KR101108576B1 - Susceptor and vertical substrates treatment equipment with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vertical substrate processing equipment, comprising: a process tube having an opening opened at a lower portion thereof to form a reaction space therein; A seal cap operable to open and close the opening of the process tube; A boat installed in the seal cap; A nozzle unit installed on the seal cap so as to be perpendicular to the center of the boat; And a susceptor having stages loaded on the boat and on which the substrate is placed such that the substrate is positioned radially about the nozzle unit.

Description

SUSCEPTOR AND VERTICAL SUBSTRATES TREATMENT EQUIPMENT WITH THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to a susceptor and a vertical substrate processing equipment having the same.

Recently, the manufacturing technology of semiconductor devices (devies) has been developed to improve the degree of integration, reliability, response speed, etc. in order to meet the various needs of consumers. In general, a semiconductor device is manufactured by forming a pattern having electrical characteristics by performing an oxidation process, a deposition process, a diffusion process, a photo and an etching process on a silicon wafer.

In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, an oxidation process, a low pressure chemical vapor deposition process, and a diffusion process are normally performed in a vertical substrate processing facility. Specifically, the vertical substrate processing equipment includes a heater tube and an outer tube and an inner tube made of quartz in the heater block. In addition, a boat for loading wafers is provided in the inner tube, and a plurality of wafers loaded on the boat are introduced into a process space, that is, a process chamber at one time, to perform a deposition or diffusion process.

By the way, the conventional vertical substrate processing equipment is used by installing a nozzle on the side of the process tube to supply the process gas to the substrates placed on the boat, but since such a nozzle is located very close to the heater surrounding the process tube heater It is not free from heat, and the temperature rise of the nozzle has a weak effect on the process gas passing through the inside of the nozzle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a susceptor capable of stably supplying and spraying gases vulnerable to heat such as ozone gas, and a vertical substrate processing equipment having the same.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a susceptor capable of shortening the loading / unloading time of a substrate and improving productivity, and a vertical substrate processing equipment having the same.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited thereto, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

The susceptor of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a disk-shaped base having stages on which the substrate is placed on the same plane; The base is formed with a nozzle mounting groove partially cut to allow the nozzle unit for injecting the process gas toward the substrates placed on the stage.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the nozzle mounting groove is provided to extend from the center of the base to the outer peripheral surface of the base in the radial direction of the base.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the stages are arranged at equal intervals on a concentric circle with the center of the base.

Vertical substrate processing equipment of the present invention for achieving the above object is a process tube open bottom; A heater assembly disposed outside the process tube and heating the process tube; A seal cap coupled to an open bottom of the process tube by an elevator unit; A boat installed on the seal cap and loaded into the process tube; A susceptor mounted on the boat and having stages on which the substrate is placed on the same plane; And a nozzle unit installed on the seal cap and injecting a process gas to substrates disposed on stages of each of the susceptors loaded on the boat.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the nozzle unit is positioned perpendicular to the center of the boat, and the susceptor includes a disk-shaped base on which the stages are provided on the same plane, and the nozzle unit includes: A nozzle mounting groove is partially formed to be positioned.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the stages are arranged at equal intervals on a concentric circle with the center of the base.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the stages are disposed radially about the nozzle unit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the nozzle unit is rotated so that a process gas is uniformly injected into each of the stages of the base.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the nozzle unit includes a body including at least two injection parts for injecting different process gases; And a cooling member positioned inside the body and cooling the body so that the injection parts are not heated.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the nozzle unit comprises an outer tube; An inner tube installed inside the outer tube; Vertical partitions partitioning the annular space such that different process gases are provided in the annular space provided between the outer tube and the inner tube; Injection holes formed in the outer tube such that the process gas provided to the spaces partitioned by the vertical partition walls is injected into each of the substrates of the boat; And a cooling member installed inside the inner tube to prevent the process gas from being heated by the external environment.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the vertical substrate processing equipment further includes a nozzle rotating member installed on the seal cap to rotate the nozzle unit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the vertical substrate processing apparatus further includes a boat rotating member for rotating the boat so that the process gas injected from the nozzle unit is uniformly provided on the substrate.

The vertical substrate processing equipment of the present invention for achieving the above object is a process tube having an opening that is open to the bottom to form a reaction space therein; A seal cap operable to open and close the opening of the process tube; A boat installed in the seal cap; A nozzle unit installed on the seal cap so as to be perpendicular to the center of the boat; And a susceptor having stages loaded on the boat and on which the substrate is placed such that the substrate is positioned radially about the nozzle unit.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the susceptor comprises a disk-shaped base on which the stages are provided on the same plane; The base is formed with a nozzle mounting groove, a part of which is cut so that the nozzle unit installed in the seal cap can be located.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the nozzle unit includes injection parts for injecting process gas into the substrates of each of the stages.

