Patent Application
20150197851
The present invention relates to a process chamber and a substrate processing device, and more particularly, to a process chamber that is capable of improving substrate processing capability and a substrate processing device for processing a substrate by using the same.
As semiconductor devices gradually decrease in scale, demand for ultra-thin films increases. In addition, as a contact hole is reduced in size, limitations in step coverage are increasing more and more.
In general, when semiconductor devices are manufactured in a semiconductor apparatus, a sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or atomic layer deposition (ALD) method may be used for uniformly depositing a thin film.
Among these methods, the CVD method may be the most widely used deposition technology. In the CVD method, a thin film having a desired thickness may be deposited on a substrate by using a reaction gas and resolution gas. According to the CVD method, various gases may be injected into a process chamber, and then, the gases induced by high energy such as heat, light, or plasma may chemically react to deposit a thin film having a desired thickness on a substrate. Also, in the CVD method, reaction conditions may be controlled through a ratio and amount of plasma or gases applied to correspond to reaction energy to improve a deposition rate. However, since the reaction is quickly performed, it may be difficult to control thermodynamic stability of atoms, and also, the thin film may be deteriorated in physical, chemical, and electrically property.
The ALD method may be a method for alternately supplying a source gas (reaction gas) and purge gas to deposit an atomic layer. Here, a thin film formed by the ALD method may have good step coverage, be applicable for large diameter substrates and ultra-thin films, and has superior chemical and physical properties. In general, in the ALD method, a first source gas may be supplied to chemically adsorb one layer of first source on a surface of the substrate, and the physically adsorbed extra sources may be purged by allowing the purge gas to flow. Then, a second source gas may be supplied onto the one layer of source to allow the one layer of source to chemically react with the second source gas, thereby depositing a desired atomic layer thin film. Here, the extra reaction gas may form a thin film for one cycle in which the purge gas flows to purge the extra reaction gas. As described above, the ALD method may use a surface reaction mechanism to obtain the stable and uniform thin film. Also, in the ADL method, since the source gas and the reaction gas are separately successively injected and purged, generation of particles due to gas phase reaction may be restrained when compared to the CVD method.
The showerhead-type atomic layer thin film deposition device includes a process chamber 2 having a reaction space in which a reaction gas and purge gas are successively supplied to deposit an atomic layer on a substrate 3, a substrate support 4 disposed in a lower portion of the process chamber 2 to seat the substrate 3 thereon, a showerhead 5 disposed to face the substrate support 4 to inject a gas into a reaction space 1, and a valve 6 disposed in a supply path that extends to the showerhead 5 to open or close the gas supply. Here, the process chamber 2 is connected to a pumping unit for discharging the gas supplied into the reaction space 1 to the outside. As described above, the atomic layer thin film deposition according to the related art includes the process chamber 2 having a relatively small volume to quickly supply and remove the gas in the reaction space 1 so as to expose the substrate to the reaction gas and purge gas at a uniform density.
In the case of the CVD or ALD method, substrate processing and production capabilities may not be superior. This is done for a reason in which it is difficult to process a large number of substrates at the same time because the number of substrates mounted on the substrate support is limited even though the CVD or ALD process is performed in a state where a plurality of substrates are placed on the substrate support.
(PRIOR ART DOCUMENT) Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2005-0080433
The technical subject of the present invention is to provide a process chamber in which a substrate processing process such as a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or atomic layer deposition (ALD) is performed and a substrate processing device. Also, the technical subject of the present invention is to provide a process chamber for improving substrate processing capability and a substrate processing device. Also, the technical subject of the present invention is to provide a process gas injection unit having a horizontal injection structure, but rather than a process gas injection unit having a vertical injection structure according to the related art.
A process chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a boat in which a plurality of substrates are stacked to be spaced apart from each other, a chamber housing configured to lift the boat, thereby allowing the boat to be disposed in an inner space thereof, the chamber housing being configured to horizontally inject a process gas from a sidewall thereof, thereby allowing the process gas to flow between the substrates stacked to be apart from each other and discharge the process gas to the outside, a boat elevation unit configured to elevate the boat into the chamber housing, and a substrate transfer gate passing through one sidewall of the lower chamber housing.
Also, the chamber housing may include a lower chamber housing having a first inner space that is an inner space thereof, an upper chamber housing disposed above the lower chamber housing and having a second inner space that is an inner space thereof, the upper chamber housing being configured to horizontally inject the process gas from a sidewall thereof, thereby allowing the process gas to flow between the substrates stacked to be spaced apart from each other and discharge the process gas to the outside.
