Substrate processing apparatus, method for manufacturing semiconductor device, and recording medium

Abstract

The present invention provides a technology, comprising: a control unit, which controls the manner in which a substrate is processed by executing a process; and a pressure control controller, which adjusts the opening of a pressure regulating valve of an exhaust pipeline provided in a processing chamber for processing the substrate to control the pressure of the processing chamber. When controlling the pressure of the processing chamber, the pressure control controller adjusts the opening of the pressure regulating valve and outputs opening information to the control unit. The control unit is configured to receive the opening information from the pressure control controller while monitoring the opening and closing of the pressure regulating valve. When the setting value is set in advance, the control unit determines whether the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed based on the opening information and a preset threshold value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a substrate processing apparatus, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, and a recording medium. Background Art

[0002] As a method for determining the replacement period of a pressure control valve such as an APC (Auto Pressure Controller) valve, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, the valve replacement period is determined based on the number of times the pressure control valve is opened and closed. This allows for replacement before a threshold is reached (before a failure occurs), but there are also cases where the device downtime due to maintenance time increases. In addition, for example, the replacement period is sometimes determined based on the number of times the valve is fully opened and fully closed (FULL OPEN / FULL CLOSE). In this case, valve actions other than the full opening and full closing (FULL OPEN / FULL CLOSE) of the valve (such as during automatic pressure control) are not counted as the number of times, and therefore, the count value may be inaccurate. Therefore, there is a possibility that the number of times the valve is opened and closed when a failure occurs deviates from the count value, for example, there is a possibility that the pressure control valve is replaced after a failure occurs during film formation.

[0003] Prior art literature

[0004] Patent Literature

[0005] Patent Document 1: International Publication No. 2016-157402 Summary of the Invention

[0006] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a technology capable of knowing in advance the expected target timing for replacing a pressure control valve.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the following technology is provided:

[0008] a control unit for controlling the manner in which a process is executed to process a substrate; and

[0009] A pressure control controller adjusts the opening of a pressure regulating valve provided in an exhaust line of a processing chamber for processing a substrate to control the pressure of the processing chamber.

[0010] The pressure control controller adjusts the opening of the pressure regulating valve when controlling the pressure of the processing chamber, and outputs opening information to the control unit.

[0011] The control unit is configured as follows:

[0012] In the monitoring process of monitoring the opening and closing state of the pressure regulating valve while receiving the opening information from the pressure control controller, when the opening information is a preset value, whether the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed is determined based on the opening information and a preset threshold value.

[0013] Effects of the Invention

[0014] According to the present disclosure, the timing for replacing the pressure control valve can be known in advance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is a schematic configuration diagram of a substrate processing apparatus in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 2 This is a diagram illustrating the valve opening and closing frequency counting in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating a section in which the number of valve opening and closing times is not counted in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating determination of the upper limit of the number of valve opening and closing times and processing when the upper limit is reached in the embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 5 This is a diagram illustrating a current value changing function of the valve opening and closing frequency in the embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described using the drawings. In the following description, the same components may be denoted by the same reference numerals and repeated descriptions may be omitted.

[0021] (Substrate processing equipment)

[0022] use Figure 1 The configuration of a substrate processing apparatus in an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0023] like Figure 1 As shown, a substrate processing apparatus 100 according to the embodiment includes a reaction tube 1 upright mounted on a furnace opening flange 2, and an inner tube 3 supported concentrically with the reaction tube 1 on the furnace opening flange 2. Furthermore, a cylindrical heater 4 is provided to surround the reaction tube 1. The heater 4, the reaction tube 1, and the furnace opening flange 2 constitute a reactor.

[0024] The interior of the reaction tube 1 forms an airtight processing chamber 5. The processing chamber 5 communicates with an airtight preliminary chamber 6, which is divided by a transport frame 7 connected to the furnace opening flange 2. The transport frame 7 is provided with a boat elevator (not shown) serving as a furnace entry mechanism. This boat elevator is used to load and unload a boat 8, which serves as a substrate holder, into and out of the processing chamber 5. Furthermore, the processing chamber 5 is airtightly sealed by a furnace opening cover 9 when the boat 8 is loaded.

[0025] A gate valve (not shown) is provided in the transport frame 7, and a chip transfer machine (not shown) is provided outside the transport frame 7. The chip transfer machine is configured to transfer a substrate 10 such as a chip to the boat 8 through the gate valve when the boat 8 is accommodated in the transport frame 7.