According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the jetting parts are arranged to be equally spaced between the stages.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the seal cap further comprises a nozzle rotating member for rotating the nozzle unit.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the nozzle unit comprises an outer tube; An inner tube installed inside the outer tube; Vertical partitions partitioning the annular space such that different process gases are provided in the annular space provided between the outer tube and the inner tube; Injection holes formed in the outer tube such that the process gas provided to the spaces partitioned by the vertical partition walls is injected into each of the substrates of the boat; And a cooling member installed inside the inner tube to prevent the process gas from being heated by the external environment.

The present invention enables the loading / unloading of substrates on stages of the susceptor in a separate space (load lock chamber) by using susceptors having stages on which the substrates are placed on the same plane.

In addition, according to the present invention, susceptors having a plurality of stages are loaded into the boat, so that a large number of substrates can be processed in one process. For example, if a single susceptor is provided with a stage on which four substrates are placed, the productivity can be increased four times in one process. Therefore, the present invention can greatly improve the productivity compared to the conventional, it is possible to more easily match the production quantity to the delivery date required by the customer.

In addition, the present invention can efficiently proceed the atomic layer deposition process and the like, it is possible to increase the throughput per unit time of a reliable semiconductor device.

In addition, the present invention can improve the quality of the thin film formed on the substrate by suppressing the temperature rise of the nozzle unit to prevent thermal decomposition before the process gas reaches the substrate.

1A to 1C are views showing a schematic configuration of a vertical substrate processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2A and 2B are perspective views illustrating the susceptor and the seal cap shown in FIG. 1A.
3 is a perspective view of the susceptor shown in FIG. 2.
Figure 4 is a plan sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a vertical substrate processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an enlarged view illustrating main parts of the dotted line portion shown in FIG. 1C.
6 is an enlarged perspective view of a main portion of the nozzle unit.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1A to 6. The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the following embodiments. This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shape of the elements in the drawings are exaggerated to emphasize a more clear description. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to components that perform the same function.

FIG. 1A is a view showing a vertical substrate processing facility in which a susceptor is being carried by a conveying device, and FIG. 1B is a view showing a vertical substrate processing facility with susceptors loaded on a boat placed in a seal cap, and FIG. 1C Is a view showing a vertical substrate processing facility with a seal cap moved by an elevator unit and a boat loaded with susceptors placed in a process tube.

As shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, the longitudinal substrate processing equipment 1 of the present invention comprises a process tube 100, a heater assembly 300, a seal cap 210, a bow 800, and a nozzle unit 400. And susceptors 500.

Process tube

The process tube 100 has an opening in which the lower part is opened in a dome-shaped cylindrical tube shape. The process tube 100 is loaded with a boat 800 loaded with susceptors 500 so that chemical vapor deposition (thin film deposition process, diffusion process, oxidation process, etc.) is performed on wafers placed on each of the susceptors 500. Provides a progressing interior space. Process tube 100 may be made of a material that can withstand high temperatures, such as quartz. The process tube 100 is provided with an exhaust port 120 for forcibly sucking and evacuating the internal air in order to reduce the pressure inside the process tube 100 at one side of the lower end.

The exhaust port 120 is provided to discharge the air and unreacted gas and the reaction by-products in the process tube 100 to the outside during the process. The exhaust port 120 is connected to the exhaust line, and exhaust and internal pressure reduction of the process gas supplied to the process tube 100 through the exhaust port 120 are performed.

Heater Assembly

The heater assembly 300 is disposed outside the process tube 100. Although not shown, the heater assembly 300 includes a heater for heating the process tube 100 and a heat insulating member installed outside the heater to block heat generated from the heater from being discharged to the outside.

2A and 2B are perspective views illustrating the susceptor and the seal cap shown in FIG. 1A.

Seal cap

1C to 2B, the seal cap 210 is moved to open and close the opening of the process tube 100 by the driving unit 230 which is an elevator device. The boat 800 placed on the seal cap 210 is loaded into the process tube 100 by the raising operation of the seal cap 210, and the boat placed on the seal cap 210 by the lowering operation of the seal cap 210. 800 is unloaded out of process tube 100. When the bolt 800 is loaded into the process tube 100, the seal cap 210 is coupled with the flange 130 of the process tube 100.

Meanwhile, a sealing member such as an O-ring for sealing is provided at a portion where the flange 130 and the seal cap 210 of the process tube 100 come into contact with each other so that the process gas is provided with a process tube ( 100) and the seal cap 210 to prevent leakage.

3 is a perspective view illustrating the susceptor shown in FIG. 2A.

