This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-047514, filed on Mar. 11, 2013, in the Japan Patent Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a support member and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
Conventionally, in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or the like, a film formation process is performed on a silicon substrate using a vertical furnace. In such a manufacturing apparatus, due to its structure, substantially the same type of film may adhere to both front and rear surfaces of the silicon substrate. As a method of avoiding the adhesion of the film to both surfaces of the silicon substrate, for example, there has been provided a method of bonding rear surfaces of two substrates to a front surface and a rear surface of a support member, respectively. This allows the film to be formed only on the front surfaces of the two substrates, respectively.
However, when a heat treatment is performed on the silicon substrates supported by a substrate support member of a vertical furnace while two substrates are bonded to the front and rear surfaces of the substrate support member, the silicon substrates may be bent due to the thermal expansion of the silicon substrates. In particular, due to the additional influence of the gravity, it is likely that heavy bending (drooping) occurs in the substrate bonded to the rear surface of the substrate support member. Therefore, there is a problem in that wraparound of the film formation may occur on the rear surface of the bent substrate.
The present disclosure provides some embodiments of a support member capable of preventing bending of substrates during heat treatment, particularly, during film formation, and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having the same.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a support member including: a mounting unit having a first main surface and a second main surface, the first main surface being configured to mount a first object to be processed thereon and the second main surface being configured to mount a second object to be processed thereon; and a wall installed in a part of the outer peripheral portion along the outer periphery of the mounting unit, the wall having a first portion protruding in a vertical direction than the first object to be processed mounted on the first main surface of the mounting unit, wherein the inner peripheral surface of the first portion of the wall is formed in a first shape that allows the first object to be processed to be held by the first portion of the wall.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including: the support member of the first aspect; and a holding member configured to hold the support member, the holding member having an opening through which the supported member is inserted into the holding member.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, systems, and components have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the various embodiments.
A support member of the present disclosure and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having the same will be described below. In this embodiment, an example of using a batch type vertical heat treatment apparatus illustrated in
As illustrated in
A manifold 5 made of stainless steel (SUS) formed in a cylindrical shape is disposed below the outer tube 4. The manifold 5 is hermetically connected to a lower end portion of the outer tube 4. Furthermore, the inner tube 3 is supported by a support ring 6 which protrudes from an inner wall of the manifold 5 and is integrated with the manifold 5.
A lid 7 is disposed below the manifold 5, and the lid 7 may be moved vertically by a boat elevator 8. Moreover, when the lid 7 is raised by the boat elevator 8, a lower side (a furnace port portion) of the manifold 5 is closed, and when the lid 7 is lowered by the boat elevator 8, the lower side (the furnace port portion) of the manifold 5 is opened.
A wafer boat 9 made of, for example, quartz is mounted on the lid 7. The wafer boat 9 is configured to accommodate processing targets, for example, a plurality of wafers W at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. The structure of the wafer boat 9 is illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The flat plate 51 is a mounting portion configured to mount the processing targets thereon and is formed of, for example, a substantially circular flat plate-like member. The flat plate 51 is formed of, for example, quartz, SiC, silicon or the like. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The wall 52 is installed in another part of the outer periphery of the flat plate 51, for example, approximately in a range of ¼ to ½ of the outer periphery of the flat plate 51, and is formed along the outer peripheral portion of the flat plate 51. The wafers W mounted on the support member 50 may be easily bent, particularly in a portion positioned in a wafer insertion port (opening) 95 of the wafer boat 9. Therefore, the wall 52 may be installed in a portion of the outer peripheral portion of the flat plate 51 corresponding to the opening 95 of the wafer boat 9. That is to say, the wall 52 is formed in a position, which is aligned with the opening 95 of the wafer boat 9 in a state where the support member 50 is inserted into the wafer boat 9.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In a portion located on the inside of the opening 95 of the wafer boat 9, as illustrated in
In this embodiment, the wall 52 is installed at a position corresponding to the opening 95, and as illustrated in
Referring back to
At least one processing gas introduction pipes 13 is inserted through (connected to) a side surface of the manifold 5. Only one processing gas introduction pipe 13 is illustrated in
The processing gas introduction pipe 13 is connected to a processing gas supply source (not illustrated) through a mass flow controller (not illustrated) or the like. Therefore, a desired amount of processing gas is supplied from the processing gas supply source into the reaction tube 2 through the processing gas introduction pipe 13.
An exhaust port 14 for exhausting the gas in the reaction tube 2 is formed on the side surface of the manifold 5. The exhaust port 14 is formed above the support ring 6 and communicates with a space between the inner tube 3 and the outer tube 4 of the reaction tube 2. The exhaust gas or the like generated in the inner tube 3 is discharged to the exhaust port 14 through the space between the inner tube 3 and the outer tube 4.
