JPH05179428A - Thin film forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the thin film forming device which enables the execution of plural different thin film forming stages, simplifies the construction of a vacuum generator, etc., can efficiently make operations and produces less dust. CONSTITUTION:Treating chambers 10 having opening surfaces 12 at one end and internally having thin film forming means 14 are fixed and installed at plural points on the circumference. A substrate holder 20 rotating around the center of the entire part of the treating chambers 10 is provided to face the opening surfaces 12 of the respective treating chambers 10. Plural treating substrates 30 can be mounted on the substrate holder 20 on the same circumference as the circumference of the treating chambers 10 on the plane opposite to the treating chambers 10 so that the opening surfaces 12 of the respective treating chambers 10 can be substantially closed by the substrate holder 20.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus,
Specifically, for example, when manufacturing a semiconductor device, it is used for forming thin films of various metals and metal compounds on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, and deposition or sputtering is performed in a vacuum or a controlled processing atmosphere close to a vacuum. The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming a thin film by

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A thin film forming apparatus is an extremely important facility in semiconductor device manufacturing technology. In semiconductor devices,
It is necessary to form an insulating film such as an oxide film, a conductive metal film serving as an electrode, a semiconductor film, and other thin films having various functions on the surface of a substrate made of silicon, etc., in multiple layers.
The film material differs for each functional film, and the film forming method and processing conditions also differ. However, in many thin film forming methods, it is usual to maintain the processing atmosphere for forming the thin film under vacuum or under reduced pressure close to vacuum.

In a semiconductor device manufacturing line, a large number of thin film forming apparatuses having different structures and processing conditions are installed in accordance with each functional film. The semiconductor substrate is sequentially fed into an appropriate thin film forming apparatus, The necessary processing steps are carried out.

[0004]

However, when a large number of thin film forming apparatuses are used in combination as described above,
Each thin film forming apparatus requires a vacuum generating device for creating a controlled processing atmosphere of a certain volume or more, and there is a problem that equipment cost and operating cost for that are high. Further, there is also a problem that dust generated from the operating mechanism of each thin film forming apparatus adheres to the surface of the semiconductor substrate.

Further, there is a problem that it takes time and effort to put the semiconductor substrate in and out of the processing chamber of each thin film forming apparatus. This is because in each thin film forming apparatus, in order to control the processing chamber to a vacuum atmosphere, the opening for loading and unloading the substrate must have a strict closed structure. Is time-consuming and takes a lot of time. Further, since it is necessary to install such a closed structure or opening / closing structure of the opening in each thin film forming apparatus, this also increases the equipment cost. Moreover, with the opening and closing operation of each opening,
The generation of dust as described above will occur.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is a thin film forming apparatus used in the above-mentioned semiconductor device manufacturing line or the like and capable of performing a plurality of different thin film forming steps. It is intended to provide a thin film forming apparatus that can perform work efficiently and generate little dust from an operating mechanism.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, a thin film forming apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of processing chambers each having an opening surface at one end and a thin film forming means inside the chamber. The substrate holder is fixedly installed and faces the opening surface of each processing chamber and rotates around the center of the entire processing chamber. The substrate holding member has a surface facing the processing chamber on the same circumference as the processing chamber. A plurality of processing substrates can be mounted on the substrate, and the opening surface of each processing chamber is substantially sealed by the substrate holder.

The processing chamber is used for forming a thin film on the surface of a processing substrate, a thin film material vapor deposition source, a voltage applying mechanism, a heating mechanism, a plasma generating mechanism, and various other types of thin film forming apparatuses equipped in a normal thin film forming apparatus. It has a mechanism. In the processing room,
It also has a vacuum generation mechanism for creating a vacuum or a reduced pressure atmosphere required when forming a thin film. It should be noted that a single vacuum generation mechanism may simultaneously create a vacuum atmosphere in a plurality of processing chambers. In the present invention, a plurality of processing chambers having the same thin film forming mechanism may be provided, or a combination of processing chambers having different thin film forming mechanisms for performing different thin film forming methods may be used in combination.

A plurality of processing chambers are fixedly installed on one circumference. The processing chambers are preferably arranged at equal intervals on the circumference. An opening surface is provided at one end of each processing chamber. The thin film forming mechanism described above is configured to function with the processing substrate placed on the opening surface. The shape and size of the opening surface are set to be slightly larger than the processing substrate. A packing material or the like that is elastically deformed and adheres tightly to the substrate holder can be attached to the opening surface so that a sealed state by the substrate holder described later becomes good. In addition, when a preliminary vacuum chamber or the like described later is provided, the gap between the substrate holder and the surface of the opening surface is set to be smaller than a certain amount, and a constant space is provided between each processing chamber and the preliminary vacuum chamber. If a pressure difference is created, even if the substrate holder is not in close contact with the opening surface, it can be maintained in a substantially sealed state to the extent that it does not adversely affect the internal environment of each processing chamber. It is possible.

