KR100263404B1 - Treatment device, treatment method and cleaning method of treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

The processing apparatus is connected to several processing chambers for processing the object to be processed using the processing gas, and to various processing chambers, and a transfer chamber for carrying in and out of the processing object to these processing chambers, and opening and closing between the various processing chambers and the transfer chamber. And a cleaning gas supply system for supplying an opening / closing means for supplying a cleaning gas including at least one of Cl and F of these processing chambers and a transfer chamber. Then, the cleaning gas is supplied into the apparatus with the opening and closing means opened, and all the seals are cleaned.

Description

Treatment apparatus, treatment method and cleaning method of treatment apparatus

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a multichamber device of one embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a schematic view for explaining the flow of gas in one embodiment of the cleaning method of the present invention.

3 is a view showing a processing chamber and a cleaning gas supply system in the multichamber processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a vacuum reserve chamber in the multichamber processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a support of a semiconductor wafer used in the vacuum preliminary chamber of FIG.

6A and 6B are a plan view and a side view showing a conveying apparatus used for the second conveyance chamber.

7 is a schematic view for explaining another embodiment of the cleaning method of the present invention.

8 is a schematic diagram showing a multichamber device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a view showing another example of a processing chamber applied to the multichamber processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing header heating means used in the processing chamber of FIG. 9A. FIG.

11 is a view showing another example of the articulated arm used for the conveying chamber.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the air opening mechanism of the cassette compartment.

13 is a view for explaining another embodiment of the cleaning method of the multichamber processing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an example of a method of supplying inert gas to a processing apparatus after cleaning is finished. FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining another form of cleaning method of a multichamber processing apparatus. FIG.

16 is a graph showing the vapor pressure curve of ClF ₃ .

17 is a graph comparing the total time required for wet cleaning and ClF ₃ cleaning.

18 is a graph showing etching rates of ClF ₃ gas in various films formed.

19A and 19B are graphs showing surface roughnesses before and after the test of the wet cleaning test piece, respectively.

19C and 19D are graphs showing surface roughnesses before and after the test of the ClF ₃ gas cleaning test piece, respectively.

20 is a flowchart showing a procedure for evaluating a putty.

21A and 21B are graphs showing the results of the putty evaluation.

22a to 22c are graphs showing the results of the evaluation of the Cl and F termination.

23a to 23c are graphs showing the results of the evaluation of the Cl and F termination.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1, 2, 3: Treatment chamber (treatment vessel) 2A: Bottom

4: 1st transfer room 4A: gas supply port

5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19: gate valve

8: semiconductor wafer 9: first transfer device

9A, 23A: Articulated arm part 12, 13: Vacuum reserve room

16: 2nd transfer room 17: cassette

20, 21: cassette compartment 23: second conveying apparatus

24: positioning mechanism 25, 46, 51A, 85: exhaust port

28, 80: susceptor 29: gas dispersion supply unit

29A: dispersion hole 30, 83: quartz window

31, 84: halogen lamp 32: supply system

33, 36, 36A, 36B: Piping 34, 39, 41: Valve

35: cleaning gas supply system 37, 38: bomb

40: mass flow controller 48, 86: exhaust pipe

49, 59: vacuum exhaust pump 50: removal device

51: reserve chamber body 51B: gas supply port

52, 62: cooling stage 53, 63: heating device

53A: Heating lamp 53B: Reflector

53C: quartz window 54, 55, 64, 65: support

54A, 55A: Ring 54B, 55B: Holding piece

56, 66: connecting shaft 57, 67: lifting mechanism

58, 68 exhaust pipe 59, 88 exhaust system

59: vacuum pump 60, 70: gas supply piping

61: reserve body 71: arm

72: hand 73, 94A: hole

74: vacuum exhaust pipe 87: vacuum pump

90: gas supply header 91: mounting hole

92: flange 93: 0 ring

94: partition plate 95: diffuser plate

95A: diffusion hole 96: rectifying plate

96A: Commutation hole 97A, 97B, 97C: Mixing chamber

100: processing gas supply system

101, 102: first and second process gas introduction port

101A, 102A: 1st and 2nd port shut off valve

103 and 104: first and second process gas introduction pipes

105A, 105B: first and second massflow controllers

105C, 105D: 3rd and 4th massflow controller

106A, 106B: First and second on-off valves

106C, 106D: Third and fourth on / off valves

107A, 107B: first and second process gas sources

108A, 108B: branch pipes 109, 119: nitrogen source

110: cleaning gas supply system 111: cleaning gas introduction port

111A: cleaning gas port opening and closing valve 112: cleaning gas introduction pipe

113: mass flow controller 114: on-off valve

120: control unit 120A: display device

122, 127: heating means

123, 124, 128, 129: Media passage

124, 128: ceramic heater 131: gas detector

132: suction tube 133, 134: gas detector

135: suction pump 136: calculation unit

137: drive unit 138: air cylinder

140: vacuum exhaust machine S1: open permission signal

S2: open signal

Detailed description of the invention

The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for processing a target object such as a semiconductor device, a processing method, and a cleaning method of the processing apparatus.

In recent years, semiconductor integrated circuit devices have been increasingly integrated, and the degree of integration has entered the generation of 256M DRAM from 64M DRAM.

For this reason, the multilayering and miniaturization of the wiring structure have become more remarkable.

As the wiring structure is multilayered as described above, the steps of the wiring process increase, and the efficiency of the wiring process and countermeasures against dust have become more problematic than before.

In addition, as the wiring structure becomes finer, in a conventional aluminum (Al) wiring, a problem such as migration disconnection becomes a problem, and a metal excellent in migration resistance such as tungsten (W) is used as a wiring material instead of Al. Various reviews are underway.

Moreover, as multilayering of a wiring structure advances, the filling of contact holes, via-holes, etc. is also examined variously from a material surface.

Moreover, the coverage of each layer also becomes important with the large diameter and multilayer of a semiconductor wafer.

For example, when tungsten is formed as a wiring film, wiring is examined in the blanket W by the CVD method which is excellent in coverage.

Since the wiring film by this blank W has a defect which is easy to peel off, and since it has a difficulty that it is easy to generate | occur | produce a puticle, as a countermeasure, it installs using the adhesion layer, such as titanium nitride (TiN), as a base layer. The way to do it is adopted.

Conventionally, this TiN has been formed by the sputtering method. However, since the sputtering method has a limited coverage at the bottom of the hole having a high aspect ratio, film formation by the CVD method excellent in coverage is also studied for TiN.

Moreover, the selection W which selectively fills tungsten using chemical properties, such as a blanket W or the surface metal film, is filled in order to fill in contact holes, via-holes, etc ..

Filling by the blanket (W) requires a number of steps such as the formation of the adhesion layer made of TiN, the blanket (W), and the etch back, and the manufacturing cost is high. There exists a tendency to apply to the wiring of a semiconductor integrated circuit element.

On the other hand, the filling by the selection W can fill the hole selectively, so that no adhesion layer is required, and the multilayer wiring is simple and advantageous in terms of manufacturing cost.

For this reason, the method by which sputter | spatter Al is made for wiring is made into the selection (W).

In addition, as the wiring structure becomes smaller, the distance between wiring layers in the horizontal direction becomes narrower, and a process for filling this cap is also required for each wiring layer. As the wiring structure becomes smaller, many different processes are required for the wiring process. It is coming.

As such, as semiconductor integrated circuit devices become multilayered and miniaturized, wiring processes become complicated, and more processes have been required.

These processes need to be appropriately combined with a metal film and fill by the CVD method excellent in coverage, or a metal film by the sputtering method, if necessary, and a treatment apparatus capable of such a treatment needs to be developed. There is.

In addition, since the wiring process involves various metal film forming and filling processes, it is necessary to suppress high contamination of the entire wiring process and contamination from puticles between the processes. In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to guarantee the same quality as that of 64M DRAM or less in future 256M DRAM and to improve productivity.

As a potent processing apparatus that satisfies such a demand, a multichamber processing apparatus capable of performing a plurality of processes consistently and continuously has been noted. This multi-chamber processing apparatus is a modularized apparatus that combines a plurality of film forming apparatuses and filling processing apparatuses. The multi-chamber processing apparatus includes various processing chambers for performing film formation and the like under a predetermined vacuum, and a processing target such as a semiconductor wafer in these processing chambers. A conveying chamber having a conveying mechanism for conveying, a cassette chamber for carrying in and out of the object to be processed, and a preliminary vacuum chamber provided therebetween, and a film forming process, a filling process, and the like, are carried out one by one in each processing chamber. So-called sheet processing apparatus. In this multi-chamber processing apparatus, after forming a film by a CVD or a sputtering process in each processing chamber, the film is continuously transferred to the next processing chamber through a conveying apparatus in a conveying chamber maintained at the same vacuum as those processing chambers, and continuously formed into a film forming process. In addition, since various treatments can be made efficient, the treatment rate can be increased.

Moreover, since the conveyance chamber which connects each process process is hold | maintained in a vacuum, it can convey a to-be-processed object in a clean environment, can maintain a to-be-processed object in each process process, and the reproducibility of each process is carried out. Can increase.

Moreover, this multichamber processing apparatus can combine process chambers suitably according to the process content of a multilayer wiring, and has a high degree of freedom in process design.

However, in the case of manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuit devices such as 256M DRAM from 64M DRAM, since the clean room is super-cleaned, pollution from the clean room decreases, while the cleanness inside the processing apparatus decreases, and putty It is reported that 90% of the clocks occur inside the processing unit.

As a result, in each processing apparatus, not only the object to be processed but also susceptors and electrodes for supporting the object in the processing chamber are simultaneously formed in accordance with each film forming process, and the film is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the processing chamber, either of which is peeled off. To float as a putty or to deposit on the bottom of the processing chamber. Moreover, in a conveyance chamber, a putty generate | occur | produces from the drive part of a conveying apparatus, a putty generate | occur | produces by the slip of the to-be-processed object at the time of conveyance, etc., it floats and accumulates in a bottom part. Or the process gas at the time of film-forming does not fully react, the reaction product adheres to a to-be-processed object, and a product is carried in to a conveyed material or another process chamber in the conveyance process, and produces cross-conversion. These products gradually accumulate at the bottom and the like, and the particles are suspended by the airflow generated during the supply exhaust during the treatment or by the airflow generated when the conveying system is driven, and these puticles contaminate the surface of the object to be treated to reduce productivity. It is said to be.

Thus, in order to eliminate such contamination, conventionally, the inside of the processing apparatus is cleaned every time the processing such as film formation and the like is finished to remove the contaminants such as puticles.

Conventionally, as a cleaning method of a film forming apparatus, a method of introducing a gas containing NF ₃ as a cleaning gas into a processing container and removing the film deposited on the mounting table, the inner surface of the processing container, or the like with this cleaning gas is known. It is conceivable to adopt the multichamber processing apparatus.

In this cleaning method, the degradation of the NF ₃ itself to use and, using a plasma because quite good.

That is, the electrode plate is disposed at a position opposite to the mounting table in the processing container, and a high frequency voltage is applied between the mounting table and the electrode to generate plasma, thereby exciting and activating NF ₃ to promote cleaning. .

However, in such an NF ₃ plasma cleaning method, it is possible to effectively remove the surface of the mounting table where the plasma is distributed or the formation of the wafer peripheral portion, but the portion where the plasma is not exposed, for example, the inner surface of the processing container or the processing gas in particular. Film deposition attached to the inner surface of the supply head, the flakes peeled off at the time of conveyance of the wafer and adhered to the bottom of the container cannot be effectively removed.

The drawback of such a plasma cleaning method is considered to be remarkable in the case of a multichamber processing apparatus.

In the plasma cleaning method as described above, a plasma generating mechanism is required and is connected to the crest up of the apparatus.

Therefore, the above-described plasma method is not adopted for cleaning the multichamber processing apparatus, and the apparatus itself is dismantled, and after disassembly, each component is immersed in a cleaning liquid to clean contaminants attached to these components, or each component. The method of removing the contaminants attached to the parts is adopted.