A purge gas supply pipe 15 is inserted below the exhaust port 14 through the side surface of the manifold 5. A purge gas supply source (not illustrated) is connected to the purge gas supply pipe 15, and a desired amount of purge gas, for example, nitrogen gas, is supplied from the purge gas supply source into the reaction tube 2 through the purge gas supply pipe 15.
An exhaust pipe 16 is hermetically connected to the exhaust port 14. A valve 17 and a vacuum pump 18 are installed in the exhaust tube 16 from an upstream side thereof. The valve 17 adjusts an opening degree of the exhaust pipe 16 to control the internal pressure of the reaction tube 2 to a predetermined pressure. The vacuum pump 18 exhausts the gas in the reaction tube 2 through the exhaust pipe 16 and also adjusts the internal pressure of the reaction tube 2.
A trap, a scrubber and the like (not illustrated) may be installed in the exhaust pipe 16 so that the gas exhausted from the reaction tube 2 can be detoxified and then discharged to the outside of the heat treatment apparatus 1.
In addition, the heat treatment apparatus 1 includes a control unit 100 configured to control the respective parts of the heat treatment apparatus 1.
The manipulation panel 121 includes a display screen and manipulation buttons. The manipulation panel 121 transmits instructions from an operator to the control unit 100, and displays various types of information received from the control unit 100 on the display screen.
The temperature sensor (group) 122 measures the temperatures of each part such as the reaction tube 2, the processing gas introduction pipe 13 and the exhaust pipe 16, and notifies the measured temperatures to the control unit 100.
The pressure gauge (group) 123 measures the pressures of each part such as the reaction tube 2, the processing gas introduction pipe 13 and the exhaust pipe 16, and notifies the measured pressures to the control unit 100.
The heater controller 124 is configured to individually control the heaters 12. For example, the heater controller 124 may heat the heaters 12 by supplying electric current thereto in response to instructions from the control unit 100, and measures power consumption of the individual heaters 12 to notify the measurement results to the control unit 100.
The MFC 125 controls the MFCs (not illustrated) installed in the processing gas introduction pipe 13 and the purge gas supply pipe 15 to set flow rates of gases flowing through the processing gas introduction pipe 13 and the purge gas supply pipe 15 based on information (e.g., values) received from the control unit 100. The MFC 125 also measures flow rates of the actually flowing gases to notify the measurement results to the control unit 100.
The valve controller 126 adjusts the opening degrees of the valves installed in the respective pipes based on information (e.g., values) received from the control unit 100.
The control unit 100 includes a recipe storage unit 111, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 112, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 113, an I/O (Input/Output) port 114, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 115, and a bus 116 that connects these components to one another.
The recipe storage unit 111 stores a setup recipe and a plurality of process recipes. At an initial stage of manufacturing the heat treatment apparatus 1, only the setup recipe is stored in the recipe storage unit 111. The setup recipe is executed when generating a thermal model or the like according to each heat treatment apparatus. The process recipe is a recipe prepared in every heat treatment (process) actually performed by an operator. According to the process recipe, the temperature of each part of the heat treatment apparatus 1 and/or the internal pressure of the reaction tube 2 may be adjusted. Further, the process recipe may provide start and stop timings of supplying processing gases, an amount of processing gas to be supplied or the like, for example, starting from when the wafers W are loaded into the reaction tube 2 until the processed wafers W are unloaded therefrom.
The ROM 112 is a recording medium that is constituted by an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a flash memory, a hard disk or the like, and stores an operating program or the like of the CPU 115.
The RAM 113 serves as a work area or the like of the CPU 115.
The I/O port 114 is connected to the manipulation panel 121, the temperature sensor (group) 122, the pressure gauge (group) 123, the heater controller 124, the MFC 125, the valve controller 126 or the like to control the input and output of data and signals.
The CPU 115 constitutes the backbone of the control unit 100. The CPU 115 executes a control program stored in the ROM 112, and controls the operation of the heat treatment apparatus 1 based on the recipe (process recipe) stored in the recipe storage unit 111 according to the instructions received from the manipulation panel 121. That is, the CPU 115 instructs the temperature sensor (group) 122, the pressure gauge (group) 123, the MFC 125 and the like to measure the temperatures, the pressures, the flow rates and the like of the respective parts such as the reaction tube 2, the processing gas introduction pipe 13, the purge gas supply pipe 15 and the exhaust pipe 16. Then, the CPU 115 outputs control signals or the like to the heater controller 124, the MFC 125, the valve controller 126 and the like, based on the measurement data, to thereby control the respective parts based on the process recipe.