[0026] A gas introduction line 11 is connected to the furnace flange 2, introducing gas from below the inner tube 3 into the processing chamber 5. A gas introduction line 12 is connected to the preparatory chamber 6. Furthermore, an exhaust line 13 is connected to the furnace flange 2, and the exhaust line 13 is connected to a vacuum pump 23 via an APC valve 15, which serves as a pressure regulating valve.

[0027] The exhaust line 13 is provided with a pressure detector 17 , and the pressure detection result of the pressure detector 17 is input to a controller 19 .

[0028] A flow controller 20 is provided on the gas introduction line 11. The flow controller 20 controls the flow rate of the gas supplied from the gas introduction line 11 to the processing chamber 5 according to a command from the controller 19. Alternatively, the flow rate of the gas supplied from the gas introduction line 12 to the preparatory chamber 6 may be controlled.

[0029] The controller 19 closes the flow controller 20 to stop the gas supply, and opens the APC valve 15 to perform vacuum suction using the vacuum pump 23 , thereby placing the processing chamber 5 in a vacuum state or a reduced pressure state.

[0030] In addition, when the APC valve 15 is opened and vacuum suction is performed using the vacuum pump 23, the pressure detection signal from the pressure detector 17 is fed back to the controller 19. The controller 19 controls the flow controller 20 in such a way that the pressure detected by the pressure detector 17 becomes the set pressure to adjust the gas introduction flow rate.

[0031] As described above, the flow rate of gas introduced into the processing chamber 5 and the amount of gas exhausted from the processing chamber 5 are controlled by the controller 19, thereby controlling the pressure of the processing chamber 5 to a desired pressure (e.g., a set pressure). Furthermore, the heating value of the heater 4 is controlled by the controller 19, thereby controlling the temperature of the processing chamber 5 to a predetermined temperature. In this case, the gas supplied via the gas introduction line 11 is an inert gas, such as nitrogen.

[0032] With a specified number of substrates 10 loaded in the boat 8, the boat 8 is loaded into the processing chamber 5 (boat loading process). Next, the processing chamber 5 is vacuum-evacuated from atmospheric pressure, controlled at a specified pressure, and heated by the heater 4 and controlled at a specified temperature (preparation process). In addition, the preparation process may be included in the substrate processing process. Under a specified reduced pressure state and a specified temperature maintenance state, the processing gas is introduced by the gas introduction line 11 while being exhausted, and the processing gas is supplied to the substrate 10, thereby performing the desired wafer processing (substrate processing) such as generating a thin film (substrate processing process). When the processing is completed, the boat 8 is lowered (boat unloading process), and the processed substrate 10 is taken out. As a thin film, for example, SiN (silicon nitride film) is formed.

[0033] The APC valve 15 is configured to open and close a valve provided inside while the vacuum pump 23 is in operation, thereby enabling vacuum exhaust of the processing chamber 5 and stopping the vacuum exhaust. Furthermore, the valve opening is adjusted based on pressure information detected by the pressure detector 17 while the vacuum pump 23 is in operation, thereby enabling the pressure of the processing chamber 5 to be adjusted.

[0034] The control unit 19a included in the controller 19 is configured as a computer comprising: a CPU (Central Processing Unit); a RAM (Random Access Memory) configured as a memory area (work area) for temporarily storing programs and data read by the CPU; and a storage device (storage unit) that readable stores control programs for controlling the operation of the substrate processing apparatus 100 and process recipes describing pressure control steps and conditions. Data in the memory area is transferred to the storage unit at predetermined intervals.

[0035] The process recipe is a process that is combined so that the control unit 19a can execute each process (step) in the semiconductor device manufacturing method to obtain a predetermined result, and functions as a program. Hereinafter, the process recipe, control program, etc. are collectively referred to as a program. When the term "program" is used in this specification, it may include only the process recipe alone, only the control program recipe alone, or a combination of the process recipe and the control program recipe.

[0036] The pressure control controller 19b included in the controller 19 adjusts the opening of the APC valve 15 located in the exhaust line 13 to control the pressure in the process chamber 5. In other words, the pressure control controller 19b adjusts the opening of the APC valve 15 to maintain the pressure in the process chamber 5 at a predetermined level and outputs a valve opening monitoring value as information on the opening of the APC valve 15 to the control unit 19a. The control unit 19a receives the valve opening monitoring value from the pressure control controller 19b and monitors the open / close state of the APC valve 15 based on this monitoring value. For example, this valve opening monitoring value is stored in a memory area of ​​the control unit 19a. After determining the valve opening state (described later), the valve opening monitoring value in the memory area is either transferred to the storage unit or deleted. Furthermore, the valve opening monitoring value is stored in the memory area of ​​the control unit 19a.

