Patent Application
20170110345
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and method for keeping the substrate clean and free of particles and specifically to a system and method of ensuring that dispense nozzles are clean and free of particles and do not allow the dispense chemical to drift into the substrate after the dispensing of the chemical.
Description of Related Art
Dispense nozzles for resist, solvent and other semiconductor chemicals must be kept clean and free of particles in order to eliminate defects on processed substrates. Additionally, a nozzle must not drip at the completion of the dispense, which can also lead to substrate defects. In most advanced track tools, suck back valves have been incorporated to eliminate the possibility of drips as well as reduce evaporation at the tip of the nozzle. As the chemicals in the resist evaporate, they can leave behind dried particles which can easily be transferred to the substrate. If the chemical is left exposed at the tip of the nozzle, the evaporated gas is quickly blown from the surface as the nozzle is moved from position to position, thereby maintaining a low partial pressure and a high evaporation rate. By sucking the chemical back into the tube, a micro-environment is created in the vacated part of the tube where a high partial pressure can be maintained and which is only reduced via diffusion, a much slower process thereby reducing the particle generation rate due to evaporation.
The drawback to such an approach is the complexity of the required suck back hardware, which is typically incorporated into the dispense valve. It would be advantageous in terms of cost, weight, and system complexity to eliminate the suck back feature, which is one the objects of this invention.
Proper nozzle tip and valve design combined with precision operation enables the flow to be shut off without the risk of additional drops. In this state, the dispense chemical is held at the tip of the nozzle by the surface tension of the dispense chemical. There is a need for a shielding device and method where a mini-environment is created around the nozzle tip similar to the environment created in the nozzle tip during suck back. The shielding device needs to prevent external air movements from rapidly purging away the evaporated gas, thereby providing the same protection without the added complexity of a suck back process.
Provided is a nozzle system for dispensing a dispense chemical onto a substrate, the system comprising: a nozzle comprising a nozzle body and a nozzle tip; a shielding device coupled to the nozzle tip, the shielding device configured to create a mini-environment for a dispense chemical such that a partial pressure of the dispense chemical is maintained in the shielding device; wherein the nozzle system is configured to meet selected dispense objectives.
Also provided is a nozzle system coupled to a semiconductor fabrication system, the nozzle system comprising: a dispense chemical supply line; a nozzle coupled to the dispense chemical supply line, the nozzle comprising a nozzle body and nozzle tip, nozzle tip coupled to the nozzle body and configured to dispense the dispense chemical onto the substrate; a nozzle valve coupled to the nozzle body and the dispense chemical supply line, the nozzle valve having an opening and closing rate; and a shroud coupled to the nozzle tip and configured to create a mini-environment for the dispense chemical such that a partial pressure of the dispense chemical is maintained in the nozzle shroud, the shroud having a shroud volume, shroud wall thickness, and shroud inner wall diameter; wherein the nozzle system is configured to meet selected dispense objectives.
Furthermore, provided is a method of controlling a dispense nozzle with a shroud in processing a structure on a substrate, the method comprising: providing a nozzle system coupled to a fabrication system, the nozzle system comprising a nozzle body, a nozzle valve, a nozzle tip, and a shielding device; providing a substrate to be processed inside the processing chamber of the fabrication system; starting dispense of the dispense chemical by opening the nozzle valve to flow the dispense chemical onto a substrate in a processing chamber of the fabrication system; stopping dispense of the dispense chemical by closing the nozzle valve to stop the flow of the dispense chemical; controlling, using a controller, the dispensing of the dispense chemical in order to achieve one or more dispense objectives.
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will become readily apparent with reference to the following detailed description, particularly when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as a particular geometry of a processing system, descriptions of various components and processes used therein. However, it should be understood that the invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details.
Similarly, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. Nevertheless, the invention may be practiced without specific details. Furthermore, it is understood that the various embodiments shown in the figures are illustrative representations and are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the invention. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation. Operations described may be performed in a different order than the described embodiment. Various additional operations may be performed and/or described operations may be omitted in additional embodiments.
“Substrate” as used herein generically refers to the object being processed in accordance with the invention. The substrate may include any material portion or structure of a device, particularly a semiconductor or other electronics device, and may, for example, be a base substrate structure, such as a semiconductor wafer or a layer on or overlying a base substrate structure such as a thin film. Thus, substrate is not intended to be limited to any particular base structure, underlying layer or overlying layer, patterned or un-patterned, but rather, is contemplated to include any such layer or base structure, and any combination of layers and/or base structures. The description below may reference particular types of substrates, but this is for illustrative purposes only and not limitation. For this application, the words substrate and workpiece are used interchangeably.