The shape of the processing chamber may be any shape as long as a desired thin film can be formed on the processing substrate. For example, a cylindrical shape or a large number of processing chambers closely contacting each other in an annular shape. An example is one in which the processing chambers are arranged and each processing chamber has a fan-shaped cross section.

The substrate holder is rotationally driven by a motor or the like,
A processing substrate for forming a thin film such as a semiconductor substrate can be mounted on the rotating surface. The substrate holder rotates around the center of the entire processing chamber at a position facing the opening surface of the processing chamber arranged on the circumference. The rotation of the substrate holder should be such that intermittent rotation can be performed at regular intervals.
The mounting location of the processing substrate is set on the circumference facing the processing chamber and having the same radius as the circumference in which the processing chamber is arranged. It is preferable that the processing substrates are mounted at the same intervals on the circumference as the processing chambers. In addition, the installation interval of the processing chamber is an integral multiple such as double, or half or three.
The processing substrate mounting locations may be arranged at intervals of one-half or the like.

If the substrate holder is made movable in a direction orthogonal to its rotation surface, that is, in the axial direction of the rotation axis, the substrate holder is pressed against the opening surface of the processing chamber to surely seal or hold the substrate. The body can be rotated without coming into contact with the open surface of the processing chamber. In order to move the substrate holder in the axial direction of the rotating shaft, a linear moving mechanism in a normal mechanical device such as a cylinder mechanism or a cam mechanism may be provided.

The processing substrate is made of silicon, glass, ceramics, or any other substrate material depending on the purpose and application, and has a rectangular, circular, or any other plate shape.

In order to mount a semiconductor substrate on the surface of the substrate holder, a supporting means for fixing the processing substrate on the surface of the substrate holder by engaging and disengaging with the outer peripheral edge of the processing substrate such as engaging protrusions and engaging grooves. Should be provided. A resilient support means such as a spring can also be used. As a mounting structure of such a processing substrate, basically the same structure as a general thin film forming apparatus or a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus can be adopted.

As described above, the processing chamber is maintained in a necessary vacuum atmosphere, but the periphery of the substrate holder can be set as a preliminary vacuum space or a reduced pressure space. That is, it is only necessary to provide a preliminary vacuum chamber having a constant volume, which surrounds the outer periphery of the substrate holder from the opening surface of each processing chamber. The preliminary vacuum chamber does not have to maintain a higher vacuum state than the processing chamber in which the thin film forming process is performed. On the contrary, the preliminary vacuum chamber may be set to a vacuum state higher than that of the processing chamber so that dust and gas harmful to the thin film forming process do not flow from the preliminary vacuum chamber side to the processing chamber side. The preliminary vacuum chamber is provided with a supply / eject port for taking in and out the processed substrate.

[0016]

When a plurality of processing substrates are mounted on the substrate holder, each opening surface of the processing chambers arranged on the circumference is sealed by the substrate holder, so that the same circumference as the opening surface of the processing chamber is obtained. The mounted processing substrate is inserted into the processing chamber through the opening surface.

The processing chamber sealed by the substrate holder is made to have a vacuum atmosphere or a reduced pressure atmosphere necessary for thin film formation, and then the thin film forming means is operated to set a predetermined amount on the processing substrate mounted on the substrate holder. A thin film forming process can be performed. If another thin film processing is performed for each processing chamber, another thin film processing step is performed for each processing substrate mounted on the substrate holder.

When the one-step thin film processing step is completed, the substrate holder is separated from the opening surface of each processing chamber, the sealed state of each processing chamber is released, and the substrate holder is rotated by a predetermined angle. In addition, a preliminary vacuum chamber surrounding the substrate holder is provided,
When the difference in vacuum pressure between the processing chambers is small, even if there is a gap between the substrate holder and the opening surface, if the gap is small, it is possible to keep each processing chamber in a substantially sealed state. The substrate holder may be rotated while maintaining such a slight gap. In this way, each processing substrate can be sequentially moved to a position facing the opening surface of the processing chamber where the next thin film forming step is performed. After that, the thin film forming step is performed in the same procedure as described above.

