KR101561013B1 - Substrate processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a chamber having a main body and a top lead for opening and closing the main body, the chamber having a space formed therein for performing a predetermined process on the substrate, a rotatably installed inside the chamber, And a substrate support.

In addition, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a gas jetting structure having an improved structure capable of generating plasma only in a selected area. The gas jetting body includes a plurality of jetting plates arranged along a circumferential direction on a top lead so as to jet a process gas toward the substrate and a plurality of jetting plates electrically connected to a selected jetting plate of the jetting plates, And a partition member provided between the selected region and the non-selected region such that the plasma is formed only in the selected region including the selected spray plate. The spray plate disposed in the selected region is disposed in the non-selected region And is electrically insulated from the spray plate.

Description

[0001] Substrate processing device [0002]

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus for forming a plasma among various types of thin film deposition apparatuses such as an atomic layer deposition apparatus and a chemical vapor deposition apparatus for depositing a thin film on a semiconductor substrate, .

Generally, a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device is a process of realizing an electronic circuit that performs a certain function by combining the order of lamination and the shape of a pattern, such as a conductive film, a semiconductor film, and an insulating film, I can tell. Accordingly, various thin film deposition and etching unit processes are repeatedly performed in the semiconductor device manufacturing process. In order to perform such a unit process, the substrate is brought into a substrate processing apparatus that provides optimal conditions for the progress of the process, and is processed .

Among these substrate processing apparatuses, there are a sputtering apparatus, a chemical vapor deposition apparatus, an atomic layer deposition apparatus, and the like in order to deposit a thin film on a substrate. Hereinafter, an atomic layer deposition apparatus, Will be described as an example of an atomic layer deposition apparatus.

A conventional atomic layer deposition apparatus is shown in Fig.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional atomic layer deposition apparatus 9 includes a chamber 1 having a space formed therein, a substrate 1 which is rotatably installed in the chamber 1 and on which a plurality of substrates s are placed, And a support portion (2). On the upper part of the chamber 1, a gas injector 3 for supplying a gas toward the substrate s is provided.

The gas injection device 3 is composed of a plurality of shower heads 4, which are arranged at regular angular intervals along the circumferential direction. That is, a plurality of arcuate shower heads 4 are coupled to a lower portion of the top lead 5 in the upper part of the chamber 1. A plurality of gas injection holes 7 are formed in the top lead 5 with reference to the center point so that the gas is supplied to each shower head 4 through the gas injection holes 7. The gas injected through the gas injection holes 7 is diffused in the space c between the showerhead 4 and the top lead 5 and is supplied through the plurality of gas injection holes 8 formed in the shower head 4 s.

The substrate supporting portion 2 is sequentially supplied with the gas supplied from each shower head 4 while being rotated in the chamber 1, and thin film deposition is performed. For example, the first raw material gas is supplied at the beginning of the process, the purge gas, the second raw material gas, and the purge gas are sequentially supplied to perform thin film deposition, and the gases are discharged through the pumping passage (p) Is completed.

More specifically, when the first source gas is supplied into the chamber, the mono-element layer chemically adsorbs onto the substrate surface through reaction with the substrate surface. However, when the surface of the substrate is saturated with the first source gas, the first source gases above the monolayer can not form the chemisorption state due to the non-reactivity between the same ligands, and are in the state of physically adsorbed. When the purge gas is supplied, the first raw material gases in the physically adsorbed state are removed by the purge gas. When the second raw material gas is supplied onto the first monolayer, the second layer is grown through interstitial reaction between the ligands of the first source gas and the second source gas, and the second source gases, which have not reacted with the first layer, And is removed by the purge gas. And the surface of the second layer is in a state capable of reacting with the first raw material gas. The above process forms one cycle, and the thin film is deposited by repeating several cycles.

