Semiconductor process method and semiconductor process apparatus

Abstract

The application discloses a semiconductor process method and a semiconductor process device, and belongs to the technical field of semiconductor processes. The semiconductor process method comprises the following steps: monitoring whether a process chamber is in an idle state during a corresponding semiconductor process treatment of a wafer in the process chamber; if it is monitored that the process chamber is in the idle state, performing a chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber every interval preset time, the chamber pretreatment operation comprising controlling an indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, introducing a process gas into the process chamber, and ionizing the process gas to form a plasma, wherein the process gas comprises nitrogen elements and does not contain fluorine elements. According to the technical scheme, the reduction speed of the surface resistance of a ceramic layer of a bearing device in the process chamber can be effectively slowed down during the semiconductor process treatment, and the service life of the bearing device is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of semiconductor process technology, and in particular relates to a semiconductor process method and semiconductor process equipment. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, dry etching typically uses plasma to process wafers. The electrostatic chuck, as a core component of the etching machine, plays an irreplaceable role. One crucial function of the electrostatic chuck is to hold the wafer in place. By applying a unipolar DC voltage, electrostatic force is generated to prevent the wafer from shifting position during processing. During the aforementioned processing of the product wafer in the process chamber, a large amount of polymer is generated inside the chamber and deposited on the inner wall. This polymer releases CF-type gases (such as CF4, CHF3, CH2F2, and C4F8) which react with the ceramic layer surface of the electrostatic chuck (mainly Al2O3) to generate Al. x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 Polymers. Due to Al x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 The resistivity of polymers is lower than that of Al₂O₃. Therefore, when Al… x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 As the thickness of the polymer increases over time, the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the electrostatic chuck decreases significantly, making it difficult for the electrostatic chuck to pick up food (leading to chuck skipping), and thus greatly reducing the service life of the electrostatic chuck. Summary of the Invention

[0003] This application provides a semiconductor process method and semiconductor process equipment, aiming to improve the technical problem that in existing process chambers, the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the electrostatic chuck is greatly reduced due to the release of CF-type gas from the polymer residue on the chamber wall, which in turn affects the service life of the electrostatic chuck.

[0004] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a semiconductor process method applied to semiconductor process equipment, the semiconductor process equipment including a process chamber, comprising the following steps:

[0005] During the semiconductor process of the product wafer in the process chamber, it is monitored whether the process chamber is in an idle state.

[0006] If the process chamber is detected to be idle, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed on the process chamber at preset time intervals. The chamber pretreatment operation includes controlling the indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, and introducing process gas into the process chamber and ionizing the process gas to form plasma. The process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine.

[0007] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, the process gas includes nitrogen and / or nitrogen oxides.

[0008] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, the process gas further includes any one or more of oxygen, argon, and helium.

[0009] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, the preset temperature value is not higher than 150°C, and / or the operation time of the chamber pretreatment operation is 5s to 30s.

[0010] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, if the process chamber is detected to be in an idle state, the following steps are also performed simultaneously:

[0011] Monitor the idle time of the process chamber;

[0012] If the idle time is detected to be greater than a preset threshold, then after the current idle state of the process chamber ends, before performing the semiconductor process on the wafer, a preset number of dummy wafers will be processed first.

[0013] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, the following steps are also included:

[0014] Before each wafer and / or each dummy die enters the process chamber, the process chamber is pre-processed once.

[0015] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a semiconductor process apparatus, including a process chamber, a working status monitoring device, and a chamber pretreatment device, wherein...

[0016] The process chamber is used to perform corresponding semiconductor process processing on the wafer;

[0017] The working status monitoring device is used to monitor whether the process chamber is in an idle state during the corresponding semiconductor process processing in the process chamber.

[0018] The chamber pretreatment device is used to perform a chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber once at preset time intervals when the working status monitoring device detects that the process chamber is in an idle state. The chamber pretreatment operation includes controlling the indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, and introducing process gas into the process chamber and ionizing the process gas in the process chamber to form plasma. The process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine.

