KR20030039670A - Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for progressing a process after suppling process gas in tube - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A semiconductor fabricating apparatus for supplying process gas to the inside of a tube is provided to rapidly exhaust reaction gas and minimize generation of particles by making the flow path of the reaction gas short, and to improve uniformity by uniformly supplying the reaction gas regardless of the position in a process chamber. CONSTITUTION: A plurality of wafers are loaded into a boat(140). A reaction furnace has a closed inner space into which the boat is loaded. A shower head(120) uniformly sprays the reaction gas on the inner space of the reaction furnace, installed in the sidewall of the reaction furnace.

Description

Semiconductor manufacturing equipment that processes by supplying process gas to the inside of a tube {SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING APPARATUS FOR PROGRESSING A PROCESS AFTER SUPPLING PROCESS GAS IN TUBE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for supplying a process gas into a tube during a manufacturing process to manufacture a semiconductor device, such as a chemical vapor deposition apparatus.

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) apparatus having a vertical structure in a thin film deposition apparatus used in a semiconductor device manufacturing process generally includes an outer tube, an inner tube, and a flange portion. Inside, a boat is loaded in which semiconductor wafers are processed. The lower part of the chemical vapor deposition apparatus is provided with a nozzle and an exhaust pipe. The process gas used for the process is supplied to the inner tube through the nozzle. The reactive gas supply nozzle and the exhaust portion are formed in the flange portion.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the conventional vertical CVD apparatus 10, the reactor 12 is composed of an inner tube 12a and an outer tube 12b, which is complicated in structure, and injected from the nozzle 14. It is disadvantageous that the path (represented by a dotted line as a flow path of the reaction gas; a) until the reaction gas is exhausted through the exhaust part 16 is long. In such a structure, the rapid exhaust is difficult, which is an obstacle to rapid process progress. In addition, as the process proceeds, film deposition is performed on both surfaces of the inner tube 12a by the reaction gas, and the film n deposited on the inner tube 12a acts as a main cause of particle generation later. do.

In addition, in the conventional vertical CVD apparatus 10, when it is necessary to form a film in a short time by using a small amount of reaction gas, the concentration of the gas becomes thinner as it moves away from the nozzle (gas introduction section) 14, so that it is in the same batch. This results in thin film imbalances between wafers in process. Further, since the gas flow is formed on the side of the wafer, the density of the reaction gas present on the main surface of the wafer w is different, causing a difference in film thickness between the center and the edge of the wafer.

In the case of employing nozzles of different lengths (short, middle, and long) to improve such a problem, the problem of gas concentration being uneven according to the distance between wafers from the top of each nozzle is not completely solved. Since a plurality of nozzles are required to supply a single gas, the installation structure becomes complicated and the maintenance thereof is difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object thereof is to provide a new type of semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of shortening the flow path of the reaction gas to achieve rapid exhaustion and minimizing particle generation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new type of semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which can improve the uniformity of the process by supplying the reaction gas so that the distribution of the reaction gas concentration according to the position in the process chamber is uniform.

1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional vertical CVD apparatus;

2 is a schematic diagram of a CVD apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a plan view of the vertical reactor shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the vertical reactor viewed in the a-a direction shown in FIG. 3; FIG.

5 and 6 are side and plan cross-sectional views of a CVD apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: bell reactor

112: sidewall

114a: first gas inlet

114b: second gas inlet

116 gas exhaust port

120: shower head

122: gas introduction space

123: dividers

124: Inside Edition

126a: first gas nozzle

126b: second gas nozzle

140: boat

150: heater

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for performing a process by supplying a process gas inside the reactor, the boat comprising a plurality of wafers; A reactor having an enclosed interior space in which the boat is loaded; It may include a shower head which is installed on the side wall of the reactor and for uniformly spraying the reaction gas into the inner space of the reactor.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shower head has an inside plate which is installed inside the reactor and forms a gas introduction space together with sidewalls of the reactor, and the reactor includes a gas introduction space of the shower head. A gas inlet for supplying the reaction gas may be provided. The inside plate is provided with gas injection holes for injecting reaction gases into the inner space of the reactor.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shower head further comprises a partition plate for partitioning the gas introduction space into at least two spaces, and the reactor supplies a reaction gas to each space partitioned by the partition plate. At least two gas inlets may be provided.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the shower head may include: an outer plate installed outside the reactor and forming a gas introduction space together with sidewalls of the reactor; A gas inlet for supplying the reaction gas to the gas introduction space and a partition plate for partitioning the gas introduction space into at least two spaces.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ionized reaction gas may be supplied to any one of the at least two gas introduction spaces.

