KR20040046084A - Atomic layer depositon apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ALD(Atomic Layer Deposition) apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor is provided to be capable of obtaining uniform gas flow and carrying out an ALD process on a plurality of substrates at a time. CONSTITUTION: An ALD apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor is provided with a vacuum chamber(100) having a gas inlet port(118) and a gas exhaust port(120), and a plurality of stages installed in the vacuum chamber for loading wafers(W). At this time, the inner portion of the vacuum chamber is divided into a plurality of small spaces by using the stages. A flow path(116) is formed by spacing one end portion of each stage apart from the inner wall of the vacuum chamber. Preferably, the gas inlet and exhaust port are opposite to each other.

Description

Atomic layer deposition apparatus used in semiconductor manufacturing {ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITON APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a deposition apparatus used for semiconductor manufacturing, and more particularly, to an atomic layer deposition (ALD) apparatus capable of depositing a fine pattern of thin films on a plurality of substrates.

Recently, as semiconductor memory devices become more and more miniaturized, attention has been paid to the technology of forming a uniform film by depositing a gaseous thin film material on a substrate for uniform pattern irregularities of fine patterns, and sputtering by such a method. Sputtering method, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), and the like.

In the sputtering method, argon (Ar) gas is injected into a vacuum chamber to which a high voltage is applied to make an inert gas, argon, into a plasma state, and then argon gas ions are blown to a target surface layer to target surface layer. And collide with each other and bounce the target particles due to the impact onto the substrate to deposit them. This sputtering method is advantageous in terms of purity and adhesion of the thin film, but the pattern of the step formed in the form of the unevenness, in particular, the thickness of the thin film deposited on the low level of the step becomes thin, making it difficult to ensure uniformity. Is very limited.

Thin film deposition by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is the most common technique, in which a desired thickness is deposited on a substrate by using gas decomposition and reaction. A method of depositing a thin film of a predetermined thickness on a substrate by injecting a reaction gas into a process chamber and inducing chemical reactions of gases using energy such as heat, light, and plasma to the gases. The chemical vapor deposition method can be deposited on the substrate at a high reaction rate by controlling the heat, light, plasma, and the like to supply the reaction energy, or by controlling the amount and ratio of the gas. However, these reaction rates are generally very fast, making it difficult to control the thermodynamic stability of atoms. In addition, this method is difficult to ensure the physical, chemical, electrical properties of the thin film and thin film uniformity in fine unevenness.

Atomic layer deposition is a method of alternately depositing a thin film of a monolayer by introducing a gas pulsing technique. Atomic layer deposition has been applied in response to the demand for forming a thin film having high aspect ratios, thin film uniformity in unevenness, and excellent electrical and physical properties due to the increase in the degree of integration of semiconductor devices. The gas pulsing method refers to a method in which a reactive gas and a purging gas are alternately supplied. In general, the atomic layer deposition method has an advantage of having less residual impurities in the thin film and easily controlling the thickness when depositing a thin film of less than 200 mW. Unfortunately, atomic layer deposition has serious problems. Unlike chemical vapor deposition, which is a continuous static parallel state, the reactions of atomic layer deposition follow a molecular-surface interaction kinetics. Molecular-surface kinetics depend on the individual reaction rates between reactive molecular precursors and the number of surface reaction sites and the number of available reaction sites. As the reaction proceeds to completion, the surface is converted from reactive to non-reactive. As a result, the reaction rate slows down during deposition. Atomic layer deposition has not been widely commercialized due to the low deposition rate and the disadvantage of having to deposit on a single substrate. In order to compensate for these drawbacks, the deposition rate can be increased by increasing the activation energy of the gases, but it is impossible to control the atomic layer, so that the deposition of chemical vapor deposition on the substrate reduces the quality thin film uniformity which is an advantage of the atomic layer deposition method. Cause. In order to solve these problems, the development of atomic layer deposition equipment is in progress. The examples will be briefly described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a single type of atomic layer deposition of only one wafer.

Referring to FIG. 1, the single type has a lower calculation effect than a conventional general process such as chemical vapor deposition even if the maximum output effect is obtained within the process limit. Accordingly, development of a batch type ALD reactor structure in which 25 or more wafers are simultaneously processed is in progress.

2 is a structure in which an independent single type is stacked.

Referring to FIG. 2, each module is independently divided and a gas injection nozzle and a gas discharge port are installed in each module to complicate the facility structure. In addition, the reaction gas is not equally distributed to the gas nozzles installed for each module, thereby causing a problem of non-uniformity of the thin film. In addition, a plurality of heaters are required for controlling the substrate temperature, which further complicates the structure of the installation.

3 shows a batch type atomic layer deposition installation having an open structure.

Referring to FIG. 3, when the reaction gas is introduced into the chamber, the reaction gas is distributed to each wafer through the gas supply nozzle and the shower head. The equipment is a composite structure of a shower head and a traveling wave, and thus cannot be deposited by a full traveling wave. The reaction gas is likely to be mixed due to the complicated flow structure, which causes the deposition of chemical vapor deposition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a batch type atomic layer deposition apparatus that improves the chamber apparatus and improves the calculation effect of the atomic layer deposition method.

1 shows a typical single type atomic layer deposition apparatus:

2 is a view showing an atomic layer deposition apparatus having a single type stacked structure:

3 shows an atomic layer deposition apparatus of an open batch type:

4 shows an atomic layer deposition apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention:

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 4.