[0019] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, the chamber pretreatment device includes a temperature control component, a process gas input pipeline, and a radio frequency field component, wherein,

[0020] The temperature control component is used to control the indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, which is not higher than 150°C.

[0021] The process gas input pipeline is connected to the interior of the process chamber for introducing the process gas into the process chamber;

[0022] The radio frequency field component is used to load a preset radio frequency field in the process chamber, so that the process gas forms plasma under the ionization effect of the preset radio frequency field.

[0023] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, the working status monitoring device is further used to monitor the idle time of the process chamber when it is detected that the process chamber is in an idle state;

[0024] The process chamber is also used to process a preset number of dummy wafers before performing the semiconductor process on the wafer after the current idle state of the process chamber ends, when the working status monitoring device detects that the idle time is greater than a preset threshold.

[0025] Optionally, in some embodiments of this application, the chamber pretreatment device is further configured to perform the chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber once before each wafer and / or each wafer enters the process chamber.

[0026] In this application, during the semiconductor processing of the wafer in the process chamber, the process chamber is monitored for idleness. When idleness is detected, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed at preset time intervals. This pretreatment includes controlling the chamber temperature to a preset value, introducing a process gas into the chamber, and ionizing the process gas to form plasma. The process gas contains nitrogen but no fluorine, resulting in a plasma containing nitrogen free radicals but no fluorine free radicals. In this way, the nitrogen free radicals, unaffected by fluorine free radicals, can chemically react with the polymer on the surface of the ceramic layer of the support device (which reduces the surface resistance of the ceramic layer) in the process chamber, generating a new polymer with higher resistivity. Therefore, this technical solution can effectively slow down the rate of decrease in surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the support device in the process chamber during semiconductor processing, thereby improving the service life of the support device. Attached Figure Description

[0027] The technical solution and its beneficial effects will become apparent from the following detailed description of specific embodiments of this application, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the first semiconductor process method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0029] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a second semiconductor process method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0030] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the third semiconductor process method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the semiconductor process equipment provided in the embodiments of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0032] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of this application, and not all of them. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and their technical features can be combined with each other.

[0033] Currently, dry etching typically uses plasma to process wafers. The electrostatic chuck, as a core component of the etching machine, plays an irreplaceable role. One crucial function of the electrostatic chuck is to hold the wafer in place. By applying a unipolar DC voltage, electrostatic force is generated to prevent the wafer from shifting position during processing. During the aforementioned processing of the product wafer in the process chamber, a large amount of polymer is generated inside the chamber and deposited on the inner wall. This polymer releases CF-type gases (such as CF4, CHF3, CH2F2, and C4F8) which react with the ceramic layer surface of the electrostatic chuck (mainly Al2O3) to generate Al. x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 Polymers. Due to Al x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 The resistivity of polymers is lower than that of Al₂O₃. Therefore, when Al… x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 As the thickness of the polymer increases over time, the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the electrostatic chuck decreases significantly, making it difficult for the electrostatic chuck to pick up food (leading to chuck skipping), and thus greatly reducing the service life of the electrostatic chuck.

[0034] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new semiconductor process solution to improve the technical problem that in existing process chambers, the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the electrostatic chuck is greatly reduced due to the release of CF-type gas from the polymer residue on the chamber wall, which in turn affects the service life of the electrostatic chuck.

[0035] In one embodiment, such as Figure 1 As shown, this application provides a semiconductor process method applied to semiconductor process equipment, which includes a process chamber. The semiconductor process method includes the following steps:

[0036] Step S110: During the semiconductor process of the wafer in the process chamber, monitor whether the process chamber is in an idle state.

