KR102475800B1 - Equipment for deposition unit with manifoid unit - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is substrate processing equipment. The substrate processing equipment of the present invention comprises: a process chamber providing a processing space for performing a process and having a cylindrical shape with an opened lower part; a heating furnace disposed to surround the process chamber to heat the process chamber; a cylindrical manifold provided in the lower part of the process chamber; a boat supporting a plurality of substrates in a vertical direction at predetermined intervals to be carried in through an opening in a lower part of the manifold into the processing space of the process chamber; a load lock chamber disposed below the process chamber to provide a space where the substrate is loaded or unloaded by the boat; a seal cap supporting the boat to come in contact with the lower part of the manifold and seal the opening in the lower part thereof when the boat is loaded on the processing space; and an elevation member provided to the load lock chamber to move the boat vertically, wherein the manifold may include a contamination source blocking member for blocking a contamination source remaining in the processing space from leaking through the opening in the lower part into the load lock chamber when the boat is unloaded from the processing space by the elevation member.

Description

Substrate processing equipment having a manifold unit {EQUIPMENT FOR DEPOSITION UNIT WITH MANIFOID UNIT}

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to a substrate processing facility having a manifold unit.

In general, a vertical heat treatment facility is a CVD process, which is various heat treatment processes of target substrates (eg, semiconductor substrates, LED substrates, flat panel display substrates), thin film formation processes such as epitaxial growth, oxide film formation processes, impurities It is used in the thermal diffusion process for doping.

The vertical heat treatment facility largely includes a vertical heating furnace and a boat accommodated in the heating furnace. The heating furnace is again a process chamber composed of a cylindrical inner tube and a cap-shaped outer tube formed at regular intervals on the outside of the inner tube, and a manifold coupled to the lower end of the process chamber. ) is made as

In the conventional vertical heat treatment facility having the above configuration, when the boat is moved down from the heating furnace after the process is completed, the residual gas remaining in the processing space of the heating furnace flows into the load lock chamber through the lower opening of the manifold. There is a problem with contaminating the load lock chamber.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing facility capable of preventing a load lock chamber from being contaminated by residual gas from a heating furnace.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing facility capable of preventing diffusion of residual gas (reaction by-product) remaining in a process tube after a process is performed in the facility.

The object of the present invention is not limited thereto, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a process chamber providing a processing space in which a process is performed and having a cylindrical shape with an open bottom; a heating furnace disposed to surround the process chamber and to heat the process chamber; a cylindrical manifold provided under the process chamber; a boat that supports a plurality of substrates at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction and is carried into the process space of the process chamber through a lower opening of the manifold; a load lock chamber disposed below the process chamber and providing a space for loading and unloading the substrate with the boat; a seal cap supporting the boat and sealing the lower opening by coming into contact with a lower portion of the manifold when the boat is loaded into the processing space; and an elevating member provided in the load lock chamber and elevating the boat, wherein the manifold is configured such that when the boat is unloaded from the processing space by the elevating member, contamination sources remaining in the processing space are removed from the lower opening. A substrate processing facility including a contamination source blocking member for blocking leakage into the load lock chamber may be provided.

In addition, the contamination source blocking member includes a cylindrical cover body having an internal space connected to the exhaust line; and suction ports provided on an inner surface of the cover body to be connected to the inner space and forcibly sucking in the contamination source flowing into the load lock chamber through the lower opening.

In addition, the intake ports are formed by forming a plurality of rows disposed in the circumferential direction of the cover body, and the intake ports of n (n is a natural number equal to or greater than 1) adjacent to each other and the intake ports of n+1 columns provide a zigzag-shaped hole array. can do.

In addition, the intake ports may be inclined so that the contamination source discharged through the lower opening is sucked in while rotating in a spiral shape.

In addition, when viewed from a plane, the suction port may have an inlet through which the contamination source is sucked and an outlet connected to the inner space are inclined.

In addition, a valve provided in the exhaust line; and a control unit controlling the valve, wherein the control unit opens the valve from a time when the boat is unloaded from the processing space by the elevating member, and when the boat is unloaded from the processing space, the control unit opens the valve. The valve can be turned off.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to prevent contamination of the load lock chamber by residual gas from a heating furnace.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from this specification and the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a vertical heat treatment facility according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an enlarged view of main parts of the vertical heat treatment equipment shown in FIG. 1;
3 is a cross-sectional perspective view for explaining the contamination source blocking member shown in FIG. 2;
4 is a view showing a process in which a contamination source is forcibly sucked in by a contamination source blocking member.
5 is a view showing a first modified example of a contamination source blocking member.
6 is a view showing a second modified example of the contamination source blocking member.
7 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a third modified example of a contamination source blocking member.
FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan cross-sectional view of a main part of the pollution source blocking unit shown in FIG. 7 .

