JPH02152251A - Manufacturing system of vertical-type semiconductor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a floor area and to easily install more systems by a method wherein a process chamber is installed in each stage position of a space positioned in an up-and-down direction and loading and unloading mechanisms of a wafer are installed on the front side of a plurality of process chambers arranged vertically. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of cassettes are installed in a cassette-housing chamber, provided with a load-lock mechanism, which is situated at a lowest stage of a cassette elevator 11; a cassette conveyance mechanism part is evacuated. Individual process chambers are evacuated in advance to a prescribed pressure by using individual pumps 3. When an evacuation operation of the cassette conveyance mechanism part is completed, one cassette is taken out from a cassette-housing box, conveyed, e.g., to a position in an uppermost stage by using the cassette elevator mechanism 11 and locked in this position. A wafer transfer robot 14 in each stage position takes out a wafer one by one from the cassette which has been locked in the position; the wafer 10 is set on a lower-part electrode 6 inside the process chamber; when a prescribed process is completed, the wafer is taken out and is housed in the cassette-housing chamber 13.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, and in particular to a joint semiconductor manufacturing system that can simultaneously perform various film formation and etching processes in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, etc. It is related to.

In the manufacture of semiconductor devices, it is necessary to form various films, such as silicon oxide films, silicon nitride films,
Polysilicon, etc., is grown in a vapor phase. Some researchers use plasma to lower the growth temperature. In either case, the growth temperature is different and the type of gas used is also different. Therefore, dedicated reaction equipment is required, and wafers to be processed must be transported to each dedicated reactor in cassettes, and measures must be taken to prevent contamination during wafer storage during this time. .

As an example of vapor phase growth, classical epitaxial growth involves placing a carbon susceptor in a vertical reaction tube and supplying silicon chloride gas from above. This device is a single-wafer type, and in order to improve the number of wafers processed, devices equipped with a susceptor that can set a large number of wafers around it have been developed. In terms of growth, we are currently focusing on hot
BACKGROUND ART [0003] All-type CVD apparatuses are mainstream, and wafers are arranged vertically in a horizontal reaction tube to improve the number of wafers that can be processed at one time.

In order to further improve the number of sheets processed in the vertical and horizontal furnaces mentioned above, the only solution is to arrange multiple devices themselves. Systems for feeding wafer cassettes have been proposed.

Further, in a horizontal furnace, a diffusion furnace has long been equipped with a plurality of furnace core tubes arranged horizontally and a 2i arrangement for supplying each wafer cassette to improve the number of wafers processed.

By the way, semiconductor devices are becoming smaller and more complex, and due to subtle differences in the flow and temperature distribution of reactant gases, it is becoming difficult to maintain the uniformity of the distribution between wafers and within the wafer. There have been cases where this is not the case. That is, in the above-mentioned hot wall type CVD apparatus, the supplied reactant gas (2
partial pressure fluctuations occur. Therefore,
It is difficult to uniformly control the reaction gas within the bunch, especially when silicon oxynitride is formed, the reaction gas consists of three components: monosilane, 5 ammonia, and nitrogen oxide, making the control even more difficult.

Therefore, each wafer is placed in a closely controlled atmosphere and a single-wafer system is needed to process the wafers with good reproducibility.The zero-single-wafer system is compatible with larger diameter wafers. Although it has the advantage of being easy to process and being able to flexibly respond to various manufacturing processes with just one device, the number of sheets that can be processed at a time is limited.

In order to improve this, a multi-chamber system has been proposed in which a plurality of chambers are provided in the 'AW' and the same processing is performed simultaneously, and this system is beginning to be adopted in sputtering equipment and plasma CVD equipment.

Furthermore, recent reports indicate that multi-process equipment has appeared that has the ability to perform different types of processes in each chamber rather than the same process in multiple chambers.For example, as shown in Figure 3, As shown, four process chambers are prepared, plasma CVD, low pressure CVD
By performing , plasma etching, and sputter etching, the eyebrows of multilayer wiring can be improved! ? ! The membrane formation process is uniform with one device.
It is said that it can be automatically formed flat.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above multi-process equipment has a structure in which a polygonal or circular vacuum chamber is installed in the center, and multiple process chambers with independent exhaust systems are arranged around it, and the number of chambers that can be installed is limited. expansion is not possible. If you want to add more chambers, you will need to install the same equipment system in parallel. Since the entire device has a flat arrangement, it has the disadvantage of requiring a large amount of floor space.

Further, since there is only one robot for taking wafers into and out of the chambers for a large number of chambers, it is not possible to set and take out wafers at the same time.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a process chamber (two
), and a wafer loading/unloading mechanism is provided on the front side of the plurality of vertically arranged process chambers (2).