Susceptor

As shown in FIG. 3, the susceptor 500 supports the substrates in the boat 800, and has a disc-shaped base 502, and the upper surface of the base 502 has four coplanar surfaces. Stages 510a, 510b, 510c and 510d are provided. The substrate S is placed on each of the stages 510a, 510b, 510c, and 510d, and a wide opening 512 is formed in the center for loading / unloading the substrate. Although not shown, the loading / unloading of the substrate is done in a separate device. The number of stages installed in the base 502 may be changed to two, three or five.

The base 502 is formed with a nozzle mounting groove 504, which is partially cut out so that the nozzle unit 400 for injecting the process gas toward the stages 510a, 510b, 510c, and 510d can be positioned. The nozzle mounting groove 504 is provided to extend from the center of the base to the outer peripheral surface of the base along the radial direction of the base.

Although not shown, the susceptor 500 waits in a load lock chamber adjacent to a process chamber (not shown) in which the process tube 100, the seal cap 210, and the like are located, and the substrate storage container (aka cassette). The stored substrates are placed on stages 510a, 510b, 510c, and 510d of the susceptor 500 waiting in the load lock chamber by a substrate carrier (not shown). The susceptor 500 having stages 510a, 510b, 510c, 510d on which the substrates are placed is carried by the same conveying apparatus 600 as the substrate conveying apparatus and placed in a boat 800 waiting under the process tube 100. do. After the process is completed, the substrates are transferred to the load lock chamber by susceptor conveying while being placed on the stages 510a to 510d, and other susceptors waiting in the load lock chamber are loaded on the boat 800. As described above, in the present invention, the susceptor in which four substrates are placed in the boat is loaded on the boat by one transportation of the transfer apparatus 600, so that the time can be shortened as compared with the transfer of substrates one by one in the existing vertical substrate processing equipment.

Figure 4 is a plan sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a vertical substrate processing equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is an enlarged view illustrating main parts of the dotted line portion shown in FIG. 1C. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a main portion of the nozzle unit.

Nozzle Unit

4 to 6, the nozzle unit 400 is installed at the center of the seal cap 210 so as to be positioned perpendicular to the center of the boat (which is also the center of the inside of the process tube). The nozzle unit 400 includes four injection units 410 for injecting a process gas for forming a thin film onto a plurality of substrate surfaces. The four injection units 410 are disposed at 90-degree intervals, such as stages provided to the susceptor 500, to inject the process gas onto the substrates disposed on the respective stages. The injection holes 412 of the respective injection units 410 are positioned to inject a process gas in a horizontal direction to each of the substrates placed on the susceptor 500 mounted on the boat 800. At the lower end of the nozzle unit 400, a nozzle rotating member 450 for rotating the nozzle unit 400 is installed in the seal cap 210. For example, in the present invention, only one of the nozzle unit 400 and the boat 800 may be rotated during the process. Although not shown, a bolt rotating member for rotating the bolt 800 may be installed in a similar manner to the nozzle rotating member 450 in the seal cap 210.

Process gas injected through the nozzles 412 of the nozzle unit 400 flows evenly in front of the substrates of the susceptors loaded on the boat 800, and flows down the process tube 100 to the exhaust port 120. Exhaust through.

The nozzle unit 400 has a double tube structure consisting of an outer tube 402 and an inner tube 404 installed inside the outer tube 402, and the temperature of the nozzle unit 400 inside the inner tube 404. A cooling member 480 is installed to suppress an increase, and the cooling member 480 is formed of a cooling line through which a cooling medium flows.

On the other hand, the outer tube 402 has the injection portion 410 formed to protrude at intervals of 90 degrees, the annular space provided between the outer tube 402 and the inner tube 404 is in the vertical partition wall 406 It is divided into four independent spaces, each process space can be supplied with a different process gas, different process gases provided to the spaces partitioned by the vertical partitions 406 are each corresponding injection portion The jets 412 of 410 are sprayed onto each of the substrates of the boat. Of course, if necessary, the nozzle unit 400 may omit the vertical bulkhead and supply only one process gas to the susceptors 500 mounted on the boat.

As illustrated in FIG. 1C, the nozzle unit 400 is connected to supply lines 490 for supplying process gas and lines 486 and 488 for supplying and recovering a cooling medium to the cooling member 480. Although only one supply line 490 is illustrated in the drawing, four supply lines may be used according to a gas to be used.

As described above, in the present invention, the position of the nozzle unit is installed at the center of the boat, not at the side of the process tube, and a cooling member is provided therein to suppress pre-reaction of the process gas due to heat. In addition, the uniformity of the film can be improved by rotating the nozzle unit (or the boat). In particular, since the nozzle unit is at the center, it is possible to supply within a mean free pass during process gas supply, thereby improving productivity of thin film growth.

