KR100888067B1 - Batch-type atomic layer deposition apparatus and atomic layer deposition method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a batch atomic layer deposition apparatus capable of carrying out a unit process of atomic layer deposition on a plurality of wafers at one time. The atomic layer deposition apparatus includes a housing that separates the inside from the outside; An inner support wall spaced apart from the housing at a predetermined interval and installed in a concentric shape; A ring-shaped base plate rotatably installed between the housing and the inner support wall and mounted with a plurality of wafers; And a plurality of separation units removably installed along the circumferential direction on the base plate, wherein at least one pair of reaction chambers including the housing, the inner support wall, the base plate, and the separation unit are formed, and a base plate. Is sequentially rotated corresponding to the reaction chamber pairs, so that a unit process corresponding to the reaction chamber is sequentially performed for each of the plurality of wafers.

ALD, manufacturing efficiency, uniformity, rotation, lifting, bulkhead

Description

Batch-type atomic layer deposition apparatus and atomic layer deposition method using the same}

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1.

3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a partition wall to which the present invention is applied.

4 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a partition wall applied to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a deposition method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows a configuration in which the loader / unloader is simultaneously installed on the outer side of the housing and the inner side of the inner support wall.

The present invention relates to a batch atomic layer deposition apparatus and a deposition method. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique capable of performing a unit process of atomic layer deposition on a plurality of wafers at one time.

Atomic Layer Deposition is a nanoscale thin film deposition technique using chemical adsorption and desorption of monoatomic layers. Each reactant is individually separated and supplied to the chamber in a pulse form to surface saturate the reactant on the substrate surface. It is a new concept of thin film deposition using chemical adsorption and desorption by saturation reaction.

Atomic layer deposition was first developed to grow thin films of ZnS polycrystalline and oxide amorphous structures for EL display (Electro Luminescent Display) devices, but now takes advantage of the superior step coverage and reproducibility of atomic layer deposition. In addition, the company is continuously researching the development of next-generation semiconductor device materials of polycrystalline materials and oxides such as TiN, BST, PZT, and Ta ₂ O ₅ , which are difficult to control.

Atomic layer deposition is characterized by easy reaction of the composition and thickness of the thin film by injecting the reaction gas in a pulse form, less impurities due to the insertion of a purge process, and the formation of impurity particles that can be formed during chemical reaction. It can be effectively suppressed. In addition, the surface reaction control is excellent, excellent reproducibility of the physical properties of the thin film, it is possible to form a thin film with a very uniform thickness over a large area, it is possible to very low pinhole density with excellent step coating properties.

In addition, it is a new concept of CVD technology that can grow a thin film at a considerably lower temperature than the conventional CVD method and has many advantages of depositing a very thin film because thickness is dependent on the number of cycles.

Among the methods for depositing the monoatomic material by the atomic layer deposition method, according to the deposition method requiring four steps per cycle, the raw material gas is supplied to the substrate, and the excessively supplied raw material gas is purged again. The reactant gas is supplied to the substrate and the excess reactant and the reaction byproduct are purged.

As described above, since the desired result can be obtained by repeatedly performing the deposition cycle of supplying and purging the raw material gas and supplying and purging the reactive gas to each target wafer several times, there is a problem in that manufacturing efficiency is low.

The present invention is presented to improve such a conventional problem, an object of the present invention is an atomic layer deposition apparatus and method that can improve the manufacturing efficiency by proceeding a unit process of atomic layer deposition on a plurality of wafers at once To provide.

The purpose and other objects of the present invention, as well as the characteristic technology for implementing the same and the effects thereof, will be clearly understood through the embodiments described below.

The above object, the housing for separating the inside and the outside; An inner support wall spaced apart from the housing at a predetermined interval and installed in a concentric shape; A ring-shaped base plate rotatably installed between the housing and the inner support wall and mounted with a plurality of wafers; And a plurality of separation units detachably installed along the circumferential direction on the base plate, wherein at least one pair of reaction chambers including the housing, the inner support wall, the base plate, and the separation unit are formed, and the base The plate is sequentially rotated corresponding to the reaction chamber pairs to achieve a batch atomic layer deposition apparatus in which a unit process corresponding to the reaction chamber is sequentially performed for each of the plurality of wafers.

