ring 19. In this example, the processing space 15 is formed as described above, but the formation of the processing space 15 is not limited to this. A general configuration may be employed in which the processing space 15 is formed by the chamber 11a and the lid 11c without exhausting the exhaust ring 11b and exhausting the process gas from below the chamber 11a.

  An upper plate 20a and a lower plate 20b are provided on the processing space 15 side of the lid 11c. The surface of the lower plate 20b on the processing space 15 side is recessed in a dish shape, and a gas discharge portion 21 for discharging a process gas is provided at the center thereof. Although the gas discharge part 21 of this example is a hemisphere type, the gas discharge part 21 is not restricted to a hemisphere type, For example, what kind of shapes, such as a shower head type | mold, may be sufficient.

  The gas introduction part 12 is a part that introduces the process gas guided through the inlet block 13 into the gas discharge part 21. In this example, the gas introduction part 12 is formed as a gas flow path in the lid 11c, the upper plate 20a, and the lower plate 20b.

  The control unit 50 controls each component of the substrate processing apparatus 10. The control unit 50 includes a process controller 51 including a microprocessor (computer) that executes control of each component, a keyboard for an operator to input commands to manage the substrate processing apparatus 10, and the substrate processing apparatus 10. A control program for realizing various processes executed by the substrate processing apparatus 10 under the control of the process controller 51, various data, and processing conditions. And a storage unit 53 for storing a program, that is, a recipe for causing each component unit of the processing apparatus to execute processing. The user interface 52 and the storage unit 53 are connected to the process controller 51. The recipe is stored in a storage medium in the storage unit 53. The storage medium may be a hard disk or a portable medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, or flash memory. Further, the recipe may be appropriately transmitted from another apparatus to the storage medium via a dedicated line, for example. An arbitrary recipe is called from the storage unit 53 by an instruction from the user interface 52 as necessary, and is executed by the process controller 51, so that the substrate processing apparatus 10 performs a desired substrate processing under the control of the process controller 51. Do.

The inlet block 13 guides the process gas, for example, from the gas supply unit 22 that receives the process gas supplied from the process gas supply mechanism 14 to the gas introduction unit 12 through the process chamber 11. Part. Conventionally, this portion is configured by assembling and processing the gas pipe, but in this example, the portion is configured by one block (integrated product). An example of the block is a metal, and an example of the metal is aluminum having good heat conductivity. This is called the inlet block 13 in this specification. An example of the inlet block 13 is shown in FIG. 4A. Moreover, the example of gas piping is shown in FIG. 4B as a reference example. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the inlet block 13 includes, for example, a metal base material 13a and is formed by opening a hole in the metal base material 13a, for example, by hollowing out the metal base material 13a. A gas flow path 13b is provided. In this example, for example, four gas flow paths 13b are provided, and four types of process gases generated in the process gas supply mechanism 14 are guided from the gas supply unit 22 to the gas introduction unit 12. For example, a precursor, a reducing agent, a plasma gas, an additive, or the like can be flowed through the four gas passages 13b as a process gas. Examples of films formed using such process gases include high dielectric constant insulating films, for example, hafnium-based insulating films.

  Similarly, the reference example shown in FIG. 4B guides four types of process gases from the gas supply unit 22 to the gas introduction unit 12 via the four gas pipes 113. However, the plurality of gas pipes 113 are formed by connecting the pipe 113a and the joint 113b connecting the pipes 113a to each other. For this reason, many parts are required.

  On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 4A, since the plurality of gas flow paths 13b are formed by making holes in the metal base material 13a, the components basically need only be the metal base material 13a. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced and the product cost can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the number of parts is reduced, for example, disassembly in maintenance, inspection of parts, and reassembly are easier than in the case where the number of parts is large. Therefore, labor saving and shortening of the maintenance can be promoted. For example, in this example, disassembly requires only removing the inlet block 13 from the processing chamber 11, and reassembly requires only mounting the inlet block 13 on the processing chamber 11.

