KR102190971B1 - manifold and substrate treating apparatus the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a substrate processing facility. The substrate processing facility of the present invention includes a boat on which a substrate is loaded; A process tube providing a processing space therein and into which the boat is loaded/unloaded; A manifold supporting the process tube; And a by-product attachment preventing member provided on the manifold and providing a blocking gas through the gap to block the introduction of reaction by-products into the gap between the process tube and the manifold.

Description

Manifold and substrate processing equipment including the same

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus.

In general, vertical heat treatment facilities include CVD processes, which are various heat treatment processes for substrates to be processed (e.g., semiconductor substrates, LED substrates, flat panel display substrates), thin film formation processes such as epitaxial growth, oxide film formation processes, and impurities. It is used in thermal diffusion process for doping of.

The vertical heat treatment facility largely includes a vertical heating furnace and a boat housed in the heating furnace.

The heating furnace is again a process chamber consisting of a cylindrical inner tube and a cap-shaped outer tube formed at regular intervals on the outer side of the inner tube, and a manifold coupled to the lower end of the process chamber. ).

The manifold at this time is mainly made of stainless steel, and the upper end is flange-coupled with the lower end of the outer tube, and the lower end of the inner tube is coupled to the inner surface extending vertically downward. In this configuration, a heater for heating the inner space of the heating furnace is mounted outside the outer tube.

On the other hand, the boat is drawn in and out from the lower open bottom of the heating furnace. The boat is a configuration in which a plurality of wafers are vertically stacked, and is provided so as to be elevated by an elevator.

While the configuration of the currently introduced vertical heating furnace is mostly similar, there are slight differences in the shape of the manifold and the configuration of the coupling ends of the inner tube and the outer tube coupled to the manifold.

In addition, the outer tube 2 is in close contact with each other in the same configuration as in FIG. 1 to seal the inside of the process chamber 1 to the manifold 3.

In other words, the top surface of the manifold 3 and the flange portion of the outer tube 2 are in close contact with each other in horizontal planes, while the O-ring 4 is interposed on the top surface of the manifold to maintain more airtightness. (4) Due to the installation, there is a slight gap between the top surface of the manifold (3) and the flange of the outer tube (2).

In the heating furnace having such a structure, when the process proceeds, the by-product P of the process penetrates into the gap, causing an accumulation phenomenon. Due to the continuous process, by-products (P) between the gaps continue to accumulate, and as a result, by-products during the process cause a large quality deterioration (thin film quality deterioration) to the product.

In order to prevent this, it causes a problem of lowering productivity because the work of restarting after disassembling the manifold and outer tube by disassembling the manifold and outer tube according to the accumulated usage must be continuously performed.

Embodiments of the present invention are intended to provide a manifold capable of preventing reaction by-products from attaching to a gap between a manifold and a process tube, and a substrate processing facility including the same.

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

According to an aspect of the present invention, a boat on which a substrate is loaded; A process tube providing a processing space therein and into which the boat is loaded/unloaded; A manifold supporting the process tube; And a by-product adhesion prevention member provided on the manifold and providing a blocking gas to the gap in order to block the introduction of reaction by-products into the gap between the process tube and the manifold. .

In addition, the by-product attachment preventing member may include an insertion groove formed concave in a ring shape on the first support surface of the manifold on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated; A ring-shaped injection pipe inserted into the insertion groove and having an inner space filled with blocking gas and having injection ports through which blocking gas is injected; And a blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the injection pipe.

In addition, the injection holes may be formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle so that the blocking gas is injected toward the processing space of the process tube.

In addition, the manifold further includes an O-ring for sealing with the flange portion of the process tube; The O-ring may be located outside the by-product attachment preventing member.

In addition, the by-product attachment preventing member may include a buffer space formed concavely in a ring shape on the first support surface of the manifold on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated; A blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the buffer space; And an annular injection cap installed in a ring shape to cover an upper portion of the buffer space and having injection holes through which a blocking gas is injected.

In addition, the injection hole may be formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle so that the blocking gas is injected toward the processing space of the process tube.

In addition, the first support surface of the manifold may further include a ring-shaped protrusion that holds a reference so that the process tube is correctly positioned at the inner end.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the body of the open cylinder shape; A first flange provided on an upper end of the body and supporting the process tube; And it is intended to provide a manifold of a vertical heat treatment facility including a by-product adhesion prevention member for injecting a blocking gas to block the introduction of reaction by-products into a gap between the process tube supported on the first flange.