Also, the boat may include an upper plate, a lower plate, a plurality of support bars connecting the upper plate to the lower plate, and a plurality of substrate seat grooves defined in sidewalls of the support bars.
Also, the boat elevation unit may include a boat support configured to support the lower plate and an elevation rotation driving shaft passing through a bottom surface of the lower chamber housing to elevation the boat support upward and downward. Also, the elevation rotation driving shaft may be configured to rotate the boat support.
Also, the upper chamber housing may include an upper chamber inner housing in which the boat ascending through an opened lower side thereof is accommodated, an upper chamber outer housing surrounding a top surface and sidewall of the upper chamber inner housing in a state where the upper chamber outer housing is spaced apart from the upper chamber inner housing, a process gas injection unit configured to inject the process gas from one side inner wall of the upper chamber inner housing, and a process gas discharge unit configured to discharge the process gas that is used for processing the substrate in the inner space of the upper chamber inner housing to the outside.
Also, the process gas injection unit may include a process gas inflow space body having an inner space, a plurality of gas injection holes defined in a wall of the process gas inflow space body that is in contact with the boat, and a process gas supply tube configured to introduce the process gas into the inner space of the process gas inflow space body.
Also, the process gas discharge unit may include a process gas discharge space body having an inner space, a plurality of gas discharge holes defined in a wall of the process gas discharge space body that is in contact with the boat, a discharge pump configured to pump the process gas within the inner space of the process gas discharge space body to the outside, and a process gas discharge tube connecting the inner space of the process gas discharge space body to the discharge pump.
Also, the process gas inflow space body and the process gas discharge space body may be disposed on a wall of the upper chamber inner housing, and the process gas inflow space body and the process gas discharge space body may be disposed positions that face each other.
Also, the process chamber may further include a plasma generation unit configured to apply a plasma voltage to the upper chamber housing. The plasma generation unit may be disposed between the upper chamber inner housing and the upper chamber outer housing, and the plasma generation unit may be realized by using a U-shaped plasma antenna.
Also, the plasma antenna may have one end to which the voltage is applied and the other end that is a ground connection point, which are disposed above the upper chamber housing, and a connection line of the one end and the other end may cross in a U shape between the upper chamber inner housing and the upper chamber outer housing.
Also, a substrate processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a process chamber including a boat in which a plurality of substrates are stacked to be apart from each other, the process chamber being configured to be rotated and to inject a process gas between the substrates stacked to be spaced apart from each other, thereby discharging the process gas to the outside, a load lock chamber that is changed from a vacuum state to an atmospheric state or from an atmospheric state to a vacuum state, and a transfer chamber configured to transfer the substrate transferred in the load lock chamber to the process chamber, the transfer chamber being configured to transfer the substrate transferred from the process chamber to the load lock chamber.
Also, the upper chamber housing of the substrate processing device includes an upper chamber inner housing in which the boat ascending through an opened lower side thereof is accommodated, an upper chamber outer housing surrounding a top surface and sidewall of the upper chamber inner housing in a state where the upper chamber outer housing is spaced apart from the upper chamber inner housing, a process gas injection unit configured to allow the process gas to flow from one side inner wall to the other side inner wall of the upper chamber inner housing, and a process gas discharge unit configured to discharge the process gas that reaches the other side inner wall of the upper chamber inner housing to the outside.
According to the embodiments of the present invention, the process gas may be horizontally injected from a side of the substrate while rotating the substrates vertically stacked and spaced apart from each other to improve the substrate processing capability. Also, various process processing methods may be performed and also be applied to, for example, the CVD and ALS devices. Also, the plasma generation unit may be provided to improve efficiency in substrate processing capability. Also, the deterioration in characteristic of the film quality in the existing showerhead method may be prevented to improve the film quality characteristics.
Hereinafter, specific embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present invention will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art. In the figures, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
A process chamber provides a space in which a plurality of substrates are vertically stacked to be spaced apart from each other to allow a process gas to flow between the plurality of substrates, thereby performing substrate processing processes such as a deposition process, an etching process, and the like on the substrates so as to improve substrate processing capability. For this, the process chamber includes a boat 300 in which a plurality of substrates are stacked to be spaced apart from each other, chamber housings 100 and 200 disposed on a sidewall thereof to horizontally inject a process gas and flow between the spaced and stacked substrates, thereby discharging the process gas to the outside, a boat elevation unit 400 for elevating the boat within the chamber housings 100 and 200, and a substrate transfer gate 500 passing through one sidewall of the chamber housings 100 and 200.