[0037] Specifically, a process chamber is used to perform corresponding semiconductor processing on wafers. For the same type of wafer, the process chamber can continuously perform semiconductor processing on multiple identical wafers. However, for different wafers, the process chamber may first continuously perform semiconductor processing on the previous set of multiple identical wafers, then remain idle for a period of time before continuously performing semiconductor processing on the next set of multiple identical wafers. In this case, the process chamber will enter the aforementioned idle state. Generally, we can determine whether the process chamber is in an idle state by monitoring whether it is currently performing semiconductor processing, that is, by monitoring whether the relevant devices in the process chamber that perform the semiconductor processing are working. However, during the continuous semiconductor processing of multiple identical wafers, there may be instances where one or more devices performing the semiconductor process temporarily stop working. In such cases, the process chamber cannot be judged to be in an idle state. Therefore, to improve the accuracy of the judgment, it is possible to simultaneously monitor whether multiple devices performing the semiconductor process in the process chamber are working, and only when multiple devices stop working and the stop time exceeds a preset value, such as 1 min to 3 min, can the process chamber be judged to be in an idle state.

[0038] Step S120: If the process chamber is detected to be idle, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed on the process chamber at preset time intervals. The chamber pretreatment operation includes controlling the indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, and introducing process gas into the process chamber and ionizing the process gas to form plasma. The process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine.

[0039] Specifically, when the process chamber is detected to be idle through the above-described steps, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed on the process chamber at preset time intervals. This pretreatment operation includes controlling the chamber temperature to a preset value, introducing a process gas into the chamber, and ionizing the process gas to form plasma. The process gas contains nitrogen but no fluorine. The preset time can be adjusted as needed, but is generally preferred to be between 4 and 6 minutes.

[0040] Taking dry etching as an example in semiconductor processing, during the dry etching process on the wafer in the process chamber, a large amount of polymer is generated inside the chamber and deposited on the inner wall of the chamber. This polymer releases CF-type gas and reacts with the surface of the ceramic layer (mainly Al2O3) of the support device to generate Al. x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 Polymers. Due to Alx1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 The resistivity of polymers is lower than that of Al₂O₃. Therefore, when Al… x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 As the polymer thickness accumulates over time, the surface resistance of the ceramic layer in the electrostatic chuck decreases significantly. At this point, because the process gas includes nitrogen but contains no fluorine, the plasma formed by ionizing the process gas contains nitrogen free radicals but not fluorine free radicals. These nitrogen free radicals, unaffected by fluorine free radicals, can react with the already generated Al in the process chamber. x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 Polymer reaction generates new Al x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 N x6 Polymers, New Al x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 N x6 The resistivity of polymers is higher than that of Al. x1 C x2 Si x3 F x4 O x5 The high resistivity of polymers effectively slows down the rate of decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the carrier device in the process chamber, thereby improving the service life of the carrier device.

[0041] As can be seen, in this embodiment, when the process chamber is idle, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed on the process chamber at preset time intervals to form a plasma containing nitrogen free radicals but not fluorine free radicals in the process chamber. The nitrogen free radicals, without the influence of fluorine free radicals, can chemically react with the polymer on the surface of the ceramic layer of the carrier device (which causes a decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the carrier device) in the process chamber to generate a new polymer with higher resistivity. Therefore, this technical solution can effectively slow down the rate of decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the carrier device in the process chamber during semiconductor process processing, thereby improving the service life of the carrier device.

[0042] In some examples, to better implement the chamber pretreatment operation in the above method steps, when the temperature inside the process chamber is controlled at a preset temperature value, the preset temperature value can be set to no higher than 150°C. This can maximize the activity of ammonia free radicals obtained from the subsequent ionization process gas without affecting the operation of other devices in the process chamber, so as to enhance the reaction rate of the polymer with the ceramic layer surface of the support device.

[0043] In some examples, to better implement the chamber pretreatment operation in the above method steps, when process gas is introduced into the process chamber, to ensure that the process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine, the process gas may specifically include nitrogen and / or nitrogen oxides. The overall effect is best when the process gas is only nitrogen. In addition, the process gas may also be mixed with any one or more of oxygen, argon, and helium, in addition to the above-mentioned gases. Furthermore, to introduce a more suitable amount of process gas into the process chamber, the flow rate of the introduced process gas can be limited to a range of 50 sccm to 1000 sccm, and the pressure range to 20 mT to 500 mT.

[0044] In some examples, to better implement the chamber pretreatment operation in the above method steps, a preset radio frequency field can be applied to the process chamber. When the process gas forms plasma under the ionization effect of this preset radio frequency field, the range of Power HF for forming the preset radio frequency field is limited to 50W–1000W, and the range of Power LF is 0W–200W, preferably with Power LF at 0W. Furthermore, the operation time for each chamber pretreatment operation is preferably controlled between 5s and 30s.

[0045] In one embodiment, such as Figure 2 As shown, this application provides a semiconductor process method applied to semiconductor process equipment, which includes a process chamber. The semiconductor process method includes the following steps:

[0046] Step S210: During the semiconductor process of the wafer in the process chamber, monitor whether the process chamber is in an idle state.

[0047] Specifically, the specific implementation of step S210 can be found in the embodiment of step S110, and will not be repeated here.

[0048] Step S220: If the process chamber is detected to be idle, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed on the process chamber at preset intervals, while the idle time of the process chamber is further monitored.

[0049] Specifically, the implementation of step S220 is the same as that of step S120. For details on the same parts, please refer to the embodiment of step S120, which will not be repeated here. Only the parts that are different from step S210 are described in detail below.

[0050] In actual process operations, we found that if a process chamber remains idle for an extended period, immediately resuming normal operation can lead to suboptimal production results for the first few wafers. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the idle time of the process chamber to take appropriate measures in advance when the idle time becomes excessive, thus avoiding the aforementioned unsatisfactory production results. In this case, an idle time monitoring mechanism can be introduced. When the process chamber is detected to be idle through the aforementioned methods, in addition to performing the chamber pre-processing operations at preset intervals, the idle time of the process chamber needs to be further monitored to determine whether the idle time is too long and whether appropriate measures need to be taken in advance to avoid the aforementioned unsatisfactory production results.

[0051] Step S230: If the idle time is detected to be greater than a preset threshold, then after the current idle state of the process chamber ends, a preset number of dummy wafers will be processed for semiconductor processing before the wafer is processed for semiconductor processing.

[0052] Specifically, when the idle time is detected to be greater than a preset threshold through the above-mentioned method steps, the preset threshold can be reasonably set according to the specific semiconductor process being performed in the process chamber. Taking the aforementioned dry etching as an example, the preset threshold can be 4-6 minutes, preferably 5 minutes. That is, when the idle time is greater than 5 minutes, it can be determined that the process chamber has been idle for too long. In order to avoid the aforementioned situation of unsatisfactory production results, the process chamber can be warmed up before it can start working normally. Specifically, after the current idle state of the process chamber ends, before the semiconductor process is performed on the wafer, a preset number of dummy wafers can be semiconductor processed. The shape and size of the dummy wafers can be the same as the wafers, so as to complete the corresponding warm-up operation by performing semiconductor process on the preset number of dummy wafers. Taking the aforementioned dry etching as an example, the preset quantity can be 3 (the actual value can be increased or decreased arbitrarily according to the actual warm-up needs). Before starting to perform dry etching on the wafer in sequence, three dummy wafers are first dry etched in sequence. After the three dummy wafers have been dry etched in sequence, it means that the process chamber has completed the warm-up operation and the wafer dry etching can be performed normally.

[0053] This application embodiment, based on the previous embodiment, further monitors the idle time of the process chamber. When the idle time of the process chamber is too long, corresponding warm-up operations are added in a timely manner. This can effectively avoid the situation where the production effect of some wafers is not ideal due to the idle time of the process chamber being too long, thereby improving the yield of the produced products.

[0054] In one embodiment, such as Figure 3 As shown, this application provides a semiconductor process method applied to semiconductor process equipment, which includes a process chamber. The semiconductor process method includes the following steps:

[0055] Step S310: During the semiconductor process of the wafer in the process chamber, monitor whether the process chamber is in an idle state.

[0056] Specifically, the specific implementation of step S310 can be found in the embodiment of step S110, and will not be repeated here.

[0057] Step S320: If the process chamber is detected to be idle, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed on the process chamber at preset intervals, while the idle time of the process chamber is further monitored.