By repeating the intermittent rotation operation of the substrate holder and the thin film processing step in the processing chamber as described above, it is possible to perform a plurality of thin film processing steps on the processed substrate mounted on the substrate holder. ..

The processed substrate on which the predetermined thin film processing has been completed may be removed from the substrate holder and collected, and a new processed substrate may be mounted on the portion of the substrate holder where the processed substrate has been removed, and Such a thin film forming process is performed.

In the above method, the operation of the substrate holder serves as an opening / closing means for sealing or opening the opening surface of the processing chamber, and for loading / unloading the processing substrate into / from each processing chamber.
Since it can also have the role of sequentially moving the processing substrates to different processing chambers, there is no need to install an opening / closing means or a processing substrate handling means for each processing chamber, and the equipment can be used. Can be simplified and the working time can be shortened. Moreover, if the operating mechanism that causes dust is simplified or omitted, dust generation and adhesion to the semiconductor substrate are reduced.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 show the overall structure of the thin film forming apparatus. The processing chamber 10 has a substantially cylindrical shape, and the upper portion thereof is open to form an opening surface 12. Processing room 10
A thin film forming means 14 including a vapor deposition source and a heating mechanism necessary for performing an intended thin film forming step is provided near the bottom of the. A large number (8 in FIG. 2) of processing chambers 10
Are arranged at equal intervals on the same circumference, and each processing chamber 1
The opening surfaces 12 of 0 are arranged in the same plane. A vacuum generating device (not shown) that maintains the inside of the processing chamber 10 in a predetermined vacuum atmosphere is connected to the processing chamber 10. When it is necessary to supply an inert gas or other gas to the processing chamber 10,
These gas supply devices are also connected. Others, processing room 1
Various equipments necessary for forming a thin film can be installed at 0. An annular packing material 16 is attached to the opening surface 12 of the processing chamber 10.

A disk-shaped substrate holder 20 is arranged above the processing chamber 10. The substrate holder 20 is attached to the upper end of a rotary shaft 22 provided at the center of the circumference where a plurality of processing chambers 10 are arranged, and the substrate holder 20 is adapted to rotate in a horizontal plane. .. On the rotary shaft 22,
Driving means (not shown) such as a motor is connected. Further, the rotary shaft 22 can be vertically moved by a cylinder mechanism or the like. Equipment such as a motor and the vacuum generator is housed in a base 50 below the processing chamber 10.

A rectangular processing substrate 30 is mounted on the lower surface of the substrate holder 20. The mounting locations of the processing substrates 30 are arranged on the circumference having the same radius as the circumference in which the processing chamber 10 is arranged, at the same intervals as the installation intervals of the processing chambers 10. As shown in FIG. The processing substrate 30 is arranged directly above the chamber 10.

From the upper portion of the processing chamber 10 to the substrate holder 20.
A preliminary vacuum chamber 40 is provided so as to surround a space including the entire outer periphery of the. A vacuum generator similar to that in the processing chamber 10 is also connected to the preliminary vacuum chamber 40. In addition, the preliminary vacuum chamber 40
Is provided with a supply / discharge port (not shown) for taking in and out the processed substrate 30.

FIG. 3 shows a structure for mounting the processing substrate 30 on the substrate holder 20 as viewed from the lower surface side. On the surface of the substrate holder 20, a rectangular recess 24 that is slightly larger than the outer shape of the processing substrate 30 is provided. A fixing pin 26 having an enlarged head is provided at a position corresponding to the outer peripheral edge of the processing substrate 30. The processing substrate 30 is sandwiched between the head of the fixing pin 26 and the bottom surface of the recess 24. The fixing pin 26 is provided at a position corresponding to two adjacent sides of the processing substrate 30. A leaf spring 28 is attached to the side on which the fixing pin 26 is not provided. The tip of the leaf spring 28 abuts on the outer periphery of the processing substrate 30 so that the processing substrate 30 can be elastically biased toward the fixing pin 26 side.

When the processing substrate 30 is mounted on the substrate holder 20, the two sides of the processing substrate 30 are slid into the gap between the fixing pin 26 and the recess 24, and then the leaf spring 28 is fixed to the processing substrate 30. If it is pressed against the 26 side, the processing substrate 30 is fixed at a fixed position. Processing substrate 30
To remove, the operation reverse to the above may be performed.

