JPS61168921A - Microwave treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform microwave treatment of a material to be treated uniformly, accurately and efficiently, by controlling the area of the microwave emitting port of a microwave emitting electrode. CONSTITUTION:A photoresist film 54, which undergoes baking treatment, is formed on a semiconductor wafer 53. A microwave is generated by a microwave generating part 57, which is connected to a feeding waveguide 56. An emitting- port controlling slit 64 for controlling the aperture area of an emitting port 63 is set between auxiliary emitting port plates 65 under an emitting waveguide 59. The slit 64 is driven by a driving motor 66. A total control part 72 controls the following parts based on predetermined treating-condition setting data 73 and temperature data 75 measured by temperature monitors 70 and 71; the output generated by the microwave generating part 57; the slit driving motor 66; and intensity distribution of an emitted microwave 67.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to microwave processing technology, and can be effectively used in devices that apply microwaves, such as microwave heating devices and microwave plasma reaction processing devices. related to technology.

[Background technology]

As is well known, microwave application technology has applications in heating devices, as seen in the example of microwave ovens, plasma dry etching processing equipment for forming semiconductor wafer device patterns, and PSG films to protect device characteristics. It is applied to plasma processing equipment such as plasma CVD processing equipment that generates plasma on the wafer surface.

However, there is a drawback that microwave processing precision such as heating temperature precision, plasma etching precision, plasma film thickness precision, etc. cannot satisfy the processing precision required for semiconductor device manufacturing.

For example, as described in Solid State Technology (Japanese Edition), October 15, 1981, pages 63-70, a method of baking photoresist using microwave heating has been devised.

However, it has the following drawbacks and has not been put into practical use in mass production. The disadvantage is that even if the same microwave power is irradiated into the heating furnace, the load capacity of the semiconductor wafer, which is the object to be heated, differs depending on the type, and the load capacity is extremely small.
Different reflected waves occur depending on the product type, and the standing wave intensity distribution composed of the incident wave and reflected wave is different, making it impossible to heat uniformly and accurately.

For this reason, it has not been put into practical use in mass production as a semiconductor wafer manufacturing apparatus that requires high temperature accuracy.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for uniformly, precisely, and efficiently microwave-processing a workpiece.

The above objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Summary of the invention]

A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows.

In other words, depending on the material, shape, size, support condition, etc. of the workpiece, the conditions at multiple points on the workpiece (temperature, film thickness, 1 reaction strength, etc.) must be adjusted in order to perform microwave processing uniformly and accurately. ), and compares and calculates the measurement result information and the status setting report required for each point, and controls the microwave irradiation port area and microwave irradiation port position of the microwave irradiation electrode according to the comparison result value. By doing so, microwave processing is performed while automatically controlling the irradiated microwave intensity and microwave intensity distribution.

This allows uniform, accurate, and efficient microwave processing.

[Example 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a slow wave circuit which is a known microwave irradiation electrode. To explain the configuration, a metal block 2 is configured within a metal waveguide 1, and an irradiation port 3 is provided on the waveguide 101 surface.

Next, the method of microwave propagation will be explained. The microwave 4 guided into the waveguide 1 leaks at the irradiation port 3 and forms the irradiation microwave 5.

FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention. The aforementioned irradiation port 3
The intensity distribution of the irradiation microwave 50 irradiated from the block 5 is determined by the height of the block 5 (H), the width (W) of the irradiation port 30, and the inclination (θ)
, and the supplied microwave power.

In the present invention, focusing on this performance, the object to be treated is set in the irradiation microwave 5, the state of multiple points on the object to be treated is monitored, and the opening area of the microwave irradiation port 3 is determined according to the results. The irradiation microwave 30 is automatically controlled or the tilt of the microwave irradiation port 3 is controlled.
Microwave processing is performed uniformly and accurately while controlling the intensity distribution.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of an apparatus for baking a photoresist film formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate in semiconductor substrate manufacturing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

To explain the configuration of the apparatus, a semiconductor wafer 53 is attracted to a suction pin stage 52 in a furnace body 51 . A photoresist film 54 to be baked is formed on this semiconductor wafer 53.

Note that the suction bin stage 52 is suction-rotated and controlled by a stage drive section 55.