[0058] Specifically, the implementation of step S320 is the same as that of step S220, and will not be repeated here.

[0059] Step S330: If the idle time is detected to be greater than a preset threshold, then after the current idle state of the process chamber ends, a preset number of dummy wafers will be processed for semiconductor processing before the wafer is processed for semiconductor processing.

[0060] Specifically, the implementation of step S330 is the same as that of step S230, and will not be repeated here.

[0061] Step S340: Perform a chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber before each wafer and / or each dummy die enters the process chamber.

[0062] Specifically, during semiconductor processing of wafers or dummy wafers in the process chamber, the CF-type gas released from the polymer generated by the previous wafer or dummy wafer in the gap between wafers will also undergo the same chemical reaction with the surface of the ceramic layer of the carrier device, generating the same polymer that reduces the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the carrier device. Therefore, a chamber pretreatment operation can be further performed on the process chamber before each wafer and / or each dummy wafer enters the process chamber. The specific implementation of this chamber pretreatment operation is detailed in the above embodiments. Similarly, this chamber pretreatment operation can also effectively slow down the rate of decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the carrier device in the process chamber, thereby improving the service life of the carrier device.

[0063] This application embodiment, based on the previous embodiment, further adds a chamber pretreatment operation to the process chamber before each wafer and / or each dummy die enters the process chamber, which can further effectively slow down the rate of decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the carrier device in the process chamber, thereby improving the service life of the carrier device.

[0064] In one embodiment, such as Figure 4 As shown in the figure, this application embodiment provides a semiconductor process apparatus 100, which specifically includes a process chamber 110, a working status monitoring device 120, and a chamber pretreatment device. The process chamber 110 is specifically used to perform corresponding semiconductor process processing on wafers. The working status monitoring device 120 is specifically used to monitor whether the process chamber 110 is in an idle state during the corresponding semiconductor process processing. The chamber pretreatment device (not shown in the figure) is specifically used to perform a chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber 110 at preset time intervals when the working status monitoring device 120 detects that the process chamber 110 is in an idle state. The chamber pretreatment operation includes controlling the indoor temperature of the process chamber 110 at a preset temperature value, and introducing a process gas into the process chamber 110 and ionizing the process gas in the process chamber 110 to form plasma. The process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine. For details of the process, please refer to the above method embodiment; it will not be repeated here.

[0065] It should be noted that the working status monitoring device 120 can determine whether the process chamber 110 is in an idle state by monitoring whether the process chamber 110 is currently performing semiconductor processing, that is, by monitoring whether the relevant devices performing the semiconductor processing in the process chamber 110 are working. However, since in the above-mentioned continuous semiconductor processing of multiple identical wafers, there may be situations where one or more devices performing the semiconductor processing temporarily stop working. In these cases, the process chamber cannot be judged to be in an idle state. Therefore, in order to improve the accuracy of the above judgment results, it is possible to simultaneously monitor whether multiple devices performing the semiconductor processing in the process chamber 100 are working, and only when multiple devices stop working and the stop working time exceeds a preset value, such as 1 minute to 3 minutes, is the process chamber 100 judged to be in an idle state. To specifically detect whether a device is working, one can generally start by setting up corresponding detection equipment based on the device's specific operating method. For example, if the device operates by being powered on, a corresponding current detection device can be used to detect whether it is powered on to determine whether it is working. If the device uses the opening and closing of a control valve to introduce the corresponding reactive gas into the semiconductor process chamber 110, then the opening and closing commands of the control valve can be obtained through a corresponding software program to determine whether it is working. These are all conventional technical methods for those skilled in the art and will not be elaborated here. It is sufficient to know that the working status monitoring device 120 can be composed of multiple monitoring devices or monitoring programs, including a timer.