[Effect]

The present invention solves the problem that conventional multi-process equipment has a planar arrangement, making it impossible to add more chambers than specified, and also making it impossible to load and unload wafers to and from each chamber in parallel. As a result of repeated studies to create a device that can improve the throughput of sheet format even if the floor space is small, and which makes it extremely easy to add more chambers, we decided to create a device that would make efficient use of the lean room, even though it is expensive. , they came up with the concept of a vertical system in which each process chamber is stacked vertically. That is, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, pairs of process chambers and exhaust pumps are stacked and fixed in the vertical direction. thus,
This makes it easy to add more chambers. Each chamber is
It has an internal structure suitable for plasma CVD, sputtering, thermal CVD with plasma self-cleaning, and dry etching, such as a parallel plate electrode (gas supply) structure. Operate the pump. On the front side of the process chamber opposite to the exhaust pump side, there is a loading/unloading mechanism for loading and unloading wafer cassettes. Install a common cassette elevator. Further, a cassette storage chamber is provided at another position on the front side of the process chamber of each stage.

The cassette elevator is connected to each process chamber, performs elevator operation in the vertical direction, and transports the cassette to a desired position.

A wafer load/unload mechanism for loading and unloading wafers into and out of each chamber is provided at the front of each process chamber. That is, from the transported wafer cassette, −
A wafer transfer mechanism (robot) is installed that extracts wafers one by one and sends them to the process chamber, and when a predetermined process is completed, transfers the processed wafers back to the cassette in the cassette storage chamber. This transfer mechanism may be of a type in which the wafer is placed on the tip of a flat rod and moved in the horizontal direction, or may be a telescopic robot.
More preferably, a wafer i is installed at the front of each process chamber to shorten the heating time in the chamber.
It is preferable to provide a ff stand, have a built-in heater in this stand, perform preheating, and then transfer the wafer to the chamber using the load/unload mechanism described above.

A cassette storage chamber is provided at another position on the front side of the process chamber, stores processed wafers, and takes out each cassette from this position.

Although the cassette storage chambers may be made independent in each stage, it is preferable to have a mechanism in which the cassette storage chambers can be integrated at the top or bottom stage.

The cassette elevator, wafer transfer mechanism (robot), and cassette storage chamber can be configured so that the front outer wall surfaces are the same facing surfaces, and workers should face this wall to put in and take out cassettes. , such a method is
This is called the so-called through-the-raor method.

A high frequency oscillation power source is required for plasma processing,
In addition, a reaction gas system for processing is also required, and these should be arranged facing each other around the above-mentioned pillar, and attached to the pillar in a balanced manner.

All gas systems are located on one side of the front wall, making repair work and expansion work easier. In some cases, in order to integrate mechanical equipment, piping may be provided on the side wall of the chamber to achieve so-called piping IC. Similarly, the oscillation power source can also be made smaller, integrated with the matching box, and installed in the upper space of the process chamber. Furthermore,
The inside of the strut can also be made hollow and connected to an exhaust pipe at each position, so that the strut itself can be used as an exhaust pipe during parallel exhaust to contribute to improving exhaust efficiency.

Practically speaking, a clean room has a length of 3 to 3.5 m (7) i, so if well designed, it is possible to connect 6 to 7 chambers.

〔Example〕

A vertical semiconductor manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a vertical system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and 1 is a pole that serves as a support for the entire device;
Each process chamber 2 and pump 3 are mechanically fixed to this pole in a balanced manner. pump 3
may be a normal type pump, and its exhaust side is connected to duct 4 (
(Fig. 2) to the outside air.

Although three pairs of process chambers 2 and pumps 3 are illustrated in the example of FIG. 1, these can be selected depending on the predetermined number of processes. In addition, the process chamber 2 can perform sputtering, plasma CVD, thermal CVD,
It can be equipped as a dedicated chamber for either dry etching, but from a multi-processing point of view, the internal structure is such that it is possible to carry out consecutive processing of different processes (for example, each !IIcVD in the planarization process and the etchback process). In the example shown in the figure, there is an upper electrode 5 that can inject the reaction gas in the form of a shower.
A chamber equipped with a lower electrode 6 containing a built-in heater capable of heating the wafer to a predetermined temperature is installed in each process chamber.

A matching box 7 is arranged in the upper part of the process chamber 2, and this matching box 7 receives a high frequency signal (13.75 for -a) generated from an oscillation power source 8.
MHz) is applied to the upper electrode 5.

As described above, the reaction gas is supplied to the process chamber through the inside of the upper electrode 5, but the gas supply is not limited to this.
It can also be introduced from the left end side of the matching box 7.

