JPH0234789A - Vapor-phase reactor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously form a film and to increase the throughput of the title reactor by providing a sample holder cleaning part and a sample holder preheating part outside a reaction furnace, and rotating the sample holder supported by plural arms. CONSTITUTION:The sample holder cleaning part 13 and the sample holder preheating part 15 are provided outside the reaction furnace 3 in the sheet-fed vapor-phase reactor 1. Plural arms 19a-19c having the same center of rotation and holding the sample holders 5a-5c are revolved with a specified cycle and passed through the reaction furnace 3, cleaning part 13, and preheating part 15. When a film is formed, the sample holder 5a in the reaction furnace 3 is transferred to the cleaning part 13 by the arm 19a, the sample holder 5c in the preheating part 15 is brought into the reaction furnace 3, and the sample holder 5b in the cleaning part 13 is sent to the preheating part 15. The process is successively carried out. The preheated sample holder 5c is only slightly heated in the reaction furnace 3 to a specified temp. necessary for the film formation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a gas phase reactor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a nine-wafer CVD apparatus with significantly improved throughput.

[Prior Art] This method is generally widely used in the semiconductor industry as a method for forming thin films. One of them is chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
:Chemical VaporDel)osit
ion). CVD refers to turning a gaseous substance into a solid substance through a chemical reaction and depositing it on a substrate.

Characteristics of CVD are that various thin films can be obtained at deposition temperatures considerably lower than the melting point of the thin film to be grown;
The grown thin film has a high purity and its electrical characteristics are stable even when grown on Si or a thermal oxide film on Si, so it is widely used as a passivation film on semiconductor surfaces.

Thin film formation by CVD is performed, for example, by supplying a reactive gas (for example, SiH4+02. or SiH4+PH3+02) to a wafer heated to about 500°C.

The above reaction gas is blown onto the wafer in the reactor to form a thin film of 5iOz or phosphosilicate glass (PSG) on the surface of the wafer. Further, two-layer film formation of 5i02 and PSG may be performed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] There are two methods for forming CVD films: a batch method in which a large number of silicon wafers are deposited at once, and a single-wafer method in which a film is deposited on each wafer. The single-wafer method is more suitable for forming films on large-diameter wafers than the batch method, and has a highly uniform film thickness distribution.

However, in a single-wafer type CVD apparatus, when a CVD film is deposited to a total thickness of about 40 μm on a wafer sample stand, the sample stand must be replaced with a clean one in order to remove the oxide film adhering to the sample stand. If you continue to use a sample stage with an oxide film stuck to it, the amount of foreign matter will increase.

When replacing the sample stand with a new one, make sure that the sample stand is suitable for film formation. 1
It is not possible to start the film forming operation unless the process is completed at one time. Although it depends on the size of the sample stage and the capacity and weight of the reactor, this preheating requires about 1 hour of opening. If the sample stage is heated too rapidly in order to shorten the preheating time, there is a risk that the sample stage will not only be destroyed, but will also overshoot and require extra time to stabilize at the equilibrium temperature.

As described above, in the case of a single-wafer type CVD apparatus, preheating associated with replacing the sample stage has been a major cause of lowering the throughput.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a single-wafer gas phase reactor with significantly improved throughput.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in a single-wafer gas phase reactor having a reactor in which a sample stage is disposed, outside the reactor, It has a sample table cleaning section and a sample table preheating section, and the sample table is connected to a reaction furnace, the sample table cleaning section, and the sample table preheating section by multiple arms having the same rotation center and equally spaced apart and having the same length. Provided is a single-wafer type gas phase reactor characterized in that the reactor is sequentially transferred between the two parts.

Preferably, the sample stage is transported by three arms of the same length and spaced apart by 120° and having the same center of rotation.

It is preferable that the single-wafer type gas phase reactor is a single-wafer type CVD apparatus.

[Operations] As described above, in the single-wafer type gas phase reaction apparatus of the present invention, a sample stage cleaning section and a sample stage preheating section are provided outside the reactor. Three arms having the same center of rotation rotate at a constant cycle between the reactor, the sample stage cleaning section, and the sample stage preheating section while holding the sample stage. For example, a total of 40
When the film formation process has been carried out to the order of μm, the sample stand in the reactor is transferred by an arm to the sample stand cleaning section, and the sample stand in the sample stand preheating section is carried into the reactor and placed in the sample stand cleaning section. The sample stage is sent to the preheating section. This operation is performed in sequence.

In this way, the apparatus itself can always carry out film-forming operations continuously, and throughput is significantly improved.

[Example 1] Hereinafter, an example of the single-wafer type gas phase reactor of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of the single-wafer type gas phase reactor of the present invention.