In addition, the by-product attachment preventing member includes an insertion groove formed concave in a ring shape on an upper surface of the first flange on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated; A ring-shaped injection pipe inserted into the insertion groove and having an inner space filled with blocking gas and having injection ports through which blocking gas is injected; And a blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the injection pipe.

In addition, the by-product attachment preventing member may include a buffer space formed concavely in a ring shape on the first support surface of the manifold on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated; A blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the buffer space; And an annular injection cap installed in a ring shape to cover an upper portion of the buffer space and having injection holes through which a blocking gas is injected.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the inert gas is injected into the gap between the manifold and the process tube to prevent reaction by-products from attaching, thereby minimizing the cleaning time of the facility due to accumulation, thereby increasing the operating time of the facility, thereby increasing production efficiency There is an improvement effect.

1 is a view for explaining a problem in a conventional vertical heat treatment facility.
2 is a plan view showing a cluster facility according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a side view showing a cluster facility for processing a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a cross-sectional view showing a process chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an enlarged view of a main part shown in FIG. 4.
6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a manifold.
7 and 8 are views showing another example of a by-product attachment preventing member.

Other advantages and features of the present invention, and a method of achieving them will become apparent with reference to embodiments to be described later in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various different forms, and only this embodiment is intended to complete the disclosure of the present invention, and to provide ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to completely inform the scope of the invention to those who have it, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

Even if not defined, all terms (including technical or scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly accepted by universal technology in the prior art to which this invention belongs. Terms defined by general dictionaries may be construed as having the same meaning as the related description and/or the text of this application, and not conceptualized or excessively formalized, even if not clearly defined herein. Won't.

The terms used in the present specification are for describing exemplary embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, the singular form also includes the plural form unless specifically stated in the phrase. As used in the specification,'includes' and/or various conjugated forms of this verb, for example,'includes','includes','includes','includes', etc. refer to the mentioned composition, ingredient, component, Steps, operations and/or elements do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other compositions, components, components, steps, operations and/or elements. In the present specification, the term'and/or' refers to each of the listed components or various combinations thereof.

In this embodiment, the substrate may be a semiconductor wafer. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the substrate may be another type of substrate such as a glass substrate.

2 and 3 are a plan view and a side view showing a cluster facility for processing a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3, the substrate processing cluster facility 1000 includes a facility front end module 900, first load lock chambers 200, a transfer chamber 300, and a process processing module 400. do.

An Equipment Front End Module (EFEM) 900 is disposed in front of the cluster equipment 1. The facility front end module 900 includes load ports 910 through which a cassette C is loaded and unloaded, and a substrate transfer robot 930 for withdrawing a substrate from the cassette C. It includes an index chamber 920 that interfaces to transfer a substrate between C) and the first load lock chambers 200. Here, the substrate transfer robot 930 is an ATM (Atmosphere) robot.

The index chamber 920 is located between the load ports 910 and the first load lock chamber 200. The index chamber 920 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape including a front panel 922, a rear panel 924, and both side panels 926, and a substrate transfer robot 930 for transferring a substrate is provided therein. Although not shown, the index chamber 920 may include a controlled air flow system such as vents and a laminar flow system to prevent particle contaminants from entering the interior space.

In the index chamber 920, a passage for transferring a wafer to and from the load lock chamber 200 is opened and closed by a gate valve GV1 on the rear panel 924 in contact with the load lock chamber 200.

The load ports 910 are arranged in a row on the front panel 922 of the index chamber 920. The cassette C is loaded and unloaded in the load port 204. The cassette C may be a front open unified pod having a body with an open front and a door for opening and closing the front of the body.

Dummy substrate storage units 940 are provided on both side panels 926 of the index chamber 920. The dummy substrate storage unit 940 provides dummy substrate storage containers 942 in which dummy substrates DW are stacked and stored. The dummy substrates DW stored in the dummy substrate storage container 942 of the dummy substrate storage unit 940 are used when the processing module 300 runs out of substrates.

Although not shown, the dummy substrate storage container 942 may be provided by changing to a chamber other than the side of the index chamber. For example, the dummy substrate storage container 942 may be installed in the transfer chamber 300.