However, in the case of adopting such a method, after dismantling the multichamber treatment apparatus, each component is immersed in a cleaning liquid to clean or scrape off each contaminant. There exists a problem that the operation efficiency of a chamber processing apparatus falls remarkably.

On the other hand, in order to more efficiently clean the inside of the film forming apparatus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-17857 or No. 2-77579, it is also proposed to use a ClF-based gas as the cleaning gas. According to the cleaning method using this ClF-based gas, plasma cannot be used and the undesirable film formed between the devices can be effectively removed.

However, ClF-based gases are highly reactive with components in the apparatus, and these components are susceptible to wear and damage. Incidentally, such cleaning with ClF-based gas is only adopted in individual film forming apparatuses, and a method of efficiently cleaning the multichamber processing apparatus without lowering the throughput or the like has not been proposed yet.

An object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus of a multichamber type processing apparatus capable of cleaning the interior thereof efficiently and approximately completely.

Another object is to provide a treatment method capable of efficiently and approximately completely cleaning the interior of a multichamber type treatment apparatus.

Still another object is to provide a treatment method in which parts in a treatment apparatus that is damaged and worn in accordance with cleaning can be replaced at an appropriate time.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, firstly, various processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transfer chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers, Purchase opening and closing means for opening and closing between the various processing chambers and the transfer chamber, and cleaning gas supply means for supplying a cleaning gas containing Cl and F to at least one of the processing chambers and the transfer chamber, and the opening and closing means being opened. In the present invention is provided a processing apparatus in which the cleaning gas is supplied to clean all the seals.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, secondly, a plurality of processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transfer chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers, A cleaning method for cleaning a processing apparatus having opening and closing means for opening and closing between various processing chambers and a transfer chamber, the cleaning method comprising: opening and closing the opening means, and at least one of the processing chamber and the transfer chamber includes Cl and F; There is provided a cleaning method comprising a step of supplying a cleaning gas to be cleaned and a step of diffusing the cleaning gas into all chambers.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a third processing chamber for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transport chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers; A gas supply unit provided in each of these various processing chambers and a conveyance chamber, an exhaust part provided in each of these various process chambers and a conveyance chamber, and a cleaning gas containing Cl and F individually to each said chamber via the said gas supply part. A processing apparatus is provided having a cleaning gas supply means and exhaust means for discharging said cleaning gas individually from said chambers through said exhaust portion.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transport chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers, A cleaning method for cleaning a processing apparatus having opening and closing means for opening and closing between a processing chamber and a transfer chamber, the cleaning method comprising: closing the opening and closing means; and supplying cleaning gas containing Cl and F to the respective chambers individually. The cleaning method of the processing apparatus provided with the process and cleaning each chamber individually by the said gas for cleaning is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transfer chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers, and the various processing chambers. A cleaning method for cleaning a processing apparatus including opening and closing means for opening and closing between a transfer chamber and a transfer chamber, the cleaning method comprising the steps of: making each chamber into an inert atmosphere at approximately the same pressure; and opening and closing the opening means; There is provided a cleaning method comprising a step of supplying a cleaning gas containing Cl and F to the.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transport chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers; A cleaning method for cleaning a processing apparatus having an opening and closing means for opening and closing between an opening and a transfer chamber, the cleaning method comprising a step of closing the opening and closing means, and a cleaning gas containing Cl and F of concentrations set according to the respective chambers. There is provided a cleaning method including a step of supplying a seal.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transport chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers, and the inside of the apparatus. Opening means for opening to the atmosphere, a cleaning gas supply means for supplying cleaning gas containing Cl and F to these processing chambers and a transfer chamber, an exhaust means for exhausting the cleaning gas, and a gas in the gas after the cleaning by the cleaning gas is finished. There is provided a processing apparatus including concentration detecting means for detecting concentrations of Cl and F, and control means for outputting an opening command to the opening means when the detected value of the concentration detecting means is equal to or less than a set value.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transfer chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers, and the various processing chambers. A processing method in a processing apparatus comprising an opening and closing means for opening and closing between a transfer chamber and a transfer chamber, the process comprising: closing at least one processing chamber and the opening and closing means between the processing chambers, and the at least one processing chamber to the target object. There is provided a treatment method including a step of performing a treatment and a step of supplying and cleaning a cleaning gas containing Cl and F to each of the other chambers at the same time as the processing.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing chamber for processing a target object using a processing gas, and a processing chamber connected to the various processing chambers and carrying a carrying chamber for carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers. A cleaning method for cleaning an apparatus, comprising: a process of grasping the number of treatment targets of a target object until cleaning in each treatment chamber is required; There is provided a processing apparatus including a step of supplying and cleaning a cleaning gas.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a treatment chamber for treating a target object using a processing gas, and a processing chamber connected to the various treatment chambers and carrying a carrying chamber for carrying in and out of the target object to these treatment chambers. A cleaning method for cleaning an apparatus, comprising: cleaning and supplying a cleaning gas containing Cl and F to each of the chambers, exhausting the chambers after the cleaning is finished, and exhausting the chambers, A cleaning method is provided that includes a step of repeating supply and stop of an inert gas several times.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing chamber for processing a target object using a processing gas, and a processing chamber connected to the various processing chambers and carrying a carrying chamber for carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers. A cleaning method for cleaning an apparatus, comprising: a step of cleaning by supplying a cleaning gas containing Cl and F to each chamber in part or all of the chambers, and discharging the cleaning gas by the vacuum exhaust system during the cleaning. A cleaning method is provided which provides a process.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a processing chamber for processing a target object using a processing gas, a cleaning gas supply means for supplying a cleaning gas to the various processing chambers, and a consumption amount of components of the processing chamber by the cleaning gas. The processing apparatus is provided, which is stored in advance and has replacement command means for instructing replacement of the component based on the value and the number of cleanings.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of processing chambers for processing a target object using a processing gas, a transport chamber connected to the various processing chambers, and carrying in and out of the target object to these processing chambers, and the respective chambers. A cleaning gas supply means for supplying a cleaning gas to the cleaning gas; and a replacement command means for instructing replacement of the component parts based on the value and the number of cleanings, in which the consumption amount of the component parts of the chambers by the cleaning gas is stored in advance. There is provided a processing apparatus comprising:

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a treatment method using a treatment apparatus for treating a workpiece using a treatment gas, the process of treating the workpiece using the treatment apparatus, and cleaning the treatment apparatus by a cleaning gas. And a process of grasping the cleaning number for replacing the component from the consumption of the component of the processing apparatus by the cleaning gas.

EXAMPLE

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, with reference to an accompanying drawing, preferable aspect of this invention is described in detail.

1 comprises an early ratio cluster tool. This multi-chamber processing apparatus comprises a plurality of processing chambers (1) and (2) for performing a film formation process, for example, a metal film formation process such as tungsten, on a semiconductor wafer as an object under a predetermined vacuum. , (3)

These processing chambers 1, 2, and 3 are provided with gate valves 5, 6, and 3 on three side surfaces of the first conveying chamber 4 formed in a substantially rectangular shape as shown in the drawing. It is connected via 7), communicates with the 1st conveyance chamber 4 by opening these gate valves 5, 6, and 7, and isolate | separates from the 1st conveyance chamber 4 by closing them.

And a cleaning gas supply source is connected to at least one of these as mentioned later.

The 1st conveyance chamber 4 is equipped with the conveying apparatus 9 which conveys a to-be-processed object, for example, the semiconductor wafer 8, with each process chamber 1, 2, and 3 in it, It is comprised so that vacuum degree of the same grade as process chamber 1, 2, and 3 can be maintained.

This conveying apparatus 9 is arranged in the substantially center of the 1st conveyance chamber 4, has the articulated arm part 9A, and the semiconductor wafer 8 is carried out on the hand of this articulated arm part 9A. The articulated arm part 9A is placed and conveyed.

On the other side of the first conveying chamber 4, two vacuum preliminary chambers 12 and 13 are installed in parallel to each other via gate valves 10 and 11, and these vacuum preliminary chambers ( 12 and 13 communicate with each other in the first conveyance chamber 4 by opening the gate valves 10 and 11, and the first conveyance by closing these gate valves 10 and 11; It is cut off from the thread 4.

Therefore, the semiconductor wafer 8 is loaded from the vacuum preliminary chamber 12 into the predetermined processing chamber by the transfer device 9 under a predetermined vacuum atmosphere, and then subjected to a predetermined film forming process in the processing chamber. Then, the processing chamber can be loaded into the next processing chamber sequentially through the conveying apparatus 9 and transferred to the next processing chamber, and after completion of the predetermined processing in each processing chamber, it can be transferred to another vacuum preliminary chamber 13 again.

The gate valves 14 and 15 are provided in the part which opposes the gate valves 10 and 11 of these vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13, respectively, and the vacuum reserve chamber 12 is provided. (13) is connected to the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 through these, and these gate valves 14 and 15 open | release, and let the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 mutually connect and close these, It is blocked from the second conveyance chamber 16.

Cassette chambers 20 and 21, which are accommodated in the cassette of the semiconductor wafer via gate valves 18 and 19, are connected to each other on the left and right sides of the second conveyance chamber 16, and these cassette chambers ( 20 and 21 pass through the second conveyance chamber 16 by opening the gate valves 14 and 15, and isolate | separate from the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 by closing them.

In the second conveying chamber 16, a second conveying apparatus 23 is provided at the center between the right and left cassettes 20 and 21, and the articulated arm portion of the second conveying apparatus 23 is provided. The semiconductor wafer 8 is conveyed between the vacuum preliminary chambers 12 and 13 and the cassette chambers 20 and 21 by 23A.

In addition, the detailed structure of the conveying apparatus 23 is mentioned later.

Positioning mechanism 24 which optically positions the semiconductor wafer 8 with respect to the orientation plate of the semiconductor wafer 8 between this 2nd conveying apparatus 23 and the vacuum reserve chamber 12,13. ) Is installed.

After the semiconductor wafer 8 is once positioned by this positioning mechanism 24, the semiconductor wafer 8 is transferred to the vacuum preliminary chamber 12 by the second transfer device 23.

Moreover, the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 is equipped with the atmospheric pressure adjusting device (not shown) which supplies inert gas, such as nitrogen gas, indoors, and adjusts and maintains the gas pressure to atmospheric pressure. The semiconductor wafer 8 is placed between the cassettes 17 in the cassette chambers 20 and 21 and the vacuum preliminary chambers 12 and 13 with the two conveying chambers 16 at an atmospheric nitrogen gas atmosphere. Is returned.

Moreover, this 2nd conveyance chamber 16 is hold | maintained by predetermined | prescribed vacuum degree at the time of cleaning.

An exhaust port 25 for exhausting the cleaning gas is formed in the bottom surface of the second conveyance chamber 16, and is supplied from at least one process chamber of the process chambers 1, 2, and 3 so as to supply the first conveyance chamber 4. The cleaning gas spread widely in the vacuum preliminary chambers 12 and 13 and the cassette chambers 0 and 21 as necessary is exhausted from this exhaust port 25. This exhaust port 25 is connected to the exhaust systems of the vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13 via a valve (not shown), for example, and the second conveyance is carried out through the exhaust port 25 at the time of cleaning using this exhaust system. The chamber 16 is evacuated. At the time of cleaning other than cleaning, the valve is closed, and the vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13 are evacuated.

An exhaust system is installed in each of the chambers 1, 2, 3, the first transfer chamber 4, the vacuum reserve chamber 12, and the chamber 13, and the chambers It can be exhausted independently from there.

Note that reference numerals 26 and 27 are gates attached to the front of the cassette chambers 20 and 21.

Next, the supply mechanism of the cleaning gas of this apparatus is demonstrated.

In the multichamber processing apparatus of this aspect, as described above, a cleaning gas supply system is attached to at least one of the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3.

Then, the cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber to which the cleaning gas supply system is connected, and the cleaning gas is supplied to another processing chamber, the first conveyance chamber 4, the vacuum preliminary chambers 12, 13 and, if necessary, a cassette. It exhausts from the exhaust port 25 of the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 via the chamber 20,21.