Meanwhile, in the conventional atomic layer deposition apparatus 9 configured as described above, a plasma is formed between the substrate supporter 2 and the gas injector 3 to promote thin film deposition. That is, an electrode connected to a DC power source or an RF power source is provided on the metal top lead 5 or the shower head 4, and the substrate supporting part 2 made of metal is grounded, And the showerhead 4, as shown in Fig.

In the conventional atomic layer deposition apparatus 9, a plasma is formed in the entire region above the substrate support 2. In a region where plasma is actually required, the source gas (source gas and reaction gas) is injected, The damage caused by the plasma may occur.

In addition, forming plasma in an unnecessary area not only deteriorates the efficiency of thin film deposition but also can generate particles in the chamber, which is not preferable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus improved in structure to improve a processing efficiency of a substrate by forming a plasma only in a selected region.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus including a main body and a top lead for opening and closing the main body, the chamber having a space formed therein for performing a predetermined process on the substrate, A plurality of injection plates installed along the circumferential direction of the top lid so as to inject a process gas toward the substrate; An electrode electrically connected to a selected one of the plates to form a plasma between the selected spray plate and the substrate support; and an electrode disposed between the top lead and the selected spray plate, The method of claim 1, And comprising a partition member provided between the station and the said jet plate disposed within the selected area is characterized in comprising an gas distribution member configured to be electrically insulated and the jet plate disposed in the non-selection area.

According to the present invention, it is preferable that the partition member is formed so as to protrude downward from the bottom surface of the top lead toward the substrate support, more preferably, Is smaller than the thickness of the plasma sheath formed therebetween.

According to the present invention, it is preferable that the electrode further includes an insulating member which passes through the top lead, is connected to the injection plate, and surrounds the electrode so as to be electrically insulated from the top lead.

According to the present invention, it is preferable that the partition member is an electrical insulator, and an insertion portion protruding between the top lead and the injection plate is formed on the partition member, and the injection plate and the top lead are electrically insulated from each other.

According to the present invention, a plasma deactivation gas or an inert gas such as ammonia is injected in the injection plate disposed on both sides outside the selection region, and the pressure of the gas to be injected is controlled by the gas injected from the injection plate disposed in the selective region .

The gap between the injection plate disposed in the selection region and the substrate support is preferably equal to or greater than the gap between the injection plate disposed in the non-selection region and the substrate support.

The substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention has an advantage that the apparatus can be operated economically while maintaining the throughput of the substrate processing as it is because the selective region and the non-selected region can be separated from each other and the plasma can be formed only in the selected region.

Further, in the present invention, plasma can be suppressed in a region where plasma is unnecessary, thereby solving the problem of plasma damage or particle generation.

Hereinafter, a substrate processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of a gas spraying body of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, In which the gas injector is joined.

2 to 4, a substrate processing apparatus 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber 10, a substrate support 20, and a gas jet 90.

The chamber 10 includes a main body 18 and a top lead 19 which is rotatably installed on the main body 18 and opens and closes the inside of the main body 18. [ When the top lead 19 closes the inside of the main body 18, a space 11 in which a certain treatment with respect to the substrate s, such as a deposition process, is performed is formed inside the chamber 10.

Since the space portion 11 inside the chamber 10 is generally formed in a vacuum atmosphere, an exhaust system for exhausting gas is provided. That is, the annular groove 14 is formed in the lower part of the chamber 10 and the baffle 12 is placed on the upper part of the groove part 14, so that the exhaust part 14 surrounded by the groove part 14 and the baffle 12, . On both sides of the exhaust passage, a pumping passage p connected to an external pump (not shown) is provided. The baffle 12 is formed with a suction port 13 so that the gases in the space 11 flow into the exhaust passage through the suction port 13 and then exhausted through the pumping passage p.

A through hole 15 is formed in the bottom surface of the chamber 10 to receive the rotation shaft 22 of the substrate support 20 described later. The substrate s flows into and out of the chamber 10 through a gate valve (not shown) provided on the side wall of the chamber 10.