In the present invention, to improve the distribution of the reaction gas supplied to the tube of the vertical reactor, to shorten the flow path of the reaction gas to enable rapid exhaust and process, and to improve the flow of the reactive gas supplied to the vertical reactor This is to improve the uniformity and reproducibility of the process. In addition, it is intended to minimize the contamination of the chamber by the particles by eliminating the cause of particle generation.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6. In addition, in the drawings, the same reference numerals are denoted together for components that perform the same function.

2 shows a process chamber of a vertical CVD apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention. 3 is a plan view of the vertical reactor illustrated in FIG. 2. 4 is a side view of the vertical reactor viewed from the a-a direction shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical CVD apparatus 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a vertical reactor 110, a heater 150, a boat 140, and a showerhead 120.

The vertical reactor 110 has a single tube structure, and at one lower end thereof, first and second gas inlets 114a and 114b connected to the first and second gas supply pipes 132a and 132b and an exhaust pipe 134. ) And a gas exhaust port 116 connected to it. The vertical reactor 110 is formed of a dome (dome) form the upper end to be offset even when hunting (hunting) by any pressure in the upper, it is preferably formed of a quartz material that withstands high temperatures well.

The vertical CVD apparatus 100 of the present invention is characterized in that the vertical reactor 110 has a single tube structure having a direct gas inlet. According to this structural feature, the size of the inlet can be made large, and in particular, the reaction chamber can be manufactured with a simple structure from which the inner tube is removed. In particular, it is possible to shorten the pumping time and gas supply and exhaust time during the process.

The vertical reactor 110 includes a boat 140 in which semiconductor wafers w are processed, which are processed in an internal space.

2 to 4, the shower head 120 is installed inside the vertical reactor 110, and the gas introduction space 122 together with the sidewall 112 of the vertical reactor 110. It has an inside plate 124 to form. The gas introduction space 122 is partitioned into a first gas introduction space 122a and a second gas introduction space 122b by the partition 123.

The first reaction gas is supplied to the first gas introduction space 122a through the first gas injection port 114a, and the second gas is supplied to the second gas introduction space 122b through the second gas injection port 114b. do. For example, the second gas is a gas ionized by the plasma generator 180. First and second gas injection holes for injecting the first and second reaction gases supplied to the gas introduction spaces 122a and 122b into the inner space of the vertical reactor 110 in the inside plate 124. Fields 126a and 126b are formed.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the first and second gas injection holes 126a and 126b are sequentially diametered from gas injection holes close to the first and second gas injection holes 114a and 114b corresponding to the first and second gas injection holes 126a and 126b, respectively. It can be seen that the larger. In other words, in the vertical CVD apparatus 100 of the present invention, the amount of gas injected from the lowermost gas injection port is the smallest, and the amount of gas injected from the gas injection port increases gradually as it goes up. Due to this structural feature, the dilution and concentration distribution of the reaction gas in the vertical reactor 110 may be constant. Accordingly, in the process of stacking a plurality of wafers on the boat 140 in the vertical reactor 110 and simultaneously depositing the wafers, the difference and non-uniformity of the thickness of the thin film formed according to the stacked positions (up, middle, down) The problem can be minimized.

The first and second gas injection holes 126a and 126b are disposed between the semiconductor wafers loaded on the boat 140 so that a reaction gas flows horizontally to the surface of the semiconductor wafer w loaded on the boat 140. It is formed on the inside plate 124 to be located at. Because of this structural feature, the reaction gas flows horizontally on the surface of each semiconductor wafer. Therefore, the film quality applied in the wafer center region and the edge region can be uniformly formed.

As described above, the present invention ensures uniformity of the gas atmosphere of the inner space by the shower head installed on the side wall of the vertical reactor, and minimizes rapid exhaust and particle generation of the reaction gas by adopting a single tube structure.

The plasma generator 180 is installed on the second gas supply pipe 132a. The plasma generator 180 is an apparatus for ionizing the gas flowing into the gas supply pipe 132a. The CVD apparatus of the present invention having such a structure has the most suitable structure for carrying out an atomic layer deposition process.

2 to 4, the diffusion process in the vertical diffusion furnace of the present invention is as follows.

First, the wafers w loaded on the wafer carrier are transferred to the boat 140 by a robot arm (not shown). When the stacking of the plurality of wafers w on the boat 140 is completed, the boat 20 is loaded into the inner space of the vertical reactor 110 by a loading device (elevator). Then, the vacuum pump (not shown) and the heater 150 are operated to maintain the pressure and temperature of the vertical reactor at an appropriate level. When the pressure and temperature in the vertical reactor are satisfied with the process conditions, process gases are supplied to the first and second gas introduction spaces 122a and 122b of the shower head 120 through the first and second gas inlets. do. The process gases flow through the first and second gas injection holes 126a and 126b of the inside plate 124 of the shower head 120. Here, the gas injection holes 126a and 126b are formed in a one-to-one correspondence with the slots of the boat 140 (formed to be located between the wafer and the wafer), so that the reaction gas is horizontal to one surface of each semiconductor wafer w. To flow. Therefore, the film quality applied in the wafer center region and the edge region can be uniformly formed. The gases reacted with the wafers are exhausted directly through the exhaust vents. In this way, the exhaust of the reaction gas is made quickly, so that rapid process progression can be made.