2 conceptually shows the flow of the cleaning gas at this time. As shown in this figure, when the cleaning gas is supplied from the cleaning gas supply system 35 to the processing chamber 2, the cleaning gas is spread over the entire chambers in turn, and the exhaust systems of the vacuum preliminary chambers 12 and 13 are supplied. By the 59, it exhausts from the exhaust port 25 of the 2nd conveyance chamber 16. As shown in FIG.

At the time when this cleaning gas is distributed in each chamber at a predetermined concentration, the exhaust may be stopped for a predetermined time, or the supply of the cleaning gas may be stopped after passing the predetermined time after the exhaust stop.

In addition, the supply of exhaust gas and cleaning gas may be repeated repeatedly.

As the cleaning gas, a gas containing Cl and F, typically a ClF ₃ gas, is used, and may be diluted with this gas alone or with nitrogen gas.

This ClF ₃ is chemically active, and sufficient cleaning effect can be obtained without making it plasma.

In particular, it reacts well with a tungsten-based coating and can effectively remove a tungsten-based deposit. However, the ClF ₃ is not limited to tungsten, and can effectively remove other metals such as titanium, molybdenum and the like. During this cleaning, the cleaning atmosphere may be heated.

If the cleaning gas, only the ClF ₃ gas, and the flow rate of ClF ₃ gas 5 l / min or less, a boiling point ~ 700 ℃ of the temperature of ClF _3, it is preferable that the internal pressure of the cleaning under the conditions of 0.1 ~ 100Torr.

If the flow rate of the ClF ₃ gas exceeds 5 liters / minute, the material of each chamber may be damaged. If the ClF ₃ gas temperature is lower than the boiling point, ClF ₃ may condense on the component and damage the material, and even if it exceeds 700 ° C, ClF ₃ gas may be activated to damage the material. If the pressure of the ClF ₃ gas is less than 0.1 Torr, the cleaning effect may not be expected, and if it exceeds 100 Torr, the component material may be damaged.

In addition, by diluting the ClF ₃ gas with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas, the reactivity of the ClF ₃ gas can be suppressed, and the cleaning object can be gently cleaned to alleviate the damage.

Next, the gas supply system and process chamber which supply a cleaning gas are demonstrated, referring FIG. Various treatment apparatuses to be applied to the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3 are selected according to the processing to be performed. For example, a sputtering apparatus to the processing chamber 1 and a thermal CVD treatment to the processing chamber 2 are performed. An etching treatment apparatus is applied to the apparatus and the processing chamber 3.

Here, the thermal CVD apparatus of the processing chamber 2 will be described as an example.

As shown in Fig. 3, the processing chamber 2 has a substantially cylindrical shape, for example, is made of aluminum, and the inside thereof can be held at a predetermined vacuum degree. The susceptor 28 which mounts the semiconductor wafer 8 is provided in the substantially center of 2 A of bottom surfaces in this process chamber 2, and is opposite to the susceptor 28 above this susceptor 28. As shown in FIG. The gas dispersion supply part 29 which supplies a process gas or a cleaning gas is provided. Moreover, the window 30 made of quartz is provided in the position which opposes the susceptor 28 on the outer side of the bottom wall of this process chamber 2, The halogen lamp 31 for heating is provided in the substantially lower side of this window 30. Is arranged. Light energy is supplied from the halogen lamp 31 to the semiconductor wafer 8 on the susceptor 28 through the quartz window 30, whereby the semiconductor wafer 8 is heated.

3, the supply system 32 which supplies a process gas is connected to the gas dispersion supply part 29 via the piping 33, and the valve 34 attached to this piping 33 is opened. The predetermined process gas is thereby supplied into the process chamber 2 through the gas dispersion supply unit 29.

In the process chamber 2, for example, when the blanket W treatment is performed, tungsten hexafluoride (WF ₆ ) and hydrogen are supplied from the process gas supply system 32 to the gas dispersion supply unit 29 as the process gas. The process gas is uniformly supplied to the whole inside of the process chamber 2 via the dispersion holes 29A formed in the lower surface of the gas dispersion supply part 29. As the process gas for metal wiring, there are halides, carbonyl compounds and organometallic compounds, which are supplied together with a reducing agent.

As the compound for forming the wiring material, a compound having a relatively low vapor pressure is preferable.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning gas supply system 35 which supplies a cleaning gas is connected to the piping 33 through the piping 36, and at the time of cleaning, the piping 36 is supplied from the cleaning gas supply system 35 at the time of cleaning. The cleaning gas is supplied into the process chamber 2 through the pipe 33 and the gas dispersion supply unit 29.

The cleaning gas supply system 35 includes a gas cylinder 37 for storing ClF ₃ gas, which is a cleaning gas, and a nitrogen gas cylinder 38 for storing nitrogen gas for diluting the ClF ₃ gas. 37 and 38 are respectively connected to the ends of the pipes 36A and 36B branching from the pipe 36.

In the pipe 36A to which the ClF ₃ gas cylinder 37 is connected, the valve 39, the mass flow controller 40, and the valve 41 are provided in order from the upstream side to the downstream side.

Then, gases from the cylinders 37 and 38 merge in the pipe 36 and are cleaned into the process chamber 2 through the pipe 33 and the gas dispersion supply part 29 by opening the valve 45. Gas is supplied.

An exhaust port 46 is formed in the vicinity of the susceptor 28 at 2A of the bottom surface of the processing chamber 2. An exhaust pipe 48 is connected to the exhaust port 46, a vacuum exhaust pump 49 is connected to the exhaust pipe 48, and the inside of the processing chamber 2 is exhausted by the vacuum exhaust pump 49. It becomes a predetermined vacuum degree.

The vacuum exhaust pump 49 may also serve as a means for exhausting the cleaning gas in the case of performing the cleaning using the above-described ClF ₃ gas. As this vacuum exhaust pump 49, it is preferable to use an oil-free dry pump so that the gas which is exhausted may not be influenced.

On the downstream side of the vacuum exhaust pump 49, a removal device 50 for trapping harmful gases such as process gas and cleaning gas exhausted from the vacuum exhaust pump 49 and removing these harmful gases from the exhaust gas is disposed. It is.

The removal device 50 is used to satisfy a solvent, for example, an alkali solution or the like to favorably dissolve the ClF ₃ gas.

Next, the vacuum preliminary chambers 12 and 13 are demonstrated with reference to FIG.

The vacuum preliminary chamber 12 includes a preliminary chamber main body 51 formed of the same material as the processing chamber, a cooling stage 52 for cooling the semiconductor wafer provided in the preliminary chamber main body 51, and the cooling stage 52. A heating device 53 for preheating the semiconductor wafer, which is provided above the preliminary chamber main body 51, and the upper and lower two stage supports for supporting the semiconductor wafer between the heating device 53 and the cooling stage 52. The connecting shaft 56 which penetrates the bottom surface of the preliminary chamber main body 51, integrally connects the earth 54, 55, these supporters 54, 55, and this connecting shaft 56 It is connected to the lower end, and is equipped with the lifting mechanism 57 which raises and lowers the support bodies 54 and 55. As shown in FIG.

An exhaust port 51A is formed at the bottom of the preliminary chamber main body 51, and a vacuum pump 59 is connected to the exhaust port 51A via an exhaust pipe 58, and the preliminary chamber main body is connected to the exhaust port 51A by the vacuum pump 59. (51) I am evacuated. A gas supply port 51B is formed in the vicinity of the exhaust port 51A, and a gas supply source (not shown) is connected to the gas supply port 51B through a supply pipe 60, and is vacuumed from the gas supply source. The inert gas or the like is supplied into the preliminary chamber main body 51 to return the interior to atmospheric pressure.

This vacuum pump 59 can also be used for exhausting the cleaning gas supplied at the time of cleaning.

The heating device 53 has a heating lamp 53A composed of a halogen lamp, and a reflecting plate 53B for reflecting the light of the heating lamp 53A to the preliminary chamber body 51 side, and the reflecting plate 53B. The light energy from the heating lamp 53A reflected by is irradiated to the semiconductor wafer therein through the quartz window 53C disposed on the upper surface of the preliminary chamber body 51, thereby heating the semiconductor wafer. That is, it is preheated before the semiconductor wafer is carried into the processing chamber. At this time, the support tool 54 is raised by the lifting mechanism 57 to approach the heating apparatus 53 to preheat the semiconductor wafer before processing.

When the semiconductor wafer after the process is taken out from the preliminary chamber 12, the semiconductor wafer is cooled in accordance with the external temperature. At this time, the support tool 55 is lowered by the lifting mechanism 57 to contact the cooling stage 52 to cool the semiconductor wafer after the treatment.

As shown in Fig. 5, the supports 54 and 55 each have rings 54A and 55A, each having a diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the cooling stage 52, and each ring 54A, Each of the holding pieces 54B and 55B is provided at 55A at equal intervals along the circumferential direction, respectively, thereby holding the semiconductor wafer.

Similar to the vacuum prechamber 12, the other vacuum prechamber 13 also has a prechamber body 61, a cooling stage 62, a heating device 63, supporters 64, 65, and a connecting shaft 66. And an elevating mechanism 67, an exhaust pipe 68, and a gas supply pipe 70.

Next, the 2nd conveying apparatus 23 arrange | positioned in the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 connected to the said vacuum preliminary chamber 12 and 13 is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 6A and 6B.

The second conveying apparatus 23 includes an arm portion 23A and a vacuum pump (not shown) for adsorbing a semiconductor wafer, and the arm portion 23A is free to bend or extend by a link mechanism. It has the arm 71 comprised and the hand 72 connected to the front-end | tip of this arm 71. As shown in FIG.

A hole 73 for vacuum suction is formed in the upper surface of the hand 72, and is exhausted through the vacuum exhaust pipe 74 by a vacuum pump in a state where the semiconductor wafer 8 is placed on the hand 72. The semiconductor wafer 8 is vacuum sucked onto the hand 72.

When the semiconductor wafer 8 is loaded from the cassette 17 into the vacuum preliminary chamber 12 by the second conveying apparatus 23 while the inside of the conveying chamber 16 is maintained at atmospheric pressure or higher, The arm 71 is extended to be inserted between the semiconductor wafers 8 in the cassette 17, the semiconductor wafer 8 is placed in the hand 72, and exhausted through the vacuum exhaust pipe 74 by a vacuum pump. The semiconductor wafer 8 is transported to the vacuum preliminary chamber 12 without being pulled out and fixed correctly by the suction 73 through the hole 73 of the hand 72, and the vacuum adsorption is canceled after the transfer. The semiconductor wafer 8 is accurately placed at the position of.

Next, work of the film forming process for wiring using the multichamber processing apparatus will be described.

For example, in the processing chamber 1, TiN is formed on the surface of the contact hole of the semiconductor wafer by sputtering, and in the processing chamber 2, the blanket is formed in the contact hole of the processed semiconductor wafer in the processing chamber 1. W) is filled with tungsten, and in the processing chamber 3, tungsten is etched from the surface of the semiconductor wafer after tungsten filling in the processing chamber 2 to leave tungsten only in the contact hole.

In each processing chamber, these wiring processes are simultaneously performed with respect to the other semiconductor wafers, and after the processing in each processing chamber, the semiconductor wafer is conveyed to the processing chamber which performs the following process through the first transfer device 9, and the previous process is performed. The process takes place in succession. Of course, each of the processing chambers is maintained at the degree of vacuum necessary for each processing.

For example, the blanket W in the processing chamber 2 will be described. When tungsten hexafluoride (WF ₆ ) and hydrogen as process gas are supplied from the process gas supply system 32 to the gas dispersion supply unit 29, the hydrogen is supplied. The process gas is uniformly supplied to the entire room from the dispersion holes 29A on the bottom surface of the gas dispersion supply unit 29. At this time, the semiconductor wafer 8 in which the light energy of the halogen lamp 31 is supported by the susceptor 28 through the quartz window 30 is heated to a predetermined temperature. When the process gas contacts the semiconductor wafer 8 thus heated, WF ₆ is hydrogen-reduced by the thermal energy, and a tungsten film is formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer 8.

By this treatment, a tungsten film is formed not only on the surface of the semiconductor wafer 8 but also on other parts such as the susceptor 28.