The vertical substrate processing equipment of the present invention may be configured to perform various wafer processing operations. For example, it may be a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber configured to deposit an insulating film, or may be a PVD chamber configured to deposit a barrier film, and may be a PVD chamber configured to deposit a metal film. Or a chamber for depositing an atomic layer or a diffusion chamber.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the vertical substrate processing equipment according to the present invention has been shown in accordance with the above description and drawings, but this is just described, for example, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Of course.

100: process tube
210: seal cap
300: heater assembly
400: nozzle unit
500: susceptor
800: boat

Claims (19)

In a susceptor of a longitudinal substrate processing facility for supporting substrates:
A disk-shaped base having stages on which the substrate is placed on the same plane;
The base is susceptor of the vertical substrate processing equipment, characterized in that the nozzle mounting groove is partially cut so that the nozzle unit for injecting the process gas toward the substrate placed on the stage is formed. The method of claim 1,
And the nozzle mounting groove extends from the center of the base to an outer circumferential surface of the base in a radial direction of the base. The method of claim 1,
And the stages are arranged at equal intervals on the concentric circle with the center of the base. In vertical substrate processing equipment:
A process tube with an open bottom;
A heater assembly disposed outside the process tube and heating the process tube;
A seal cap coupled to an open bottom of the process tube by an elevator unit;
A boat installed on the seal cap and loaded into the process tube;
A susceptor mounted on the boat and having stages on which the substrate is placed on the same plane; And
And a nozzle unit installed on the seal cap and injecting a process gas to substrates placed on stages of each of the susceptors loaded on the boat. The method of claim 4, wherein
The nozzle unit is located perpendicular to the center of the boat,
The susceptor includes a disk-shaped base on which the stages are provided on the same plane, and the base is formed with a nozzle mounting groove formed in which the nozzle unit is partially cut so that the nozzle unit can be positioned. equipment. The method of claim 5,
And said stages are arranged at equal intervals on the concentric circle with the center of said base. The method of claim 5,
And said stages are disposed radially about said nozzle unit. The method of claim 5,
And the nozzle unit is rotated so that a process gas is uniformly injected into each of the stages of the base. The method according to claim 4 or 8,
The nozzle unit
A body including at least two injection parts for injecting different process gases; And
And a cooling member positioned inside the body, the cooling member cooling the body so that the injection parts are not heated. The method according to claim 4 or 8,
The nozzle unit
Outer tube;
An inner tube installed inside the outer tube;
Vertical partitions partitioning the annular space such that different process gases are provided in the annular space provided between the outer tube and the inner tube;
Injection holes formed in the outer tube such that the process gas provided to the spaces partitioned by the vertical partition walls is injected into each of the substrates of the boat; And
It is installed inside the inner tube and vertical substrate processing equipment, characterized in that it comprises a cooling member for preventing the process gas is heated by the external environment. The method of claim 4, wherein
The vertical substrate processing equipment
And a nozzle rotating member installed on the seal cap to rotate the nozzle unit. The method of claim 4, wherein
The vertical substrate processing equipment
And a boat rotating member for rotating the boat so that the process gas injected from the nozzle unit is uniformly provided on the substrate. In vertical substrate processing equipment:
A process tube having an opening that is open at a lower portion to form a reaction space therein;
A seal cap operable to open and close the opening of the process tube;
A boat installed in the seal cap;
A nozzle unit installed on the seal cap so as to be perpendicular to the center of the boat; And
And a susceptor having stages mounted on the boat and on which the substrate is placed such that the substrate is positioned radially about the nozzle unit. The method of claim 13,
The susceptor is
The stages comprise a disc shaped base provided on the same plane; The base substrate processing equipment, characterized in that the nozzle is formed in the nozzle mounting groove is cut in part so that the nozzle unit installed in the seal cap is located. The method of claim 14,
The nozzle unit
And injectors for injecting process gas into the substrates of each of the stages. 16. The method of claim 15,
And the ejection portions are arranged at equal intervals of the stages. The method of claim 14,
And a nozzle rotating member installed on the seal cap to rotate the nozzle unit. The method of claim 14,
And a boat rotating member installed on the seal cap to rotate the boats. The method of claim 14,
The nozzle unit
Outer tube;
An inner tube installed inside the outer tube;
Vertical partitions partitioning the annular space such that different process gases are provided in the annular space provided between the outer tube and the inner tube;
Injection holes formed in the outer tube such that the process gas provided to the spaces partitioned by the vertical partition walls is injected into each of the substrates of the boat; And
It is installed inside the inner tube and vertical substrate processing equipment, characterized in that it comprises a cooling member for preventing the process gas is heated by the external environment.

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