  In the reference example shown in FIG. 4B, the pipe 113a and the joint 113b are connected using automatic welding. In the reference example, four gas pipes 113 are arranged in the height direction. However, when a plurality of gas pipes 113 are arranged in the height direction, the gas pipes 113 are simply inserted into the automatic welding machine. Must be separated from each other by a distance d. For this reason, the height h of the gas pipe 113 tends to be high, which hinders downsizing of the substrate processing apparatus.

  On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 4A, the plurality of gas flow paths 13b arranged in the height direction are formed by opening holes in the metal base material 13a. In order not to need an automatic welder. For this reason, even if it arrange | positions the several gas flow path 13b in the height direction, the space | interval d between the gas flow paths 13b can be narrowed compared with the gas piping 113. FIG. For this reason, the substrate processing apparatus can be downsized as compared with the substrate processing apparatus using the gas pipe 113.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, by providing the inlet block 13, the product cost can be reduced as compared with the substrate processing apparatus using the gas pipe 113, and maintenance labor saving and time reduction can be achieved. Can promote.

  Furthermore, according to one embodiment, when a plurality of gas flow paths 13b are provided in multiple layers in the height direction, the distance d between the gas flow paths 13b is set as compared with the substrate processing apparatus using the gas pipe 113. The substrate processing apparatus can be reduced in size.

  By the way, some process gases are generated by, for example, heating in the process gas supply mechanism 14 to vaporize the liquid, and up to an appropriate temperature for the reaction in the processing space 15 or the like. Some process gases need to be heated. Such process gases must be heated so that the temperature does not drop while passing through the gas pipe. From such a viewpoint, for example, in an apparatus using the gas pipe 113, the gas pipe 113 is covered with an aluminum pipe cover, and a mantle heater is wound around the pipe cover to heat the gas pipe 113. A pipe cover is shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C as a reference example. 5A is a cross-sectional view, FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5B-5B in FIG. 5A, and FIG. 5C is a perspective view showing a state where a mantle heater is wound around a pipe cover.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5C, the piping cover 114 must be formed with a portion 114a through which the pipe 113a passes, a portion 114b that houses the joint 113b, and the like. For this reason, the shape of the piping cover 114 is complicated and difficult to process. Also, in places where processing is difficult, such as bent portions, a pipe cover for the bent portion may be prepared and connected to the pipe cover for the straight portion. By using the piping cover in this way, the number of parts is further increased and the product cost is increased.

  On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 4A, since the gas flow path 13b is formed in the metal base material 13a itself, a pipe cover is unnecessary. Since the piping cover is unnecessary, an increase in product cost can be suppressed compared to a substrate processing apparatus that requires a piping cover.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment, a heater is provided inside the inlet block 13 as a device for heating the gas flow path 13b. In this example, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rod heater 23 is simpler in shape than the mantle heater and cheaper than the mantle heater. As an example of the rod heater 23, a metal sheath (sheath) in which, for example, a nichrome wire is incorporated as a heating body can be used. In order to provide the rod heater 23 inside the inlet block 13, in this example, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, a rod heater insertion hole 13c is opened linearly in a metal base material 13a. The rod heater 23 is inserted into the insertion hole 13c.

  Furthermore, in this example, the gas flow path 13b is configured by a combination of a vertical gas flow path 13bv formed in the height direction of the inlet block 13 and a horizontal gas flow path 13bh formed in the plane direction of the inlet block 13. Has been. As an example of forming the rod heater insertion hole 13c in such a configuration, in this example, a rod heater insertion vertical hole 13cv and a rod heater insertion horizontal hole 13ch are formed.

  The rod heater insertion vertical hole 13cv is formed in the height direction of the inlet block 13 along the vertical gas flow path 13bv, and the rod heater insertion horizontal hole 13ch is formed in the plane direction of the inlet block along the horizontal gas flow path 13bh. Formed. By forming the rod heater insertion vertical hole 13cv along the vertical gas flow path 13bv and forming the rod heater insertion horizontal hole 13ch along the horizontal gas flow path 13bh, a process gas flowing through the vertical gas flow path 13bv, In addition, both the process gas flowing through the lateral gas flow path 13bh can be efficiently heated even when a rod heater is used. Furthermore, in order to heat efficiently, it is also possible to select a material having good thermal conductivity for the metal base material 13a. An example of a material having good thermal conductivity is aluminum or an alloy containing aluminum.

