KR20080071683A - Loadlock chamber and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having loadlock chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

A load lock chamber and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having the same are provided to control drift phenomenon by realizing a uniform flow of pressure control gas when the load lock chamber is converted into a waiting state. A load lock chamber(220) receives a substrate to be transferred to process chambers(290). A transfer chamber is arranged between the load lock chamber and the process chambers. The transfer chamber transfers the substrate between the process chambers or between the process chambers and the load lock chamber. An equipment front section module(100) is arranged on a front of the load lock chamber to transfer the substrate between a container where the substrate is contained and the load lock chamber. The load lock chamber includes a chamber and a gas supply member. The chamber provided a space where the substrate is received. The gas supply members are provided on plural positions on an inner wall of the chamber to supply pressure control gas into the chamber.

Description

LOADLOCK CHAMBER AND SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING APPARATUS HAVING LOADLOCK CHAMBER}

1 is a plan view schematically showing a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic partial cutaway perspective view of the load lock chamber of FIG. 1, FIG.

3 is a schematic plan view of the load lock chamber of FIG.

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ of FIG. 3.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

100: equipment front end module 200: process equipment

220: load lock chamber 231: gas supply line

240: substrate receiving member 250: gas supply member

280: transfer chamber 290: process chamber

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to a cluster type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of collectively processing a semiconductor device manufacturing process and a load lock chamber provided therein.

Generally, a semiconductor device is manufactured by depositing and patterning various materials on a wafer in a thin film form. To this end, different steps of different processes such as a deposition process, an etching process, a cleaning process, and a drying process are required. In each process, the wafer is mounted and processed in a process chamber that provides optimum conditions for the progress of the process.

In recent years, as the semiconductor devices become more compact and highly integrated, process precisions, complexity, and wafer caliber are required, and the semiconductor device manufacturing process is collectively processed in view of the increase in the throughput associated with the increase in the number of complex processes and the sheeting. Cluster type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus attracts attention

The cluster type semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is composed of a process facility and an equipment front end module (EFEM) for carrying in and out of a wafer into the process facility. The process equipment consists of a transfer chamber, a load lock chamber and a plurality of process chambers, the load lock chamber and the process chambers being arranged around the transfer chamber.

The load lock chamber must maintain a vacuum when transferring wafers waiting in the load lock chamber into the process chamber. In addition, the load lock chamber must maintain atmospheric pressure when the wafer to be processed is processed from the facility front end module or when the wafer is processed to the facility front end module, and is loaded using a venting system. Pressure regulating gas is supplied to the lock chamber.

However, since the diffusion device for venting is provided at one side of the load lock chamber, a vortex phenomenon occurs in the load lock chamber when a rapid transition from the vacuum state to the standby state is required in the load lock chamber of the conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Particle control was difficult.

Therefore, the present invention was created to solve the problem in view of the problems of the conventional semiconductor manufacturing apparatus as described above, an object of the present invention is a rod that can suppress the vortex phenomenon through a uniform flow of the pressure control gas It is to provide a lock chamber and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having the same.

In order to achieve the above object, a load lock chamber according to the present invention includes a chamber for providing a space in which a substrate is accommodated, the load lock chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus; And a gas supply member provided at a plurality of positions in the chamber and supplying a gas for pressure regulation in the chamber.

In the load lock chamber according to the present invention having the configuration as described above, a gas supply line is formed in the wall of the lower wall of the chamber to have a point symmetry around the center of the lower wall, the gas supply member is It is preferably installed on the lower wall of the chamber so as to communicate with the gas supply line.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the gas supply line is preferably formed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carrying in and out of the substrate into and out of the chamber.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising: process chambers; A load lock chamber receiving a substrate to be transferred to the process chambers; A transfer chamber disposed between the load lock chamber and the process chambers and transferring a substrate between the process chambers or between the process chambers and the load lock chamber; A facility front end module disposed in front of the load lock chamber to transfer the substrate between the container containing the substrate and the load lock chamber, wherein the load lock chamber includes a chamber providing a space in which the substrate is accommodated; And a gas supply member provided at a plurality of positions of the inner wall of the chamber and supplying a pressure regulating gas into the chamber.

In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention having the configuration as described above, in the wall of the lower wall of the chamber, a gas supply line is formed to be point symmetrical around the central portion of the lower wall, the gas supply member is It is preferably installed on the lower wall of the chamber so as to communicate with the gas supply line.

