A gas switching system and related semiconductor process method

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a gas switching system and a related semiconductor process method. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a gas switching system is provided, which is suitable for providing a gas switching function to a semiconductor process device, wherein the semiconductor process device at least includes a process gas source disposed upstream, a process chamber disposed downstream, and a vacuum pump, wherein the gas switching system is disposed between the process gas source and the process chamber, and is characterized in that the gas switching system includes: a first reaction gas inlet and a second reaction gas inlet disposed substantially centrally, wherein the first reaction gas inlet and the second reaction gas inlet are respectively configured to receive reaction gas from the process gas source; a first valve body unit and a second valve body unit disposed respectively on both sides of the first reaction gas inlet; and a third valve body unit and a fourth valve body unit disposed respectively on both sides of the second reaction gas inlet.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of semiconductor processing, and more particularly to a gas switching system and a semiconductor process method based on the gas switching system. Background Art

[0002] Semiconductor manufacturing processes can use atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology to process the substrate, so that the material is deposited layer by layer on the substrate surface in the form of a single atomic film, in order to obtain a dense, non-porous and uniformly thick film.

[0003] When using ALD technology and similar technologies for semiconductor processing, more than two elements can be used for deposition, for example, gaseous precursor pulses are alternately introduced into the reactor and chemically adsorbed on the deposition substrate and reacted on the surface to form a deposited film. Between two precursor pulses, the atomic layer deposition reactor can be purged or cleaned with, for example, an inert gas.

[0004] Under the control of a logic unit or a microprocessor, the basic cycle of ALD deposition generally includes the following four steps: pulse A→purge A→pulse B→purge B. The above deposition cycle can be repeated until a film with a desired thickness is deposited. Pulse A may include a first precursor pulse, and pulse B may include another precursor pulse. During purge A and purge B, an inert gas and a vacuum pump may be used to purge the byproducts of the gaseous reaction and the residual reactants in the reaction chamber. It should be understood that the above cycle may also use three or more reactant pulses according to actual needs, and some of the purge steps may be omitted.

[0005] However, the existing ALD gas switching system often takes a long time to obtain a stable gas flow rate (e.g., 2 to 5 seconds), and because there is often a purge dead zone in the structural design of the pipeline device, a long purge time is often required to reduce the hidden dangers caused by gas mixing, which not only leads to low deposition efficiency, but also brings problems such as poor uniformity and particle residue. Moreover, in the process of advanced technology nodes, when ALD is used to fill holes on the substrate surface (e.g., filling holes in the substrate to form shallow trench isolation (STI) areas), if the holes have a large aspect ratio, the above-mentioned defects of ALD deposition will also make it difficult to fill the holes accurately, thereby causing hole filling defects.

[0006] Therefore, it is necessary to develop a fast and efficient gas switching system and method to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0007] The purpose of the present application is to provide a gas switching system and a related semiconductor process method to improve hole filling efficiency and hole filling coverage.

[0008] One embodiment of the present application provides a gas switching system, which is suitable for providing a gas switching function to a semiconductor process device, wherein the semiconductor process device at least includes a process gas source arranged upstream, a process chamber arranged downstream, and a vacuum pump, and the gas switching system is arranged between the process gas source and the process chamber, and is characterized in that the gas switching system includes: a first reaction gas inlet and a second reaction gas inlet substantially centrally arranged, the first reaction gas inlet and the second reaction gas inlet are respectively configured to receive the reaction gas from the process gas source; a first valve body unit and a second valve body unit respectively arranged on both sides of the first reaction gas inlet; and a third valve body unit and a fourth valve body unit respectively arranged on both sides of the second reaction gas inlet.

[0009] Another embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor process method, which includes receiving a semiconductor workpiece having a hole feature thereon; performing thin film adsorption deposition to deposit a thin film material in the hole feature; performing a trimming treatment to delay the closure of the opening at the opening of the hole mouth feature; wherein during the thin film adsorption deposition and the trimming treatment, a gas switching system as described in any one of claims 1 to 14 is used to perform reaction source switching, and the reaction source switching includes switching between a first reaction gas and a second reaction gas in a cycle of less than 1 second.

[0010] It should be understood that the broad forms of the present disclosure and their respective features may be used in combination, interchangeably and / or independently and are not intended to be limited to reference to a single broad form. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor process device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 2A A schematic diagram showing a first gas supply state of a gas switching system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 2B A schematic diagram showing a second gas supply state of a gas switching system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 3A Shows Figure 2A The shown structure is an embodiment of the main unit of the gas switching system in the first gas supply state.

[0015] Figure 3B Shows Figure 2BThe shown structure is an embodiment of the main unit of the gas switching system in the second gas supply state.