When the film forming step of the blanket W in the processing chamber 2 is completed, the semiconductor wafer is taken out from the processing chamber 2 by the first transfer apparatus in the first transfer chamber 4, and the processing chamber which performs the next step. Is returned. Similarly, in the processing chambers 1 and 3, when the processing thereon ends, it is conveyed by the 1st conveying apparatus 9 in the 1st conveying chamber 4 to a predetermined process chamber or a vacuum reserve chamber.

Specifically, at the time of conveyance of each semiconductor wafer 8, while the gate valves 5, 6, and 7 of each processing chamber are opened, the gate valves of the vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13 are opened. (10) and (11) are opened in turn so that these chambers communicate with each other. In this state, the semiconductor wafer 8 in the processing chamber 3 is sealed-transferred to the support 55 in the vacuum preliminary chamber 13 by the first transfer device 9. Subsequently, the arm 9A of the first conveying apparatus 9 is retracted from the vacuum preliminary chamber 13, and the arm 9A subsequently extends into the processing chamber 2, whereby a blanket on the susceptor 28 is obtained. The semiconductor wafer 8 after (W) is taken out and conveyed to the process chamber 3. Subsequently, the arm 9A extends into the processing chamber 1, whereby the semiconductor wafer 8 after the TiN film formation is taken out from the inside thereof and conveyed to the susceptor 28 in the processing chamber 2. Thereafter, the arm 9A extends into the vacuum preliminary chamber 12, whereby the semiconductor wafer 8 after preheating by the heating apparatus 53 is taken out of the support tool 54 and conveyed into the processing chamber 1. At the end of each of these series of operations, the gate valves are closed in sequence, preparing for the next operation in this state.

In the vacuum preliminary chamber 12, when the gate valve 10 is closed, the gate valve 14 opens after that. After the next semiconductor wafer 8 is positioned by the positioning mechanism 24, it is conveyed to the support 55 of the vacuum preliminary chamber 12 by the second transfer device 23. Subsequently, the support tool 55 is lifted to the position approaching the upper surface of the preliminary chamber main body 51 by the elevating mechanism 57. At this time, in the preliminary chamber main body 51, the vacuum pump 59 is driven to suck the vacuum in the room to the same level as the vacuum degree of the first conveying chamber 4, and at the same time, the semiconductor device is heated by the heating device 53. Preheat (8) and prepare for the next process.

On the other hand, in the vacuum preliminary chamber 13 in which the gate valve 11 is closed, nitrogen gas is supplied from the gas supply pipe 70 into the preliminary chamber main body 61 so that the pressure in the room returns to the atmospheric pressure level, and at the same time the lifting mechanism ( The support tool 64 is lowered by the 67 to contact the cooling stage 62, whereby the semiconductor wafer 8 is cooled to room temperature. After cooling, the gate valve 15 is opened so that the vacuum preliminary chamber 13 passes through the second conveyance chamber 16, and the semiconductor wafer 8 on the support 65 is cassetted by the second conveying apparatus 23. It is conveyed to the cassette 17 in the chamber 21.

At this time, since the second conveying apparatus 23 vacuum-absorbs the semiconductor wafer 8 through the hole 73 of the hand 72, the second conveying apparatus 23 can be transported by carrying the semiconductor wafer 8 undeviated.

As described above, the series of processing in the multichamber processing apparatus is completed.

These series of processing steps are performed on all of the semiconductor wafers 8 stored in the cassette 17, and then replaced with the cassette on which the unprocessed semiconductor wafer 8 is mounted.

By the film forming process, some coating films are formed on the respective walls, susceptors 28, and other parts of the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, and each time the film forming number is repeated a predetermined number of times, It is as described above that the films are laminated so that they may someday peel off and contaminate the semiconductor wafer 8 that is suspended and floated in the room as a putty. In the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, reaction products or decomposition products that do not react completely are attached to the semiconductor wafer 8.

For this reason, these reaction products or decomposition products are scattered from the semiconductor wafer 8 during the transfer process of the semiconductor wafer 8, as well as other first transfer chambers 4, The chambers, such as the vacuum preliminary chambers 12, 13 and the second conveyance chamber 16, are also scattered and gradually adhere to the bottom of each chamber. In addition, these may also be puttyles and contaminate the semiconductor wafer 8.

Moreover, in the 1st conveyance chamber 4 and the 2nd conveyance chamber 16, a putty generate | occur | produces from the drive part of each conveying apparatus 9 and 23, these gradually accumulate on each bottom surface, and these are a semiconductor wafer. There is a fear of flying during the transfer of (8) and contaminating the semiconductor wafer (8).

Therefore, after several times of film formation, film formation is stopped and the multi-chamber processing apparatus is supplied with a cleaning gas to be cleaned to remove film, dust and the like.

In this state, as described above, the plasmaless ClF-based cleaning gas is supplied to at least one process chamber to clean the inside of the apparatus.

Here, for example, the case where the cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber 2 to clean the entire interior of the multichamber processing apparatus will be described.

In this case, all the gate valves are blocked in the multi-chamber processing apparatus and the chambers are opened to each other. Thereafter, after the power supply of the halogen lamp 31 and the like of the processing chamber 2 is turned off, the semiconductor wafer 8 is left in each of the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3.

Then, the cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber 2 from the cleaning gas supply system 35 connected to the processing chamber 2, and cleaning is started.

Moreover, it is preferable to substitute the process gas in each process chamber 1, 2, and 3 beforehand by nitrogen gas etc. at the time of this cleaning.

During this cleaning, first, the vacuum pumps 49 of the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3 and the vacuum pumps 59 of the vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13 are stored at room temperature higher than the boiling point of ClF ₃ . And exhaust the nitrogen gas from the processing chambers (1), (2), (3), vacuum preliminary chambers (12), (13), and the second conveyance chamber (16) to obtain a predetermined degree of vacuum in the multichamber processing apparatus. To keep.

In the exhausted state, the valves 39, 41, and 45 of the cleaning gas supply system 35 are opened at a predetermined opening, and the mass flow controller 40 releases ClF ₃ gas. It is controlled at a predetermined flow rate, for example, 5 liters / minute or less, introduced into the processing chamber 2 through the pipe 33 and the gas dispersion supply unit 29, and the ClF ₃ gas is widely spread throughout the entire chamber. The pressure is maintained at a vacuum of 0.1 to 100 Torr.

At this time, the cleaning gas flows in from the processing chamber 2 and flows into the first transport chamber 4, and then continues to the other processing chambers 1 and 3 again. In addition, the vacuum reserve chambers 12, 13, and the second conveyance chamber 16 are also evacuated from the respective exhaust ports 511A, 61A, and 25 by the vacuum pump 59, and so on. Cleaning gas continues in the chamber. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning gas is introduced from one processing chamber, thereby spreading widely in the entire chamber, and the pressure of the cleaning gas is maintained at a predetermined value of, for example, 0.1 to 100 Torr.

Since the ClF ₃ gas spread throughout the entire chamber is a chemically active gas, tungsten-based coatings formed in the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, and these processing chambers 1, 2, and 3 ) And all other chambers are reacted with deposits attached in the process to remove their coatings and deposits.

Therefore, each chamber inside is cleaned cleanly.

In addition, since the reaction with the film or the like of the ClF ₃ gas is an exothermic reaction, the reaction of the ClF ₃ gas is gradually promoted by this heat generation, so that deposits such as the film can be effectively removed.

In particular, since the ClF ₃ gas reacts well with tungsten, in this embodiment, it is possible to effectively remove the tungsten-based deposits deposited in each chamber.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the cleaning gas is discharged to the outside through the exhaust system piping of each chamber, and therefore, as in each of the exhaust pipes, particularly the exhaust pipes 48 of the respective processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, Also for the part which is easy to form the film of reaction product, the film can be removed by a cleaning gas.

In addition, since the toxic gas exhausted from the exhaust system can be removed by the removal device 50, clean exhaustion can be performed.

In the case of the above-mentioned cleaning, ClF ₃ gas is completely spread even in the part where the plasma does not reach, such as the bottom of each chamber, which cannot be removed by the method of cleaning the interior using plasma such as NF ₃ gas. It can completely clean every corner of the system, and can completely clean all the chambers of the multi-chamber processing apparatus, which is expected to become the mainstream of the semiconductor integrated circuit device manufacturing apparatus composed of multi-layer wiring of 64M DRAM or more. It is possible to remove contaminants such as puticles, which are a problem in the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuit devices having an integration degree higher than DRAM.

In addition, since ClF ₃ gas has a low corrosiveness to the material and is plasmaless, even if it is an active gas, it is possible to perform very smooth cleaning without causing problems such as damaging the inside of the apparatus by plasma.

In addition, since the cleaning gas supply system 35 is provided as a cleaning system in the existing multichamber processing apparatus, only a slight improvement of the exhaust system is added, so that effective cleaning can be performed at a very low manufacturing cost.

As a matter of course, the cleaning time can be greatly shortened compared to the method in which the worker disassembles and cleans the device.

As another cleaning method, there is also a method of cleaning the inside of the processing apparatus by using a ClF ₃ gas and a plasma thereof.

In this cleaning method, a ClF ₃ gas is supplied into the processing chamber 2, for example, a plasma of ClF ₃ gas is generated in the processing chamber 2, and a susceptor (not shown) in the processing chamber 2 is generated by the plasma. While cleaning the electrode and its vicinity, the ClF ₃ gas is passed through the processing chamber 2 to the other processing chambers 1, 3, 1st conveyance chamber 4, vacuum reserve chamber 12, 13, and Supply to the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 is carried out. This makes it possible to clean all the chambers of the multichamber processing apparatus.

According to this method, even when the inner surface of the processing chamber 2, the susceptor, and the electrode are formed by the film forming process in the processing chamber 2, the susceptor and the electrode having particularly significant film formation are applied to the active species in the plasma of ClF ₃ gas. By removing the deposited film effectively, all other chambers are cleaned with ClF ₃ gas as described above.

At this time, the other susceptors and electrodes can be cleaned by the plasma of ClF ₃ similarly by generating plasma in the other process chambers 1 and 3 as well.

In this case as well, the cleaning time such as ClF ₃ gas can be plasma-formed in the process chamber 2 so that the film formed on the susceptor, the electrode, or the like can be removed by etching, without cleaning the device. Can be shortened and it can be made simple as it is at the time of operation.

In the above example, the use of ClF ₃ gas as the cleaning gas has been described. However, depending on the coating and the components of the deposit to remove the ClF ₃ gas, it can be appropriately diluted with nitrogen gas, and the activity thereof can be appropriately adjusted. .

In addition, in the above example, the cleaning gas is introduced from one processing chamber 2, and each of the processing chambers 1, 2, 3, and the vacuum preliminary chambers 12, 13, and the second transfer chamber 16 is introduced. Although the method of evacuating from the above was demonstrated, as shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning gas is introduce | transduced from one process chamber 2, and it exhausts only from the exhaust port 25 of the 2nd conveyance chamber 16, and the cleaning gas flows. You can make and clean. Further, the cleaning gas is supplied from all the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, and the exhaust system of each of the processing chambers 1, 2, 3, and the vacuum reserve chambers 12, 13 is supplied. You may make it exhaust from piping. In addition, the cleaning gas may be supplied from the first transport chamber 4, or the cleaning gas may be supplied from all the chambers.

Although the cleaning of the cassette chambers 20 and 21 has not been described, in the case of these chambers, the worker can easily clean the inside with the gate valves 26 and 27 open. Therefore, there is no need to use the cleaning method of the present invention.

If the cleaning method of the present invention is applied to the cleaning of the cassette chambers 20 and 21, the supply and exhaust ports for the cleaning gas may be provided in the cassette chambers 20 and 21 as described above. .

Next, another form of this invention is demonstrated.

The multichamber processing apparatus according to this aspect has a configuration substantially the same as that of the multichamber processing apparatus shown in Fig. 1, but the cleaning gas supply method is different.

That is, in this form, and then cut off the respective chamber with each other by closing the gate valve around the chamber of the multi-chamber processing apparatus, such as individually fed to the ClF ₃ gas to each chamber from a cleaning gas supply system as a cleaning gas Then, the gas is exhausted from each chamber to the outside, and metal deposits attached to the inside of each chamber are removed by the cleaning gas therebetween. 7 conceptually shows the flow of the cleaning gas at this time.

