Apparatus for processing a substrate and method for processing a substrate

Abstract

The inventive concept provides a substrate processing apparatus. In an embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus comprises a process chamber having a process space for processing a substrate therein, a substrate support unit configured to support the substrate in the process space, and a microwave application unit configured to apply microwaves to the process space, and wherein the microwave application unit comprises a solid state device based microwave power generator.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the inventive concept described herein relate to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method. Background Technology

[0002] Microwaves can be used during the substrate heating process in substrate processing. Microwaves are generated using a magnetron. However, microwaves generated by a magnetron and transmitted to the substrate exhibit poor temperature uniformity due to a large temperature difference between hot and cold spots. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for efficiently processing substrates.

[0004] Embodiments of the present invention provide a substrate processing apparatus that performs plasma processing and heating processing relative to a substrate in a chamber.

[0005] Embodiments of the present invention provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method that exhibit high temperature uniformity compared to processing a substrate by microwave heating.

[0006] The technical objectives of this invention are not limited to those described above, and other unmentioned technical objectives will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.

[0007] The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus includes: a processing chamber having a processing space for processing a substrate; a substrate support unit configured to support the substrate in the processing space; and a microwave application unit configured to apply microwaves to the processing space, wherein the microwave application unit includes a microwave power generator based on a solid-state device.

[0008] In one embodiment, the solid-state device includes a gallium nitride (GaN) device.

[0009] In one implementation, the microwave power generator can offset or scan the frequency of the microwave.

[0010] In one embodiment, the microwave power generator is capable of scanning microwaves having a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency.

[0011] In one embodiment, the microwave power generator scans the microwave having the first bandwidth multiple times.

[0012] In one embodiment, the microwave power generator scans microwaves having a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency, and the sum of multiple modes is a heating profile, wherein the multiple modes are determined in different numbers according to the shape of the processing space.

[0013] In one embodiment, the microwave power generator scans microwaves having a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency, and the sum of multiple modes is a heating profile, wherein the multiple modes are determined in different numbers according to the width of the first bandwidth.

[0014] In one embodiment, the microwave application unit includes: a plate-shaped microwave antenna positioned above the substrate support unit; a dielectric plate positioned above and below the microwave antenna; and an antenna mast that transmits microwaves generated at the microwave power generator to the microwave antenna.

[0015] In one embodiment, the microwave application unit acts as a heating source for transferring heating energy to the substrate.

[0016] In one embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus further includes a gas supply unit for supplying reactive gases to the processing space, and wherein the microwave application unit acts as a plasma source for exciting the reactive gases into a plasma state.

[0017] The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus includes supporting a substrate in a processing space within a processing chamber, and applying microwaves to the processing space using multiple frequency scans.

[0018] In one implementation, the microwaves are generated by a microwave power generator based on solid-state devices.

[0019] In one embodiment, the solid-state device includes a gallium nitride (GaN) device.

[0020] In one embodiment, the frequency scan of the microwave scans microwaves having a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency.

[0021] In one implementation, the microwaves are provided by scanning the microwaves having the first bandwidth multiple times.

[0022] In one embodiment, the microwave scan has a microwave with a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency, and the sum of multiple modes is a heating profile, wherein the multiple modes are determined in different numbers according to the shape of the processing space.

[0023] In one embodiment, the microwave scan has a microwave with a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency, and the sum of multiple modes is a heating profile, wherein the multiple modes are determined in different numbers according to the width of the first bandwidth.

[0024] In one embodiment, the substrate is heated by the transmission of microwaves.

[0025] In one embodiment, microwaves different from the microwaves are transmitted to the processing space to excite the reactive gas in the processing space into plasma.

[0026] The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus includes: a processing chamber having a processing space for processing a substrate; a substrate support unit configured to support the substrate in the processing space; and a microwave application unit configured to apply microwaves to the processing space. The microwave application unit includes a microwave power generator based on a gallium nitride (GaN) solid-state device, and the microwave power generator scans a plurality of target scanning frequencies existing at a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, the second frequency being higher than the first frequency. The number of target scanning frequencies is determined differently depending on the shape of the processing space and the width of the first bandwidth.