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In addition, in describing preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In addition, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings for parts having similar functions and actions.

'Including' a certain component means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components unless otherwise stated. Specifically, terms such as "comprise" or "having" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features or It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, shapes and sizes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clearer description.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms may be used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, a first element may be termed a second element, and similarly, the second element may also be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but other elements may exist in the middle. It should be. On the other hand, when a component is referred to as “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another component, it should be understood that no other component exists in the middle. Other expressions describing the relationship between elements, such as "between" and "directly between" or "adjacent to" and "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted similarly.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in this application, they are not interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning. .

The above detailed description is illustrative of the present invention. In addition, the foregoing is intended to illustrate and describe preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention can be used in various other combinations, modifications, and environments. That is, changes or modifications are possible within the scope of the concept of the invention disclosed in this specification, within the scope equivalent to the written disclosure and / or within the scope of skill or knowledge in the art. The written embodiment describes the best state for implementing the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes required in the specific application field and use of the present invention are also possible. Therefore, the above detailed description of the invention is not intended to limit the invention to the disclosed embodiments. Also, the appended claims should be construed to cover other embodiments as well.

1 is a view showing a vertical heat treatment facility according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of main parts of the vertical heat treatment facility shown in FIG.

The vertical heat treatment equipment shown in FIG. 1 may be used to perform a process of forming various thin films on a semiconductor substrate 10 such as a silicon wafer.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the process chamber 102 includes a batch type vertical reaction furnace (reaction furnace). Specifically, the process chamber 102 extends in a vertical direction, has a cylindrical shape with an open bottom, and may be made of quartz. A heating furnace 104 for heating the process chamber 102 is arranged to surround the process chamber 102, and a cylindrical manifold 200 is coupled to the lower part of the process chamber 102. have.

The boat 108 supports a plurality of semiconductor substrates 10 in a vertical direction at predetermined intervals, and is carried into the process chamber 102 through a lower opening of the manifold 200 . The lower opening of the manifold 200 is closed by the seal cap 110 after the semiconductor substrates 10 are loaded into the process chamber 102 . Seal members 112 for providing sealing are interposed between the process chamber 102 and the manifold 200 and between the manifold 200 and the seal cap 110, respectively.

The boat 108 is placed on a turntable 114, and the turntable 114 is coupled to an upper portion of a rotation shaft 116. The rotary driving unit 118 is mounted on the lower part of the horizontal arm 122 of the vertical driving unit 120, which is an elevating member, and the seal cap 110 is of the horizontal arm 122 of the vertical driving unit 120. placed at the top.

On the other hand, a mechanical seal 124 for preventing leakage through the gap between the rotating shaft 116 and the seal cap 110 is between the seal cap 110 and the horizontal arm 122 The rotary shaft 116 is connected to the turntable 114 and the rotary driving unit 118 through the seal cap 110, the mechanical seal 124 and the horizontal arm 122.

The vertical driving unit 120 includes a horizontal arm 122, a vertical driving unit 128 providing a driving force for moving the horizontal arm 122 in a vertical direction, and a driving shaft 130 for transmitting the driving force. The vertical driving unit 128 may include a first motor, and a lead screw that rotates by rotational force provided from the first motor may be used as the driving shaft 130 . The horizontal arm 122 is coupled to the driving shaft 130 and moves in a vertical direction by rotation of the driving shaft 130 .

The rotation driving unit 118 may include a second motor. Although not shown in detail, the rotational force provided from the second motor is transmitted through a drive gear connected to the second motor, a driven gear connected to the rotation shaft 116, and a timing belt connecting the drive gear and the driven gear to the rotation shaft 116. ) can be transmitted. However, the drive gear and the driven gear may be directly connected.

The manifold 200 is disposed above the load lock chamber (or transfer chamber) 126, and the boat 108 moves vertically between the process chamber 102 and the load lock chamber 126.

The gas supply unit 132 provides source gases for forming films on the plurality of semiconductor substrates 10 located in the process chamber 102 by the boat 108 and purge gas for purging the inside of the process chamber 102 . is supplied into the process chamber 102.