The first load lock chamber 200 is connected to the facility front end module 900 through a gate valve GV1. The first load lock chamber 200 is disposed between the equipment front end module 900 and the transfer chamber 300. Three first load lock chambers 200 are provided between the facility front end module 900 and the transfer chamber 300. In the first load lock chamber 200, the internal space can be selectively switched to atmospheric pressure and vacuum pressure. A loading container 210 in which a substrate is loaded is provided in the first load lock chamber 200.

The transfer chamber 300 is connected to the first load lock chambers 200 through a gate valve GV2. The transfer chamber 300 is disposed between the first load lock chamber 200 and the process processing module 400. The transfer chamber 300 has a rectangular box shape, and a substrate transfer robot 330 for transferring a substrate is provided therein. The substrate transfer robot 330 transfers a substrate between the first load lock chamber 200 and the substrate loading units 420 provided in the second load lock chamber 410 of the process module 400.

In the present embodiment, the substrate transfer robot 330 is illustrated and described as including the end effector 332 capable of transporting one substrate, but the number of substrates that the end effector can transport is not limited thereto. Here, as the substrate transfer robot 330, a vacuum robot capable of transferring a substrate in a vacuum environment is used.

A plurality of process processing modules 400 may be connected to the transfer chamber 300 through a gate valve GV3. As an example, three process processing modules 400, which are selective epitaxial growth apparatuses, may be connected to the transfer chamber 300, and the number may be provided in various ways.

In the present embodiment, it is described as an application example of the epitaxial growth process, but is not limited thereto, and may be used in a heat treatment process such as a CVD process, a thin film formation process, an oxide film formation process, and a thermal diffusion process for doping impurities. Yes, of course.

Referring to FIG. 4, the cluster facility 1 includes a vacuum exhaust unit 500 and an inert gas supply unit 600. The vacuum exhaust unit 500 is a vacuum line connected to each of the first load lock chamber 200, the transfer chamber 300, the second load lock chamber 410, and the process chamber 100 to provide vacuum pressure to each chamber. Including 510. The inert gas supply unit 600 supplies inert gas to each chamber to form a differential pressure between the first load lock chamber 200, the transfer chamber 300, the second load lock chamber 410, and the process chamber 100. It includes a gas supply line 610.

In addition, the index chamber 110 and the first load lock chamber 200, the first load lock chamber 200 and the transfer chamber 300, and the transfer chamber 300 and the second load lock chamber 410 are gate valves ( It is connected through GV1, GV2, GV3), so that each chamber pressure can be controlled independently.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing a process chamber 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 to 4, the process processing module 400 includes a second load lock chamber 410 and a process chamber 100.

The second load lock chamber 410 is connected to the transfer chamber 300 through a gate valve GV3. The second load lock chamber 410 includes an elevating member 430 for loading/unloading the substrate loading unit 700 in which substrates are placed in a batch manner into the inner space of the process tube 110 of the process chamber 100. Is provided. A process chamber 100 is disposed above the second load lock chamber 410. In addition, a substrate transfer member 800 is installed in the second load lock chamber 410. The substrate takeover member 800 is located on one side of the second load lock chamber 410, receives a substrate from the substrate transfer robot 330 and loads it into the substrate loading unit 700 or the substrate loading unit 700 It will be described in more detail later as unloading from and handing over the substrate to the substrate transfer robot 330.

The process chamber 100 may include an apparatus for processing a substrate.

For example, the process chamber 100 includes a process tube 110, a heater assembly 120, a manifold 900, a substrate loading unit 700, a side nozzle unit 140, a sub nozzle 160, and a boat rotation unit ( 172), a control unit 170 and a supply unit 190 may be included.

The process tube 110 may include an inner tube 112 in which the substrate loading unit 700 is accommodated and an outer tube 114 surrounding the inner tube 112. The process tube 110 may provide an internal space in which a substrate loading unit 700 on which a substrate is loaded is loaded and a selective epitaxial growth process is performed on the substrates. The process tube 110 may be made of a material that can withstand high temperatures, such as quartz.

The inner tube 112 and the outer tube 114 may be formed in the shape of a cylindrical tube having an upper portion blocked. In particular, the inner tube 112 may have a main cutout 113 formed on one side along the length direction (vertical direction). The main cutout 113 may be provided in a slot shape. The main cutout 113 may be formed in a straight line with the first main nozzle 142.

As an example, the main cutout 113 may be provided in a shape in which vertical symmetry is not achieved, such as an inverted triangle shape that widens from the bottom to the top, and a triangle shape that narrows the width from the bottom to the top. In addition, the main cutout 113 may be provided in the form of an individual hole to face the injection hole of the first main nozzle 142. For example, the cutout 113 may be provided with the same width as in FIG. 5.