The substrate support 20 is for supporting the substrate s and has a support plate 21 and a rotation axis 22. The support plate 21 is formed in a flat plate shape and disposed in parallel in the chamber 10, and the rotation axis 22 is vertically arranged and provided at the lower portion of the support plate 21. The rotary shaft 22 extends outwardly through the through hole 15 of the chamber 10 and is connected to a driving means such as a motor (not shown) to rotate and elevate the support plate 21. The rotation shaft 22 is enclosed by a bellows (not shown) to prevent the vacuum inside the chamber 10 from being released through the space between the rotation shaft 22 and the through hole 13.

A plurality of substrate seating portions 23 are formed in the upper portion of the support plate 21 along the circumferential direction. The substrate seating part 23 is formed in a concave shape so that the substrate s can be supported on the support plate 21 without being detached even if the supporting plate 21 is rotated. A heater (not shown) is embedded below the support plate 21 to heat the substrate s to a predetermined process temperature.

The gas spraying body 90 is for spraying a process gas such as a raw material gas, a reactive gas and a purge gas toward the substrate s placed on the substrate support 20 and has a plurality of spraying plates 50. Each injection plate 50 is formed in a substantially circular arc shape and is disposed along the circumferential direction with respect to the center point of the top lead 19. [

A gas diffusion space c is formed between the injection plate 50 and the top lead 19 when the injection plate 50 is installed in the top lead 19. [ Each gas diffusion space (c) communicates with a gas injection hole (55) formed in the top lead (19). The respective process gases are introduced into the gas diffusion space c through the gas injection holes 55. A plurality of gas injection holes 51 are formed in the injection plate 50 so that the process gas diffused in the gas diffusion space c can be uniformly supplied to the entire surface of the substrate s.

An intermediate plate 60 is interposed between the top lead 19 and the spray plate 50. In this embodiment, the gas diffuses uniformly in the gas diffusion space c. That is, the process gas introduced through the gas injection hole 55 must be completely diffused in the gas diffusion space c and then supplied to the substrate s, so that the process gas can be uniformly supplied over the entire area of the substrate s have. The process gas is primarily diffused between the intermediate plate 60 and the top lead 19 by interposing the intermediate plate 60 so that the process gas is discharged through the spray holes 66 formed in the intermediate plate 60, Is diffused secondarily between the intermediate plate (60) and the spray plate (50), and then supplied to the substrate (s). The process gas is completely diffused in the gas diffusion space (c) through two diffusion processes to uniformly spray the entire area of the substrate (s).

Although not shown, in other embodiments, an intermediate plate may be used to supply different kinds of gas. That is, after interposing the intermediate plate, the upper space between the top lead and the intermediate plate and the lower space between the intermediate plate and the injection plate are isolated from each other, have. Some of the plurality of injection holes formed in the injection plate are communicated only with the upper space and the other part is configured to be communicated only with the lower space so that the different gases can be supplied to the substrate.

In addition, the gas jetting body 90 has the electrode 81. The electrode 81 is for forming a plasma between the gas jet 90 and the substrate support 20 and is connected to the selected injection plate 50. That is, one end of the electrode 81 is connected to a DC power source or a high-frequency power source provided outside the chamber 10 and the other end is connected to a spraying plate 50 of a conductive material. Similarly, the substrate support 20 of the conductive material is grounded When power is applied, a plasma is formed between the selected spray plate 50 and the substrate support 20. When the plasma is formed, the thin film deposition is promoted, and the deposition process can be efficiently performed.

However, in the prior art, the plasma is not formed only in the region requiring the formation of the plasma, that is, the region where the process gas or the reactive gas is injected, but is formed in the entire region of the upper portion of the substrate support including the region where the purge gas is injected. Therefore, in the region where the purge gas is injected, damage due to the plasma occurs, or the chamber is contaminated due to the generation of particles.

Therefore, in the present invention, plasma can be formed only in a selected region determined according to a user's need, such as a region where a process gas or a reactive gas is injected.