5 and 6 illustrate another embodiment of the present invention.

The vertical CVD apparatus 200 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 has a vertical reactor 210 and a heater having the same configuration and function as the vertical CVD apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2. 250, the boat 240, and the showerhead 220, which have been described in detail in the first embodiment, will be omitted in the present embodiment. However, in the present embodiment, the shower head 220 is installed outside the vertical reactor 210. The shower head 220 includes an outer plate 224 that forms a gas introduction space 222 together with the side wall 212 of the vertical reactor 210, and the gas introduction space 222 into two spaces. It has a partition 223 for partitioning. The shower head 220 is provided with two gas inlets 228a and 228b for supplying the reaction gas to the respective gas introduction spaces 222a and 222b in the outer plate 224.

On the other hand, the vertical reactor 210 is a wafer loaded with the reaction gas supplied to the first and second gas introduction spaces (222a, 222b) of the shower head 220 to the side wall 212 in the boat 240 A plurality of gas injection holes 218a and 218b for injecting onto (w) are formed.

The vertical CVD apparatus 200 having the structural features as described above has the same operation and effect as that of the first embodiment.

The CVD apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the structure of the illustrated embodiment, and it can be commonly applied to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs a process while supplying and flowing a process gas in an enclosed space. The technicians will know.

In the above, the configuration and operation of the vertical CVD apparatus according to the present invention is shown in accordance with the above description and drawings, but this is merely described, for example, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Of course.

According to the vertical CVD apparatus of the present invention, first, by improving the distribution of the reaction gas in the process chamber, which is a process condition, to form a uniform thin film on the surface of the wafer, to improve the uniformity of the process and the quality of the semiconductor device. It can be effective. Second, the flow path of the reaction gas is shortened to enable rapid supply and exhaust to enable faster process progress. Third, there is an effect that can minimize the generation of particles. Fourth, because the vertical reactor is made of a simple structure of a single tube, there is an effect that can reduce the production cost.

Claims (17)

In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus for supplying a process gas into the reactor to proceed with the process: A boat loaded with a plurality of wafers; A reactor having an enclosed interior space in which the boat is loaded; And a shower head installed on the side wall of the reactor and for uniformly injecting the reaction gas into the inner space of the reactor. The method of claim 1, And the shower head has an inside plate which is installed inside the reactor and forms a gas introduction space together with sidewalls of the reactor. The method of claim 2, The reactor is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising a gas inlet for supplying a reaction gas to the gas introduction space of the shower head. The method of claim 2, The shower head further comprises a partition plate for partitioning the gas introduction space into at least two spaces, And said reactor is provided with at least two gas inlets for supplying a reaction gas to each space partitioned by said partition plate. The method of claim 4, wherein And an ionized reaction gas is supplied to any one of the at least two gas introduction spaces. The method of claim 4, wherein The inside plate is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the gas injection holes for injecting the reaction gas supplied to the gas introduction space into the inner space of the reactor. The method of claim 6, The gas injection port is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus characterized in that the diameter is sequentially increased from the gas injection port close to the gas inlet so that the gas is uniformly distributed in the inner space of the reactor. The method of claim 6, And the gas injection holes are positioned between the semiconductor wafer loaded on the boat and the semiconductor wafer. The method of claim 6, And the gas injection holes are formed in the inner plate to correspond to the semiconductor wafers loaded on the boat so that a reaction gas flows horizontally to the surface of the semiconductor wafer loaded on the boat. The method of claim 1, The shower head may include: an outer plate installed outside the reactor and forming a gas introduction space together with side walls of the reactor; And a gas inlet installed in the outside plate and supplying a reaction gas to the gas introduction space. The method of claim 1, The shower head may include: an outer plate installed outside the reactor and forming a gas introduction space together with side walls of the reactor; A partition plate for partitioning the gas introduction space into at least two spaces; And at least two gas inlets installed in the outside plate and for supplying a reaction gas to the respective gas introduction spaces. The method of claim 11, And an ionized reaction gas is supplied to any one of the at least two gas introduction spaces. The method according to any one of claims 10 and 11, And the reaction furnace includes a plurality of gas injection holes for injecting the reaction gas supplied into the gas introduction space onto the wafer loaded in the boat. The method of claim 1, The reactor is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the exhaust port through which the reaction gas escapes formed on the side wall corresponding to the gas inlet. The method of claim 1, The reactor is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the upper portion is a vertical tube made of a dome shape. The method of claim 1, And said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is a chemical vapor deposition apparatus. The method of claim 1, The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is an atomic layer deposition apparatus.