The bus 116 transmits information among the respective parts.
In order to confirm an effect of the heat treatment apparatus 1 having the support member 50 configured as described above, a silicon nitride film (SiN film) was formed on the wafers W using the heat treatment apparatus 1 having the support member 50. Specifically, wafers (Si substrates) W of 300 mm were accommodated in the wafer boat 9 while one wafer W was disposed on each of the front and rear surfaces of the support member 50, and then an SiN film was formed by a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method at 780 degrees C. After forming the SiN film on the wafers W, film thicknesses in the front surface and in the rear surface of the wafer W disposed on the rear surface of the support member 50 were measured linearly from the opening side toward the inside of the wafer boat 9 (from the bottom to the top in the example illustrated in
Similarly, for purpose of comparison, an SiN film was formed on the wafer W using a support member having no wall 52, and a ratio of the film thickness formed in the rear surface of the wafer W to the film thickness formed in the front surface of the wafer W at the same position was calculated. The results are shown in
As illustrated in
Next, SiN films were formed on the wafers W using a heat treatment apparatus having a support member where the inner peripheral surface 52a of the wall 52 is not formed in a tapered shape (a shape capable of holding the wafer W) and a heat treatment apparatus having the support member 50 where the inner peripheral surface 52a of the wall 52 is formed in a tapered shape according to the above described embodiment. Further, for each heat treatment apparatuses, a ratio of a film thickness formed in the rear surface of the wafer W to a film thickness formed in the front surface of the wafer W at the same position was calculated. The results are shown in
As illustrated in
In
However, the same measurement was performed on the wafers W disposed on the front surface of the support member 50, and it was confirmed that the same results as those of the wafer W disposed on the rear surface of the support member 50 are obtained.
As described above, according to this embodiment, by forming the inner peripheral surface 52a of the wall 52 of the support member 50 in a shape capable of holding the wafer W (tapered shape), it is possible to prevent the bending of the wafer W, thereby preventing an occurrence of wraparound of the film formation in the wafer W.
Furthermore, the present disclosure can be variously modified and applied without being limited to the above-described embodiment. Hereinafter, other embodiments capable of being applied to the present disclosure will be described.
In the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure has been described as an example of a case where the inner peripheral surface 52a has a tapered shape (reverse tapered shape). However, the inner peripheral surface 52a is not limited to the tapered shape, and may have other shapes capable of holding the wafers W. For example, the inner peripheral surface 52a may have a curved shape or a hook shape.
In the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure has been described as an example of a case where both main surfaces of the support member 50 have the wall 52 having the inner peripheral surface 52a formed in a tapered shape. However, for example, only one main surface may have a wall 52 having an inner peripheral surface 52a formed in a tapered shape. Alternatively, the wall 52 may be formed on both main surfaces, and the inner peripheral surface 52a at the side of only one of the main surfaces may be formed in a tapered shape.
In the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure has been described as an example of a case where the flat plate 51 is used as a mounting unit configured to mount the wafers W thereon. However, the mounting unit may have other shape that can support the wafers W, and may be formed in, for example, a ring shape.
In the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure has been described as an example of a case where the flat plate 51 and the wall 52 are integrated. However, for example, the flat plate 51 and the wall 52 may be separate parts and combined with each other.
In the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure has been described as an example of a case where the continuous wall 52 is installed between the support pillars 93. However, a plurality of walls rather than the continuous one wall 52 may be installed between the support pillars 93.
In the above-described embodiment, the present disclosure has been described as an example of a case where a batch type vertical heat treatment apparatus of a double tube structure is used as the heat treatment apparatus. However, the present disclosure may be also applied to, for example, a batch type heat treatment apparatus of a single tube structure.
The control unit 100 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented using a normal computer system rather than using a dedicated system. For example, the control unit 100 may be configured to perform the above-described process, by installing a program for executing the above-described process into a general-purpose computer from a recording medium (a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) or the like) storing the program.
Moreover, means for supplying the programs is arbitrary. For example, other than supplying the program via a predetermined recording medium as described above, the program can be supplied via a communication line, a communication network, a communication system or the like. In this case, for example, the program may be posted in a BBS (Bulletin Board System) on a communication network and may be provided by being superimposed on a carrier wave via a network. The above-described process can be executed by starting the program provided in this way and executing the program similarly to other application programs under the control of OS (Operating System).
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a support member capable of preventing the bending of the substrate during film formation, particularly, during heat treatment, and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having the same.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosures. Indeed, the embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosures. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2013-047514 | Mar 2013 | JP | national |