[0027] According to the embodiments conceived in this invention, substrates can be processed efficiently.

[0028] According to embodiments of the present invention, plasma treatment and heat treatment of a substrate can be performed in a single chamber.

[0029] According to embodiments of the present invention, the temperature uniformity is higher compared to heat treatment of the substrate using microwaves.

[0030] The effects of this invention are not limited to those described above, and other effects not mentioned will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0031] The above and other objects and features will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein, unless otherwise stated, the same reference numerals in the various drawings refer to the same parts, and wherein:

[0032] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional view showing a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 2 This is an example of a broadband microwave source. Detailed Implementation

[0034] In the following description, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, enabling those skilled in the art to readily implement the invention. However, the inventive concept can be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, in describing the correct implementation of the inventive concept in detail, detailed descriptions of relevant well-known functions or configurations will be omitted when it is determined that such detailed descriptions may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the inventive concept. Additionally, components having similar functions and effects are referred to using the same reference numerals throughout the drawings.

[0035] The terms "comprising" and "including" mean that additional components may be included, but not excluded, unless otherwise stated. Specifically, the terms "comprising," "including," and "having" should be understood to specify features, numbers, steps, operations, components, or combinations thereof described in the specification, and do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features or numbers, steps, operations, components, or combinations thereof.

[0036] Unless the context clearly implies otherwise, singular expressions include plural expressions. Furthermore, for clarity, the shapes and sizes of elements in the accompanying drawings may be enlarged.

[0037] The term "and / or" includes any one of the listed items and all combinations thereof. Furthermore, in this specification, the term "connection" means not only the case where component A and component B are directly connected, but also the case where component C is inserted between component A and component B to indirectly connect component A and component B.

[0038] Various modifications can be made to the embodiments of the inventive concept, and the scope of the inventive concept should not be construed as limited to the following embodiments. Embodiments of the inventive concept are provided to more fully explain the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the shapes of the elements in the drawings are enlarged to emphasize a clearer explanation.

[0039] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional view illustrating a substrate processing facility according to an embodiment (first exemplary embodiment) of the present invention. Reference Figure 1This can be used to explain the substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus includes a processing chamber 110, a substrate support unit 200, a gas supply unit, a microwave application unit 500, and an exhaust baffle 700.

[0040] Processing chamber 110 provides processing space 105 for processing substrates therein. The processing chamber may be in a circular-cylindrical form. An opening (not shown) is provided on the side wall of processing chamber 110. The opening may be configured as an inlet through which substrate W can be brought in and out. The inlet may be opened and closed by a door (not shown). Air in processing space 105 is exhausted through an exhaust baffle 700 located at the bottom of processing chamber 110. Exhaust baffle 700 may be connected to an exhaust pump (not shown).

[0041] The substrate support unit 200 supports the substrate W in the processing space. The substrate support unit 200 may be configured as an electrostatic chuck that uses electrostatic force to support the substrate W. Alternatively and / or additionally, the substrate support unit 200 may use various methods such as mechanical clamping to support the substrate W.

[0042] The gas supply unit supplies the reaction gas to the internal space 105. The gas supply unit includes a gas nozzle 410, a gas supply source 420, and a gas supply line 413. The gas nozzle 410 is located on the side wall of the processing chamber 110. The gas nozzle is connected to the gas supply source 420 and the gas supply line 413. The gas nozzle supplies the reaction gas.

[0043] The microwave application unit 500 includes a microwave antenna 510, a dielectric plate 520, an antenna mast 530, and a power generator 540. The microwave application unit 500 can function as a plasma source for generating plasma from a process gas. Additionally, the microwave application unit 500 can function as an annealing source for annealing a substrate.

[0044] The microwave antenna 510 may be a plate in the form of a circle. Hereinafter, the microwave antenna 510 may be referred to as an antenna plate. Multiple elongated apertures (not shown) may be formed at the microwave antenna 510, and the elongated apertures (not shown) provide a path for transmitting microwaves through them.