As shown in this figure, the piping of the cleaning gas supply system 35 branches with respect to all the chambers of the multichamber processing apparatus, and the branched piping is individually connected with respect to all the chambers, and the cleaning gas supply system 35 is carried out. ), The cleaning gas is supplied to all the chambers individually.

Each chamber is provided with a gas exhaust port, respectively, and the cleaning gas is exhausted to the outside from each gas exhaust port. That is, the piping from the cleaning gas supply system 35 is not only the process chambers 1, 2, and 3 but also the 1st conveyance chamber 4, the 2nd conveyance chamber 16, and the vacuum reserve chamber 12. And (13), and a cleaning gas is supplied to each of these chambers.

In order to realize such a cleaning gas flow, the multichamber processing apparatus of this type is configured as shown in FIG.

That is, a gas supply port 4A to which the pipe 33 from the cleaning gas supply system 35 is connected and a gas exhaust port 4B to be connected to the exhaust system of the vacuum reserve chamber are provided at the bottom of the first transport chamber 4. The gas supply port 25A to which the pipe 33 from the cleaning gas supply system 35 is connected to the bottom of the second conveyance chamber 16 and the gas exhaust port 25B to be connected to the exhaust system of the vacuum reserve chamber are provided. It is.

During this cleaning, first, the vacuum pumps 49 of the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3 and the vacuum pumps 59 of the vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13 are stored at room temperature higher than the boiling point of ClF ₃ . And exhaust the nitrogen gas from the processing chambers (1), (2), (3), the vacuum reserve chambers (12), (13), and the second conveyance chamber (16) to maintain the degree of vacuum in the multichamber processing apparatus. .

In the exhausted state, the valves 39, 41, and 45 of the cleaning gas supply system 35 are opened at predetermined openings, and the mass flow controller 40 releases ClF ₃ gas. A predetermined flow rate, for example, 5 liters / minute or less, is controlled and supplied through the pipe 33.

The gas dispersion supply part 29 of the process chamber 2 connected to this piping 33, the gas supply port of the other process chambers 1 and 3, the gas supply port 4A of the 1st conveyance chamber 4, and each Since the cleaning gas consumed by the cleaning from the gas exhaust ports 25B of the vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13 is always exhausted and updated by the vacuum exhaust pumps 49 and 59, the cleaning gas pressure in each chamber is updated. While keeping this at 0.1-100 Torr, each chamber can be cleaned individually by the fresh fresh cleaning gas efficiently.

In addition, since the cleaning gas supply port and the exhaust port are provided in the first transport chamber and the second transport chamber, the transport chamber that has not been sufficiently cleaned in the past can be almost completely cleaned.

In addition, in the above example, the cleaning gas is individually supplied from one cleaning gas supply system 35 to each chamber. However, the cleaning gas supply system may be several or may be attached to each chamber. . In the above example, the chambers other than the processing chamber have been described in which the gas supply port and the gas exhaust port of the cleaning gas are provided on the bottom of each chamber, but the locations and the number of the installation thereof can be set as appropriate.

Next, another form of this invention is demonstrated.

The multichamber processing apparatus according to this aspect also has a configuration substantially the same as that of the multichamber processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and includes three processing chambers 1, 2, and 3 around the first transport chamber 4. Is installed.

An example of a processing chamber used for this type of multichamber processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 9. Here, a thermal CVD apparatus for forming a tungsten film, for example, as a metal film is applied to the processing chamber 1.

This processing chamber 1 has a substantially cylindrical shape, for example, is formed of aluminum, and the inside thereof can be held at a predetermined vacuum degree. The first conveyance chamber 4 is connected to one side wall of the process chamber 1 via the gate valve 5.

In this processing chamber 1, a susceptor 80 made of, for example, aluminum for placing the wafer 8 thereon is supported by a support cylinder 81 raised from the bottom wall of the processing chamber 1. On the upper surface of the susceptor 80, an electrostatic chuck 82 connected to a DC power source (not shown) is provided, on which the wafer 8 is electrostatically absorbed.

A portion corresponding to the lower side of the susceptor 80 at the bottom of the processing chamber 1 is drilled, and a quartz window 83 is hermetically attached to the hole, and a halogen lamp 84 for heating thereunder. Is installed.

In the film forming process, the light from the halogen lamp 84 irradiates the back surface of the susceptor 80 through the window 83, and the light 8 indirectly heats the wafer 8 to a predetermined processing temperature. .

An exhaust port 85 is formed at the bottom of the processing chamber 1, and an exhaust pipe 86 is connected to the exhaust port 85, and the exhaust pipe 86 is connected to a vacuum pump 87. The exhaust system 88 is configured.

Then, the exhaust system 88 sucks the vacuum inside the processing chamber 1 as necessary.

On the other hand, in the ceiling of the processing chamber 1, for example, a circular mounting hole 91 for mounting the gas supply header 90 is provided.

The mounting hole 91 has a cylindrical shape, for example, into which a gas supply header 90 made of aluminum is inserted. A flange portion 92 is formed in the peripheral edge portion of the header 90. The flange portion 92 is supported by the ceiling of the processing chamber 1 via an O-ring 93, and in this state, the header 90 is formed. ) Is hermetically attached to the processing chamber 1.

The upper part of the gas supply header 90 is for supplying a processing gas supply system 100 for supplying a processing gas and a cleaning gas for supplying ClF-based gas such as ClF, Cl _F , ClF _5, etc. as a cleaning gas. The cleaning gas supply system 110 is independently connected each other.

In the supply header 90, the partition plate 94, the diffusion plate 95, and the rectification plate 96 are sequentially arranged from the lower side in the example shown in the horizontal direction, and three chambers 97A, It is divided into (97B) and (97C).

A central hole 94A is formed in the center of the partition plate 94, and a plurality of diffusion holes 95A are formed in the diffuser plate 95 to be distributed over the entire surface thereof. A plurality of rectifying holes 96A are formed to be distributed over the entire surface thereof.

In this case, the diameter of the diffusion hole 95A is set in a range of about 0.2 to 1.5 mm and is dispersed at a small density, whereas the diameter of the rectifying hole 96A is about 0.5 to 2.0 mm larger than the diffusion hole 95A. It is set in the range of and is dispersed in a large density.

Moreover, the diameter of the hole 94A which communicates with each other is set in the range of about 0.5-3.0 mm. Then, by varying the hole diameter and the hole distribution, pressure differences are formed in the upper and lower chambers, and variously introduced processing gases are evenly mixed, and are evenly supplied on the wafer surface.

For this reason, when the diameter of the wafer 8 is about 200 mm, the diameter of the rectifying plate 96 is set smaller or larger than this, for example, about 220-230 mm.

In addition, the diffusion plate 95 or the rectifying plate 96 may be provided in multiple stages by increasing the number.

The inner and outer surfaces of the supply header 40, the partition plate 94, the diffusion plate 95, the rectifying plate 96 and the inner surfaces of the processing chamber 1 are the back surfaces for preventing the ClF-based gas from adsorbing during cleaning. Polishing treatment is performed.

In the present embodiment, the process gas supply system 100 includes the first and second process gas introduction ports 101 connected to the supply header 90 for introducing two kinds of process gases by forming a tungsten film. Each of these ports is provided with first and second port opening / closing valves 101A and 102A, respectively.

First and second mass flow controllers 105A, 105B and first and second open / close valves 106A and (A) as flow control valves in the first and second process gas introduction ports 101 and 102, respectively. The first and second process gas sources 107A and 107B are respectively connected via 106B.

In this example, WF ₆ is used as the first processing gas, and any one of H ₂ , SiH _4, and Si ₂ H ₆ is used as the second processing gas.

9 shows SiH ₄ .

Further, branch pipes 108A and 108B are provided in the first and second process gas introduction pipes 103 and 104, respectively, and branch pipes 108A and 108B are respectively provided. Third and fourth mass flow controllers 105C, 105D and third and fourth on-off valves 106C, 106D are provided, and are commonly connected to the first nitrogen source 109 as inert gas sources, respectively. As will be described later, nitrogen gas as an inert gas flows from the nitrogen source 109 during cleaning.

On the other hand, it has the said cleaning gas introduction port 111, This port 111 is provided with the cleaning gas port opening / closing valve 111A.

The cleaning gas introduction pipe 112 connected to the cleaning gas introduction port 111 is connected to the cleaning gas source 115 via a mass flow controller 113 and an opening / closing valve 114 serving as a flow control valve on the way. As a gas, ClF-based gas, for example, ClF ₃ gas, can be exhausted and supplied by bubbling.

The cleaning gas introduction pipe 112 is provided with a branch pipe 116 on the way, and the branch pipe 116 is provided with a second nitrogen source 119 through the mass flow controller 117 and the sixth open / close valve 118F. It is connected, and the cleaning gas can be diluted as needed by the nitrogen gas of the 2nd nitrogen source 119, and the density | concentration can be controlled.

Each of the mass flow controllers, opening / closing valves, and the like are controlled based on a program stored in advance by the control unit 120 configured of, for example, a microprocessor.

ClF-based gas used as a cleaning gas, such as ClF _3, has a boiling point of about + 17 ° C. and is liquefied depending on the operating temperature.

Therefore, at the time of supply, the liquid ClF ₃ is vaporized and supplied by bubbling while heating, but when this gas liquefies in the supply system, much time is wasted in order to recover the supply system, and the operation rate of the apparatus is lowered. Thus, in order to prevent the liquefaction of the cleaning gas, the cleaning gas introduction pipe 112 is provided with heating means 121 for preventing liquefaction, for example, formed by winding a heating tape over the entire passage. A temperature gradient is added by gradually increasing the temperature along the flow direction.

On the other hand, the inner wall surface of the processing chamber 1 and the outer wall surface of the processing gas supply header 90 are surface polished to prevent adhesion of ClF ₃ gas, but this also prevents the gas from being completely attached. no.

Thus, in order to almost completely prevent the adhesion of ClF ₃ gas, the header gas heating means 122 is provided in the process gas supply header 90. As shown in FIG. 10, the header heating means 122 is formed by a media passage 123 and a ceramic heater 124 formed over the entire header side wall, and the media passage 123 has a maximum temperature of 100 ° C. In order to flow hot water, and to heat at a temperature higher than that, by energizing the ceramic heater 124, for example, it is heated to the range of about 100 to 200 degreeC.

In addition, the medium passage 123 is branched from the introduction side to the hot water side and the cold water side to 2, and hot water and cold water are required by operating the switching valves 125 and 126 by instructions from the control unit 120. It is configured to selectively flow in accordance with, and to form a film on the header 90 by cooling the header 90 by flowing cold water during film formation.

Moreover, the wall part heating means 127 of the same structure as the header heating means 122 is provided also in the wall part of the process chamber 1, and this heating means 127 also has the ceramic heater 128 and the medium passage 129. is constituted by a, and this is attached to the ClF ₃ gas in film formation and the cleaning of the inner wall face by being for heating the wall portion is prevented by the.

The exhaust pipe 86 is provided with exhaust heating means 89 formed by, for example, winding the heating tape over the entire passage, thereby enabling the exhaust pipe 86 to be heated during cleaning.

In addition, the process gas supply system 100 and the cleaning gas supply system 110 are separately provided in the other process chambers 2 and 3 similarly to the process chamber 1, and the process gas supply header 90 heats a header. The means 122 is provided with the same wall part heating means 127 in the wall part of a process chamber.

Also in this embodiment, the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, as well as the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, as well as the first transport chamber 4, the second transport chamber 16, the first and the first, 2 Since the cleaning gas is supplied to the vacuum reserve chambers 12 and 13 and the first and second cassette chambers 20 and 21 as necessary, the multichamber processing apparatus is cleaned, so that these first The cleaning gas supply system and the vacuum exhaust system are connected to the second conveyance chambers 4, 16, and the first and second cassette chambers 20, 21, similarly to the processing chamber.