For this purpose, the electrode 81 is connected only to the selected spray plate 50 and is not connected to the other spray plate and the top lead 19. The selected spray plate 50 is also connected to the other spray plate or top lead 19 So as to be electrically insulated.

That is, the electrode 81 connected to the injection plate 50 selected through the top lead 19 is covered with the insulating member 82 made of an insulator and is insulated from the top lead 19, the intermediate plate 60 (ceramic material) Respectively. Then, a barrier member 70 of an insulating material, which will be described later, is interposed between the top lead 19 of the conductor material and the selected spray plate 50 so as to be electrically insulated.

However, even if the electrodes 81 and the selected injection plate 50 are insulated from other injection plates or the top leads 19 and the like, when power is applied to the selected injection plate 50, the selected injection plate 50 The plasma is formed in the entire region of the substrate support 20, which is not formed between the substrate support 20 and the substrate support 20.

In order to form the plasma only in the selective region including the spray plate 50 selected in this way, it is necessary to separate the selective region from the non-selected region. Here, the selection region is an area that necessarily includes the injection plate (50, the injection plate to which the electrode is connected) selected by the user in accordance with the process needs, and as shown in FIG. 4, the region including only the selected injection plate But in other embodiments may include spray plates disposed next to the selected spray plate 50 including the selected spray plate 50. [ That is, it may be an area including two or more ejection plates including the selected ejection plate 50.

In general, a region where plasma is required to be formed will be a region including a raw material gas and a spray plate for spraying the reactive gas. In the case of the atomic layer deposition apparatuses shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, it is general that the injection plates for injecting the raw material gas and the reaction gas are arranged opposite to each other in the opposite direction to each other. In this case, have. That is, the selected spray plate need not necessarily be one, but may be a plurality of the spray plates in the gas spraying body 90. In addition, the plurality of selected ejection plates do not need to be adjacent to each other because the electrodes are connected to each other.

As described above, when the selection region is determined, the selection region and the non-selection region are separated from each other by the partition member 70. The partition member 70 is made of an insulator material and is disposed between the selective region and the non-selected region and protrudes from the lower surface of the top lead 19 toward the substrate support 20. Thus, .

The important point here is that the distance d between the partition member 70 and the substrate support 20 should be smaller than the thickness of the plasma sheath. That is, when a plasma is formed between the substrate support 20 and the selected spray plate 50, a sheath area where no plasma is formed is formed just above the substrate support 20, and the thickness of the plasma sheath is 200 to 300 μm . The plasma generated in the selected region between the selected ejection plate 50 and the substrate support 20 is applied to the partition wall member 70 and the substrate support 20 when the gap between the partition member 70 and the substrate support 20 is smaller than the thickness of the plasma sheath. And can not be diffused into the non-selected region through the gap between the substrate supports 20. [ Thus, the plasma can be formed only in the selective region and the plasma can be suppressed in the non-selected region.

An insertion portion 72 protruding between the top lead 19 and the injection plate 50 is provided at an upper portion of the partition member 70. The insertion portion 72 is provided with a top lead 19, (50) can be electrically insulated from each other.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, plasma inert gas can be injected from the injection plate 50 disposed on both sides of the selected region so that plasma can be formed only in the selected region. That is, since the gas such as ammonia acts to inhibit the activity of the plasma, if there is no problem in the process, a plasma inert gas such as ammonia is sprayed from an injection plate disposed on both sides outside the selected region, It is possible to further prevent diffusion into the region.

In addition, it is possible to prevent the plasma from diffusing into the non-selected regions by preventing the process gas from being injected at the injection plates disposed on both sides of the selected region, that is, by using it as a dummy injection plate.

In addition, in the injection plate (for example, the purge gas injection plate) disposed on both sides of the selected region, while the inert gas such as nitrogen gas is being injected, the pressure of the gas is made higher than the pressure of the gas injected in the selective region, It may be prevented from spreading.