According to one feature of the invention, the gas supply line is preferably formed in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the substrate is carried in and out of the chamber, the direction of carrying in and out of the substrate.

Hereinafter, a load lock chamber and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having the same will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as much as possible, even if shown on different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related well-known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

(Example)

1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 10 has an equipment front end module (EFEM) 100 and a process equipment 200. The facility front end module 100 is mounted in front of the process facility 200 to transfer the substrate between the vessel 112 in which the substrates are accommodated and the process facility 200. The facility front end module 100 has a plurality of loadports 110 and a frame 120. Frame 120 is located between load port 110 and process equipment 200. The container 112 containing the substrate is loaded with a load port 110 by a transfer means (not shown), such as an overhead transfer, an overhead conveyor, or an automatic guided vehicle. Is put on. The container 112 may be a sealed container such as a front open unified pod. In the frame 120, a frame robot 122 for transferring a substrate between the vessel 112 placed in the load port 110 and the process facility 200 is installed. In the frame 120, a door opener (not shown) for automatically opening and closing the door of the container 112 may be installed. In addition, the frame 120 may be provided with a fan filter unit (not shown) for supplying clean air into the frame 120 so that clean air flows from the top to the bottom in the frame 120.

A predetermined process is performed on the substrate in the process facility 200. The process facility 200 has a loadlock chamber 220, a transfer chamber 280, and a process chamber 290. The transfer chamber 280 has a generally polygonal shape when viewed from the top. The load lock chamber 220 or the process chamber 290 is located at the side of the transfer chamber 280. The load lock chamber 220 is located on the side adjacent to the facility front end module 100 of the sides of the transfer chamber 280, and the process chamber 290 is located on the other side.

The load lock chamber 220 includes a loading chamber 220a in which substrates temporarily brought into the process facility 200 stay in order to proceed with the process, and unloading in which the substrates temporarily removed from the process facility 200 temporarily remain. Has a chamber 220b. A gate valve (not shown) is installed between the load lock chamber 220 and the transfer chamber 280 and between the load lock chamber 220 and the facility front end module 100.

The interiors of the transfer chamber 280 and the process chamber 290 are maintained in a vacuum state, and the interior of the load lock chamber 220 is at atmospheric pressure or in accordance with the loading and unloading of the substrate with the facility front end module 100 or the transfer chamber 280. Switch to vacuum. When the substrate is moved between the facility front end module 100 and the load lock chamber 220, the interior of the load lock chamber 220 is maintained at atmospheric pressure, and the load lock chamber 220 and the facility front end module 100 are moved. The gate valve provided between is opened. In addition, when the substrate is moved between the load lock chamber 220 and the transfer chamber 280, the interior of the load lock chamber 220 maintains a vacuum state, and between the load lock chamber 220 and the transfer chamber 280. The provided gate valve opens.

FIG. 2 is a schematic partial cutaway perspective view of the load lock chamber of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the load lock chamber of FIG. 2. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line B ′ B ′ of FIG. 3.

2 to 5, the load lock chamber 220 includes a chamber 230, a substrate accommodating member 240, and a gas supply member 250. The chamber 230 has a hexahedron shape consisting of a lower wall 232, a sidewall 234 and an upper wall 236. Openings 235a and 235b are formed in the pair of sidewalls 234 facing each other among the sidewalls 234 of the chamber 230 to allow the substrates to be taken in and out. The opening 235a is opened and closed by the gate valve 260, and the substrate is moved between the facility front end module 100 and the chamber 230 of the load lock chamber 220 through the opening 235a. The opening 235b is opened and closed by a gate valve (not shown), and the substrate is moved between the transfer chamber 280 and the chamber 230 of the load lock chamber 220 through the opening 235b. The substrate moved into the chamber 230 through the openings 235a and 235b temporarily stays in the chamber 230, for which the substrate receiving member 240 is provided. The substrate receiving member 240 is provided with a plurality of slots 242 in which the substrates are accommodated.

As described above, when the substrate is moved between the facility front end module 100 and the load lock chamber 220, the inside of the load lock chamber 220 should be switched from a vacuum state to an atmospheric pressure state. To this end, a gas supply member 250 for supplying a pressure control gas is installed inside the chamber 230 of the load lock chamber 220. As the gas supply member 250, a diffuser may be used, and an inert gas such as nitrogen gas may be used as the pressure regulating gas.