According to the thin film formation process according to an embodiment of the present invention, elements required as materials for the thin film are supplied to the substrate in a gaseous state. Therefore, instead of supplying only necessary elements to the substrate, a source gas in the form of a reactant such as a metalorganic precursor or metal halide is supplied onto the substrate. In order to minimize impurities in a film to be formed, organic ligands or halides combined with metal elements among reactants supplied onto the substrate are removed by chemical exchange.

In addition, the source gases for forming the thin film may be supplied one by one in a pulse method without being mixed in the process chamber 102 . For example, in the case of forming a film using the first source gas and the second source gas, first, only the first source gas is supplied to the process chamber to chemically adsorb the first source gas onto the substrate. Afterwards, a second source gas is supplied to the process chamber to chemically bond the second source gas onto the substrate.

Accordingly, the gas supply unit 132 includes a first gas supply unit 134 and a second gas supply unit 136 for supplying a first source gas and a second source gas to the semiconductor substrates 10, respectively, and the A third gas supply unit 138 for supplying purge gas may be included. It is obvious that various gases can be used as the first source gas and the second source gas according to the type of thin film to be formed on the substrate 10 .

The gas supply unit 132 may be connected to nozzle pipes 140 disposed in the manifold 200 through gas supply pipes. Although not shown, the first gas supply unit 134 is connected to the lower end of the first nozzle pipe disposed in the manifold 106 through a first gas supply pipe, and the second gas supply unit 136 supplies the second gas. It is connected to the lower end of the second nozzle pipe disposed in the manifold 106 through a pipe. In addition, the third gas supply unit 138 is connected to the first gas supply pipe and the second gas supply pipe through the first connection pipe and the second connection pipe, and also the manifold 106 through the third gas supply pipe. It is connected to the lower end of the third nozzle pipe disposed inside.

The vacuum pump 162 for evacuating the process chamber 102 is connected to the exhaust port of the manifold 200 through a vacuum pipe 160 and an isolation valve (not shown), and the heating furnace ( 104 is disposed adjacent to the side walls and ceiling of the process chamber 102 . As an example, while the deposition process is in progress, the internal pressure of the chamber 102 may be maintained at about 0.3 Torr to 1 Torr, and the internal temperature may be maintained at about 150 °C to 1250 °C.

The controller 164 controls operations of the gas supply unit 132 , the vertical drive unit 120 and the rotation drive unit 118 . Specifically, the control unit 164 controls the supply of the semiconductor substrates 10 from the gas supply unit 132 after the boat 108 loaded with the semiconductor substrates 10 is carried into the process chamber 102 by the vertical driving unit 120. Adjust the supply flow rates and supply time of the gases to be supplied. In particular, by controlling the opening and closing of the seventh valve by sensing the internal pressure of the buffer 139, the first source gas is uniformly supplied to the process chamber.

The manifold 200 has a body 210 having passages open up and down, and a contamination source blocking member 280 is provided on a lower flange 212 of the body 210.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view for explaining the contamination source blocking member shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a view showing a process in which a contamination source is forcibly sucked in by the contamination source blocking member.

3 and 4, when the boat 108 is unloaded from the processing space by the vertical driving unit 120, the contamination source blocking member 280 is a source of contamination remaining in the processing space (contamination gas and reaction). By-product) is blocked from flowing into the load lock chamber 126 through the lower opening 208 of the manifold 200.

The contamination source blocking member 280 may include a cover body 282 and suction ports 286 . The cover body 282 may be fixed to the lower flange 212 of the manifold 200 . The cover body 282 may have a cylindrical shape having an inner space 284 therein. An exhaust line 290 (vacuum line) connected to the vacuum pump 162 is connected to the inner space 284 .

Suction holes 286 are provided on the inner surface of the cover body 282 to be connected to the inner space 284 . Contamination sources flowing into the load lock chamber 126 through the lower opening 208 are forcibly sucked in through the inlet 286 and discharged through the exhaust line 290 . Suction holes 286 may be formed by forming a plurality of rows disposed in the circumferential direction of the cover body 282 . In this case, n (n is a natural number greater than or equal to 1) columns of inlets adjacent to each other and n+1 columns of inlets have a zigzag-shaped hole array.

A valve 292 is provided in the exhaust line 290, and the valve 292 is controlled by the controller 164.

