Process chamber used in manufacture of semiconductor device, capable of reducing contamination by particulates

Abstract

A process chamber used in the manufacture of a semiconductor device for etching a material layer on a semiconductor wafer includes an electrostatic chuck for holding the semiconductor wafer, and an annular edge ring which surrounds the side of the semiconductor wafer on the electrostatic chuck to prevent the semiconductor wafer from departing from its original position. The annular edge ring has a first side which faces the side of the semiconductor wafer and contacts firmly with the side of the semiconductor wafer.

Description

[0001] CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) [0002] This is a divisional application based on pending application Ser. No. 10 / 234,135, filed Sep. 5, 2002, which in turn is a division of application Ser. No. 09 / 404,631, filed Sep. 23, 1999, the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 1. Field of the Invention [0004] The present invention relates to equipment for manufacturing semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to a process chamber used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, capable of reducing contamination by particulates. [0005] 2. Description of the Related Art [0006] In general, integrated circuits (ICs) are manufactured on semiconductor wafers formed of, for example, silicon. During the manufacture of the ICs, a series of steps, for example, photo masking, deposition of material layers, oxidation, nitridation, ion implantation, diffusion and etching, are conducted to obtain a final product. Most of thes...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0019] Consistent with the present invention, a process chamber for use in the manufacture of a semiconductor device, changes the structure or material of the process chamber to suppress generation of particulates.

Problems solved by technology

However, because a space d between the guide ring 52 and the wafer chuck 50 is very narrow, a reaction gas is stagnant in the space d and does not flow smoothly therein.

As a result, the reaction gases staying in the space d react with each other abnormally, which results in the growth of an undesirable material layer 53.

As described above, a process chamber used for etching or deposition produces particulates for various reasons, increasing the likelihood of failure of the semiconductor devices on wafer 10.

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