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will become readily apparent with reference to the following detailed description, particularly when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Chemicals used in semiconductor processes must be kept clean and particle free in order to limit the number and size of defects created on wafers during process. One source of particle generation on liquid delivery systems is the dispense nozzle. Particles at the nozzle tip can be generated in two ways. The first is by evaporation of the dispense chemical at the tip of the nozzle, which may crystalize as the material is being delivered. The second is by chemical reaction between the dispense chemical and the surrounding air, to which it is now exposed. When the dispense chemical is not being dispensed, the dispense chemical may be exposed to the air for extended periods of time. Suck back valves may slow evaporation by maintaining a higher vapor pressure at the dispense chemical surface via the creation of a small mini-environment at the dispense chemical surface, limiting the evaporation rate to the diffusion rate of the dispense chemical. Evaporation is not eliminated completely, however. In addition, no protection from airborne molecules, such as oxygen or water, which may react with the dispense chemical, is provided. The addition of a shroud, use of a shield gas, or a combination of both as described in this disclosure, address these concerns.
Still referring to FIG.1, the nozzle valve 136 must be maintained in operational condition so that flow of the dispense chemical 134 can be controlled in a precise manner. The ideal function for the rate of closure of the nozzle valve 136 varies based on fluid properties, especially viscosity. In the closing operation for the nozzle system 108, the dispense chemical 134 at the nozzle tip 130 should be as flat as possible, i.e., not bulging out in order to minimize the surface area exposed. This will be covered in detail below.
The gas flow 718 is a gas mixture which is both nonreactive to the dispense chemical 704 being dispensed and also saturated with the vapor of the dispense chemical 704 that is directed as a gas flow 718 proximate to the nozzle tip 724. Since the shielded zone 720 is already saturated with the vapor of the dispense chemical 704, evaporation from the nozzle tip 724 area is prevented. The gas flow 718 is provided with sufficient energy so that it pushes away airborne reactants in the reactive gas area 728 faster than these can diffuse to the surface of the dispense chemical 722, then chemical reaction with the environment is also prevented.
The embodiment includes: a) supplying a gas flow 718 where the gas flow 718 comprises one or more gases, b) directing the gas flow 718 proximate to the nozzle tip 724, c) preventing evaporation from around the nozzle tip 724 since the gas flow is already saturated with the vapor of the dispense chemical 704. For net evaporation to occur, the gas immediately above or below the surface of the dispense chemical 704 must be below the saturation point of the dispense chemical 704 vapor. Net evaporation occurs rapidly until saturation at the surface 722 of the dispense chemical 704 occurs. The high concentration of the dispense chemical 704 vapor at the surface 722 of the dispense chemical 704 then diffuses into the surrounding gas. Evaporation continues in order to replace the molecules that have diffused away. Diffusion is driven by concentration gradient of the dispense chemical 704 in the area close to the nozzle tip 724. By supplying a saturated gas flow 718 to the volume around the nozzle tip 724, the concentration gradient tends towards zero and diffusion to the environment from the surface 722 of the dispense chemical 704 is blocked. With diffusion eliminated, evaporation of the dispense chemical 704 is also terminated.
As mentioned above, the gas flow 718 can be provided with sufficient energy that pushes away airborne reactive gases faster than these can diffuse to the surface 722 of the dispense chemical 704, then chemical reaction with the airborne gases in the reactive gas area 728 is also prevented. Diffusion occurs as Brownian motion and at typical atmospheric pressures; the large number of molecular collisions limits the progression of diffusing gases. If viscous gas flow 718 is supplied against the diffusing reactive gases 728 at a velocity higher than the speed of diffusion, the progression of the diffusing reactive gases from the reactive gas area 728 is halted.
In some cases, the dispense chemical 704 is a compound of substances which may include a volatile solvent combined with heavier, less volatile chemicals. In such cases, the solvent is at a much higher risk of evaporation, leaving behind the less volatile components to coagulate or crystalize. In order to avert this action, the gas flow 718 need only contain a saturated level of the solvent, which typically provides for a significantly lower cost option.
The shield gas delivery pipe 714 can be supplied by a shield gas generator 740 which can be a bubbler where the inert gas supply (not shown) is plumbed to the bottom of the shield gas generator 740 filled with a solvent or the dispense chemical 704, from which it bubbles up to a shield gas delivery pipe 714 that is provided as an annular gas flow 718 around the nozzle 708 and released proximate to the nozzle tip 724. The shield gas generator 740 can also be a vaporizer or a similar device. A carrier gas may also be added to the shield gas or included in the shield gas as long as such a carrier gas is nonreactive with the dispense chemical 704. Noble gases such as argon can be used, or nitrogen gas, N2, if shown to be a compatible lower cost option, may be used as carrier gases.
The shield gas may be supplied to each nozzle individually as shown in
In operation 912, the nozzle system is started by performing a sequence of opening operations. The sequence of opening operations may include moving an arm containing the one or more nozzle systems from a standby position to a specific position above the substrate. Another opening operation may include moving the nozzle from a tray partially filled with the tray chemical or dispense chemical and a solvent to the specific position above the substrate. If this is the first time the nozzle system is being used, an opening sequence of operations may include flowing the dispense chemical to the inner opening of the nozzle in order to start increasing the partial pressure of the dispense chemical in the shroud or mini-environment space below the nozzle inner opening. In operation 916, the dispense chemical is dispensed onto the substrate, the dispense having a dispense flow rate, a dispense chemical partial pressure at the nozzle tip, and a dispense temperature. During this operation, static electrical energy may build up in the nozzle system during the dispense operation. Static electrical energy issues can be eliminated by providing a conductive grounded surface on the inside wall of the shroud.
Still referring to
In operation 1012, the nozzle system is started by performing a sequence of opening operations. The sequence of opening operations may include moving an arm containing the one or more nozzle systems from a standby position to a specific position above the substrate. Another opening operation may include moving the nozzle from a tray partially filled with the dispense chemical or the dispense chemical with a solvent to the specific position above the substrate. If this is the first time the nozzle system is being used, an opening sequence of operations may include flowing the dispense chemical through the dispense chemical delivery pipe to the inner opening of the nozzle in order to start increasing the partial pressure of the dispense chemical in the gas-shielded space, shrouded space or mini-environment space below the nozzle inner opening. In operation 1016, the dispense chemical is dispensed onto the substrate, the dispense having a dispense flow rate, a dispense chemical partial pressure at the nozzle tip, and a dispense temperature.
Still referring to
The delivery of the dispense chemical to the inner opening of the nozzle should be tuned to minimize the surface area of the exposed dispense chemical and to ensure that the surface area is as flat as possible, i.e., not bulging out. By ensuring flatness of the surface area, a mini-environment is created around the nozzle tip similar to the environment created in the nozzle tip using a suck back process. However, in this case, the partial pressure of evaporated dispense chemical is generated by the flow of the dispense chemical passing through the zone including the nozzle tip and does not use a suck back that is typically performed with complex, expensive equipment.
Depending on the applications, additional devices such as sensors or metrology devices can be coupled to the nozzle system 1104 and to the fabrication system 1108 and the controller 1155 can collect real time data and use such real time data to concurrently control one or more selected operating variables in two or more steps involving dispense chemical flow rate, dispense chemical temperature, dispense chemical viscosity, presence of contaminants, partial pressure of the dispense chemical around the nozzle tip, and the like in order to achieve dispense objectives.
Specifically, the controller 1155 coupled to the nozzle system 1104 can be configured to perform sequences of operations based on instructions stored in a storage device, memory, or based on data communicated by the sensor or by external computer networks. One or more sensors can be programmed to detect the presence of contaminants or dripping of the dispense chemical after a dispense and in conjunction with the controller resolve the problem. The fabrication system 1108 can be an etch, cleaning, rinsing, tract, or fluid treatment semiconductor fabrication system. Further, the controller can be configured to utilize selected operating variables which are concurrently controlled to achieve the dispense objectives, the dispense objectives comprising cost of ownership, throughput samples per hour, reduced particle contamination, and reduced usage of the dispense chemical.
Although only certain embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. For example, the applications of the principles and techniques of fluid mixing using a spiral mixer where a selected two or more mixing variables are concurrently controlled to meet target objectives have many other uses in addition to semiconductor manufacturing. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62241325 | Oct 2015 | US |
