Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
  • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
  • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
  • H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C8/00—Solid state diffusion of only non-metal elements into metallic material surfaces; Chemical surface treatment of metallic material by reaction of the surface with a reactive gas, leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, e.g. conversion coatings, passivation of metals
  • C23C8/06—Solid state diffusion of only non-metal elements into metallic material surfaces; Chemical surface treatment of metallic material by reaction of the surface with a reactive gas, leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, e.g. conversion coatings, passivation of metals using gases
  • C23C8/08—Solid state diffusion of only non-metal elements into metallic material surfaces; Chemical surface treatment of metallic material by reaction of the surface with a reactive gas, leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, e.g. conversion coatings, passivation of metals using gases only one element being applied
  • C23C8/10—Oxidising
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
  • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/70—Manufacture or treatment of devices consisting of a plurality of solid state components formed in or on a common substrate or of parts thereof; Manufacture of integrated circuit devices or of parts thereof
  • H01L21/71—Manufacture of specific parts of devices defined in group H01L21/70
  • H01L21/768—Applying interconnections to be used for carrying current between separate components within a device comprising conductors and dielectrics

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus.
• the transfer of a wafer between apparatuses for forming a film (insulating film, conductive film), etching, cleaning, etc. on a substrate has been performed as follows. That is, for example, when the film formation is completed, the wafer is taken out of the film formation apparatus into a clean room, the wafer is placed in a wafer carrier 15 or the like as shown in FIG. 6, and the next step is performed. The inside of the clean room was moved to the etching device.
• the present inventor investigated that when a wafer is exposed to the atmosphere even in a clean room, a natural oxide film is formed on the wafer surface, and Na, Fe and other impurity atoms adhere to the wafer surface. found. In other words, it turned out that even in a clean room, it was not necessarily a clean environment.
• An object of the present invention is to provide a thin film forming apparatus that does not cause deterioration of contact resistance and deterioration of withstand voltage characteristics. Disclosure of the invention
• a second transport means for transporting the semiconductor substrate from an apparatus for performing a step of exposing a background surface of the semiconductor substrate to an apparatus for forming a conductive thin film on the exposed surface.
• an apparatus for forming a conductive thin film on the surface of the metal wiring from an apparatus for performing a step of exposing the surface of the metal wiring formed on the substrate.
• at least one of the third transport means for transporting the substrate to the device is configured to be maintained in an air atmosphere having an inert gas or moisture concentration of 1 O ppb or less.
• the step of exposing the surface of the substrate means, for example, forming a contact hole by removing a part of the insulating film by reactive ion etching (RIE) from a state where the insulating film is formed on the entire surface of the substrate.
• RIE reactive ion etching
• the step of exposing the surface of the metal wiring formed on the base refers to a state in which the insulating film is formed on the entire surface of the metal formed on the base, for example, a part of the insulating film by reactive ion etching. This is a step of removing through holes to form through holes and exposing a clean ground on the surface of the metal wiring formed on the surface of the base.
• the present inventor has found that when a conductive thin film and a thermal oxide film are formed on the exposed surface, the exposed surface must not be exposed to the atmosphere. . That is, as described above, when forming a conductive thin film and when forming a thermal oxide film, it has been found that exposing the exposed surface to the air causes deterioration of contact resistance and dielectric strength voltage. .
• the present invention is configured such that the inside of the transfer means is kept in a gas atmosphere having a water concentration of 10 ppb or less.
• an inert gas including N 2 gas as an inert gas
• air having a water concentration of 10 ppb or less is used. It is preferable to use air having a water concentration of 10 ppb or less.
• an inert gas if a person accidentally enters his / her neck in the transportation means, it will fall into an oxygen-deficient state. However, in the case of air, such a situation can be avoided.
• the inventors have also found for the first time that air can be used in this way. In other words, it has been considered that in a gas containing oxygen such as air, the surface of the substrate, ie, the surface of the metal wiring formed on the substrate, is easily oxidized naturally.