[0066] In this embodiment, during the semiconductor process of the wafer in the process chamber 110, the working status monitoring device 120 monitors whether the process chamber 110 is in an idle state. When the working status monitoring device 120 detects that the process chamber 110 is in an idle state, the chamber pre-processing device performs a chamber pre-processing operation on the process chamber 110 at preset time intervals. The chamber pre-processing operation includes controlling the indoor temperature of the process chamber 110 at a preset temperature value, and introducing process gas into the process chamber 110 and ionizing the process gas in the process chamber 110 to form plasma. The process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine, so that the plasma contains nitrogen free radicals but does not contain fluorine free radicals. In this way, nitrogen free radicals, without the influence of fluorine free radicals, can chemically react with the polymer on the surface of the ceramic layer of the support device 111 in the process chamber 110 (which causes a decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the support device 111) to generate a new polymer with higher resistivity. Therefore, this technical solution can effectively slow down the rate of decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the support device 111 in the process chamber 110 during semiconductor processing, thereby improving the service life of the support device 111.

[0067] In some examples, to better realize the corresponding functions of the chamber pretreatment device, such as Figure 4 As shown, the chamber pretreatment device may specifically include a temperature control component 131, a process gas input pipeline 132, and a radio frequency field component (not shown in the figure). The temperature control component 131 is specifically used to control the indoor temperature of the process chamber 110 at a preset temperature value, which may be set to no higher than 150°C. The preset gas input pipeline 132 connects to the interior of the process chamber 110, specifically for introducing the process gas into the process chamber 110. The radio frequency field component is specifically used to apply a preset radio frequency field to the process chamber 110, causing the process gas to form plasma under the ionization effect of the preset radio frequency field. To better control the flow of process gas into the process chamber 110, the process gas input pipeline 132 may be equipped with a flow meter 1321 and a control valve 1322 for accurate control. To better load a preset radio frequency field in the process chamber 110, the radio frequency field assembly may specifically include a radio frequency matching unit 1331 and a radio frequency power supply 1332. The radio frequency power supply 1332 is electrically connected to the radio frequency matching unit 1331 to output a preset radio frequency power to the radio frequency matching unit 1331. The output copper strip of the radio frequency matching unit 1331 is electrically connected to the top cover of the process chamber 110, and the carrier device 111 in the process chamber 110 is grounded so that when the radio frequency field assembly is working, the preset radio frequency field is formed between the top cover and the carrier device 111.

[0068] In some examples, such as Figure 4 As shown, the working status monitoring device 120 is further used to monitor the idle time of the process chamber 110 when it is detected that the process chamber 110 is in an idle state. The process chamber 110 is also used to perform semiconductor processing on a predetermined number of dummy wafers before performing semiconductor processing on the wafer after the working status monitoring device 120 detects that the idle time exceeds a preset threshold. For details of the process, please refer to the above method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0069] In this way, the embodiment of this application further monitors the idle time of the process chamber 110 through the working status monitoring device 120, so that when the idle time of the process chamber 110 is too long, the corresponding warm-up operation is added in time, which can effectively avoid the situation that the production effect of some product wafers is not ideal due to the idle time of the process chamber 110 being too long, thereby improving the yield of the produced products.

[0070] In some examples, such as Figure 4As shown, the chamber pretreatment apparatus is further used to perform a chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber 110 before each wafer and / or each dummy die enters the process chamber 110. The specific process can be found in the above method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0071] In this way, the chamber pretreatment apparatus of this application further adds a chamber pretreatment operation to the process chamber 110 before each wafer and / or each dummy die enters the process chamber 110, which can further effectively slow down the rate of decrease in the surface resistance of the ceramic layer of the carrier device 111 in the process chamber 110, thereby improving the service life of the carrier device 111.

[0072] Although this application has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art based on a reading and understanding of this specification and drawings. This application includes all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the aforementioned components, the terminology used to describe such components is intended to correspond to any component (unless otherwise indicated) that performs the specified function of said component (e.g., is functionally equivalent to it), even if structurally not equivalent to the disclosed structure performing the functions in the exemplary implementations of this specification shown herein.

[0073] That is, the above description is only an embodiment of this application and does not limit the patent scope of this application. Any equivalent structural or procedural changes made using the content of this application’s specification and drawings, such as the combination of technical features between different embodiments, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, are similarly included within the patent protection scope of this application.