Since the plurality of substrates are vertically stacked to be spaced apart from each other on the boat 300, a gap may be formed between the stacked substrates to allow the process gas to be introduced therethrough and then to flow in an opposite side. Thus, the process gas may contact a top surface of each of the substrates to perform a processing process such as a deposition or etching process on the substrates. To stacking the substrates in the state where the substrates are spaced apart from each other, the boat 300 includes an upper plate 310, a lower plate 320, a plurality of support bars 330 (330a, 330b, and 330c) connecting the upper plate 310 to the lower plate 320, and a plurality of substrate seat grooves 331 defined in sidewalls of the support bars 330. Each of the substrate seat grooves 331 may be a groove that is recessed from the sidewall of each of the support bars 330. Here, the substrate may be seated into the groove.
The substrate transfer gate 500 may be a gate that is disposed on one sidewall of the lower chamber housing 200 to allow the substrate to be accessible to the boat 300. When the substrate is loaded on or unloaded from the boat 300, the substrate may be transferred through the substrate transfer gate.
The boat elevation unit 400 may elevate the boat 300 between an inner space of the upper chamber housing 100 and an inner space of the lower chamber housing 200. For this, the boat elevation unit 400 includes a boat support 420 and an elevation rotation driving shaft 410. The boat support 420 has a top surface supporting the lower plate 320. The elevation rotation driving shaft 410 may pass through a bottom surface of the lower chamber housing 200 to support a bottom surface of the boat 300, i.e., the lower plate 320 of the boat 300. The bottom surface of the boat support 420 is connected to the elevation rotation driving shaft 410 to ascend or descend according to the driving of the vertically reciprocating driving source such as a motor. Here, boat 300 may ascend or descend through a vertical piston reciprocating motion of the boat support 420. Also, the elevation rotation driving shaft 410 may not elevate the boat at once when the boat is elevated (ascends/descends), but may allow the boat to ascend or descend for each stage. For example, when the substrate is inserted and seated into the substrate seat groove of the boat through the substrate transfer gate as illustrated in
The chamber housings 100 and 200 may lift the boat to allow the boat to be disposed in the inner space thereof and may horizontally inject the process through one side inner wall thereof to allow the process gas to flow between the spaced and stacked substrates, thereby discharging the process gas to the outside. The chamber housing according to an embodiment of the present invention may be constituted by the lower chamber housing 200 and the upper chamber housing 100.
The lower chamber housing 200 may have an opened upper side and an inner space (hereinafter, referred to as a “first inner space”). As illustrated in
The upper chamber housing 100 may be disposed on the lower chamber housing 200 in a state where a lower side of the upper chamber housing 100 is opened to define an inner space (hereinafter, referred to as a “second inner space”). The boat ascending from the first inner space of the lower chamber housing is disposed in the second inner space of the upper chamber housing 100. Here, the substrates may be in a state in which the substrates are stacked to be spaced apart from each other and mounted into the substrate seat groove of the boat. The process gas is injected from one side inner wall of the upper chamber housing 100 to flow between the spaced and stacked substrates on the boat. Then, the process gas may pass through the other inner sidewall of the upper chamber housing and be discharged to the outside.
When the process gas is injected from the one side inner wall to the other side inner wall of the upper chamber housing 100, the upper chamber housing 100 may be provided as a single wall. Alternatively, the upper chamber housing 100 may be provided as a double wall. That is, the upper chamber housing 100 may be provided as a housing having a double structure including an upper chamber inner housing 110 and an upper chamber outer housing 120 surrounding the upper chamber inner housing 110. The boat 300 ascending from the lower chamber housing 200 is accommodated into the upper chamber inner housing 110 that is disposed at a relatively inner side of the double structure, and the upper chamber outer housing 120 that is disposed at a relatively outer side of the double structure may surround the top surface and sidewall of the upper chamber inner housing 110 in a state where the upper chamber outer housing 120 is spaced apart from the top surface and sidewall of the upper chamber inner housing 110.
A process gas injection unit for injecting the process gas toward the other side inner wall that is opposite to the one side inner wall of the upper chamber inner housing 110 and a process gas discharge unit for discharging the process gas within the housing to the outside are disposed on the one side inner wall of the upper chamber inner housing 110. As the process gas is injected toward the other side inner wall opposite to the one side inner wall, the process gas may flow onto the boat existing in the inner space of the upper chamber housing.