On the other hand, the microwave is generated by a microwave generator 57 connected to the supply waveguide 56, transmitted as a generated microwave 58 from the supply waveguide 56 to the irradiation waveguide 59, and then transferred to the dummy load 60. be led to. It should be noted that inside the irradiation waveguide 59, a block 62 is formed and at the same time, an irradiation port 63 is provided.

Further, below the irradiation waveguide 59, an irradiation port control slit 64 for controlling the opening area of the irradiation port 63 is set between auxiliary irradiation port plates 65, and is driven by a slit drive motor 66. The irradiation port control slit 64 controls the opening area of the irradiation port provided in the irradiation waveguide 59.

The generated microwave 58 is generated from the irradiation port 6 based on the above-mentioned principle.
3, it is irradiated as an irradiation microwave 67. In addition,
The electric field intensity distribution of the irradiation microwave 67 is controlled by the irradiation aperture control slit 64, which is an aperture area control means.

On the other hand, the temperatures at points A 68 and 8 69 on the semiconductor wafer 53 are monitored by a temperature monitor (g) 70. The temperature is measured by a temperature monitor (c) 71.

The overall control unit 72 uses the set processing condition setting information 73 and the temperature monitor (A) 70 . Point A source temperature information 74 measured by temperature monitor @71. Based on the B point source intensity information 75, the output generated by the microwave generator 57 is controlled as a microwave output control value 76, and the slit drive motor 66 is controlled with a slit drive control amount 77, and the irradiation microwave 670 The stage drive unit 5 controls the intensity distribution and
5 to instruct the stage rotation and suction control amount 78 to control the rotation of the suction bin stage 52.

With these, uniform and highly accurate heat treatment is performed, and high quality photoresist baking treatment is performed.

Next, a method of baking a photoresist film formed on a wafer surface using this apparatus will be described.

The photoresist film is a coated photoresist film before exposure and development, or a photoresist film that has been exposed and developed.

When processing this type of semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor wafer 53 on which the photoresist 1 [54 to be processed is formed is set on the suction bin stage 52, and the photoresist baking processing condition information such as processing temperature, processing time, stage rotation speed, etc. The processing condition setting information 73 is set in the overall control unit 72, and the apparatus is started.

The semiconductor wafer 53 is attracted to the suction bin stage 52 by the stage driving section 55 and rotated at a predetermined number of rotations.

Thereafter, the microwave generator 57 generates microwaves 58 with appropriate output power and irradiates the microwaves.

Furthermore, the generated microwave 58 is propagated to the irradiation waveguide 59 and is irradiated into the furnace body 51 from the irradiation port 63 as the irradiation microwave 67, thereby heating the semiconductor wafer 53. In order to uniformly and accurately heat the semiconductor wafer 53 to be processed, point A source temperature information 74. is measured by the temperature monitor (A) 70 and temperature monitor @71. According to the measurement result information of the B point source intensity information 75, the overall control section 72 controls the amount of microwave output generated from the microwave generation section 57, and
The slit drive motor 66 is controlled, the irradiation port control slit 64 is operated, the opening area of the irradiation port 63 is controlled, and the irradiation microwave 67 is heated uniformly and accurately with a predetermined temperature profile while controlling the intensity distribution. The photoresist film 54 on the semiconductor wafer 53 is baked.

After baking for a predetermined period of time, the microwave generator 5
The microwave from 7 is cut off and the photoresist baking process is completed.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part of an apparatus for forming a protective film on the surface of a semiconductor wafer in manufacturing semiconductor devices according to the present invention.

This apparatus is different from the first embodiment described above in that the inside of the furnace is kept in a vacuum state, a strong magnetic field and microwaves are applied thereto, and the semiconductor wafer is set in the furnace, and at the same time, the reaction gas necessary for forming a protective film is supplied. , the reactive gas is turned into plasma by the action of a magnetic field and microwaves, and a protective film is formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer by the plasma reaction.

Further, in Example 2, as a means for controlling the irradiation microwave intensity, the thickness of the protective film formed on the semiconductor wafer is monitored, and the irradiation microwave intensity is controlled according to the measurement result.

This irradiation microwave intensity control means is different from the first embodiment in that it controls the rotational position of the microwave irradiation port and controls the intensity of the irradiated microwave microwave.

The following is a brief description of the configuration and functions of the furnace body 101.
Inside, a semiconductor wafer 103 is placed on a wafer stage 102.
is set.