* Description of the main parts of the drawings *

100: chamber 112, 114, 124: stage

116: distribution path 118: introduction port

120: exhaust port 122: heater

In order to achieve the above object, the atomic layer deposition apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor device of the present invention comprises a vacuum chamber having an introduction port through which the gas is supplied and an exhaust port through which the gas is discharged, and the inside of the vacuum chamber is divided into a plurality of spaces. And a portion thereof is spaced apart from the inner wall of the vacuum chamber, and has a plurality of stages on which the substrate is placed. And adjacent stages are formed so that opposite sides are spaced apart from the inner wall of the vacuum chamber, and a flow path is formed, and the reaction gas has a zigzag flow through the flow path. to be. The introduction port and the exhaust port are each provided on one side of the up and down opposite position of the vacuum chamber.

The semiconductor deposition apparatus according to the present invention is an atomic layer deposition apparatus capable of a thin film deposition process of a plurality of substrates to form a fine thin film by applying the atomic layer deposition method.

The heating member may be mounted around the chamber outer wall to heat the entire process chamber, or may be mounted to each stage to heat each of the stages.

Stages are formed in the inner space to enable the flow of fluid. The stages have a flow path on one side to enable zigzag flow of gas in the stacked order. A flow path is formed between the vacuum chamber inner wall and one end of the stages.

Such a semiconductor deposition apparatus provides a batch type facility for atomically depositing a plurality of substrates at the same time. Reaction gas introduced from the inlet port is deposited on the substrate along the flow path and the remaining gas is discharged through the exhaust port. Due to this simple flow structure, there is no possibility of gas mixing and no chemical vapor deposition occurs during the process. This structure eliminates the difficulty of gas distribution in the substrate and reduces particle generation during the process. This facility enables the implementation of a complete traveling wave and speeds up the atomic layer deposition.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

This embodiment is provided to more completely explain the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the shape of the elements in the drawings and the like are exaggerated to emphasize a clearer description.

4 is a cross-sectional view of an atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 4, an atomic layer deposition apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a vacuum chamber 100 and a vacuum chamber 100 having an introduction port 118 through which a reaction gas is supplied and an exhaust port 120 through which residual gas is discharged. ) Each stage 112 to allow movement of the reaction gas between a plurality of stages 112 and 114 on which a substrate is formed and on which a substrate is placed, and a space partitioned by the stages 112 and 114. And a part of the distribution path 116 formed by being spaced apart from the vacuum chamber 100.

Only one introduction port 118 is installed at the top of the vacuum chamber 100 and the reaction gas is introduced therein. The gas injected from the introduction port 118 is injected to flow over the stage 112 located at the top.

Each stage 112, 114 is where a wafer is mounted, and the chamber 100 is partitioned into a plurality of spaces by the stages 112, 114. Each stage 112, 114 has a rectangular shape, three sides contacting the chamber 100, and one side is spaced apart from the chamber 100. This is to provide a flow path 116 so that the reaction gas introduced through the introduction port 118 can flow between the spaces partitioned by the respective stages 112 and 114.

The position of the sides of the stages 112, 114 spaced apart from the chamber is different. As shown in FIG. 4, the stage 112 positioned at the top thereof is spaced apart from the side facing the side of the chamber in which the introduction port 118 is formed. The stage 112 disposed below it is spaced a predetermined distance from the side of the chamber in which the introduction port 118 is formed. The stages located below repeat the above-described structure. Accordingly, the reaction gas introduced through the yarn introduction port 118 may flow over the respective stages in a zigzag manner.

This flow continues along the stages 112 and 114 and the remaining gas is discharged through an exhaust port 120 installed at one side of the bottom of the chamber 100. The reaction gas injected from one inlet port 118 is uniformly flowed along the flow path 116.

The side position of the chamber in which the exhaust port 120 is formed depends on the number of stages 112 and 114 installed in the chamber 100. When an odd number of stages are installed, the exhaust port 120 is formed on a side facing the side of the chamber in which the introduction port 118 is formed. When an even number of stages are installed, the exhaust port 120 is an introduction port 118. ) Is formed on the same side as the side of the formed chamber.

A heating member is installed around the outer wall of the chamber 100 to heat the entire chamber. However, the heating member may alternatively be installed at each stage.

According to the present invention having the above-described structure there is an effect that the distribution of the gas on the wafers can be made uniform compared to the general case.

The present invention has been described above by way of example and the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and various embodiments and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

The atomic layer deposition apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor element of the present invention has a simple structure in which one introduction port and one exhaust port are provided, respectively. Uniform gas distribution is achieved by injecting gas through one inlet port. The passageway is formed by dividing the interior of the chamber into a plurality of spaces and a part of the stage spaced apart from the chamber inner wall. Adjacent stages are spaced opposite one another from the chamber inner wall. Due to this structure, a uniform flow of zigzag flows through the flow path, and at the same time, a plurality of substrates are deposited to increase the speed of atomic layer deposition.

Claims (3)

In the atomic layer deposition apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor device, A vacuum chamber having an introduction port through which gas is introduced and an exhaust port through which the gas is discharged; The vacuum chamber is divided into a plurality of spaces and a portion thereof is installed to be spaced apart from the inner wall of the chamber, and includes a plurality of stages on which the substrate is placed, Adjacent stages are formed so that opposite sides are spaced apart from the inner wall of the chamber so that a flow path is formed, and the gas has a zigzag flow through the flow path. The method of claim 1, And the inlet port is provided at an uppermost side of the vacuum chamber so as to face up and down the exhaust port. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And one introduction port and one exhaust port, respectively.