  Further, the horizontal gas flow path 13bh tends to have a longer distance than the vertical gas flow path 13bv. The long gas heater 13bh is heated by using a long rod heater, thereby reducing the number of rod heaters as compared with the case where only the rod heater insertion vertical hole 13cv is formed. There is also an advantage that can be done.

  Further, a flat heater, for example, a mica heater, may be attached to the inlet block 13, but the flat heater is more expensive than the rod heater. From this point of view, the use of a rod heater as the heater is beneficial for reducing the product cost.

  Thus, in this example, even when a process gas that needs to be heated is used, a configuration necessary for heating can be obtained simply as compared with a substrate processing apparatus using the gas pipe 113. For this reason, the product cost concerning a heater can be controlled, for example.

  Furthermore, in one embodiment, the idea which makes the process of the inlet block 13 easy was given. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, this contrivance is that the mounting surface 11 d on the processing chamber 11 on which the inlet block 13 is mounted, in this example, the surface of the lid 11 c is flat. If there is unevenness on the mounting surface 11d, the lower surface of the inlet block 13 must be processed according to the unevenness.

  On the other hand, if the unevenness is eliminated from the mounting surface 11d and the surface is made flat, the lower surface of the inlet block 13 only needs to be made flat. Even from such a configuration, an increase in product cost can be suppressed.

  Further, flattening the mounting surface 11d is, for example, a heat insulating material between the mounting surface 11d and the lower surface of the inlet block 13 in order to keep the heat of the process gas passing through the inlet block 13 or to insulate it. In the case of inserting the heat insulating material, it is possible to easily process the heat insulating material, which is advantageous for suppressing the product cost.

  When removing the unevenness from the mounting surface 11d, at least a portion of the surface of the lid 11c on which the inlet block 13 is mounted is flattened without flattening the entire surface of the lid 11c. It ’s fine.

  Next, an example of forming the inlet block 13 will be described.

  6A to 6D are cross-sectional views showing an example of forming the inlet block 13.

  First, as shown in FIG. 6A, a metal base material 13a to be the inlet block 13 is prepared. An example of the metal base material 13a is made of aluminum or an alloy containing aluminum.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the longitudinal gas flow paths 13bv-1 and 13bv-2 with respect to the part connected to the gas introduction part 12 and the part connected to the gas supply part 22 of the metal base material 13a. And a vertical hole 13cv-1 for rod heater insertion. The vertical gas flow paths 13bv-1 and 13bv-2 and the rod heater insertion vertical hole 13cv-1 are formed in the height direction. The vertical gas flow paths 13bv-1 and 13bv-2 are formed from the lower surface of the metal base material 13a to the middle of the base material 13a in this example, and the rod heater insertion vertical hole 13cv-1 is made of metal in this example. It is formed from the upper surface of the base material 13a to the middle of the base material 13a.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, a lateral gas flow path 13bh and a rod heater insertion lateral hole 13ch are formed from the side surface of the metal base material 13a. The lateral gas flow paths 13bh and 13ch are formed in the plane direction. The horizontal gas flow path 13bh passes through the upper ends of the vertical gas flow paths 13bv-1 and 13bv-2. The lateral gas flow path 13bh is formed from the side surface of the metal base material 13a to the middle of the base material 13a, up to the vertical gas flow path 13bv-1 in this example. The rod heater insertion horizontal hole 13ch is formed along the horizontal gas flow path 13bh from the side surface of the metal base material 13a to the middle of the base material 13a, similarly to the horizontal gas flow path 13bh.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, one end of the lateral gas flow path 13bh leading to the outside of the inlet block 13 is embedded with a sealing material 24, and one end of the lateral gas flow path bh is sealed. Further, the rod heater 23 is inserted into the rod heater insertion horizontal hole 13ch and the rod heater insertion vertical hole 13cv-1.