Moreover, in this multichamber processing apparatus, the wall part heating means 127 is provided also in the wall part of each chamber, and the conveyance apparatus 9 of the 1st and 2nd conveyance chambers 4 and 16 was carried out. In the arm portions 9A and 23A of (23), as shown in FIG. 11, the heater 130 is filled, and these are heated at the time of cleaning, and the ClF system gas is prevented from adhering to them. do.

And the member in each of these chambers is also comprised from the above-mentioned material which is corrosion-resistant to ClF system gas. For example, the arm parts 9A, 23A, etc. of the conveyance mechanisms 9 and 23 are comprised from Teflon (brand name).

In the present invention, since a ClF-based gas is used as the cleaning gas, a portion of the gas, for example, the inner wall of the processing chamber 1, the susceptor 80, the electrostatic chuck 82, and the like, are contained in the ClF-based gas. It must be composed of corrosive material and used at the corrosion resistance temperature of the material.

As such a material, polyimide, silicone rubber, or the like cannot be used, and ceramic-based materials such as SiC and aluminum, Teflon, quartz glass (200 ° C. or less), carbon (300 ° C. or less), and the like can be used.

In the case of forming an electrostatic chuck with the above-described material, for example, quartz glass, the conductive film is formed so as to sandwich the sandwich by quartz glass.

Table 1 shows the materials that can be used in the ClF-based gas atmosphere.

TABLE 1

Moreover, since it has a rotational drive part like the 1st and 2nd conveyance mechanisms 9 and 23 mentioned above, the part which should use a lubricating agent conventionally used fluorine grease, for example, but this is ClF type | system | group. Because it is corroded by gas, we cannot use. Therefore, instead of fluorine-based grease, a lubricant having high corrosion resistance against ClF-based gas, for example, hornbrine grease, is used.

However, even when materials having corrosion resistance to ClF-based gas are used, the susceptor 80 and the like are consumed slightly by cleaning. Therefore, in accordance with the number of cleaning circuits such as the susceptor 80, the replacement time of the parts consumed by the cleaning gas is stored in advance in the control unit 120, and at the time when the cleaning of the set number of times is completed, the display device 120A ), Information of the replacement instruction is displayed. In other words, the consumption of parts by one cleaning is measured in advance, and based on this, the cleaning count until the limit consumption is reached, and this is programmed in advance.

Moreover, it goes without saying that the number of cleanings up to this replacement needs to be determined individually by each component.

In addition, since the ClF-based gas used as the cleaning gas is very dangerous to the human body or the like, care must be taken. Therefore, in some chambers of the multichamber processing apparatus, for example, the cassette chamber 20. , (21), first and second conveyance chambers (4), (16) and the like are each provided with a gas detector port, whereby when the gas concentration is detected to be below a predetermined value, Is done. In particular, such a gas detection mechanism is necessarily provided in the cassette chambers 20 and 21 which may be opened to the atmosphere alone immediately after.

12 shows a gas detector opening 131 provided in the cassette chamber 21.

Moreover, the gas detector mechanism provided in the other part is comprised similarly. The gas detector opening 131 includes a suction pipe 132 passed through the cassette chamber 21, a Cl gas detector 133 and an F gas detector 134 provided in the middle of the suction pipe 132. Therefore, by exhausting the inside of the cassette chamber 21 by the suction pump 135, the concentration of Cl gas and F gas is detected by these detection parts. In addition, these detection parts 133 and 134 may be provided in a vacuum exhaust machine.

The outputs of the detection units 133 and 134 are input to the calculation unit 136 to obtain a gas concentration, and the outputs are input to the control unit 120 described above. The control unit 120 also inputs detection values from other gas detector ports. And the control part 120 respond | corresponds to each gate valve in response to the time when it detected that Cl gas concentration and F gas concentration from all the gas detector ports became concentrations which do not harm a human body, for example several ppm, respectively. The open permission signal S1 is output toward the driver 137.

Then, the actuator for opening and closing the gate 27 of the second cassette chamber 21, for example, the air cylinder 138, is driven by the command from the driving unit 137, whereby the gate 27 The cassette cassette 21 is opened to the atmosphere. In addition, the place where the interlock mechanism 131 is provided in order to prevent the malfunction during the opening operation is provided in the cassette chambers 20, 21, the first and the second conveyance chambers 4, and 16, respectively. It is not limited to this, and you may provide in the vacuum preliminary chamber 12, 13, and process chambers 1, 2, and 3.

Also in this type of multichamber processing apparatus, the processing operation is performed as in the conventional form.

Here, for example, a tungsten film is formed in the processing chamber 1, and then titanium is formed in the processing chamber 3.

In the formation of a tungsten film in the processing chamber 1, the susceptor 80 is first heated by the light energy from the halogen lamp 84, and the wafer 8 placed thereon is maintained at a predetermined processing temperature. .

At the same time, the inside of the processing chamber 1 is vacuumed by the vacuum pump 36, and the first processing gas from the first processing gas source 107A and the second processing gas from the second processing gas source 107B, While controlling the flow rate, the film is introduced into the processing chamber 1 to maintain the internal atmosphere at a predetermined processing pressure and to form a film.

In this example, for example, WF ₆ is used as the first processing gas and SiH ₄ is used as the second processing gas, and diluted or diluted to a predetermined concentration by nitrogen gas from the first processing gas source 109. Rather they are introduced into the mixing chamber 97A at the top of the supply header 90, respectively. The two kinds of processing gases introduced into the mixing chamber 97A are introduced into the diffusion chamber 97A at the lower end thereof through the holes 94A of the partition plate 94 while being mixed therein. This mixed gas is introduced into the rectification chamber 97C at the lower end through the diffusion hole 95A of the diffusion plate 95, and then through the rectification hole 96A of the rectification plate 96 to the entire wafer surface. It is supplied uniformly over. In this case, since the processing gases introduced to the header are mixed while gradually expanding in various chambers, two types of processing gases can be mixed uniformly, and the diameter of the lowermost rectifying plate 96 is changed to the wafer W. FIG. Since the diameter is set slightly larger than the diameter, the mixed processing gas can be uniformly supplied over the wafer surface.

When the temperature of the processing gas supply header 90 and the temperature of the inner wall of the processing container 1 become high at the time of the film forming process, the reaction product is formed on this wall surface other than the wafer surface. In order to prevent this, the medium passage 123 of the heating means 122 installed in the supply header 90 and the medium passage 128 of the wall heating means 127 provided in the wall of the processing container 1 are each weakened in the process. A coolant made of cold water of about 15 ° C. is flowed to cool the supply header 90 or the wall of the processing vessel so that no film is formed thereon.

Such cooling operation is similarly performed during the process in the other processing chambers 2 and 3, whereby the film is prevented from sticking to unnecessary portions.

As described above, a film is formed in each processing chamber as described above, or a puticle due to it is generated, so that cleaning is performed in the apparatus.

In this embodiment, each chamber of the multichamber processing apparatus may be cleaned at a time, or a specific processing chamber, a conveying chamber, or the like may be individually.

Hereinafter, the case where the whole multichamber processing apparatus is cleaned at once is described.

By the completion of the film forming process, the on / off valves of the processing gas supply system 100 of the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3 are closed, and the supply of the processing gas supplied to the corresponding processing apparatus is stopped.

In this state, when the gate valves that close each space are hermetically closed, undesired airflow is generated internally by the differential pressure existing in each space, for example, causing scattering of puticles and the like.

For this reason, an inert gas, for example, N ₂ gas, flows into each chamber individually in a state where each gate valve is closed, that is, in a state in which each chamber is kept empty.

When N ₂ gas flows into the vacuum preliminary chambers of the respective processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, the first nitrogen source 109 of each processing gas supply system 100 connected thereto (see Fig. 9). It is supplied from the 2nd nitrogen source 119 in each cleaning gas supply system 110.

Moreover, when gas flows into the 1st conveyance chamber 4, the 2nd conveyance chamber 16, the cassette chamber 20, 21, and the vacuum reserve chambers 12, 13, it connects to each chamber. From the nitrogen source of the cleaned cleaning gas supply system.

In this way, if nitrogen gas is introduced and each room has the same pressure, for example, an atmospheric pressure N ₂ atmosphere, the gate valves 5, 6, 7, and 19 that partition each space are provided. 11), (14), (15), (18) and (19) are opened, and all the chambers of the multichamber processing apparatus are connected to each other to form one space.

The state at this time is shown in FIG. In this state, the gates 26 and 27 of the cassette chambers 20 and 21 are closed and are not opened to the atmosphere.

Subsequently, cleaning is performed by flowing a cleaning gas containing ClF-based gas, for example, ClF ₃ gas, into the multichamber processing apparatus. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13, the cleaning gas is introduce | transduced from the process chambers 1, 2, and 3, and this diffuses into the whole multichamber processing apparatus.

It is exhausted out of the system from each vacuum exhaust machine 140 of the cassette chambers 20 and 21 which are downstream. That is, it is generated by ClF ₃ gas bubbling from the cleaning gas source 115 (see FIG. 9) of the cleaning gas supply system 110 connected to the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, which is mass flow. The flow rate is controlled by the controller 113 and is supplied into the process gas supply header 90 from the cleaning gas introduction port 111 through the cleaning gas introduction pipe 112.

This cleaning gas flows down inside the supply header 90 and flows into the process chamber 1, and opens while removing it in correspondence with the film formation or film pieces attached to the header wall surface, the process chamber inner wall, the susceptor 81, or the like. It flows into the 1st conveyance chamber 4 through the gate valve 75 which was provided.

Similarly, other treatment chamber (2), ClF ₃ gas to the cleaning on the inner flows within the 3 degree and the flow into the first conveying chamber 4, and joining herein.

ClF ₃ gas which flowed in and joined this 1st conveyance chamber 4 flows into the two vacuum preliminary chambers 12 and 13 through the gate valves 10 and 11 which are then opened, and the gate It flows into the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 through the valve 14 and 15. As shown in FIG. Subsequently, the ClF ₃ gas branches and flows to the cassette chambers 20 and 21 through the gate valves 18 and 19, and is finally vacuumed and discharged from the vacuum exhaust machine 140 of each cassette chamber. .

In this way, the cleaning is carried out, as in the previous example, as well as the film attached to the inner wall of each processing chamber and the like, as well as during the processing of the finished wafer transfer, for example, the first peeling chamber is peeled off at the time of receiving the wafer. (4) The flakes suspended in the second conveyance chamber 16, the vacuum reserve chambers 12, 13, the cassette chambers 20, 21, or the flakes settled to the bottom can be quickly and efficiently. Can be removed by cleaning.

Therefore, the productivity of semiconductor products can be greatly improved.

In this case, the flow rate of the ClF ₃ gas from each cleaning gas supply system is set to 5 liters / minute or less, for example, while supplying nitrogen gas from the nitrogen source 119 of each supply system while controlling the flow rate, Dilute the cleaning gas.

In addition, the pressure inside the apparatus at the time of this cleaning is demonstrated in the range of 0.1-100 Torr, for example.

Here, ClF ₃ gas is formed on the inner wall surface of the header or the processing chamber, the first transport chamber 4, the second transport chamber 16, the vacuum reserve chambers 12, 13, the cassette chamber 20, and the inner wall 21 of the chamber. If it adheres to the back or the like, ClF ₃ gas separated from the wall surface enters into the film formed during the film formation process or during conveyance of the semiconductor wafer, which is formed after the cleaning process, and causes film defects.

Thus, each part is heated to prevent adhesion of ClF ₃ gas to the wall surface. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the medium passage 124 of the header heating means 122 provided in the supply header 90 and the medium passage 129 of the wall heating means 127 provided in the wall portion are used as heat medium. For example, hot water at about 80 ° C. is flowed to heat the supply header 90 or the wall of the processing chamber 1.

In this case, when heating to a higher temperature, the ceramic heaters 124 and 128 are energized. The susceptor 80 and its vicinity can be heated to a predetermined temperature by a halogen lamp 84 used to heat the semiconductor wafer.

Cleaning temperature at this time is, for example, is set in the boiling temperature of a temperature range of 17 ℃ ~ 700 ℃ of the ClF ₃ gas.