The gas supply member 250 is preferably provided at a plurality of positions such that the pressure regulating gas flows uniformly in the chamber 230. To this end, gas supply lines 231 may be formed in the wall of the chamber 230 to have various arrangement structures, and the gas supply members 250 are connected to the respective gas supply lines 231.

The gas supply line 231 may be formed in a wall of the lower wall 232 of the chamber 230, and may be formed to form a point symmetrical structure about the center of the lower wall 232. For example, the gas supply line 231 is perpendicular to the carrying in and out directions of the substrate so as to intersect the first gas supply line 231 a and the first gas supply line 231 a formed in the direction in which the substrate is carried in and out of the chamber 230. It may have a second gas supply line 231b formed in one direction. In addition, the gas supply line 231 may be provided to have a radial shape extending from the center portion of the lower wall 232 to the periphery portion. A gas supply member 250 that supplies a pressure regulating gas is connected to each of the gas supply lines 231a and 231b formed in the lower wall 232 of the chamber 230. In addition, a gas supply pipe 252 is connected to the gas supply line 231 formed on the wall of the lower wall 232 of the chamber 230, and a pressure supply gas supply source 254 is connected to the gas supply pipe 252.

As described above, the gas supply member 250 is provided at a plurality of positions of the lower wall 232 of the chamber 230, so that the pressure regulating gas is switched to the atmospheric state of the load lock chamber 220 by the chamber 230. It is possible to uniformly supply and flow to a plurality of points in the). When the flow of the pressure adjusting gas for converting the load lock chamber 220 to the standby state is uniformly made in the chamber 230, particles are generated due to air flow changes such as vortex flow in the load lock chamber 220. Can be suppressed.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the transfer chamber 280 has a polygonal structure to correspond to the process chambers 290 disposed on its side. Openings (not shown) are formed in sidewalls of the transfer chamber 280 in which the process chambers 290 are disposed so that substrates can be carried in and out of the respective process chambers 290. Opening and closing). The transfer robot 282 for transferring the substrate is installed in the transfer chamber 280. The transfer robot 282 loads and unloads the substrate into the process chambers 290 through an opening (not shown) formed in the sidewall of the transfer chamber 280. The transfer robot 282 also transfers the substrate between the process chambers 290 and the load lock chamber 220.

The process chambers 290 are disposed on the side of the transfer chamber 280 and may be provided with a plurality of chambers for performing various substrate processing processes. For example, process chambers 290 may be a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber configured to supply reactant gases for deposition of a material film on a substrate, and an etching chamber configured to supply gas for etching the deposited material film. Or an ashing chamber configured to remove the photoresist layer remaining on the substrate after the photographing process.

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

As described above, according to the present invention, the vortex phenomenon can be suppressed through the uniform flow of the pressure adjusting gas when the load lock chamber is switched to the standby state.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to minimize the generation of particles due to the vortex phenomenon.

Claims (6)

In the load lock chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, A chamber providing a space in which the substrate is accommodated; A gas supply member provided at a plurality of positions in the chamber and supplying a pressure regulating gas into the chamber; The load lock chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, A gas supply line is formed in the wall of the chamber lower wall to be point symmetrical about the central portion of the lower wall, The gas supply member is installed in the lower wall of the chamber to communicate with the gas supply line, the load lock chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The method of claim 2, The gas supply line, The load lock chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that the substrate is formed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of carrying in and out of the substrate. Process chambers; A load lock chamber receiving a substrate to be transferred to the process chambers; A transfer chamber disposed between the load lock chamber and the process chambers and transferring a substrate between the process chambers or between the process chambers and the load lock chamber; And a facility front end module disposed in front of the load lock chamber to transfer the substrate between the container containing the substrate and the load lock chamber. The load lock chamber, A chamber providing a space in which the substrate is accommodated; A gas supply member provided at a plurality of positions of the inner wall of the chamber and supplying a pressure regulating gas into the chamber; Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein A gas supply line is formed in the wall of the chamber lower wall to be point symmetrical about the central portion of the lower wall, And the gas supply member is installed on a lower wall of the chamber so as to communicate with the gas supply line. The method of claim 5, wherein The gas supply line, And a direction in which the substrate is carried in and out of the chamber and a direction perpendicular to the direction of carrying in and out of the substrate.

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