Here, the separation unit may be a partition wall configured by the lifting unit is composed of a plate-shaped body.

In addition, the separation unit may be an air curtain formed by spraying from the top toward the base plate.

In addition, a loader / unloader for loading the wafer into the reaction chamber or unloading the wafer from the reaction chamber may be installed outside the housing or inside the inner support wall.

The separation unit is formed by integrally forming a transverse separation wall connecting the longitudinal separation wall across the base plate and the adjacent longitudinal separation wall, and loading the wafer into the reaction chamber or from the reaction chamber A loader / unloader for unloading may be installed at an outer side of the housing and an inner side of the inner support wall, respectively.

Preferably, a plasma supply unit may be installed in any one or both of the reaction chamber pairs.

In addition, the plasma applied from the plasma supply unit may include a direct plasma and a remote plasma.

The above object is a first step of loading a wafer on a base plate in one reaction chamber region from a loader / unloader equipped with a plurality of wafers to perform a process; A second step of forming a reaction chamber in a plurality of reaction chamber regions by forming a partition wall; Supplying a source of a predetermined type to each of the plurality of reaction chambers; A fourth step of supplying a purge gas to each of the plurality of reaction chambers; A fifth step of removing the partition wall; And a sixth step of rotating the base plate such that the reaction chamber area adjacent to the one reaction chamber area and the loader / unloader correspond to each other, and repeating the first to sixth steps by a predetermined number of times. Atomic layer deposition is performed by unloading the processed wafer from the loader / unloader.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along II-II of FIG. In this embodiment, a case where four reaction chambers are formed will be described as an example.

Full configuration

The atomic layer deposition apparatus of the present invention is separated from the outside by the housing 100 having a cylindrical shape as a whole. Of course, the housing 100 does not necessarily have to have a cylindrical shape, and it is sufficient that the housing 100 can be separated from the outside.

The interior of the housing 100 is largely divided into three regions along the vertical direction.

In the upper region, air is sprayed to form a plasma supply unit for applying plasma to the plurality of reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128, an elevating unit for elevating the separating wall 130, and an air curtain. Injection unit for supplying, and various pipes for supplying the raw material gas, reaction gas and purge gas is installed.

Here, the plasma supply unit may be installed corresponding to each of the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128, or may be alternately installed. At this time, when the plasma supply unit is installed in all of the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128, the plasma supply unit is selectively driven to control the plasma supply unit so that the plasma is applied only to the reaction chamber in which the plasma injection unit is performed at the same time as the source injection. Can be supplied. Here, the plasma applied from the plasma supply unit may include a direct plasma and a remote plasma.

In the middle region, a plurality of wafers 202, 204, 2060, and 208 to be processed are loaded and rotated, and the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128 are mounted on the base plate 120. It consists of a separating wall 130 that can be opened and closed to form, and an inner support wall 110 concentric with the housing 100. Although not shown, the discharge path for purging may be provided in the base plate 120 or the like.

In the lower region, a heater unit for transferring heat to the wafers 202, 204, 2060, and 208 mounted in the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128 is attached to the rear surface of the base plate 120, for example. In addition, a rotation unit for rotating the base plate 120 is installed.

housing (100)

The housing 100 has a cylindrical shape sealed to receive all of the upper, middle and lower regions described above. 1 and 2, a straight guide groove 102 extending in a vertical direction at a predetermined rotation angle is formed on an inner wall of the housing 100, and extends in a circumferential direction at a portion in contact with the base plate 120. A ring-shaped guide groove 101 is formed.

One end of the separating wall 130 is inserted into the guide groove 102 to guide the vertical movement of the separating wall 130, and one end of the base plate 120 is inserted into the guide groove 101 to rotate the base plate 120. Become a city guide.

A sealing material may be interposed between the guide grooves 101 and 102, the base plate 120, and the separation wall 130.

inside Support wall (110)

1 and 2, a straight groove 112 is formed on a side of the inner support wall 110 that faces the inner wall of the housing 100 so as to correspond to the straight guide groove 102 and the base plate 120. A ring-shaped guide groove 111 extending in the circumferential direction is formed at the portion in contact with the.