  Thus, the gas flow path 13b of the inlet block 13 can be configured by a combination of the vertical gas flow paths 13bv-1, 13bv-2, and the horizontal gas flow path 13bh.

  Further, for example, by sealing one end of the lateral gas flow path 13bh with the sealing material 24, one end can be connected to the gas introduction part 12 and the other end can be connected to the gas supply part 22 on the lower surface of the inlet block 13. The inlet block 13 provided with the gas flow path 13b can be formed. In this example, the gas introduction part 12 is connected to the vertical gas flow path 13bv-1, and the gas supply part 22 is connected to the vertical gas flow path 13bv-2. For example, the inlet block 13 can be formed in this way.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated by one Embodiment, this invention is not limited to one Embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible. In the embodiment of the present invention, the above-described embodiment is not the only embodiment.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus for processing a semiconductor wafer is exemplified as the substrate processing apparatus. However, for example, for a flat panel display (FPD) represented by a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display (LCD). Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate or the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Substrate processing apparatus, 11 ... Processing chamber, 12 ... Gas introduction part, 13 ... Inlet block, 14 ... Process gas supply mechanism, 15 ... Processing space, 16 ... Mounting stand, 23 ... Heater (rod heater), 24 ... Sealing Stop material.

Claims (10)

A processing chamber for processing a target substrate using a plurality of gases;
A gas supply mechanism for supplying the plurality of gases;
A gas supply unit provided in the processing chamber for receiving the plurality of gases supplied from the gas supply mechanism;
A gas introduction part that is provided in the processing chamber and introduces the plurality of gases into the processing chamber;
A plurality of gas flow paths arranged on the processing chamber and guiding the plurality of gases from the gas supply section to the gas introduction section; and a heater for heating the gas flowing through at least one of the gas flow paths. An inlet block inside,
Comprising
The heater is a rod heater;
The inlet block has a rod heater insertion hole;
The rod heater is inserted into the rod heater insertion hole ,
The mounting surface for mounting the inlet block of the processing chamber is flat,
A location where the gas flow path is connected to the gas supply section and a location where the gas flow path is connected to the gas introduction section are each provided on the lower surface of the inlet block,
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein a lower surface of the inlet block is flat .   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas flow paths are provided in multiple layers in the height direction of the inlet block.   The gas flow path is composed of a combination of a vertical gas flow path formed in the height direction of the inlet block and a horizontal gas flow path formed in the plane direction of the inlet block. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1. The inlet block is formed in the planar direction of the inlet block along the horizontal gas flow path and the rod heater insertion vertical hole formed in the height direction of the inlet block along the vertical gas flow path. A horizontal hole for inserting the rod heater,
4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the rod heater is inserted into the rod heater insertion vertical hole and the rod heater insertion horizontal hole.   The gas channel has at least two first and second longitudinal gas channels formed in the height direction of the inlet block, and at least one transverse gas flow formed in the plane direction of the inlet block. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a combination with a path. One end of the first vertical gas flow path communicates with one portion of the horizontal gas flow path, and the other end of the first vertical gas flow path communicates with the outside of the inlet block, and the first vertical gas flow Receive gas supply from the gas supply unit at the other end of the path,
One end of the second vertical gas flow channel communicates with the other part of the horizontal gas flow channel, and the other end of the second vertical gas flow channel communicates with the outside of the inlet block. The other end of the path is connected to the gas inlet,
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein at least one end of the horizontal gas flow channel communicates with the outside of the inlet block, and one end of the horizontal gas flow channel is sealed with a sealing material. The location where the gas supply section is connected to the gas flow path and the location where the gas introduction section is connected to the gas flow path are in contact with a flat lower surface of the inlet block, respectively. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the inlet block is made of aluminum or an alloy containing aluminum. The substrate processing apparatus, a substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the a device for forming a thin film on the substrate to be processed. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the apparatus for forming the thin film is an apparatus for forming the thin film using an ALD method.

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