On the other hand, a microwave irradiation waveguide 104 is arranged on the furnace body 101. A microwave generation section 105 is attached to this microwave irradiation waveguide 104, and microwaves are generated as a dummy microwave 106.
It is propagated in the direction of the road 107.

During this microwave propagation process, the irradiation microwave 109 is transmitted from the irradiation port control slit 108 in which the irradiation port is provided.
It acts on the semiconductor wafer 103 as a. However, unlike the first embodiment, this irradiation port is equipped with a vacuum shield made of quartz or the like that transmits microwaves and can be vacuum shielded.

Next, the configuration and function of the irradiation port control slit 108 that controls the microwave irradiation intensity will be explained.

A gas pipe 111 is integrated into the irradiation port control slit 108 and connected to a reaction gas supply section 112 . Further, the tip of the gas pipe 111 is connected to the multi-hole nozzle 1.
13 is installed.

On the other hand, a gear (I) 114 is attached to the gas pipe 111, and the rotation of the gas pipe 111 is controlled by an irradiation port control slit drive motor 116 via a gear Ql) 115, and the rotation of the gas pipe 111 is controlled by the irradiation port control slit 108 and the multi-hole nozzle. 113 is controlled.

Further, a magnet 117 is provided so as to surround the furnace body 101, so that a strong magnetic field acts on the furnace body 101.

On the other hand, in order to form the protective film 118 on the semiconductor wafer 103, a reactive gas 119 for forming the protective film 118 is supplied from the reactive gas supply section 112.

At the same time, in order to form the protective film 118 uniformly and accurately, point A 120 and point 8 121 on the semiconductor wafer 103 are
The upper film thickness is measured by the film thickness monitor (A) 122. Film thickness monitor Q3)
123 for measurement.

In addition, the film thickness monitor viewing windows ■124a and @124b are equipped with energy rays (infrared rays) necessary for film thickness monitoring.

Vacuum shields (b) 125a and (A125b) which pass ultraviolet light (@etc) and have a vacuum shielding function are provided.

Further, in order to uniformly form the protective film 118 on the semiconductor wafer 103, the rotation of the semiconductor wafer 103 is controlled by the stage motor 126.

On the other hand, the inside of the furnace body 101 is evacuated by the vacuum evacuation section 127.

In the overall control unit 128, the film formation condition information 129 is set, and when the film formation condition information 129 is started, the point A 12 on the semiconductor wafer 103 is
0. Film thickness measurement information for point B 121 130 (E9131
The optimum output control amount 132 is sent to the microwave generator 105 according to the result and the film forming condition information 129.
At the same time, the irradiation port position control amount is instructed to the irradiation port control slit drive motor 116, and the irradiation microwave 1
09 microwave intensity distribution is controlled.

At the same time, the magnet 117 is controlled to control the magnetic field strength distribution.

Further, the amount of reaction gas 119 supplied from the reaction gas supply section 112 is controlled.

Through these steps, the protective film 118 formed on the semiconductor wafer 5103 is uniformly and precisely formed to a predetermined thickness.

Although Embodiment 2 is an example in which the present invention is applied to a plasma polymerization apparatus, it is also possible to apply the present invention in a similar manner to a plasma dry etching apparatus, a plasma polymerization apparatus, and a plasma light CVD apparatus.

〔effect〕

(1) The present invention directly heats or reacts only the object to be treated and the reactant, and monitors the conditions at multiple points on the object (temperature, film thickness, reaction intensity, etc.). Since the microwave intensity distribution required for microwave processing can be controlled based on monitoring information,
Uniform and highly accurate microwave heat treatment, microwave heat treatment, and microwave reaction treatment can be performed at 5A.

(2) Since only the object to be heated and one reactant are subjected to direct heat treatment or reaction treatment, the output of the heating source and reaction energy source can be minimized because the heating energy capacity or reaction energy capacity can be minimized. can.

(3) As in items (1) and (2) above, since the heating capacity of the object to be heated is reduced, the object to be heated can be efficiently heated in a short time.

(41 (Similar to Section 31, since the heating capacity of the object to be heated becomes extremely small, high-speed heating controllability becomes possible, and it becomes possible to freely control the heating rise time and heating temperature profile.

As a result, a highly flexible heat treatment apparatus capable of responding to various process specification variations is realized.

(5) When subjecting the object to be processed by microwave reaction using a reactive substance, only the substances that require reaction can be subjected to the reaction process, so unnecessary products are less likely to be generated than in the past, and the inner walls of the processing chamber, The surface of the object to be treated is less likely to be contaminated with unnecessary products.