Since the plasma is formed only in the selective region including the raw material gas or the injection plate through which the reactive gas is injected in the substrate processing apparatus 100 having the above-described configuration, plasma in the region where the formation of the plasma is unnecessary, And problems such as particle generation can be solved.

In the substrate processing apparatus 100 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the injection plate to which the electrodes are connected and the other injection plate are arranged at the same height. However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, May be arranged differently from one another.

That is, in order to form a plasma, a certain height or more must be ensured, but in the region where plasma is not required, it is preferable that the injection plate and the substrate s are arranged close to each other. Thus, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, it can be disposed at a position higher than the selected injection plate 50 and the unselected injection plate. The other components in FIG. 5 are completely the same as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Up to now, the top lead of the chamber has been described and shown as a plate type, but the shape of the top lead may vary.

That is, the top lead has a frame only, and an arc-shaped top plate is fitted into the frame, and a spray plate is fitted so as to be spaced apart from the bottom of each top plate by a certain distance, . That is, the top lead is formed into a frame so as to have a plurality of fitting portions formed in an arc shape, and the top plate and the injection plate are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction.

Further, other portions of the top leads may be formed in the form of a plate as in the present embodiment, and only a region of the selected injection plate (mainly a material gas injection plate as a selective region for forming plasma) may be formed as a frame. In this case, a frame is formed in a region where the material gas injection plate is disposed in the top lead, a top plate is fitted in the upper portion of the frame, and a raw material gas injection plate is inserted in the lower portion. Can be formed.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation and that those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and equivalent arrangements may be made therein. It will be possible. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be determined only by the appended claims.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional substrate processing apparatus.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the gas jetting body of the substrate processing apparatus shown in Fig.

4 is a schematic perspective view of the gas injector shown in Fig. 3 coupled thereto.

5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the Related Art

100 ... substrate processing apparatus 10 ... chamber

20 ... substrate support 50 ... injection plate

60 ... intermediate plate 70 ... partition wall member

81 ... Electrode 90 ... Gas Dispenser

s ... substrate

Claims (9)

A chamber having a main body and a top lead for opening and closing the main body, the chamber having a space portion formed therein to perform a predetermined treatment with respect to the substrate; A substrate support rotatably installed in the chamber and on which a plurality of substrates are mounted; And A plurality of ejection plates disposed along the circumferential direction of the top lead so as to eject a process gas toward the substrate; and a plurality of ejection plates electrically connected to the selected ejection plates, between the selected ejection plate and the substrate support And a partition member provided between the selected region and the non-selected region so as to form the plasma only in a selected region provided between the top lead and the selected spray plate and including the selected spray plate, And the gas ejection plate disposed in the selected region is electrically insulated from the ejection plate disposed in the non-selected region. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the partition member is formed to protrude downward from the bottom surface of the top lead toward the substrate support. 3. The method of claim 2, Wherein the gap between the partition member and the substrate support is smaller than the thickness of the plasma sheath formed between the ejection plate and the substrate support. The method according to claim 1, The electrode is connected to the injection plate through the top lead, Further comprising an insulating member surrounding the electrode so as to be electrically insulated from the top lead. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the partition member is an electrical insulator, and an insertion portion protruding between the top lead and the ejection plate is formed on an upper portion of the partition member, Wherein the spray plate and the top lead are electrically insulated from each other. The method according to claim 1, And a plasma inactivating gas is injected from an ejection plate disposed on both outer sides of the selected region. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the pressure of the gas ejected from the ejection plate disposed on both outer sides of the selection region is higher than the pressure of the gas ejected from the ejection plate disposed inside the selection region. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the injection plate does not inject the process gas at the injection plates disposed on both outer sides of the selection region. The method according to claim 1, Wherein an interval between the ejection plate disposed in the selection region and the substrate support is equal to or greater than an interval between the ejection plate disposed in the non-selection region and the substrate support.

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