The other end of the separating wall 130 is inserted into the guide groove 112 to guide the vertical movement of the separating wall 130. The other end of the base plate 120 is inserted into the guide groove 101 to rotate the base plate 120. Become a city guide.

A sealing material may be interposed between the guide grooves 111 and 112, the base plate 120, and the separation wall 130.

Referring to FIG. 2, the inner support wall 110 is bent from the top and extends to the housing 100 to form the ceiling 150, whereby the inner wall of the housing 100, the base plate 120, and the inner support wall ( A plurality of reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128 are formed of 110, the ceiling 150, and the dividing wall 130.

Base plate 120

The base plate 120 is interposed between the housing 100 and the inner support wall 110 and rotated by a rotation unit such as a driving motor installed in a lower region in a ring shape. As described above, the base plate 120 is one of the elements constituting the chamber, and serves to mount a wafer to be processed.

Although not shown, a heating unit for heating the mounted wafers 202, 204, 206, and 208 is attached to the back surface of the base plate 120 constituting the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128. Rotate with 120.

A sealing groove (see 129 of FIG. 3) is formed in which the lower end of the separating wall 130 is fitted at a predetermined rotation angle in the circumferential direction of the base plate 120, or a slot through which air passes (see 129a of FIG. 4) is formed. This may be described later.

Partition wall (130)

3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a partition wall to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 3, the ceiling drawer 150 of the inner support wall 120 is provided with a sealed drawer 152 for hermetically receiving the rising separating wall 130, and the separating wall 130 is a lifting unit (not shown). When the lifting rod 140 is moved up and down by driving the lifting unit connected to the lifting rod 140 of), the lifting rod 140 moves accordingly.

As described above, when the sealing groove 129 is formed in the base plate 120 and the separating wall 130 descends, the lower end is inserted into the sealing groove 129 to form the inside of the reaction chamber 202, 204, 206, 208. Airtight is maintained.

4 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the dividing wall applied to the present invention.

According to this example, the air supplied from the air supply pipe 156 is injected downward through the slit-shaped nozzle 154 installed in the ceiling 150 to form an air curtain 160, the injected air is a base plate ( It is discharged to the lower region through the discharge slit 129a formed in the 120.

The desired effect can be obtained by applying any one of the above two types of dividing walls.

Meanwhile, an opening (not shown) for an input / output port is formed at a predetermined position of the housing 200 so that the wafer to be processed from the loader / unloader 50 is loaded or the wafer from which the process is completed is unloaded.

The operation of the atomic layer deposition apparatus having such a structure will be described.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a deposition method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

For convenience of description, it is assumed that the atomic layer deposition apparatus of FIG. 1 is used as a 2-cycle deposition process for each wafer. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and of course, a plurality of cycles, for example, 2 cycles to 9 cycles, may be performed corresponding to the number of layers formed. In addition, it is assumed that the sources B and D to be injected require plasma application, so that the plasma supply units are installed only in the upper regions of the reaction chambers 124 and 128, respectively.

In FIG. 1, when the process proceeds while rotating in a clockwise direction with respect to the reaction chamber 122, the wafer 202 is placed in the reaction chamber 122 from the loader / unloader 50 having a plurality of wafers to be initially processed. ) Is loaded (step S51). At this time, the other reaction chambers 124, 126 and 128 are empty.

Each reaction chamber 122, 124, 126, 128 is connected to a source supply pipe (not shown) for supplying different kinds of sources, and these sources are referred to as A, B, C, and D, respectively.

When the wafer 202 is loaded, the separation wall 130 is lowered or the air curtain 160 is formed to seal each reaction chamber 122, 124, 126, and 128 (step S52), and each reaction chamber 122 124, 126, and 128 are injected (step S53). Accordingly, source A is injected into the reaction chamber 122 loaded with the wafer 202, and sources B, C, and D are injected into the remaining reaction chambers 124, 126, and 128, respectively.

Subsequently, purge gas is injected into each of the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128, and a purge process is performed (step S54). In this embodiment, the purge process is described as being injected into each of the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128 into which the source is injected. As described below, the purge process may be performed while transferring the wafer.