• the present inventor conducted intensive research, and found that even if oxygen was It was found that spontaneous oxidation did not occur if it was present but the water concentration was kept below 10 ppb. Therefore, atmospheric air can be used after purifying the water concentration to 1 O ppb or less. Conversely, even if moisture is present, the formation of a natural oxide film does not occur unless oxygen is present, and thus the atmosphere may be maintained in an inert gas atmosphere. However, even in the case of an inert gas, the water concentration is preferably 1 O ppb or less.
• an RIE apparatus 2 As the transport means in the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, an RIE apparatus 2, a wet cleaning apparatus, an oxidizing apparatus 4, and a conductive film forming apparatus are connected by a tunnel 1, and the tunnel 1 is connected to the atmosphere. It is possible to use a structure that shuts off the gas and allows a gas having a water concentration of 10 ppb or less to flow into the tunnel 1. Of course, other devices may be connected outside of devices 2-5.
• a gas is ejected into the tunnel 1 so as to hit the lower surface of the substrate, and the substrate is conveyed while being floated by the gas.
• a box 6 structure in which the inside is filled with an inert gas or air having a water concentration of 1 Oppb or less may be used.
• the present invention is particularly effective when the exposed surface is, for example, an N + region of a MOS transistor or a bipolar transistor. That is, according to the findings of the present inventor, when the N + region is exposed to the atmosphere in a clean room at room temperature, a natural oxide film having a thickness of 0.5 nm is instantaneously formed. However, when the device of the present invention is used, it is possible to avoid the formation of such a natural oxide film.
• the conductive thin film in the present invention includes, for example, A 1, A 1 —Si alloy, A 1 -S i -Cu alloy, Ti, Mo, Ta, N + polysilicon, P + polysilicon Etc. are exemplified. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
• FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a conveying means of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing another example of the transport means of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing a thin film forming process in an example of the present invention.
• FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the jet cleaning device of FIG.
• FIG. 5 is a process chart showing a thin film forming process in the example of the present invention.
• Figure 6 shows the conventional transport method.
• Film formation was performed using the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 according to the procedure shown in FIG.
• the ware 8 was introduced into the jet cleaning device 3 and immersed in the etching solution 7 to remove the resist.
• the wafer 8 was introduced into the N 9 blow chamber 10 and heated by the lamp 9 while blowing N 2 to remove water.
• N 2 gas was introduced again.
• This wafer was introduced into a conductive film forming apparatus 5 through a tunnel 1 through which air having a water concentration of 1 O ppb or less was constantly introduced, and A1 was formed (Example 1). ).
• the contact resistance of the example was about one fourth of the contact resistance of the comparative example.
• the semiconductor wafer before the surface film is formed is introduced into the RIE device 2, and the surface is irradiated with ions of several eV to several tens eV to remove impurities and natural oxide film adhering to the wafer surface. Then, the background surface of the semiconductor substrate was exposed. Then, through the tunnel 1, 1 ⁇ 7 2 gas is constantly flowing, and transfer the wafer to an oxidizing apparatus 4, By performing thermal oxidation in the oxidation device 4, a SiO 2 film was formed on the wafer surface. Next, a MOS transistor using the SiO 2 film as a gate insulating film was formed on this wafer by a CVD method (Example).
• the number of breakdowns in the example was about half of that in the comparative example.
• the through-holes 16 were formed in the jet cleaning device 3 in the same manner as in Example 1. Air having a water concentration of 10 ppb or less constantly flowed through the substrate in the state shown in FIG. Through the tunnel 1, the semiconductor device was introduced into the conductive film forming apparatus 5 shown in FIG. 1 and A1 was formed to produce an element shown in FIG. 5B (Example).
• the substrate was once taken out of the jet cleaning device 3 into the clean room, and then introduced into the conductive film forming device 5, where A1 was formed (comparative example).
• the contact resistance of the example was about one-fourth of the contact resistance of the comparative example.
• the present invention it is possible to provide a thin film forming apparatus capable of manufacturing an element having excellent contact resistance and withstand voltage characteristics.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
• Power Engineering (AREA)
• Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
• Electrodes Of Semiconductors (AREA)
• Internal Circuitry In Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Devices (AREA)
• Formation Of Insulating Films (AREA)

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (4)

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• 1991
  • 1991-01-01 JP JP01000591A patent/JP3351802B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1991-12-27 WO PCT/JP1991/001796 patent/WO1992012534A1/ja not_active Ceased
  • 1991-12-27 EP EP92901923A patent/EP0565724A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1991-12-27 US US08/081,372 patent/US5372647A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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