The operation of the thin film forming apparatus having the above structure will be described. Processing substrate 30 on substrate holder 20
With the substrate mounted, the substrate holder 20 is arranged in the preliminary vacuum chamber 40 above each processing chamber 10. When the rotary shaft 22 connected to the substrate holder 20 is lowered, the lower surface of the substrate holder 20 contacts the packing material 16 provided on the opening surface 12 of the processing chamber 10 to seal the inside of the processing chamber 10. The processing substrates 30 mounted on the lower surface of the substrate holder 20 are housed inside the processing chambers 10 facing each other.

In this state, the inside of the processing chamber 10 is evacuated, or a specific gas component is supplied at the same time as evacuated to maintain a controlled atmosphere necessary for forming a thin film. A thin film forming process is performed by 14. A thin film made of a predetermined metal or the like is formed on the surface of the processing substrate 30.

When the one-step thin film forming process is completed, the substrate holder 20 is lifted to release the hermetically sealed state in the processing chamber 10, and the substrate holder 20 is separated from the packing material 16. 22 That is, the substrate holder 20 is rotated by a certain angle. If the pressure difference between the processing chambers 10 is small, a small gap is always maintained between the substrate holder 20 and the opening surface 12 to maintain the substrate 10 in a substantially sealed state. The holder 20 may be rotated without raising it. The rotation angle of the substrate holder 20 is set so that the processing substrate 30 moves from directly above one processing chamber 10 to immediately above the next processing chamber 10. At this time, even if the substrate holder 20 is lifted and the inside of the processing chamber 10 is opened, it is only opened to the preliminary vacuum chamber 40, and the outside atmosphere does not enter. Therefore, each processing chamber 10 is controlled. There is no worry that the atmosphere will be greatly disturbed. Further, if a small gap is left between the substrate holder 20 and the opening surface 12 of the processing chamber 10 and the assembly is rotated so as to slide, the inside of the processing chamber 10 remains almost sealed and the processing chamber 10 is kept closed. Substrate 3 between
It is also possible to transfer 0.

Thereafter, similarly to the above, if the substrate holder 20 is lowered and a predetermined thin film forming step in the processing chamber 10 is performed, a new thin film is formed on the surface of the processing substrate 30.
By repeating such steps, the processed substrate 30
A plurality of desired thin films are laminated on the surface of the.

When the thin film forming process for the processed substrate 30 is completed, the processed substrate 30 is removed from the substrate holder 20 and only the processed substrate 30 is taken out from the preliminary vacuum chamber 40, or the entire substrate holder 20 is preliminary vacuum chamber 40. After removing the processing substrate 30, the processing substrate 30 may be removed from the substrate holder 20 to recover the processing substrate 30.

[0034]

As described above, according to the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, the operation of the substrate holder on which the processing substrate is mounted causes the processing substrate to be taken in and out of the processing chamber, the processing chamber to be sealed and opened, and a plurality of processing chambers to be sealed. Since the processing substrates are all transferred between the processing chambers, it is possible to efficiently perform a thin film forming process using a plurality of processing chambers with equipment having an extremely simple structure. That is, like a conventional thin film forming apparatus,
Separate thin film forming equipment is used for each processing step, different sealing means and opening / closing means are installed for each processing chamber, and processing substrate transfer means between each processing chamber is installed outside. This eliminates the need for complicated and large-scale equipment such as storage, makes it very easy to transfer the processing substrates between processing chambers, and significantly reduces the required work time.

Further, if the various operating mechanisms can be simplified or omitted, the generation of dust in the operating mechanism can be reduced, and the adverse effect of dust on the thin film forming process can be greatly reduced.

Moreover, in the present invention, since each processing chamber can form a closed space which is surely separated from each other, different atmospheric environments can be easily set in each processing chamber, and a plurality of processings can be performed. It becomes possible to form a thin film in the most suitable atmosphere for each room. The volume of each processing chamber is
Since the minimum volume required for the thin film forming process on the processing substrate is required, work such as evacuation can be easily performed, and equipment such as a vacuum generator can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway top view of the inside of the device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a supporting means of a processing substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Processing chamber 12 Opening surface 14 Thin film forming means 20 Substrate holder 30 Processing substrate

Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 21/68 A 8418-4M

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A processing chamber having an opening surface at one end and having a thin film forming means inside is fixedly installed at a plurality of locations on a circumference,
A substrate holder that rotates around the center of the entire processing chamber is provided so as to face the opening surface of each processing chamber. The substrate holder has a plurality of treatments on the same circumference as the processing chamber on the surface facing the treatment chamber. A thin film forming apparatus, wherein a substrate can be mounted, and an opening surface of each processing chamber is substantially sealed by a substrate holder.