As illustrated in
Also, the upper chamber inner housing includes a process gas discharge unit 140 for discharging the process gas that is used for the substrate processing process to the outside. As illustrated in
As described above, the process gas inflow space body 131 and the process gas discharge space body 141 each of which has the inner space are defined in the wall of the upper chamber inner housing. Here, the process gas inflow space body 131 and the process gas discharge space body 141 may be disposed at positions that face each other with the boat therebetween. The process gas injected into the process gas inflow space body 131 may pass through the gap between the substrates mounted on the boat by a pumping discharge pressure to flow into the process gas discharge space body 141, thereby being discharged to the outside. The process gas inflow space body 131 and the process gas discharge space body 141 may be buried in the sidewall of the upper chamber inner housing. Alternatively, the process gas inflow space body 131 and the process gas discharge space body 141 may be provided as separate mechanisms and then be coupled to each other in an inner surface of the sidewall.
For reference,
When the substrate is mounted on the boat 300 to ascend into the inner space of the upper chamber inner housing 110, the boat and the upper chamber housing may be sealed to maintain sealability with respect to the outside. To maintain the sealability (airtightness), the boat support 420 and the upper chamber inner housing 120 may be sealed by a sealing element coupling body such as an O-ring. For this, as illustrated in
When explaining a loading process, the substrate may be transferred to and seated into the substrate seat groove of the last stage of the boat through the substrate transfer gate as illustrated in
To improve substrate processing efficiency, the process gas for processing the substrate may be excited into plasma. For this, in the embodiment of the present invention, a plasma generation unit is provided. The plasma generation unit may be used for exciting the process gas into a plasma state. The plasma generation unit may be disposed within the upper chamber housing. In case of the upper chamber housing having the double structure, the plasma generation unit may be disposed between the upper chamber inner housing and the upper chamber outer housing. The plasma generation unit may be realized by using a U-shaped plasma antenna. That is, as illustrated in
When the substrate is processed, a substrate heating unit for heating the substrate such as a heater may be disposed on the boat or upper chamber housing to provide heat to the substrate.
A load lock chamber 30 may generate environments that are close to environment conditions within the process chamber 10 and prevent the environment conditions within the process chamber from being affected from the outside before substrates are transferred into process chambers 10 in which the substrate processing process is performed. The load lock chamber 30 may receive a substrate from a load part 40 connected to a front opening unified pod 50 (FOUP).
The load lock chamber 30 has one surface connected to the load part 40 and the other surface connected to a transfer chamber 20 through a load lock gate. Thus, the substrates W may be disposed within the load lock chamber 30 before and after the process is performed. After the substrate is transferred from the FOUP 50 through the load part 40 in an atmospheric state, the inside of the load lock chamber 30 may change into a vacuum state like the process chamber 10. Also, when the substrate that is processed in the process chamber 10 is transferred into the load lock chamber 30 via the transfer chamber 20, the inside of the load lock chamber 30 may change into the atmospheric state, and then, the substrate may be transferred into the external FOUP 50.
The transfer chamber 20 may be a member connecting the load lock chamber 30 to the process chamber 10. Here, the substrate W may be transferred in a vacuum state. The transfer chamber 20 may transfer the substrate transferred from the load lock chamber 30 into the process chamber 10 so as to perform the substrate processing. Also, when the substrate is completely processed, the substrate transferred from the process chamber 10 may be transferred into the load lock chamber 30. The process chamber 10 includes the boat in which a plurality of substrate are stacked to be spaced apart from each other. The process chamber 10 may rotate and simultaneously inject a process gas between the substrates that are stacked to be spaced apart from each other to discharge the process gas to the outside. As illustrated in
The process chamber and the substrate processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be applied to device for processing various processes such as such as the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and the atomic layer deposition (ALD). Also, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the process chamber for injecting a gas from the sidewall thereof to discharge the gas through the other side may be used to manufacture semiconductors such as LED devices and memory devices. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the process chamber may be applied to manufacture flat panel substrates such as LCDs and SOLARs.
Also, in the process chamber according to the foregoing embodiment of the present invention, the lower chamber housing may function as the substrate loading chamber, and the upper chamber housing may function as the process chamber for injecting the process gas. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it is obvious that the prevent invention may also be applied to a structure in which the lower chamber housing functions as the process chamber for injecting the process gas, and the upper chamber housing functions as the substrate loading chamber.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings and foregoing embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto and also is limited to the appended claims. Thus, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the various changes and modifications can be made in the technical spirit of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2012-0069225 | Jun 2012 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2013/002747 | 4/3/2013 | WO | 00 |