[0045] Dielectric plate 520 is positioned at the top and bottom of microwave antenna 510. In some embodiments, microwave antenna 510 may be embedded within dielectric plate 520. In some embodiments, microwave antenna 510 may be disposed on the top surface of dielectric plate 520. In some embodiments, microwave antenna 510 may be disposed on the bottom surface of dielectric plate 520. Dielectric plate 520 may be composed of and / or include a dielectric such as alumina and quartz.

[0046] Antenna mast 530 may be a cylindrical rod. Antenna mast 530 is positioned such that its longitudinal direction is in the up / down direction. The bottom end of antenna mast 530 is connected to antenna plate 510. The center of antenna plate 510 is inserted into and fixed to the bottom of antenna mast 530. Microwaves applied from power generator 540 are transmitted to antenna plate 510.

[0047] Power generator 540 is provided as a microwave power generator based on a solid-state device. In one embodiment, power generator 540 is provided as a gallium nitride (GaN) based microwave power generator. In this embodiment, the gallium nitride (GaN) based power generator 540 has a narrow bandwidth and is equipped with the ability to perform frequency shifting or frequency scanning. Frequency scanning is, for example, scanning microwaves in a narrow band (e.g., 1 Hz) from the lower limit frequency to the upper limit frequency of a specific frequency band (e.g., 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz) for a set time (e.g., 1 second).

[0048] For example, assuming a broadband microwave source is used, such as Figure 2 As shown in the chart, the center frequency is 2.45 GHz, and it is a bandwidth that can be shifted from 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz.

[0049] The internal space 105 of the processing chamber 110 is a defined cavity.

[0050] In the implementation, assuming the cavity is a box shape with a width (W, left-right diameter) of 29.7 cm, a depth (D, front-back diameter) of 36.6 cm, and a height (H) of 30.2 cm, the TE mode is obtained when scanning the frequency band from 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz. mnl As shown in [Table 1] below, a total of six TE modes are obtained. The sum of the six heating profiles corresponding to each mode becomes the final heating profile. Therefore, hot and cold spots are mixed to improve heating uniformity.

[0051] [Table 1] TE pattern assuming the cavity is a box shape with a width (W) of 29.7 cm, a depth (D) of 36.6 cm, and a height (H) of 30.2 cm.

[0052]

[0053] As another example, assuming the cavity is a cylindrical shape with a radius (R) of 25 cm and a depth (D) of 25 cm, the TM mode is derived when scanning the frequency band from 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz. mnl TE in TE mode mnlThe patterns are shown in [Table 2] below. A total of six TM patterns and four TE patterns are derived. The TM and TE patterns are determined based on the cavity shape. The sum of the ten heating profiles corresponding to each pattern becomes the final heating profile. Therefore, hot and cold spots are mixed to improve heating uniformity.

[0054]

[0055] As described above, when the sum of each mode is used as the heating profile and scanned at a frequency, the hot and cold regions are mixed, resulting in a more uniform electric field.

[0056] In this implementation, the microwave power generator scans the set bandwidth more than 540 times. If the scan from 2.4 GHz to 2.5 GHz is set to 1 millisecond, each frequency will be scanned 1,000 times during a 1-second operation. Compared to the example above, when the bandwidth is increased from 2.3 GHz to 2.6 GHz, the number of modes increases further, and therefore the hot and cold zones increase further, and thus the heating uniformity increases further.

[0057] According to embodiments of the present invention, gallium nitride (GaN)-based solid-state devices are used as microwave power generators to achieve frequency scanning. Frequency scanning generates more modes within a given cavity (e.g., a box shape, a cylindrical shape), causing hot and cold spots to mix, thereby improving the final temperature uniformity.

[0058] The microwave application unit 500 acts as a heating source for transferring heating energy to the substrate W. Furthermore, the microwave application unit 500 also acts as a plasma source. The microwave application unit 500 generates plasma by applying microwaves to the reactive gas at the internal space 105. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, plasma processing and heating (e.g., rapid heating annealing) can be performed in a single chamber.