The substrate loading unit 700 may include a plurality of space division plates 740 on which a substrate is mounted. The substrate loading unit 700 is mounted on the seal cap 180, and the seal cap 180 is loaded into the process tube 110 or unloaded out of the process tube 110 by the elevating member 430 which is an elevator device. Can be.

When the substrate loading unit 700 is loaded into the process tube 110, the seal cap 180 is coupled to the manifold 900 with the second flange 930. On the other hand, a sealing member such as an O-ring for sealing is provided at the portion where the second flange 930 and the seal cap 180 of the manifold 900 contact, so that the process gas is processed. Do not leak between the tube 110 and the seal cap 180.

Meanwhile, the boat rotation unit 172 provides a rotational force for rotating the substrate loading unit 700. The boat rotation unit 172 may be a motor. The boat rotation part 172 is installed on the seal cap 180. The boat rotation unit 172 may be provided with a sensor for detecting the rotation speed of the substrate loading unit 700. The rotation speed of the substrate loading unit 700 sensed by the sensor may be provided to the control unit 170.

The control unit 170 controls the operation of the boat rotation unit 172. The control unit 170 controls the rotational speed of the boat rotation unit 172 according to the gas supply step time supplied through the nozzles of the side nozzle unit 140.

5 is an enlarged view of a main part shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a manifold.

4 to 6, the manifold 900 may include a body 910, a first flange 920, a second flange 930, and a by-product attachment preventing member 980.

The body 910 may have a cylindrical shape with open top and bottom. The body 910 has an exhaust port 909 for forcibly suctioning and exhausting internal air to decompress the inside of the body 910, and a side nozzle for injecting process gas into the process tube 110 on the opposite side of the exhaust port 909 A nozzle port 908 for mounting the part 140 may be provided.

Although not shown in FIG. 4, the process tube 110 may be provided with a nozzle port for mounting the sub nozzle 160. The exhaust port 909 is provided to discharge the air in the process tube 110 to the outside during processing. A vacuum exhaust device (not shown) is connected to the exhaust port 909, and exhaust and internal decompression of the process gas supplied to the process tube 110 through the exhaust port 909 are performed. The heater assembly 120 is installed to surround the process tube 110. A first support end 918 for supporting the inner tube 112 may be provided on the inner side of the body 910.

The first flange 920 is provided on the upper end of the body 910. The first flange 920 supports the outer tube 114 of the process tube 110. An O-ring 922 for sealing may be installed at a portion where the first flange 920 and the outer tube 114 contact each other. Meanwhile, a ring-shaped protrusion 928 may be installed on the first flange 920. The ring-shaped protrusion 928 is provided at the inner end of the first flange 920 and may be used to hold the reference so that the outer tube 114 can be set in a correct position. For reference, the outer tube 114 is normally set on the first flange 920 and then fixed to the first flange 920 by a separate fixing bracket (B).

The second flange 930 is provided at the lower end of the body 910. The seal cap may be in contact with the second flange 930.

The by-product attachment preventing member 980 may be provided on the manifold 900. The by-product adhesion prevention member 980 passes a blocking gas to the gap between the outer tube 114 of the process tube 110 and the first flange 920 of the manifold 900 to block the introduction of reaction by-products into the gap. to provide. As an example, the by-product attachment preventing member 980 may include an insertion groove 982, an injection pipe 984, and a blocking gas supply unit 988.

The insertion groove 982 may be formed concavely in a ring shape on the upper surface of the first flange 920 on which the flange portion of the outer tube 114 is seated. The insertion groove 982 is located inside the O-ring groove in which the O-ring 922 is installed. The spray pipe 984 may be inserted into the insertion groove 982. The injection pipe 984 may include injection holes 985 through which the blocking gas is injected and having an inner space filled with the blocking gas.

The blocking gas supply unit 988 supplies blocking gas to the injection pipe 984. The blocking gas supply unit 988 may include a supply port or the like formed in the first flange 920. Here, the blocking gas may be an inert gas such as nitrogen gas.

Meanwhile, the injection holes 985 may be formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle so that the blocking gas is injected toward the processing space of the process tube.

As described above, by injecting an inert gas from the by-product attachment preventing member, it is possible to prevent reaction by-products from adhering between the outer tube and the manifold during the process. For this reason, it is possible to produce a good product by suppressing the influence of the quality of the product during the process.