For example, the control unit 164 opens the valve 292 from the time of unloading (down movement) of the boat 106 from the processing space by the vertical driving unit 120, and the boat 106 is unloading from the processing space. When this is completed, the valve 292 is turned off. That is, the valve 292 of the exhaust line 190 is turned off while the boat 106 is placed in the chamber and the process is in progress.

5 is a view showing a first modified example of the contamination source blocking member, and FIG. 6 is a view showing a second modified example of the contamination source blocking member.

The contamination source blocking member 280a according to the first modified example of FIG. 5 has the same configuration and effect as the contamination source blocking member 280 shown in FIG. 4 . However, there is a feature that the shape of the inlet (286a) is provided in the form of a slot formed longer in the horizontal direction than in the vertical direction. Inlets 286a shown in FIG. 5 are disposed in a zigzag pattern with inlets formed in other adjacent columns, and the interval between the inlets 286 may be shorter than the length of the inlets. This arrangement structure can increase the removal efficiency of pollutants.

The contamination source blocking member 280b according to the second modified example of FIG. 6 has the same configuration and effect as the contamination source blocking member 280 shown in FIG. 4 . However, it is characterized in that the shape of the inlet 286b is formed obliquely.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a third modified example of a contamination source blocking member, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged top cross-sectional view of a main part of the contamination source blocking member shown in FIG. 7 .

The contamination source blocking member 280c according to the third modified example of FIGS. 7 and 8 has the same configuration and effect as the contamination source blocking member 280 shown in FIG. 4 . However, the characteristic is that the passage of the inlet 286c is formed inclined. That is, in the inlet 286c viewed from a plane, the inlet 287 through which the pollutant source is sucked and the outlet 288 connected to the inner space 284c are inclined. In the contamination source blocking member 280c having such suction ports 286c, suction power is formed in a spiral shape while rotating around the inner surface of the cover body 282c. Therefore, the contamination source flowing out through the lower opening can be sucked into the suction ports 286c along the whirlwind suction air current formed inside the cover body 282c.

It should be understood that the above embodiments are presented to aid understanding of the present invention, do not limit the scope of the present invention, and various deformable embodiments also fall within the scope of the present invention. The scope of technical protection of the present invention should be determined by the technical spirit of the claims, and the scope of technical protection of the present invention is not limited to the literal description of the claims themselves, but is substantially equal to the scope of technical value. It should be understood that it extends to the invention of.

10: semiconductor substrate 102: process chamber
104: heating furnace 200: manifold
108: boat 116: rotation shaft
118: rotation drive unit 120: vertical drive unit
164: control unit 280: contamination source blocking member

Claims (6)

A processing chamber providing a processing space in which a process is performed and having a cylindrical shape with an open bottom;
a heating furnace disposed to surround the process chamber and to heat the process chamber;
a cylindrical manifold provided under the process chamber;
a boat that supports a plurality of substrates at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction and is carried into the process space of the process chamber through a lower opening of the manifold;
a load lock chamber disposed below the process chamber and providing a space for loading and unloading the substrate with the boat;
a seal cap supporting the boat and sealing the lower opening by coming into contact with a lower portion of the manifold when the boat is loaded into the processing space; and
A lifting member provided in the load lock chamber and elevating the boat;
The manifold is
Substrate processing including a contamination source blocking member for blocking contamination sources remaining in the processing space from leaking into the load lock chamber through the lower opening when the boat is unloaded from the processing space by the elevating member. equipment, According to claim 1,
The contamination source blocking member
A cylindrical cover body having an internal space connected to the exhaust line; and
Substrate processing equipment including suction ports provided on the inner surface of the cover body to be connected to the inner space and forcibly sucking the contamination source flowing into the load lock chamber through the lower opening; According to claim 2,
the inlets are
Formed by forming a plurality of rows disposed in the circumferential direction of the cover body,
A substrate processing facility in which n (n is a natural number of 1 or more) columns adjacent to each other and n+1 columns of inlets provide a zigzag-shaped hole array; According to claim 2,
the inlets are
A substrate processing facility inclined so that the contamination source flowing out through the lower opening is sucked while rotating in a spiral shape; According to claim 2,
The inlet is
A substrate processing facility in which an inlet through which the contamination source is sucked and an outlet connected to the inner space are inclined when viewed from a plane, According to claim 2,
a valve provided in the exhaust line; and
Further comprising a control unit for controlling the valve,
The control unit
substrate processing equipment that opens the valve from the time the boat is unloaded from the processing space by the elevating member and turns off the valve when the boat is unloaded from the processing space;

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