In any case, piping is required for supplying the reaction gas, and the piping 9 is attached to the support all at once, but as shown in Figure 2, the piping is installed on the opposite side of the oscillation power source 8. and mechanically fix it. Regarding the first factor, for the sake of simplicity, the pair of oscillation power source B and gas system 9 is not shown.

Next, the transport mechanism 11 for the semiconductor wafer 10 to be processed will be explained. In this embodiment, as is clear with reference to the top view of FIG. 2, there is a cassette elevator mechanism on the front side of the process chamber 2, which extends vertically and lifts the wafer cassettes to each chamber position. transport.

Similarly, on the front side of each process chamber 2,
The wafers are taken out one by one from the transported cassette, and the wafers 10 are placed into the process chamber through the gate 12. When the processing is completed, the wafers are taken out from the process chamber and stored in the cassette storage chamber provided at each stage. A wafer transfer mechanism (robot) 14 is provided for storing wafers in the wafer 13.

Needless to say, the gate 12 is located between the transfer mechanism side and the process chamber 2, and can airtightly separate the two, and when a wafer is introduced or taken out, the gate opens to allow the wafer to pass through.

Therefore, in the examples shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cassette elevator mechanism 11 is in the form of a vertical column spanning the upper and lower process chambers, and the wafer transfer mechanism (robot) and cassette are connected horizontally at each process chamber position. A partition surrounds the storage room, minimizing the amount of space required and saving time for exhaust.

Although not shown, a cassette load lock mechanism is provided at the lowest stage of the cassette elevator 11.
A plurality of cassettes are loaded using this load lock mechanism, and processed cassettes are taken out from each cassette storage chamber.

Next, how to use the device of this embodiment will be explained.

A plurality of cassettes are installed in the cassette storage room with a load rotor mechanism at the bottom of the cassette elevator 11, and the first
The cassette a feeding mechanism section is evacuated from the location marked as exhaust at the bottom of the figure. Each process chamber is evacuated to a predetermined pressure by each pump 3. When the cassette transport mechanism section has completed exhaustion, one cassette is taken out from the cassette storage box, and the cassette elevator mechanism 1
1, for example, to the top position;
Lock it at η0 Next, lower the transport mechanism to the lowest stage, take out the next cassette from the cassette storage box, transport it to the intermediate stage position by the transport mechanism, and lock it at that position. Furthermore, the transport mechanism is lowered to the lowest stage, the next cassette is taken out from the cassette storage box, the transport mechanism transports it to the lowest position of the process chamber, and it is locked at that position.

The wafer transfer robot 14 at each stage position takes out the wafers one by one from the cassette locked at that position, sets the wafer lO on the lower electrode 6 in the process chamber in accordance with the above-mentioned procedure, and When the predetermined process is completed, the wafer is taken out and stored in the cassette storage chamber 13.

This operation is repeated for the number of wafers to complete the processing in each process chamber.

In the above embodiment, the same or different processes are executed on each cassette, but a cassette elevator can be used to perform different processes at once.

In addition, in the above embodiment, each chamber was fixed by providing a pole, but by providing shelves in the vertical direction,
It is also possible to install chambers and the like in each column. Furthermore, each chamber is independently evacuated so that different treatments can be performed, but if all chambers are to be treated under the same conditions, only one pump is required.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the present invention, the system is constructed by stacking multi-process chambers vertically, so that the floor space can be reduced. In addition, since it is a vertical system in which process chambers are attached to poles or shelves, expansion is easy, and while one chamber is being repaired, processes can be performed in other chambers. This has the advantage that the entire device can be easily repaired.

Of course, as long as the cassette is being transported inside the transport mechanism,
No dust adheres to the wafer. In the so-called through-the-rall system, dust adhesion is not as much of a problem when the cassette is taken out from the cassette storage chamber 13 and set in the cassette storage box again to execute the next process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a vertical system according to this embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a top view of the system shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a conventionally proposed multi-process system. FIG. In the figure, l is the pole that supports the entire device, 2 is the process chamber 2.3 is the pump 3.5 is the upper electrode, 6 is the lower electrode 6.7 is the matching box, 8 is the oscillation power supply, and 9 is the gas system. , 10 is a semiconductor wafer, 11 is a cassette elevator, 12 is a gate, 13 is a set storage room, and 14 is a wafer 1-transfer robot. Kisame man 3 Hitaku 11 T hair x 5 Matatam. Blood Cut Diagram 1 Diagram Oq Lost n 4 Row System - 1 Life Loon Conventional Entem's and Face Diagram 3 Z

Claims (1)

[Claims] Process chambers (2) are installed at each level of the partitioned space in the vertical direction, and a wafer loading/unloading mechanism is provided on the front side of the plurality of vertically arranged process chambers (2). A vertical semiconductor manufacturing system featuring: