1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a showerhead used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and more particularly, to a gas separation type showerhead in which two or more gases are separately provided.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, semiconductor manufacturing processes such as an ALD process and a CVD process are carried out inside a chamber provided with a shaft and a showerhead, wherein the shaft has a heater function to support a semiconductor wafer and the showerhead injects gas required for the processes.
Taking a general CVD process for example, when a precursor containing a material to be deposited is injected into the chamber through the showerhead while in a gas state, a chemical reaction occurs within the chamber, and thus deposition takes place. In this process, a high temperature has to be maintained inside the chamber for the chemical reaction. Therefore, there is a demerit in that process efficiency deteriorates.
To solve this problem, a plasma enhanced (PE)-CVD device has been widely used in recent years. Unlike a typical CVD device, the PE-CVD device performs a process by using plasma in a state that reaction gases are activated. Thus, there are various advantages in that the process can be performed at a lower temperature in comparison with the typical CVD device.
A representative example of the PE-CVD process is a silicon nitride (SiN) layer deposition. In general, a reaction gas required for deposition is injected inside the chamber. When a desired pressure is determined, and the temperature of a substrate is determined to be about below 600° C., the injected gas is decomposed to be a plasma state by using RF power so that the silicon nitride layer is deposited on the substrate. In this case, SiH4 and NH3 are used as the reaction gases. The silicon nitride layer deposited on a wafer by using the PE-CVD device contains a hydrogen component more than a predetermined amount. When the hydrogen component is infiltrated inside a transistor, a problem occurs in that a transistor characteristic deteriorates.
In order to solve this problem, an effort has conventionally been made to obtain a silicon nitride layer having minimum hydrogen content by regulating a composition ratio of the reaction gases (SiH4/NH3). However, there has been a limit in reducing the hydrogen content to the extent of satisfaction.
In a general showerhead, reaction gases are ionized in advance before the reaction gases are supplied to the showerhead. Alternatively, the reaction gases are ionized within the chamber after the reaction gases are injected from the showerhead.
In the case that the reaction gases are ionized in advance, a problem lies in that ions may be re-bonded while passing through the showerhead. On the other hand, in the case that the reaction gases are ionized within the chamber after being injected from the showerhead, a substrate may be damaged when high ionization energy is supplied into the chamber.
Moreover, in the conventional showerhead for injection two or more gases, the two or more gases are separately injected. Therefore, there is a problem in that the gases are not uniformly mixed.
The present invention provides a gas separation type showerhead that can minimize hydrogen content, has a structure of multiple block stacks, and can enhance diversity and efficiency of process by using a common injection module even when using heterogeneous gases.
The present invention also provides a gas separation type showerhead in which a high plasma density is obtained by means of a multi-hollow cathode, and thus substrate cleaning, surface processing, or deposition can be effectively carried out.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas separation type showerhead comprising: a gas supply module to which a first gas and a second gas are separately supplied; a gas separation module in which the supplied first and second gases are separately dispersed; and a gas injection module which includes a plurality of holes and in which the first and second gases separately dispersed are commonly injected through the holes, wherein a lower part of the gas separation module, through which the first and second gases are vented to the gas injection module, has a variable height.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas separation type showerhead comprising: a gas supply module to which a first gas and a second gas are separately supplied; a gas separation module in which the supplied first and second gases are separately dispersed; and a gas injection module which is a multi-hollow cathode having a plurality of holes and in which the first and second gases separately dispersed are ionized in the holes to be commonly dispersed.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas separation type showerhead comprising: a gas supply module to which a first gas and a second gas are separately supplied; a gas separation module in which the supplied first and second gases are separately dispersed, and at least one of the first and second gases are ionized; and a gas injection module which includes a plurality of holes and in which the first and second gases separately dispersed are commonly injected through the holes, wherein at least a part of the gas injection module is an insulator.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
FIGS. 7 to 11 show various shapes of a plurality of vents;
FIGS. 12 to 20 show various shapes of a plurality of holes; and
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A first gas A and a second gas B are separately supplied to the gas supply module 110. In order to separately provide the first gas A and the second gas B, the gas supply module 110 includes an outer supply tube 110a and an inner supply tube 110b which are separated from each other. Referring to
The first and second gases A and B supplied to the gas supply module 110 are separately dispersed in the gas separation module 120. In order to separately disperse the first and second gases A and, a first dispersion zone 120a is connected to the outer supply tube 110a of the gas supply module 110, and a second dispersion zone 120b is connected to the inner supply tube 110b of the gas supply module 110. Referring to
The first dispersion zone 120a is constructed with one region. The second dispersion zone 120b is located below the first dispersion zone 120a and is divided into a plurality of regions. Preferably, a gas distribution plate 210 (shown in
The divided regions of the second dispersion zone 120b are spaced apart from each other, that is, outer spaces are present between the outer surfaces of the divided regions. Further, a plurality of vents 125b are formed at the lower part of each of the regions of the second dispersion zone 120b.
Referring to
A lower part of the gas separation module 120, through which the first and second gases A and B are vented to the gas injection module 130, has a variable height which is determined according edge heights of the vents 125b.
The edges of the vents 125b may be located to be higher than the top of the gas injection module 130. Alternatively, the edges of the vents 125b may be located between the top and the bottom of the gas injection module 130.
A mixing zone 150 in which the first and second gases A and B are mixed each other varies depending on the edge heights of the vents 125b.
If the edges of the vents 125b are located above the top of the gas injection module 130, the mixing zone 150 in which the first and second gases A and B are mixed can be widened within the showerhead. On the contrary, if the edges of the vents 125b are located between the top and the bottom of the gas injection module 130, the first and second gases A and B may maintain their original forms while the mixing of the first and second gases A and B are delayed.
Referring to FIGS. 7 to 11, the vents 125b may be implemented in various shapes. If ‘a’ denotes a top width of one of the vents 125b, ‘b’ denotes a center width of one of the vents 125b, and ‘c’ denotes a bottom width of one of the vents 125b, then the vents 125b may have a typical shape of a=b=c (
Eventually, the shapes of the vents 125b and the edge heights of the vents 125b are determined according to the purpose of processing.
The gas injection module 130 includes a plurality of holes 135. The first and second gases A and B separately dispersed from the gas separation module 120 are commonly injected into the chamber through the holes 135.
According to the purpose of processing, the first and second gases A and B may be simultaneously or sequentially injected into the chamber. Even if the first and second gases A and B are heterogeneous, the first and second gases A and B are not mixed until they are injected into the gas injection module 130. Therefore, in comparison with the case that the first and second gases A and B are mixed in advance, the first and second gases A and B can maintain their original forms, thereby being able to delaying ionization. Accordingly, ionization efficiency can be enhanced.
Similar to the vents 125b, the holes 135 may be implemented in various shapes as shown in FIGS. 12 to 20. Since the shape of the holes 135 is opposite to the shape of the gas injection module 130, the shape of the holes 135 can be described with the shape of the gas injection module 130.
If ‘d’ denotes a top width of the gas injection module 130, ‘e’ denotes a center width of the gas injection module 130, and ‘f’ denotes a bottom width of the gas injection module 130, then the holes 135 may have a shape with a constant injection width of d=e=f (
Furthermore, as shown in
Therefore, according to the purpose of processing, the first and second gases A and B can be diversely injected in combination of the shapes of the vents 125b illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 11 and the shapes of the holes 135 illustrated in FIGS. 12 to 20.
According to the purpose of processing, in order to ionize one of the first gas A and the second gas B or to ionize both of the first gas A and the second gas B, ionization power is supplied to at least one of the gas separation module 120 and the gas injection module 130.
The ionization power may be selected from direct current (DC) power, radio frequency (RF) power, and microwave power.
In particular, if the ionization power is the RF power, the power may have a single frequency. Alternatively, two or more different frequencies may be mixed in the power. For example, when the ionization power is supplied to the gas separation module 120, the supplied power may have a single frequency of 13.56 MHz. Alternatively, frequencies of 13.56 MHz and 370 KHz may be mixed in the power.
In order to maintain the original forms of the first and second gases A and B prior to ionization when both of the first gas A and the second gas B are ionized, it is preferable that power is supplied to the gas injection module 130. In this case, the gas injection module 130 becomes a multi-hollow cathode including the holes 135. After the supply of power, the first and second gases A and B separately dispersed from the gas separation module 120 are ionized in the holes 135 to be commonly injected into the chamber.
The power may be supplied to a single point of the gas injection module 130. On the other hand, as the size of the showerhead increases, the power may be supplied to a plurality of points in the gas injection module 130.
When the edge heights of the vents 125b are located between the top and the bottom of the gas injection module 130, the second gas B can be ionized inside the vents 125b by supplying the ionization power of the first and second gases A and B to the gas injection module 130. That is, the second gas B can be ionized when electrons are supplied to inner spaces of the vents 125b by a plasma generated from the gas injection module 130 that becomes the multi-hollow cathode.
In order to ionize the first gas A in the gas separation module 120, power has to be supplied to the first dispersion zone 120a. In this case, the inner wall of the first dispersion zone 120a is preferably constructed with a conductor.
On the other hand, in order to ionize the second gas B in the gas separation module 120, power has to be supplied to the respective regions of the second dispersion zone 120b. For this, the inner walls of the respective regions of the second dispersion zone 120b may be constructed with conductors. In addition, the gas distribution plate 210 may be constructed with a conductor. In this case, an insulator (not shown) is preferably formed above and below the gas distribution plate 210.
If both of the first gas A and the second gas B are ionized in the gas separation module 120, in particular, if the first and second gases A and B have different ionization energies, the ionization power supplied to the first dispersion zone 120a may be different from the ionization power supplied to the second dispersion zone 120b or the gas distribution plate 210.
As shown in
If an insulating ring 2130 (shown in
Therefore, in the gas separation type showerhead 100 of the present invention, power can be supplied to specific points in the gas separation module 120 and the gas injection module 130 according to the purpose of processing.
If power is supplied nowhere in the gas separation type showerhead 100, the first and second gases A and B can maintain their original forms. Thus, the present invention can be applied to an ALD process and a thermal CVD process which are not accompanied with gas ionization.
In the case of the ALD process, the first gas A and the second gas B may be alternately provided to induce a reaction.
In the case of the thermal CVD process, if a section for gas mixture is long, particles may be generated. Further, the reaction may be terminated in the middle of the process. Accordingly, by using the gas separation type showerhead 100 of the present invention, the section for mixing the first and second gases A and B can be minimized, thereby enhancing process efficiency.
Referring to
The gas injection module 130 constructed with the insulator 510 can block an influence of plasma by means of the insulator 510. Thus, the influence of plasma can be minimized with respect to a semiconductor substrate and a heater which are disposed inside the chamber.
The insulator 510 may be made of a ceramic material (e.g., aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and aluminum nitride (AlN)) or a polymer material (e.g., Teflon). Alternatively, the insulator 510 may be made of a compound of the ceramic material and the polymer material.
Referring to
The upper plate 610 is an insulator for blocking an influence of plasma. The lower plate 620 is a conductor such as aluminum (Al) that plays a role as a ground with respect to power.
In the embodiment of
Eventually, in the showerheads 500 and 600 illustrated in
In this case, the frequency of the power 2110 supplied to the gas separation module 120 may be different from the frequency of the power 2120 supplied to the gas injection module 130.
If an insulator ring 2130 is disposed between the gas separation module 120 and the gas injection module 130, the power 2110 supplied to the gas separation module 120 does not affect the gas injection module 130, and the power 2120 supplied to the gas injection module 130 does not affect the gas separation module 120. Therefore, an influence of power between the gas separation module 120 and the gas injection module 130 can be avoided.
Since the gas injection module 130 is adjacent to the semiconductor substrate within the chamber, the power 2120 supplied to the gas injection module 130 has a relatively low frequency. On the other hand, ionization of the first and second gases A and B is mainly achieved in the gas separation module 120. Thus, the power 2110 supplied to the gas separation module 120 has a relatively high frequency.
Accordingly, a gas separation type showerhead of the present invention is applied to a process or equipment requiring two or more heterogeneous gases. Further, the two or more gases can be uniformly supplied to a processing zone within a chamber.
In addition, in the gas separation type showerhead of the present invention, the location where the two or more gases are mixed can be selected depending on locations of a plurality of vents. Thus, there is an advantage in that a degree of gas mixing and a plasma reaction can be regulated.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the exemplary embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1020060005890 | Jan 2006 | KR | national |
1020060019815 | Mar 2006 | KR | national |
1020060068360 | Jul 2006 | KR | national |
1020060008153 | Jan 2006 | KR | national |