When the purge process is completed, all the separation walls 130 are raised or the air supply is stopped to remove the air curtain 160 (step S55).

Subsequently, the base plate 120 is rotated at a predetermined angle so that the wafer 202 is positioned in the reaction chamber 124 (step S56). In this state, a new wafer is supplied from the loader / unloader 50 to the reaction chamber 122.

When the new wafer is loaded, the separation wall 130 is lowered again or the air curtain 160 is formed to seal each of the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128, and each reaction chamber 122, 124, 126, Sources A, B, C, and D are injected corresponding to 128, and plasma is applied to the reaction chambers 124 and 128 together.

As a result, source A is adsorbed to the newly loaded wafer, and a mixture formed by reacting sources A and B is adsorbed onto the wafer 202, thereby completing one cycle of the wafer 202.

Subsequently, as described above, purge gas is injected into each reaction chamber 122, 124, 126, and 128, and a purge process is performed. When the purge process is completed, all the separation walls 130 are raised or air supply is turned off. After stopping to remove the air curtain 160, the base plate 120 is rotated at a predetermined angle so that the wafer 202 is placed in the reaction chamber 126 and the wafer on which the source A is adsorbed is placed in the reaction chamber 124. do. In this state, a new wafer is supplied from the loader / unloader 50 to the reaction chamber 122.

By repeating the above process, the wafer 202 is discharged through the loader / unloader 50 when two cycles are completed and returned to the reaction chamber 122, and a new wafer is loaded into the reaction chamber 122.

As described above, since the unit processes of atomic layer deposition are sequentially performed on a plurality of wafers, there is an advantage in that manufacturing efficiency can be improved.

In the above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the following configurations are also possible.

1. In the above embodiment, the case of four reaction chambers is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and at least two or more embodiments may realize the object of the present invention. Specifically, when two reaction chambers are formed to face each other, source A injection (or plasma application)-purge-source B (or plasma application)-purge proceeds and is discharged sequentially for each wafer loaded. Since the wafer is loaded in the chamber at the same time, the manufacturing efficiency can be improved by about 2 times.

2. In the above embodiment, the heating unit is described as being installed in the lower portion of each reaction chamber, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the entire temperature is uniformly provided by installing the heating unit throughout the circumferential direction in the lower portion of the base plate. It can be configured to maintain.

3. In the above embodiment, the purge process is described as being performed in each of the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128, but the present invention is not limited thereto and may be performed during the transfer process. Specifically, after source injection and selective plasma application are completed in the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126 and 128, the base plate 120 is rotated by removing the separation wall 130 without performing a purge process. The wafer may be placed at positions 121, 123, 125, and 127 between the reaction chambers 122, 124, 126, and 128, and then a purge process may be performed. At this time, the purge process is performed in a single space including the base plate 130, the inner support wall 110, the ceiling 150, and the housing 100.

4. In the above embodiment, the loader / unloader 50 is described as being located on the outside of the housing 100, the present invention is not limited to this, the loader / unloader 50 is the inner supporting wall 110 It may be located inside of. In this case, the opening for the wafer input / output port may be formed at a predetermined position of the inner support wall 110, and the loader / unloader 50 may be elevated in the vertical direction.

In addition, the loader / unloader can be installed at the same time on the outside of the housing and on the inside of the inner support wall. This will be described in detail as follows.

Fig. 6 shows a configuration in which the loader / unloader is simultaneously installed on the outer side of the housing and the inner side of the inner support wall.

Referring to FIG. 6, as in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the housing 1100 and the inner support wall 1110 are spaced apart from each other concentrically at a predetermined distance, and the base plate 120 is interposed therebetween so as to be rotatable. do.

In addition, loaders / unloaders 1050 and 1060 are installed at the outer side of the housing 1100 and the inner support wall 1110, respectively, to load or unload wafers through openings for wafer input / output ports (not shown).