[0016] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing how a hole or recess would be ideally filled.

[0017] Figure 5 Schematic diagram showing hole or groove filling under conventional ALD process.

[0018] Figure 6 Schematic diagram showing hole or groove filling under the modified ALD process.

[0019] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] In order to better understand the spirit of the present disclosure, some preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are further described below.

[0021] In this specification, unless otherwise specified or limited, relative terms such as "central", "longitudinal", "lateral", "front", "rear", "right", "left", "inner", "outer", "lower", "higher", "horizontal", "vertical", "above", "below", "above", "below", "top", "bottom" and their derivative terms (such as "horizontally", "downwardly", "upwardly", etc.) should be interpreted as referring to the directions described in the discussion or depicted in the drawings. These relative terms are only used for convenience of description and do not require that the present application be constructed or operated in a specific direction.

[0022] Various embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed in detail below. Although specific implementations are discussed, it should be understood that these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only. Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that other components and configurations may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor process device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1As shown, the semiconductor process device (10) includes a process gas source (101), a gas switching system (102), a process chamber (103) and a vacuum pump (104), wherein the gas switching system (102) is used to provide a gas switching function for the semiconductor process device. In addition, the process gas source (101) is arranged upstream of the semiconductor process device (10), the process chamber (103) is arranged downstream of the semiconductor process device (10), and the gas switching system (102) is arranged between the process gas source (101) and the process chamber (103). Specifically, as Figure 1 As indicated by the arrow, the gas switching system (102) receives at least one gas source provided by the process gas source (101) and is connected to a controller (not shown) signal to switch the reaction gas under the control of the controller, thereby providing the reaction gas to the process chamber (103) and feeding the non-reaction gas to the vacuum pump (104) to be discharged from the semiconductor process device (10). In addition, the byproducts and residual reactants after the gaseous reaction in the process chamber (103) are also discharged from the semiconductor process device (10) via the vacuum pump (104).

[0024] Different from the one-way, separate valve body widely used in the prior art, the present invention Figure 1 In the semiconductor process device shown, the valve bodies of the gas switching system (102) located between the process gas source (101) and the process chamber (103) are integrated into a valve group to form an integrated gas switching system, which not only reduces the connection distance and connection characteristics of the pipelines between the valve bodies, realizes the rapid switching of the gas path, but also can flexibly add a purge gas path as needed to ensure that different reactants will not converge in the same pipeline, thereby avoiding the formation of a structural dead zone. The structure of the integrated gas switching system (102) will be described in detail below.

[0025] Figure 2A A schematic diagram showing a first gas supply state of a gas switching system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2AAs shown, the gas switching system (202) includes a first reaction gas inlet (213) and a second reaction gas inlet (214), and is configured to provide reaction gas A and reaction gas B received from a process gas source (not shown). Preferably, the first reaction gas inlet (213) and the second reaction gas inlet (214) can be substantially centrally arranged, for example (but not limited to) arranged along the symmetry line A-A' of the gas switching system (202) body. As an embodiment, in order to grow oxide films such as SiO, TiO, AlO, HfO, ZrO, and MgO, the reaction gas combination can be changed in the process so that the first gas (such as reaction gas A) contains at least oxygen atoms, and the second gas (such as reaction gas B) contains at least nitrogen atoms. Similarly, in order to grow nitride films such as SiN, TiN, AlN, and HfN, the reaction gas combination can also be changed in the process so that the first gas (such as reaction gas A) contains at least nitrogen atoms, and the second gas (such as reaction gas B) contains at least hydrogen atoms.

[0026] However, it should be understood that the reaction gas A and the reaction gas B can be two different types of gases or the same type of gas with different contents.

[0027] Still see Figure 2A The gas switching system (202) further includes a first valve unit (21) and a second valve unit (22) respectively disposed on both sides of the first reaction gas inlet (213), and a third valve unit (23) and a fourth valve unit (24) respectively disposed on both sides of the second reaction gas inlet (214). The gas switching system (202) is respectively connected to the external process chamber (203) and the vacuum pump (204), and receives the purge gas C from the process gas source (not shown). Figure 2A As shown, the first gas supply state of the gas switching system (202) is intended to provide the reaction gas A to the process chamber (203).

[0028] In one embodiment, the first valve unit (21) can be configured to control opening or closing of a passage leading to the vacuum pump (204), and the second valve unit (22) can be configured to control opening or closing of a passage leading to the process chamber (203). In another embodiment, the third valve unit (23) is connected to the first valve unit (21) via a passage and can be configured to control opening or closing of a passage leading to the vacuum pump (204), and the fourth valve unit (24) is connected to the second valve unit (22) via a passage and can be configured to control opening or closing of a passage leading to the process chamber (203).