Heating in such cleaning is performed similarly to the above in other processing chambers 2 and 3 and also in other chambers, such as a conveyance chamber.

Moreover, the conveyance apparatuses 9 and 23 of the 1st conveyance chamber 4 and the 2nd conveyance chamber 16 are the predetermined | prescribed mentioned above by the heater 130 provided in arm part 9A, 23A. Heated within the temperature range.

In this case, the heating temperature is, of course, set in a range such that the material used is not corroded to the ClF ₃ gas.

In this way, the supply header of the processing apparatus, the wall of the processing chamber, the transfer chamber, the vacuum reserve chamber, the wall of the cassette chamber, and the like are heated during the cleaning operation, so that the cleaning gas does not adhere to the walls of each of these chambers. In the film formation process to be resumed later, ClF ₃ gas, which is a cause of defects, does not enter the film during film formation, and productivity can be greatly improved.

In addition, during this cleaning operation, a part of the cleaning gas is exhausted by the exhaust system 88 connected to each processing chamber. At this time, the exhaust pipe heating means 89 also heats the entire exhaust pipe 86. Thereby, the film adhering to the inner wall of the exhaust pipe 86 at the time of film formation can also be removed efficiently, so that the inside of the processing chamber can be cleaned and the exhaust system can be cleaned.

In particular, since the exhaust pipe 86 is heated to a temperature higher than room temperature, for example, about 50 to 200 ° C by the heating means 89, the film formed by the cleaning gas can be efficiently removed.

In the processing chambers (1), (2), and (3), while the cleaning gas flows, nitrogen gas is used as the inert gas from the first nitrogen source 109 installed in the processing gas supply system 100, and the first and second processing gases are used. It is supplied into the gas supply header 90 through both introduction pipes 103 and 104.

In this case, the nitrogen gas supply pressure is set slightly higher than the supply pressure of the cleaning gas so that the cleaning gas does not flow back into the first and second processing gas introduction ports 101 and 102.

In this way, the cleaning gas flows from the first and second process gas introduction ports 101 and 102 to the process gas introduction pipes 103 and 104 by flowing an inert gas into each process gas supply system 100 during the cleaning process. ) Can be prevented from flowing back, and the cleaning gas can be prevented from adhering to the inner surface thereof.

Therefore, by this way, there is no work on film formed from the film-forming process is resumed after cleaning ends coming into the ClF ₃ gas, it is possible to increase productivity even with each other eoulryeoseo as to heat parts of the above header and a wall.

However, when the above-mentioned cleaning process is performed, this ClF ₃ gas is very rich in reactivity, and thus not only removes unnecessary film formation, but also reacts with components such as susceptor although slightly. Therefore, these parts are damaged and worn by the ClF-based gas.

Here, as described above, the program is pre-programmed so as to output an instruction to replace the consumables or components with new ones after a predetermined number of cleaning operations are performed to the control unit 120 for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus. .

Therefore, in response to the cleaning operation described above being performed a predetermined number of times, the control unit 120 outputs a replacement command for the corresponding consumable or component, which is displayed on the display device 120A.

The number of cleanings until such replacement is generally different for each consumable and each component, and is determined individually.

In order to determine the number of cleaning until replacement, the amount of consumption or damage for each part caused by one cleaning is measured in advance, and based on this, the number of cleaning until the limit consumption or limit damage for each part is reached is determined. do.

For example, the susceptor 80 and the support member 81, which are components, are programmed in the control unit 120 so that an exchange command is output in 50 to 200 times.

In this way, the amount of consumption and damage caused by one cleaning is determined in advance, and the replacement time of the consumables and components is informed based on this, so that the member can be replaced at an appropriate time.

Therefore, the process for checking the state of consumption or damage can be eliminated as in the prior art, the maintenance and maintenance of the apparatus can be efficiently performed, and the operation rate and throughput of the apparatus can also be improved.

In addition, by applying such a method to the multichamber processing apparatus, the operation of the apparatus itself is not stopped in order to check the consumption amount or damage amount, the operation rate of the entire apparatus is greatly improved, and the throughput is further improved.

In particular, by applying the above-described treatment method using ClF ₃ gas to the cluster future, which improves the mass production of semiconductor devices, it is possible to achieve a great effect by improving productivity by a large reduction in regular maintenance time.

In the future, as FA or unattended semiconductor factories have progressed, cleaning techniques have become more important. By adopting the above-described cleaning method, it is possible to contribute to the realization of a highly productive semiconductor factory.

In this way, after the cleaning operation is completed and the supply of the cleaning gas is stopped, the ClF ₃ gas remaining in each room needs to be reliably discharged for the film forming process performed continuously. For this reason, here, the vacuum exhaust system 88 is continuously driven, and the supply / stop of, for example, nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas as the inert gas is repeated several times.

In other words, while the vacuum exhaust system 88 of each chamber is driven to the maximum of its capacity and vacuum suctioned, as shown in FIG. 14, the supply and stop of the N ₂ gas, which is an inert gas, are repeated several times (here, 10 times).

At this time, the supply period T1 of the N ₂ gas is set to about 10 to 30 seconds, and the supply stop time T2 is set to about 30 to 60 seconds, for example.

At this time, the N ₂ gas is supplied from the nitrogen source of the processing gas supply system or the cleaning gas supply system by opening and closing the valves from the nitrogen source of the cleaning gas supply system in the transfer chamber, vacuum reserve chamber, and cassette chamber.

Since the supply and stop of the N ₂ gas are repeated while the vacuum suction is performed in this manner, the ClF ₃ gas attached to the inner wall of the container is released by the impact at this time, and the remaining ClF ₃ gas is discharged. Can be approximately completely excluded from within.

As a result, it is possible to prevent the ClF ₃ gas from entering during the film forming process performed subsequently, and further improve the productivity of the product.

In this case, the number of times the supply and stop of the N ₂ gas is repeated is not limited to 10 times, but may be appropriately set as necessary.

In addition, the supply of N ₂ gas, by impact at the time of supply of N ₂ gas to effective separation of the ClF ₃ gas is preferably initiated when the pressure in the inside of each room, for example about × 10 ^-3 Torr.

When the multichamber processing apparatus is opened to the atmosphere, the supply of cleaning gas is stopped, and each chamber is disposed in each chamber after the supply and exhaust of the N ₂ gas are repeated; It is found by the gas detection mechanism 131 that the gas concentration is equal to or less than the set reference value, and the air is opened after safety is confirmed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 12, by driving the suction pump 135, for example, the atmosphere in the cassette chamber 21 is discharged through the suction pipe 132, and Cl gas detectors 133 and F provided in the middle of the suction chamber 132 are installed. Each gas concentration is detected by the gas detector 134, and the result is transmitted to the calculation unit 136 to obtain each concentration.

The obtained gas concentrations are input to the control unit 120, where gas concentrations from other gas detection means are also input.

The control part 120 outputs the opening permission signal S1 toward the drive part 137, when it determines with the gas detection mechanism that Cl and F gas concentrations became below the predetermined safety reference value.

The driving unit 137 receives the open signal S2 to drive the air cylinder 138, and opens the gate 27 to open to the atmosphere.

In this case, since the interlock mechanism 131 is provided in order to prevent malfunction, the air cylinder 138 does not operate when the open permission signal S1 is not input even when the open signal S2 is received. And the gate 27 does not open.

In this way, when the air cylinder is not opened by the interlock, a buzzer or the like not shown may be sounded for alerting.

As described above, when the multichamber processing apparatus is opened to the atmosphere after cleaning, the ClF ₃ gas with high risk can be safely handled because the cleaning gas component in the internal atmosphere gas is released to the atmosphere in response to the safety level being lower than the safe value. Can be.

In particular, the gas detector port 131 for detecting the concentration of ClF ₃ gas is provided at least in the chambers that may be directly open to the atmosphere alone, that is, in the cassette chambers 20 and 21 in the present embodiment. Very high safety can be obtained.

In addition, it is preferable that such cleaning operation be programmed in advance in the control unit 120 so as to be automatically executed every time a predetermined number of wafers are processed.

For example, in the processing chambers 1, 2, and 3, every time the predetermined number of sheets, for example, one lot 25 sheets, is processed, the entire apparatus assembly is automatically cleaned in the manner described above. The number of treatments in this case is not limited to 25 sheets, but is determined according to the circumstances of the film formation amount.

In this case, how much film-forming is formed in the unnecessary part by one film-forming process etc. is gathered as data beforehand, and based on this, the number of processes to clean is determined.

In the above example, the entire multichamber processing apparatus is cleaned at once, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, only the gate valve 5 is closed in FIG. 13 so that only the first processing chamber 1 is placed between the sealed chambers. In the processing chamber 1, a normal film forming process, for example, a tungsten film forming process is performed, and at the same time, the other process chambers 2, 3 and the transfer chamber, the vacuum preliminary chamber, the cassette chamber, etc. may be cleaned. good.

By doing in this way, only the process chamber in which the unnecessary film adhered to the inner wall multiplely can be cleaned separately, and the whole operation rate can be improved and a throughput can be improved significantly.

Such selective cleaning can be performed in any of each process chamber.

In the above example, cleaning was performed with ClF ₃ gas having the same concentration or dilution rate through each space. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Depending on the degree, the concentration of ClF ₃ gas may be set to an optimum value for cleaning.

Typically, the etch rate of the concentration and the deposition of the ClF ₃ gas, since it is proportional to the concentration of ClF ₃ gas, about the number of unwanted film deposition quantity chamber, in particular the treatment chamber to increase the ClF ₃ gas concentration, whereas in the transport chamber and the cassette chamber Set the ClF ₃ gas concentration low.

The state at this time is shown in FIG.

That is, in the cleaning process, the gates 26, 27, the gate valves 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, Open all the doors (19) and leave each room individually closed. In this case, if there are several threads for setting the concentration of ClF ₃ gas to the same value, the threads may be made to pass through each other.

Then, the individual vacuum pumping system 88 is installed in each room, 140, 141, and the 142 driving, while the vacuum suction from each of the cleaning gas supply system 110 are installed respectively in separate each chamber ClF ₃ The cleaning gas including the flows from the cleaning gas source 115 (see FIG. 9). In this case, an inert gas for dilution, that is, N ₂ gas, flows from the second nitrogen source 119 provided in the cleaning gas source 115, and is set to an optimal ClF ₃ gas concentration determined by the control unit 120. .

As a result, each chamber can be cleaned by ClF ₃ gas set to an optimal concentration, and thus, optimal cleaning can be simultaneously performed on each chamber without causing an optimal cleaning or lack of cleaning. The cleaning efficiency can be further improved by shortening the temperature.

In the case of determining the concentration of the ClF ₃ gas, the corrosion resistance of the member used in the room to be cleaned is also determined in consideration, so that the member can be protected at the same time.

Then, the gas containing F and Cl is used as a cleaning gas in the present invention will be described with respect to the results of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the ClF ₃ gas.

First, the characteristic of ClF ₃ is that the binding energy of Cl-F is very small, 253.6 KJ / mol. This indicates that active species can be generated with only thermal energy without the aid of plasma. Table 2 shows the physical properties of this ClF ₃ .

TABLE 2

Molecular Weight 92.45

CAS No. 7790-91-2

Melting point -76.3 ℃

Boiling Point 11.75 ℃

Critical temperature 174 ℃

Critical pressure 57atm

Heat of fusion 1819.3cal / mol

Evaporation Heat 6580cal / mol

ΔH ° ₂₉₈ -37.97cal / mol

ΔG ° ₂₉₈ -28.41cal / mol

△ S ° ₂₉₈ 67.3cal / moldeg

CP ° ₂₉₈ 15.28cal / moldeg

Although it depends on the film forming temperature of the film forming apparatus, for example, in the case of using a hot well-type vertically placed CVD apparatus, since a temperature range of 500 ° C. or higher, for example, 620 ° C. is generally used, ClF ₃ is used as the etching gas. When used, no special thermal energy needs to be given, which is a big merit.

In addition, although ClF ₃ is a liquefied gas and care must be taken for its handling method, considering that the liquefied gas commonly referred to as diclosisilane is routinely used in the silicon nitride film process, this is not a problem.