7 and 8 are views showing another example of a by-product attachment preventing member.

7 and 8, a by-product attachment preventing member 980 according to another example may be provided on the manifold 900. The by-product adhesion prevention member 980 passes a blocking gas to the gap between the outer tube 114 of the process tube 110 and the first flange 920 of the manifold 900 to block the introduction of reaction by-products into the gap. to provide. As an example, the by-product attachment preventing member 980 may include a buffer space 982, an injection cap 984, and a blocking gas supply unit 988.

The buffer space may be formed concave in a ring shape on the upper surface of the first flange 920 on which the flange portion of the outer tube 114 is seated. The buffer space 982 is located inside the O-ring groove in which the O-ring 922 is installed.

The blocking gas supply unit 988 supplies blocking gas to the buffer space. The blocking gas supply unit 988 may include a supply port or the like formed in the first flange 920.

The spray cap is formed in an annular shape to cover the upper portion of the buffer space, and has injection ports through which the blocking gas is injected. The injection holes 985 may be formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle so that the blocking gas is injected toward the processing space of the process tube.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but to explain the technical idea, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

100: process chamber 110: process tube
120: heater assembly
900: manifold 980: attachment preventing member
982: insertion groove 984: spray pipe
988: blocking gas supply

Claims (10)

In the substrate processing facility:
A boat on which a substrate is loaded;
A process tube providing a processing space therein and into which the boat is loaded/unloaded;
A manifold supporting the process tube; And
A by-product adhesion prevention member provided on the manifold and providing a blocking gas through the gap to block the introduction of reaction by-products into the gap between the process tube and the manifold;
The by-product attachment preventing member
An insertion groove formed concave in a ring shape on the first support surface of the manifold on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated;
A ring-shaped injection pipe inserted into the insertion groove and having an inner space filled with blocking gas and having injection ports through which blocking gas is injected; And
A substrate processing facility including a blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the injection pipe. delete The method of claim 1,
The injection holes are formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle so that the blocking gas is injected toward the processing space of the process tube. The method of claim 1,
The manifold is
Further comprising an O-ring for sealing the flange portion of the process tube;
The O-ring is a substrate processing facility positioned outside the by-product attachment preventing member. In the substrate processing facility:
A boat on which a substrate is loaded;
A process tube providing a processing space therein and into which the boat is loaded/unloaded;
A manifold supporting the process tube; And
A by-product adhesion prevention member provided on the manifold and providing a blocking gas through the gap to block the introduction of reaction by-products into the gap between the process tube and the manifold;
The by-product attachment preventing member
A buffer space formed concavely in a ring shape on the first support surface of the manifold on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated;
A blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the buffer space; And
A substrate processing facility comprising an annular spray cap installed in a ring shape to cover an upper portion of the buffer space and having injection holes through which a blocking gas is injected. The method of claim 5,
The injection port is formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle so that the blocking gas is injected toward the processing space of the process tube. The method of claim 5,
The first support surface of the manifold further includes a ring-shaped protrusion for holding a reference so that the process tube is positioned at the inner end. In the manifold supporting the process tube in a vertical heat treatment facility,
An open cylindrical body;
A first flange provided on an upper end of the body and supporting the process tube; And
And a by-product adhesion prevention member for injecting a blocking gas to block a reaction by-product from flowing into a gap between the process tube supported on the first flange;
The by-product attachment preventing member
An insertion groove formed concavely in a ring shape on an upper surface of the first flange on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated;
A ring-shaped injection pipe inserted into the insertion groove and having an inner space filled with blocking gas and having injection ports through which blocking gas is injected; And
A manifold of a vertical heat treatment facility including a blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the injection pipe. delete In the manifold supporting the process tube in a vertical heat treatment facility,
An open cylindrical body;
A first flange provided on an upper end of the body and supporting the process tube; And
And a by-product adhesion prevention member for injecting a blocking gas to block the introduction of reaction by-products into a gap between the process tube supported on the first flange;
The by-product attachment preventing member
A buffer space formed concavely in a ring shape on the first support surface of the manifold on which the flange portion of the process tube is seated;
A blocking gas supply unit supplying a blocking gas to the buffer space; And
A manifold of a vertical heat treatment facility comprising an annular spray cap installed in a ring shape to cover an upper portion of the buffer space and having injection ports through which a blocking gas is injected.

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