(6) Since the microwave processing efficiency is increased and it becomes possible to perform single-wafer (individual) processing of the objects to be processed, the device structure can be simplified and downsized, and automatic continuous processing becomes possible.

(7) As mentioned above, uniform and highly accurate heating or reaction treatment can be performed in a highly pure state with little contamination, resulting in good quality, stable and reliable heating treatment 9 reaction treatment This creates a synergistic effect that makes it possible.

Although the present invention has been specifically explained above based on examples, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples, and that various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. Not even.

Further, the present invention can be carried out in a high-pressure atmosphere or in a normal-pressure atmosphere.

The above-mentioned treatment is possible in a low-pressure atmosphere, in a vacuum, and in a substance that transmits microwaves, and in any case,
Effects similar to those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

[Application field]

In the above description, the invention made by the present inventor was mainly applied to semiconductor wafer manufacturing equipment, which is the background field of application, but the invention is not limited to this. and all other substances that have a magnetic loss effect, including crystal growth methods, impurity diffusion methods, crystal annealing methods,
It can be applied to plasma processing methods, film formation processing methods, microwave heating processing methods, microwave reaction processing methods, and their devices.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a slow wave circuit which is a microwave irradiation electrode. FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the principle of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of a photoresist film baking processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a sectional view of a main part of a plasma CVD apparatus for forming a protective film on the surface of a semiconductor sea urchin according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 1... Waveguide, 2... Block, 3... Irradiation port,
4...Microwave, 5...Irradiation microwave, 51.
Furnace body, 52 Suction bottle stage, 53 Semiconductor wafer, 54 Photoresist film, 55 Stage drive unit, 56 Supply waveguide, 57 Microwave Generation part, 58... Generation microwave, 59...
Irradiation waveguide, 60... Dummy load, 61... Missing number, 62... Block, 63... Irradiation port, 64...
・Irradiation port control slit, 65...Auxiliary irradiation port plate, 66
...Slit drive motor, 67...Microwave irradiation, 68...Point A, 69...Point B, 70...Temperature monitor, 71...Temperature monitor ■, 72...Overall Control unit, 73... Processing condition setting information, 74... A point source degree information, 75... B point temperature information, 76... Microwave output control value, 77... Slit drive control amount, 78...
・Stage rotation adsorption control amount, 101...furnace body, 102
... Wafer stage, 103 ... Semiconductor wafer, 1
04...Microwave irradiation waveguide, 105...Microwave generation section, 106...Generation microwave, 107...
・Dummy load, 108...irradiation port control slit,
109...Irradiation microwave, 110...Vacuum shield prisoner, 111...Gas pipe, 112...Reaction gas supply section, 113...Multiple nozzle, 114...Gear (
I), 115... Gear ■, 116... Irradiation port control slit drive motor, 117... Magnet, 118... Protective film, 119... Reactant gas, 120... Point A, 12
1... Point B, 122... Film thickness monitor (5), 123
...Thickness-E-monitor to 1%, 124a... Film thickness monitor viewing window, 124b... Film thickness monitor viewing window ■, 12
5a... Vacuum shield (b), 125b... Vacuum shield (/1, 126... Stage motor, 127...
...Vacuum exhaust section, 128...Overall control section, 129...
・Film formation condition information, 130...Film thickness measurement information, 13
1... Film thickness measurement information ■, 132... Optimum output control amount. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A microwave irradiation electrode having a waveguide shape,
A microwave processing device characterized in that the microwave intensity irradiated from the microwave irradiation electrode can be controlled. 2. A microwave irradiation port with a function of automatically controlling the opening area is provided in the waveguide-shaped microwave irradiation electrode,
Claim 1 characterized in that the irradiated microwave intensity is controlled by controlling the opening area.
The microwave processing device described in Section 1. 3. The waveguide-shaped microwave irradiation electrode is provided with a microwave irradiation port whose position can be controlled, and the microwave intensity irradiated from the microwave irradiation electrode is controlled by controlling the position of the microwave irradiation port. A microwave processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: 4. Monitor the condition (temperature, film thickness, reaction intensity, etc.) of at least one point on the object to be treated, and irradiate the microwave from the microwave irradiation electrode according to the necessary condition setting information and monitoring result information. A microwave processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the wave intensity is automatically controlled.