Fig. 16 shows the vapor pressure curve of ClF ₃ , which shows a temperature of about 13 ° C., an increase pressure of 1 Kg / cm 2, and a liquid state at room temperature.

Here, the etching rate for each reactive film species of ClF ₃ gas was examined. The results are shown in Table 3 and FIGS. 17 and 18.

TABLE 3

Table 3 shows the time required to perform the operation described in each item at the time of cleaning maintenance. FIG. 17 shows the total time when each cleaning operation shown in FIG. 3 was performed. In FIG. 17, it is confirmed that cleaning with ClF ₃ gas can reliably shorten the cleaning operation time as compared with conventional wet cleaning.

FIG. 18 shows a thermal oxide film (SiO ₂ ) formed by polysilicon (poly-Si), a silicon nitride film (SiN ₄ ), and an oxidation furnace formed by CVD (LP-CVD) using a vertical heat treatment furnace. The etching rate by ClF ₃ with respect to Ox) is shown.

Depending on the temperature, the general temperature used for LP-CVD, that is, the polysilicon nitride film represented by the curve A and the curve B above 500 ° C., a large enough etching rate from one row to two or more rows compared to the thermal oxide film Is obtained.

This is sufficient etching rate for the thermal oxide film (SiO ₂₎ indicated by the curve C is not obtained with respect to the.

From this point, it is confirmed that a sufficiently large etching selectivity can be obtained between the polysilicon, silicon nitride film and the thermal oxide film.

Therefore, when using ClF ₃ , it was confirmed from the grabpo shown in FIG. 18 to minimize the damage to quartz (SiO ₂ ) which is generally used as a reaction tube for hot wool LP-CVD.

Here, the evaluation about the hand conveyance provided by the ClF ₃ gas to the quartz reaction tube will be described.

The loss of acid with respect to quartz when the gas cleaning method which flows a cleaning gas and the conventional wet cleaning method was compared was evaluated.

The evaluation procedure and the result are shown below.

As an evaluation procedure, first, each quartz test piece is put into two quartz reaction tubes, and each film is formed by CVD under the same process conditions. The quartz test piece was cleaned by flowing a ClF ₃ cleaning gas while maintaining the process temperature in one quartz reaction tube, and then the surface roughness of the test piece was measured.

Moreover, about another quartz reaction tube, after film-forming, it took time to cool down to room temperature, the conventional wet cleaning was performed to the quartz test piece in it, and the surface roughness of the test piece was measured after that.

The results are shown in Figs. 19A to 19D. 19A and 19B show the surface roughness before and after the test of the wet cleaning test piece, respectively, and FIGS. 19C and 19D show the surface roughness before and after the test of the test piece for ClF ₃ gas cleaning.

In the wet cleaning method, as shown in FIG. 19B, microcracks were observed as indicated by the point P1 on the quartz surface, but in the ClF ₃ gas cleaning method, as shown in FIG. 19D, the surface before deposition was shown in FIG. 19C. It was confirmed that the surface roughness was approximately equal to the roughness.

Cracks in wet cleaning are thought to be microcracks generated on the quartz surface during the low temperature to room temperature because the coefficient of linear expansion of the CVD film is different from that of quartz.

If such invisible microcracks are deposited, the vacuum leads to the destruction of the quartz reaction tube.

Therefore, it is derived that cleaning ClF ₃ gas in a temperature range close to the reaction temperature, that is, without causing a large temperature change, is very effective as a method of minimizing damage to the quartz reaction tube.

The following describes the putty made larger evaluation of the ClF ₃ gas cleaning.

After the etching condition optimization of the ClF ₃ gas cleaning, since a large evaluation putty, it shows the result. This evaluation is a repeat of film formation and ClF ₃ gas cree in the same quartz reaction tube.

The evaluation means in FIG. 10 and the results are shown in FIG.

In this evaluation procedure, as shown in Fig. 10, first, the quartz reaction tube was wet-washed by HF (ST1), and then subjected to N ₂ empty sequences with respect to the bare wafer, and the putty was twice. (ST2).

Subsequently, the wafer is precoated with a polysilicon film having a thickness of 1 µm (ST3), and the surface of the surface is double checked (ST4).

Further, polysilicon is deposited to a thickness of 9 占 퐉 on the wafer (ST5), and the surface of the surface is double checked (ST6).

Subsequently, the cleaning process of the ClF ₃ gas is performed (ST7), and the putty check is performed four times (ST8). Then, returning from ST8 to ST3, the same operation is repeated several times, for example, four times.

The results, Fig. 21a, Fig. 21b, and shown in, after the wet cleaning, ClF ₃ gas after cleaning, runs out from each increase in the large putty is not seen, there is shown a favorable value.

Therefore, when considering the operation of the production plant without a wet cleaning, it was found that the continuous operation as ClF ₃ gas cleaned only possible.

Next, evaluation of the termination will be described.

Conventionally, introduction of etching gas into the CVD reaction chamber is not performed, because this is because the stainless steel manifold in the reaction tube is corroded by ClF ₃ . This is because the contamination of the wafer by chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F) remaining in the reaction tube is also concerned.

Thus, evaluation of the termination in the case of using ClF ₃ as the cleaning gas was performed.

The evaluation procedure at this time first forms a sample A by forming polysilicon having a thickness of 1 탆 on the bare wafer accommodated in the reaction tube, and then cleans the reaction tube with ClF ₃ gas.

Subsequently, after this cleaning process, polysilicon having a thickness of 1 탆 was formed on a new bare wafer to make Sample B.

In addition, at the time of film-forming, sample C is formed by forming a film of 1 micrometer thick on the new bare wafer using a film of 1 micrometer thick also on the inner wall of the film forming tube.

These samples A, B, and C were subjected to a cloud analysis by SIMS (Secondary Ion Spectrometry), and the results shown in FIGS. 22A to 22C and 23A to 23C were obtained.

22A to 22C are graphs showing the conte evaluation of Fe, FIG. 22A shows the cross-sectional profile of sample A, FIG. 22B shows the cross-sectional profile of sample B, and FIG. 22C shows the cross-sectional profile of sample C, respectively.

23A to 23C are graphs showing the evaluation of the interface of Cl and F, FIG. 23A is a cross-sectional profile of Sample A, FIG. 23B is a cross-sectional profile of Sample B, and FIG. 23C is a cross-sectional profile of Sample C, respectively. Indicates.

The results shown in FIG. 22 showed that the Fe component was lower than the reference value in all of the samples A, B, and C, and there was no problem with respect to iron (Fe), which is the main component of stainless steel.

That is, since ClF ₃ is a liquid gas, when the manifold surface is adsorbed on the manifold surface, the possibility of corrosion of the manifold surface by the water taken in at the time of opening of the furnace is considered.

Subsequently, there is a problem of wafer contamination by residual chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F), but as shown in Figs. 13A to 13C, chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F) are not included in the formed film. It is an amount of components below the detection lower limit of SIMS (mass spectrometer) at least.

In this evaluation, peaks of chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F) are seen at the interface between the silicon substrate and polysilicon, and especially after the cleaning, a large peak value is shown (Fig. 13B).

However, even when comparison with wet cleaning is performed by the same evaluation method, the surface density of impurities (Cl and F) at the interface between the silicon substrate and the polysilicon is maximized immediately after the cleaning.

The reason for the peak value appearing at the interface was that the fluorinated hydrochloric acid and hydrochloric acid over-washed as the pretreatment of the evaluation wafer used this time, but chlorine (Cl) and fluorine (F) adsorbed on the most surface of the wafer. I think it is because

In the semiconductor manufacturing process, a large number of wafer cleaning processes are entered, but in this case, chlorine and fluorine are always adsorbed on the wafer outermost surface. I think there is no problem.

Above, but result in a longitudinal type of thermal processing used to process tube made of quartz, a tendency is not limited to this, and appears a tendency as if processing apparatus with a material having corrosion resistance against the above-mentioned ClF _3, ClF ₃ The effectiveness of cleaning can be exhibited.

From the above results, it is understood that by applying ClF ₃ gas cleaning to the multichamber apparatus, efficient production can be performed without causing deterioration of wafer quality.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the multi-chamber processing apparatus can be cleaned with a plasmaless gas, the throughput and productivity are remarkably improved, resulting in high fineness and high integration of 256M DRAM and the like. It can correspond to.

Incidentally, in the above embodiment, the cleaning of the metal tungsten film has been described, but the film to be cleaned is not limited to this, and it can be applied to MoSi ₂ , WSi ₂ , TiN, TiW, Mo, SiO ₂ , Poly-Si, and the like. For example, in the case of tungsten film, in addition to the combination of WF ₆ + SiH ₄ , a combination of WF ₆ + H ₂ , WF ₆ + Si ₂ H ₆ , and the like is used. In the case of WSix film formation, a combination of WF ₆ + SiH ₄ is used. , A combination of WF ₆ + Si ₂ H ₆ , a combination of WF ₆ + SiH ₂ Cl ₂ , and the like may be used.

In addition, as an inert gas, it is not limited to N ₂ gas, and other inert gases, such as He, Ar, Xe, etc., can also be used.

The present invention is applicable not only to the above-described CVD apparatus but also to a sputter apparatus and a diffusion apparatus. In addition, the object to be processed is not limited to a semiconductor wafer, but also used as an LCD substrate or the like. In the above example, the vacuum processing apparatus has been described as an example. Can be.

Claims (7)

A plurality of vacuum processing chambers for processing the object to be processed using the processing gas; A vacuum conveying chamber connected to the plurality of vacuum processing chambers for carrying in and out of the object to be processed into these vacuum processing chambers; Opening and closing means for opening the interior of the apparatus to the atmosphere, and cleaning gas supply means for supplying a cleaning gas containing ClF ₃ to these processing chambers and the transfer chamber; Exhaust means for exhausting the cleaning gas; Concentration detecting means for detecting concentrations of C1 and F in the gas after completion of the cleaning using the cleaning gas; And control means for outputting an opening command to the opening and closing means when the detected value of the concentration detecting means is smaller than a set value. The vacuum preliminary chamber connected to the said vacuum conveyance chamber, the to-be-processed object storage chamber which accommodates the said to-be-processed object, and the said vacuum prechamber and the to-be-processed object storage chamber, and conveying a to-be-processed object therebetween. A processing apparatus further comprising a second conveyance chamber. A processing apparatus including a plurality of vacuum processing chambers for processing the object to be processed using a processing gas, and a vacuum conveying chamber connected to the plurality of vacuum processing chambers for carrying in and out of the object to be processed into these vacuum processing chambers. As a method of cleaning; Supplying a cleaning gas comprising C1F ₃ to the plurality of vacuum processing chambers and the vacuum conveying chamber to clean the plurality of vacuum processing chambers and the vacuum conveying chambers; Exhausting the vacuum chamber and the vacuum transfer chamber after completion of cleaning; And intermittently supplying the inert gas into the plurality of vacuum processing chambers and the vacuum conveying chamber, and stopping the supply while the vacuum is performed. A vacuum processing chamber for processing the target object using the processing gas; Cleaning gas supply means for supplying a cleaning gas into the vacuum processing chamber; And a replacement instruction means for instructing replacement of the component based on the value and the number of cleanings, in which the consumption amount of the component of the processing chamber by the cleaning gas is stored in advance. A plurality of vacuum processing chambers for treating the object to be processed using a processing gas, a vacuum conveying chamber connected to the plurality of vacuum processing chambers, for carrying in and out of the object to be processed into these vacuum processing chambers, these plurality of vacuum processing chambers and Cleaning gas supply means for supplying a cleaning gas into the vacuum transport chamber; And a replacement instruction means for instructing replacement of the component based on the value and the number of cleanings, in which the consumption amount of the component of the processing chamber by the cleaning gas is stored in advance. A vacuum processing method using a vacuum processing apparatus for processing a target object using a processing gas, comprising the steps of: processing the target object using the vacuum processing apparatus; Cleaning the vacuum processing apparatus with a cleaning gas; And recognizing the number of cleanings for replacement of the components based on the consumption amount of the components of the processing apparatus by the cleaning gas. The method of claim 6, wherein the cleaning gas comprises C ₁ F ₃ .