However, unlike FIG. 1, the partition wall module moves up and down on the base plate 120, which divides the vertical partition wall 1300 adjacent to the vertical partition wall 1300 across the base plate 120. The horizontal separation wall 1310 connected across is integrally formed. The partition wall module operates in the same manner as the partition wall 130 of FIG. 1, but has a different configuration. Accordingly, one reaction chamber in FIG. 1 is divided into two by this partition wall module to form reaction chambers 1122, 1123, 1125, 1126, 1128, 1129, 1131, and 1132.

According to such a structure, compared with FIG. 1, twice as many wafers can be processed at once, and manufacturing efficiency improves.

5. In the above embodiment, a case where different sources are injected is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and at least one pair of reaction chambers performing the same cycle (one cycle) may be prepared. That is, referring to FIG. 1, the source A is injected into the reaction chambers 122 and 126 and the source B is injected into the reaction chambers 124 and 128, but the loader / unloader 50 is connected to the reaction chamber 122. 126) can be installed correspondingly.

According to this configuration, two wafers can be processed at once through wafer A loading-source injection-purge-rotation-wafer B loading-source injection (optionally plasma application)-purge-rotation-wafer A unloading. This is improved. In the same manner, when two cycles are required per wafer, two cycles of one wafer can be performed by preparing four pairs of reaction chambers into which the sources A and B are respectively injected.

6. In the above embodiment, it has been described that the application to the atomic layer deposition process using a plasma, the present invention is not limited to this, the atomic layer deposition process using a plasma can be applied.

Therefore, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the above-described embodiments, but should be interpreted based on the claims described below.

According to the present invention has various effects.

First, the manufacturing efficiency is improved by processing a plurality of wafers at once through the reaction chamber divided into at least two or more.

In addition, since each source is injected into each reaction chamber which is separated, a unit process is performed, a thin film having a more uniform composition may be formed than a thin film deposited in a conventional reaction chamber, and reaction between each source may be prevented.

By varying the design conditions such as the number and shape of the reaction chambers, the process conditions can be set flexibly.

Claims (8)

A housing separating the inside and the outside; An inner support wall spaced apart from the housing at a predetermined interval and installed in a concentric shape; A ring-shaped base plate rotatably installed between the housing and the inner support wall and mounted with a plurality of wafers; And Installed along the circumferential direction on the base plate, and includes a plurality of separation units that are opened and closed as the process proceeds, At least one pair of reaction chambers including the housing, the inner support wall, the base plate, and the separation unit are formed, And the base plate is sequentially rotated corresponding to the reaction chamber pairs so that a unit process corresponding to the reaction chamber is sequentially performed for each of the plurality of wafers. The method according to claim 1, The separation unit is a batch atomic layer deposition apparatus, characterized in that the partition consisting of a plate-shaped body lifting by the lifting unit. The method according to claim 1, The separation unit is a batch atomic layer deposition apparatus, characterized in that the air curtain is formed by spraying from the top toward the base plate. The method according to claim 1, And a loader / unloader for loading the wafer into the reaction chamber or unloading the wafer from the reaction chamber is installed outside the housing or inside the inner support wall. The method according to claim 1, The separation unit is configured by integrally forming a transverse separation wall connecting the longitudinal separation wall and the adjacent longitudinal separation wall across the base plate, And a loader / unloader for loading the wafer into the reaction chamber or unloading the wafer from the reaction chamber is provided outside the housing and inside the inner support wall, respectively. The method according to claim 1, Batch atomic layer deposition apparatus characterized in that the plasma supply unit is installed in any one or both of the reaction chamber pair. The method according to claim 6, The plasma applied from the plasma supply unit is a batch atomic layer deposition apparatus comprising a direct plasma (remote plasma) and a remote plasma (remote plasma). A first step of loading a wafer into a base plate of any one of a plurality of reaction chamber regions from a loader / unloader equipped with a plurality of wafers to perform a process; Closing the dividing wall to form a reaction chamber in the plurality of reaction chamber regions; Supplying a source of a predetermined type to each of the plurality of reaction chambers; A fourth step of supplying a purge gas to each of the plurality of reaction chambers; A fifth step of opening the partition wall; A sixth step of rotating the base plate such that the reaction chamber region adjacent to the one reaction chamber region and the loader / unloader correspond; And repeating the first to sixth steps by a predetermined number of times, and then unloading the processed wafer from the loader / unloader.

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