As illustrated, the single-wafer gas phase reactor 1 of the present invention
has a reactor 3. A sample stage 5a is arranged inside the reactor 3. Although not shown, commonly known mechanisms such as a means for feeding a reaction gas into the reactor and a means for heating a sample stage are provided. This reactor is for example Cv
It can be a reaction furnace for D film formation.

In a normal film forming operation, the wafers 9 are carried into the reactor 3 one by one from the loader-side wafer cartridge 7 and placed on the sample stage 5a. When the film forming process is completed, the wafer 9 is carried out of the reactor 3 and stored in the unloader side wafer cartridge 11.

When the film formation process is completed for a predetermined number of wafers, the sample stage 5
In order to clean the sample stage a, the sample stage in the reactor 3 is transferred to the sample stage cleaning section 13. Then, the reactor becomes empty, and another sample stand 5c, which has been preheated to a predetermined temperature in the sample stand preheating section 15, is carried into the reactor. At the same time, the clean sample table 5b has been cleaned in the sample table cleaning section 13.
is transferred to the empty sample stage preheating section 15. Therefore,
The illustrated apparatus requires three sample stages.

This sample table sequential transport operation is performed by three arms 19a, 19b, and 19c having the same rotation center 17, spaced apart at equal intervals (for example, 120° intervals), and having the same length. Hands 21a, 21b, and 21c for holding the sample stage are attached to the tip of each arm, respectively. Each sample stage is held by these hands so as to be pinched from both sides. The sample stage can be maintained under pressure by the hands at all times, or can be held under pressure by the hands only during transfer.

The number of arms is not limited to the three trees shown.

For example, it is also possible to use two of them at a spacing of 180'' so that one serves as both the sample table cleaning section and the sample table preheating section provided outside the reactor.

Needless to say, the sample stage cleaning section 13 is provided with appropriate means for removing foreign matter such as an oxide film attached to the sample stage. Such means are well known to those skilled in the art and require no further explanation. Similarly, the sample stand preheating section 15 includes heating means for heating the sample stand and/or
Or a temperature control means is provided.

Said center of rotation 17 has a rotation axis which is connected to suitable drive means. The driving means is, of course, connected to a suitable drive control circuit, and is driven by a signal from this circuit when the number of films to be processed in the reactor exceeds the pre-programmed number.

Although the vapor phase reaction apparatus of the present invention has been described above with a focus on the CVD apparatus, the apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the CVD apparatus, but can also be applied to other gas phase reaction apparatuses that process wafers in a single wafer manner (e.g.
Dry etching equipment, epitaxial growth equipment, PV
It can be carried out similarly in a metal film deposition device, oxidation/diffusion device, etc. by D.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, in the single-wafer type gas phase reactor of the present invention, a sample stage cleaning section and a sample stage preheating section are provided outside the reactor. Three arms having the same center of rotation rotate at a constant cycle between the reactor, the sample stage cleaning section, and the sample stage preheating section while holding the sample stage. for example,
When the film has been formed to a total thickness of approximately 40 μm, the sample stand in the reactor is transferred to the sample stand cleaning section by an arm, and the sample stand in the sample stand preheating section is carried into the reactor, and the sample stand is transferred to the sample stand cleaning section. The sample stage is sent to the preheating section. This operation is performed in order. The preheated sample stage can reach the predetermined temperature required for film formation by simply heating it slightly in the reactor.

In this way, the time required to replace and/or heat the sample stage is shortened to less than 1/10, and the apparatus itself can perform film deposition operations continuously at all times, significantly improving throughput. Ru.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an example of the single-wafer type gas phase reactor of the present invention. 1... Gas phase reactor, 3... Reactor. 5 a! 5 b + 5 c = sample stage. 7...Loader side wafer cartridge. 9...Wafer. 11... Unloader side wafer cartridge. 13...Sample table cleaning section p section. 15...Sample stage preheating section. 17...Rotation center. 19a, 19b, 19c... Arms 21a, 21b, 21cm hands.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a single-wafer gas phase reactor having a reactor in which a sample stage is disposed, a sample stage cleaning section and a sample stage preheating section are provided outside the reactor, and the sample stage is rotated at the same time. A single wafer type pneumatic system characterized in that a sample stage is sequentially transferred between a reactor, a sample stage cleaning section, and a sample stage preheating section by a plurality of arms of the same length spaced apart at equal intervals having a center. Phase reactor. (2) The single-wafer gas phase reaction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sample stage is sequentially transferred by three arms having the same length and having the same center of rotation and spaced apart by 120 degrees. (3) The single-wafer type gas phase reactor according to claim 1 or 2, which is a single-wafer type CVD apparatus.