[0037] Based on the APC valve 15's opening information, the control unit 19a counts the number of valve operations within any range of opening and closing positions, including "FULL OPEN" and "FULL CLOSE," to detect the expected failure time of components other than those with guaranteed durability. This allows for the predicted timing of valve replacement to be determined in advance, avoiding the need for valve replacement after a valve failure occurs during film formation. Details are described below.

[0038] "FULL CLOSE" is an opening of 0%, and "FULL OPEN" is an opening of 100%. The opening and closing (opening) of the valve is determined by using two threshold values, namely, the lower limit value of the valve opening as the first setting value and the upper limit value of the valve opening as the second setting value. The two threshold values ​​(lower limit value of the valve opening, upper limit value of the valve opening) are pre-set in the storage device (storage unit) of the control unit 19a. However, in order to achieve the specified pressure of the expected target, the valve opening is controlled by the pressure control controller 19b. Therefore, for example, the tracking value of the valve opening as a result of the execution of the process can be used to check the valve opening, and the lower limit value of the valve opening and the upper limit value of the valve opening used to set the opening regarded as the opening and closing of the valve are set to the storage unit. Here, it is configured so that the lower limit value of the valve opening and the upper limit value of the valve opening can be set on the configuration screen displayed on the operating unit 19c included in the controller 19. The lower limit of the valve opening is greater than 0% and less than 50%, for example, 20%, and the upper limit of the valve opening is greater than 50% and less than 100%, for example, 80%. Furthermore, during substrate processing in a film forming process, the lower limit of the valve opening is determined so that even small fluctuations in the valve opening during pressure control fall within a range below the lower limit of the valve opening. In other words, opening and closing movements with very small amplitudes during pressure control are not counted as part of the valve opening and closing count. Manual operation can also be used for valve operation, and the control unit 19a can (constantly) collect data on the valve opening even outside of process execution.

[0039] When the control unit 19a obtains the monitoring value of the valve opening of the APC valve 15 from the pressure control controller 19b, it monitors the monitoring value of the valve opening. Figure 2 As shown, the control unit 19a counts the number of valve openings and closings when the monitoring value of the valve opening changes from below the lower limit value of the valve opening to above the upper limit value of the valve opening and then changes to below the lower limit value of the valve opening. In short, the control unit 19a determines whether the valve is open or closed when the monitoring value of the valve opening is the lower limit value of the valve opening. At this time, it is confirmed that the monitoring value of the valve opening obtained during the monitoring process has passed through the upper limit value of the valve opening and reached the lower limit value of the valve opening. In addition, when all the monitoring values ​​of the valve openings obtained during the monitoring process are lower than the upper limit value of the valve opening, it is determined that there is no valve opening or closing. Then, when the judgment of the opening and closing state of the valve opening is completed, the monitoring value of the valve opening monitored so far is cleared, and the monitoring of the valve opening is started. Next, the following is explained in more detail. Figure 3 .exist Figure 3In this example, when the valve opening degree monitoring value falls below the lower limit and reaches the lower limit, the control unit 19a begins determining whether the valve has opened or closed. At the point in time when the valve opening degree changes from a value greater than the upper limit to the lower limit, the valve is determined to have opened or closed, and the number of valve openings and closings is counted. By monitoring the changes in the valve opening degree monitoring value received from the pressure control controller 19b between the lower limit values, a more appropriate number of valve openings and closings can be counted. In short, the control unit 19a begins determining whether the valve has opened or closed when the valve opening degree monitoring value reaches the lower limit, and begins counting the number of valve openings and closings when the valve opening degree monitoring value reaches the lower limit and the valve opening and closing determination is completed (the valve has been determined to have opened or closed). Furthermore, the valve opening monitoring (surveillance) can also begin when the valve has fallen below the lower limit or when the valve is fully closed (the valve opening degree monitoring value is 0%).

[0040] like Figure 3 As in the interval (a) of FIG1 , if the valve opening degree monitoring value changes from below the valve opening degree lower limit value to above the valve opening degree lower limit value, and then changes to below the valve opening degree lower limit value without exceeding the valve opening degree upper limit value, the control unit 19a determines that the valve is not opening or closing because the valve opening degree monitoring value between the valve opening degree lower limit value is lower than the valve opening degree upper limit value, and does not count the number of valve opening and closing times. In other words, if the valve opening degree monitoring value rises from the valve opening degree lower limit value and returns to the valve opening degree lower limit value, and the maximum value of the valve opening degree monitoring value does not reach the valve opening degree upper limit value, the control unit 19a determines that the valve is not opening or closing. Therefore, the control unit 19a does not count the number of valve opening and closing times.

[0041] In addition, if Figure 3 As shown in the interval (b), in the interval from below the valve opening lower limit value to above the valve opening upper limit value and then without falling below the valve opening lower limit value, the control unit 19a does not count the valve opening and closing times. Therefore, even if the valve opening monitoring value exceeds the valve opening lower limit value and exceeds the valve opening upper limit value multiple times before changing to the valve opening lower limit value, the control unit 19a does not count the valve opening and closing times, and the valve opening and closing times are counted as one. Therefore, in Figure 3 In the timing chart showing the valve opening, although the valve opening upper limit is exceeded twice, the control unit 19a determines whether the valve is opened or closed only once, and therefore the number of valve opening and closing times is counted only once.

[0042] Since the valve opening and closing times are counted using the movement between 0% (FULL CLOSE) and the lower limit of valve opening, and the upper limit of valve opening and 100% (FULL OPEN), the opening and closing times of deteriorated components (valves) can be counted even if "FULL CLOSE" or "FULL OPEN" is not reached. The lower limit of valve opening is determined so that the change in valve opening during pressure control falls within a range less than the lower limit of valve opening. Therefore, for example, if the APC valve 15 is set to "FULL OPEN" during pressure control during the film formation process, the valve opening and closing times can be counted even when pressure control is subsequently resumed within the film formation process.

[0043] The control unit 19a uses the upper limit threshold value to make a judgment with respect to the valve opening and closing times counted in the above manner. The number of times that the durability of the APC valve 15 is about to be reached is set as the upper limit of the valve opening and closing times. When the valve opening and closing times count reaches the upper limit, the user is notified of the valve replacement time by an alarm. For example, Figure 4 As shown, the upper limit of the valve opening and closing times is set to 10,000 times, and an alarm is issued when the count reaches 10,000 during the execution of process 1 (reciep1). Furthermore, for example, to perform a valve replacement operation, once the film formation process of process 1 is completed, that is, wafer unloading (Wafer D.CHG) after the boat unloading process is completed, the film formation process of the next process 2 (reciep2) is stopped, that is, wafer loading (Wafer CHG) before the boat loading process is stopped. This allows for any processing required for valve replacement (e.g., valve replacement). The upper limit of the valve opening and closing times is set as an estimated target based on the manufacturer's guaranteed value or a historical example of the valve opening and closing times until a failure occurs.

[0044] In this embodiment, monitoring to determine whether the valve is open or closed is initiated when the valve opening degree monitoring value changes from below the valve opening degree lower limit value to above the valve opening degree lower limit value. However, monitoring to determine whether the valve is open or closed may also be initiated when the valve opening degree monitoring value changes from below the valve opening degree lower limit value to above the valve opening degree upper limit value. In this case, when the valve opening degree monitoring value reaches the valve opening degree lower limit value, it is determined that the valve is open or closed, and the number of valve opening and closing times is counted.

[0045] When the APC valve is replaced with a new one due to a failure of the APC valve while counting the number of valve opening and closing times to which the present disclosure is applied, the control unit 19a or the host controller can set the number of valve opening and closing times to 0. Figure 5As shown in (a), the current value (Current Value) of the monitor value (Monitor Value) which is the number of valve opening and closing times is set to 0 times (times) by using the Current Value Clear button.

[0046] In addition, when the present disclosure is applied to an APC valve that has already implemented the valve opening and closing frequency counting without applying the present disclosure, the control unit 19a or the upper controller (not shown) can set an arbitrary offset value as the valve opening and closing frequency. Figure 5 As shown in (b), the Current Value Change button is used to set the current value of the monitor value (Monitor Value), which represents the number of valve openings and closings, to 150 times. This function is used when replacing only the pressure control controller without replacing the APC valve in use. The set value (here, 150) is, for example, estimated from past implementations of the valve opening and closing times of the present disclosure.

[0047] In this embodiment, the monitoring value of the opening of the APC valve is described as being performed during the period of pressure control in the execution of the process. However, it is not limited to this period and may be performed continuously during the execution of the process. In addition, a process step for monitoring the monitoring value of the opening of the APC valve may be specified in advance and performed at the specified step.

[0048] The valve opening and closing times can be counted not by the control unit 19a but by the pressure control controller 19b. Furthermore, in addition to the valve opening and closing times described above, the valve opening and closing time, the area within a period of one valve opening and closing (with the vertical axis representing the gas flow rate when the valve is open and the horizontal axis representing the opening time), and other indicators for APC valve replacement can also be used.

[0049] Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus disclosed herein can be applied not only to semiconductor manufacturing equipment but also to equipment for processing glass substrates, such as in LCD devices. Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus disclosed herein is not limited to processing within a furnace and can perform film formation processes, including CVD, PVD, and processes for forming oxide and nitride films, as well as processes for forming films containing metals. Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus disclosed herein can be applied to exposure equipment, photolithography equipment, coating equipment, and plasma-based CVD equipment, among others.

[0050] As mentioned above, although this embodiment was specifically described, this disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modifications are possible, of course.

[0051] Description of Reference Numerals

[0052] 5 Processing Chamber

[0053] 10 substrate

[0054] 13 Exhaust line

[0055] 15 APC valve (pressure regulating valve)

[0056] 19a Control Unit

[0057] 19b Voltage Control Controller

[0058] 100 substrate processing device.

Claims

1. A substrate processing device, characterized in that: have: A control unit that controls the processing of the substrate by executing a process; and A pressure control controller adjusts the opening of a pressure regulating valve provided in an exhaust line of a processing chamber for processing a substrate to control the pressure of the processing chamber, The pressure control controller adjusts the opening of the pressure regulating valve when controlling the pressure of the processing chamber, and outputs the opening information to the control unit. The control unit is configured as follows: During the monitoring process of receiving the opening information from the pressure control controller while monitoring the opening and closing state of the pressure regulating valve, when the opening information is a preset value, it is determined whether the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed based on the opening information in the monitoring process and a prescribed threshold value greater than the set value.

2. The substrate processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control unit is configured as follows: If the maximum value of the opening information during the monitoring process is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is determined that the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed, and the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed is counted.

3. The substrate processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control unit is configured as follows: If the maximum value of the opening information during the monitoring process is lower than a threshold value, it is determined that the pressure regulating valve is not opened or closed, and the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed is not counted.

4. The substrate processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The control unit is configured as follows: During the period when the opening information exceeds the set value and then returns to the set value, if the opening information exceeds the threshold at least once, the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened and closed is counted once.

5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit is configured as follows: When the opening information reaches the set value from a value lower than the set value, monitoring for determining whether the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed is started.

6. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The set value is a value of the opening information that is greater than 0% indicating that the valve is fully closed. The threshold value is a value of the opening information that is smaller than 100% indicating that the valve is fully open.

7. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit is configured as follows: After starting to determine whether or not the pressure regulating valve is open or closed for monitoring at the time when the opening information changes to the threshold, the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened and closed is counted at the time when the opening information changes to the set value.

8. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit is configured as follows: When the opening degree information does not change to the set value to be equal to or greater than the threshold value, the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened and closed is not counted.

9. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit is configured as follows: When the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened and closed reaches a preset upper limit, an alarm is issued.

10. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein: The control unit is configured as follows: If the alarm is detected during the execution of the process, the transfer of a substrate scheduled to be processed in the next process is prohibited.

11. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The pressure control controller is configured to output the opening information to the control unit when the pressure of the processing chamber is maintained at a predetermined pressure or is changed to a predetermined pressure.

12. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The control unit is configured to obtain the opening information from the pressure control controller during execution of the process recipe.

13. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: It also has an operating unit that displays the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened and closed. The operation unit is configured to be able to arbitrarily set the number of times the pressure regulating valve is opened and closed.

14. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the step of performing a process to process a substrate, wherein the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device is characterized in that: The step of processing the substrate includes at least a step of adjusting the opening of a pressure regulating valve provided in an exhaust line of the processing chamber to control the pressure of the processing chamber. In the step of controlling the pressure of the processing chamber, the process further comprises: a step of adjusting the opening of the pressure regulating valve to output opening information; and The judging step judges whether the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed based on the opening information in the monitoring process and a preset threshold value when the opening information is a preset value in the monitoring process of monitoring the opening and closing of the pressure regulating valve.

15. A recording medium readable by a computer, the recording medium recording a program, the program being executed by a substrate processing apparatus, the substrate processing apparatus comprising a control unit for controlling a method of processing a substrate by executing a process recipe, and a pressure control controller for controlling the pressure of a processing chamber by adjusting the opening of a pressure regulating valve provided in an exhaust line of a processing chamber for processing the substrate, the recording medium being characterized in that the program recorded therein causes the substrate processing apparatus to execute the following steps through a computer: adjusting the opening of the pressure regulating valve and outputting opening information to the control unit; and The opening information is received from the pressure control controller, and during the monitoring process of the opening and closing of the pressure regulating valve, when the opening information is a preset value, whether the pressure regulating valve is opened or closed is determined based on the opening information in the monitoring process and a preset threshold value.

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