[0059] Furthermore, according to the substrate processing apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention, it is sufficient to not provide a separate annealing chamber, and thus the space occupied by a chamber facility can be reduced. Moreover, since the step of moving between the plasma-using apparatus and the annealing apparatus is unnecessary, the movement time between the apparatuses can be eliminated, thereby increasing UPH. The substrate processing apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention can be applied to the ALE process.

[0060] The effects of this invention are not limited to those described above, and any effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art based on this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0061] Although preferred embodiments of the inventive concept have been shown and described up to now, the inventive concept is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and it should be noted that those skilled in the art to which the inventive concept relates can implement the inventive concept differently without departing from the essence of the inventive concept as claimed in the claims, and should not be interpreted or modified separately from the technical spirit or prospect of the inventive concept.

Claims

1. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: A processing chamber having a processing space for processing substrates; A substrate support unit, the substrate support unit being configured to support the substrate in the processing space; as well as A microwave application unit is configured to apply microwaves to the processing space, and The microwave application unit includes a microwave power generator based on solid-state devices. The microwave application unit acts as a heating source for transferring heating energy to the substrate. The microwave power generator scans microwaves having a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, wherein the second frequency is higher than the first frequency. The microwave power generator therein scans microwaves having the first bandwidth multiple times. Multiple modes are obtained by frequency scanning of the first bandwidth, such that the multiple modes have corresponding heating profiles, and The final heating profile is generated based on the heating profiles of the multiple modes.

2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the solid-state device comprises a gallium nitride (GaN) device.

3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of modes are determined in different numbers according to the shape of the processing space.

4. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of modes are determined in different numbers according to the width of the first bandwidth.

5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the microwave application unit comprises: A plate-shaped microwave antenna, the microwave antenna being positioned above the substrate support unit; A dielectric plate, the dielectric plate being positioned on top of and below the microwave antenna; as well as An antenna mast that transmits microwaves generated at the microwave power generator to the microwave antenna.

6. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a gas supply unit for supplying reactive gases to the processing space, and The microwave application unit acts as a plasma source for exciting the reactive gas into a plasma state.

7. A substrate processing method, comprising: The substrate is supported in the processing space of the processing chamber; as well as Microwaves are applied to the processing space using multiple frequency scans. The microwaves are generated by a microwave power generator based on solid-state devices. The substrate is heated by the transmission of microwaves. Microwaves are provided by scanning microwaves having a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, wherein the second frequency is higher than the first frequency. Microwaves are provided by scanning microwaves with the first bandwidth multiple times. Multiple modes are obtained by frequency scanning of the first bandwidth, such that the multiple modes have corresponding heating profiles, and The final heating profile is generated based on the heating profiles of the multiple modes.

8. The substrate processing method according to claim 7, wherein the solid-state device comprises a gallium nitride (GaN) device.

9. The substrate processing method according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of patterns are determined in different numbers according to the shape of the processing space.

10. The substrate processing method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of modes are determined in different numbers according to the width of the first bandwidth.

11. The substrate processing method according to claim 7, wherein microwaves different from the microwaves are transmitted to the processing space to excite the reactive gas in the processing space into plasma.

12. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: A processing chamber having a processing space for processing substrates; A substrate support unit, the substrate support unit being configured to support the substrate in the processing space; A microwave application unit is configured to apply microwaves to the processing space, and The microwave application unit includes a microwave power generator based on a gallium nitride (GaN) solid-state device. The microwave power generator scans multiple target scanning frequencies existing in a first bandwidth between a first frequency and a second frequency, wherein the second frequency is higher than the first frequency. The number of target scanning frequencies is determined differently based on the shape of the processing space and the width of the first bandwidth. The microwave application unit acts as a heating source for transferring heating energy to the substrate. Microwaves are provided by scanning microwaves with the first bandwidth multiple times. Multiple modes are obtained by frequency scanning of the first bandwidth, such that the multiple modes have corresponding heating profiles, and The final heating profile is generated based on the heating profiles of the multiple modes.

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