[0074] Furthermore, it should be understood that in the description of this application, the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application. Additionally, for structural elements with the same or similar characteristics, this application may use the same or different reference numerals for identification. Moreover, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of this application, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0075] In this application, the term "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, illustration, or description." Any embodiment described as "exemplary" in this application is not necessarily to be construed as more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments. This application has been provided above to enable any person skilled in the art to implement and use it. Various details have been set forth in the above description for purposes of explanation. It should be understood that those skilled in the art will recognize that this application can be implemented without using these specific details. In other embodiments, well-known structures and processes will not be described in detail to avoid obscuring the description of this application with unnecessary detail. Therefore, this application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is consistent with the broadest scope of the principles and features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A semiconductor processing method applied to semiconductor process equipment, said semiconductor process equipment including a process chamber, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: During the semiconductor process of the wafer in the process chamber, it is monitored whether the process chamber is in an idle state. If the process chamber is detected to be idle, a chamber pretreatment operation is performed on the process chamber at preset time intervals. The chamber pretreatment operation includes controlling the indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, and introducing process gas into the process chamber and ionizing the process gas to form plasma, so as to chemically react with the polymer on the surface of the ceramic layer of the support device and generate a new polymer with higher resistivity, thereby improving the adsorption force of the support device on the wafer. The process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine, and the surface of the support device is made of alumina.

2. The semiconductor process method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The process gases include nitrogen and / or nitrogen oxides.

3. The semiconductor process method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The process gases also include any one or more of oxygen, argon, and helium.

4. The semiconductor process method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset temperature value is not higher than 150℃, and / or the operation time of the chamber pretreatment operation is 5s~30s.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, If the process chamber is detected to be idle, the following steps are also performed simultaneously: Monitor the idle time of the process chamber; If the idle time is detected to be greater than a preset threshold, then after the current idle state of the process chamber ends, before performing the semiconductor process on the wafer, a preset number of dummy wafers will be processed first.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, It also includes the following steps: Before each wafer and / or each dummy die enters the process chamber, the process chamber is pre-processed once.

7. A semiconductor process apparatus, characterized in that, It includes a process chamber, a working status monitoring device, and a chamber pretreatment device, among which, The process chamber is used to perform corresponding semiconductor process processing on the wafer; The working status monitoring device is used to monitor whether the process chamber is in an idle state during the corresponding semiconductor process processing in the process chamber. The chamber pretreatment device is used to perform a chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber at preset time intervals when the working status monitoring device detects that the process chamber is in an idle state. The chamber pretreatment operation includes controlling the indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, and introducing process gas into the process chamber and ionizing the process gas in the process chamber to form plasma, so as to chemically react with the polymer on the surface of the ceramic layer of the support device and generate a new polymer with higher resistivity, thereby improving the adsorption force of the support device on the wafer. The process gas includes nitrogen and does not contain fluorine, and the surface of the support device is made of alumina.

8. The semiconductor process equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The chamber pretreatment device includes a temperature control assembly, a process gas input pipeline, and a radio frequency field assembly, wherein... The temperature control component is used to control the indoor temperature of the process chamber at a preset temperature value, which is not higher than 150°C. The process gas input pipeline is connected to the interior of the process chamber for introducing the process gas into the process chamber; The radio frequency field component is used to load a preset radio frequency field in the process chamber, so that the process gas forms plasma under the ionization effect of the preset radio frequency field.

9. The semiconductor process equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The working status monitoring device is also used to monitor the idle time of the process chamber when it is detected that the process chamber is in an idle state; The process chamber is also used to process a preset number of dummy wafers before performing the semiconductor process on the wafer after the current idle state of the process chamber ends, when the working status monitoring device detects that the idle time is greater than a preset threshold.

10. The semiconductor process equipment according to claim 9, characterized in that, The chamber pretreatment apparatus is further configured to perform the chamber pretreatment operation on the process chamber once before each of the wafers and / or each of the dummy wafers enters the process chamber.

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