[0029] by Figure 2AFor example, when the reaction gas A needs to be supplied to the process chamber (203), the first valve unit (21) and the fourth valve unit (24) are closed, and the second valve unit (22) and the third valve unit (23) are opened, so that the reaction gas A (e.g., Figure 2A The reaction gas B (shown as a thick black solid line) flows into the process chamber (203) through the second valve unit (22) on the one hand, and flows to the first valve unit (21) and is blocked thereon on the other hand; the reaction gas B (shown as a thick black solid line) output from the second reaction gas inlet (214) Figure 2A The purge gas C (shown by the dotted line) is sucked into the vacuum pump (204) through the third valve unit (23) and flows to the fourth valve unit (24) and is blocked by it. Figure 2A The first reaction gas inlet (213) and the first valve unit (21) are connected to the first reaction gas inlet (214) and the fourth valve unit (24) respectively. Figure 2A However, these retained reaction gases do not affect the normal supply of reaction gases.

[0030] Figure 2B A schematic diagram showing a second gas supply state of a gas switching system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2A The first state is the opposite. Figure 2B The corresponding second state is intended to supply the reaction gas B to the process chamber (203) through the gas switching system (202). In this second state, when the reaction gas B needs to be supplied to the process chamber (203), the first valve unit (21) and the fourth valve unit (24) are opened, and the second valve unit (22) and the third valve unit (23) are closed, so that the reaction gas B (such as Figure 2B The reaction gas A (shown as the dotted line) flows into the process chamber (203) through the fourth valve unit (24) on the one hand, and flows to the third valve unit (23) and is blocked thereon on the other hand; the reaction gas A (shown as the dotted line) output from the first reaction gas inlet (213) Figure 2B The purge gas C (shown as a thick black solid line) is sucked into the vacuum pump (204) through the first valve unit (21) and flows to the second valve unit (22) and is blocked by it. Figure 2BThe first reaction gas inlet (213) and the second valve unit (22) are connected to the first reaction gas inlet (214) and the second valve unit (23). The reaction gas A is connected to the second reaction gas inlet (214) and the third valve unit (23). Figure 2B However, these retained reaction gases do not affect the normal supply of reaction gases.

[0031] from Figure 2A and 2B It can be seen that the purge gas C can maintain a constant flow and always merge with the reaction gas delivered to the process chamber (203) to flow into the process chamber (203). Thanks to the integrated valve body and the single constant flow purge gas C, during the switching process between the first gas supply state and the second gas supply state, the gas switching system (202) does not have the unfavorable situation that the reaction gas A and the reaction gas B are mixed and flow into the process chamber (203) regardless of how the reaction gas A and the reaction gas B are switched (i.e., the generation of a dead zone is avoided). Therefore, although there are stagnant reaction gases in both the first gas supply state and the second gas supply state, it is not necessary to purge them separately, thereby simplifying the process, speeding up the process and improving efficiency.

[0032] Figure 3A Shows Figure 2A The structure of the main unit of the gas switching system shown in the figure is in the first gas supply state. Figure 3AAs shown, the first reaction gas inlet (313) and the second reaction gas inlet (314) are arranged substantially along a symmetry axis of the main body unit (302) of the gas switching system. In one embodiment, the first valve body unit (31) and the second valve body unit (32) respectively arranged on both sides of the first reaction gas inlet (313) can be arranged substantially in a mirror image relative to the symmetry axis of the main body unit (302); similarly, the third valve body unit (33) and the fourth valve body unit (34) respectively arranged on both sides of the second reaction gas inlet (314) can be arranged substantially in a mirror image relative to the symmetry axis of the main body unit (302). The third valve body unit (33) can be connected to the first valve body unit (31) via a first bending channel (35), and the fourth valve body unit (34) can be connected to the second valve body unit (32) via a second bending channel (36), and the first bending channel (35) and the second bending channel (36) which are respectively V-shaped and have their apexes pointing to the symmetry axis are not connected to each other and are arranged substantially in a mirror image relative to the symmetry axis. It should be understood that a substantially symmetrical design can bring many benefits in terms of the convenience of device processing and the stability of fluid action during application operation. However, the first curved channel (35) and the second curved channel (36) do not need to be arranged in a mirror image relative to the symmetry axis, and can be designed in other shapes according to the actual structural design requirements. In another embodiment, the body unit (302) may further include an output pipe (3031), which extends generally along the direction of the symmetry axis and is in fluid communication with the process chamber (303), and is arranged at the upper end of the body unit (302). In another embodiment, the body unit (302) may further include an exhaust pipe (3041) extending generally along the direction of the symmetry axis and in fluid communication with the vacuum pump (304), and a purge gas inlet (3151) extending generally along the direction of the symmetry axis and in fluid communication with the purge gas source (315), and the exhaust pipe (3041) and the purge gas inlet (3151) are both arranged at the lower end of the body unit (302).

[0033] When the reaction gas A is supplied to the process chamber (303) in the first gas supply state, the first valve unit (31) and the fourth valve unit (34) are closed, and the second valve unit (32) and the third valve unit (33) are opened, so that the reaction gas A (such as Figure 3A The reaction gas B (shown as a thick black solid line) flows into the process chamber (303) through the second valve unit (32) on the one hand, and flows to the first valve unit (31) and is blocked thereon on the other hand; the reaction gas B (shown as a thick black solid line) output from the second reaction gas inlet (314) Figure 3A The purge gas C (shown by the dotted line) is sucked into the vacuum pump (304) through the third valve unit (33) and flows to the first valve unit (31) and the fourth valve unit (34) and is blocked by them. Figure 3AThe first reaction gas inlet (313) and the first valve unit (31) are connected to the main body unit (302) and are transported to the process chamber (303) through the second bending channel (36) together with the reaction gas A flowing through the second valve unit (32). It should be understood that in this first gas supply state, the retained reaction gas A between the first reaction gas inlet (313) and the first valve unit (31) and the retained reaction gas B between the second reaction gas inlet (314) and the fourth valve unit (34) do not affect the normal supply of the reaction gas.

[0034] Figure 3B Shows Figure 2B The shown structure is an embodiment of the main unit of the gas switching system in the second gas supply state. Figure 3B Shown with Figure 3A The structures are similar, but the difference lies in the different states and positions of the valve body units.

[0035] When the reaction gas B is supplied to the process chamber (303) in the second gas supply state, the first valve unit (31) and the fourth valve unit (34) are opened, and the second valve unit (32) and the third valve unit (33) are closed, so that the reaction gas B (such as Figure 3B The reaction gas A (shown as the dotted line) flows into the process chamber (303) through the fourth valve unit (34) via the second bending channel (36) and the second valve unit (32), and flows to the third valve unit (33) and is blocked thereon. The reaction gas A (shown as the dotted line) output from the first reaction gas inlet (313) Figure 3B On the one hand, the purge gas C (shown by the thick black solid line) passes through the first valve unit (31) and is sucked into the vacuum pump (304) via the first bending channel (35) and the third valve unit (33), and on the other hand, it flows to the second valve unit (32) and is blocked by it. Figure 3B The first reaction gas inlet (314) (shown by the dashed line) flows into the main unit (302) from the purge gas inlet (315) and is transported to the process chamber (303) together with the reaction gas A flowing through the second valve unit (32) through the second bending channel (36). It should be understood that in this second gas supply state, the retained reaction gas A between the first reaction gas inlet (313) and the second valve unit (32) and the retained reaction gas B between the second reaction gas inlet (314) and the third valve unit (33) do not affect the normal supply of the reaction gas.

[0036] It can be seen that Figure 3A and Figure 3B The gas inlet design arranged along the central axis enables each valve body to be integrated and symmetrically arranged, thereby reducing the flow path length and avoiding contamination caused by overlapping flow paths of different gases. Figure 3A and Figure 3B The integrated valve body and the single constant flow purge gas C can ensure that during the switching process between the first gas supply state and the second gas supply state of the main unit (302), no matter how the reaction gas A and the reaction gas B are switched, there will be no adverse situation where the reaction gas A and the reaction gas B are mixed and flow into the process chamber (303) (i.e., the generation of a dead zone is avoided), so there is no need to purge the retained reaction gas in the first gas supply state and the second gas supply state. In this way, Figure 3A and Figure 3B The structure shown can allow the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas to be switched in a cycle of less than 1 second, thereby significantly improving the film formation efficiency.

[0037] based on FIG. 2A to FIG. 3B The gas switching system and the main unit disclosed in each embodiment, the present invention further develops a semiconductor process method related thereto, which will be described in detail below.

[0038] Figure 4 Shows a schematic diagram of the ideal hole or groove filling. Figure 4 As shown, the surface of the substrate (401) includes a hole (402) (or can be called a groove), and the hole (402) can be, for example, a shallow trench isolation STI or any area or element to be filled, wherein STI can be used to provide electrical isolation between individual transistor devices in an integrated circuit, and can include using a high-quality silicon (Si) oxide film to fill the hole (402). Ideally, the filler (403) can completely fill the hole (402) without leaving gaps, bubbles or any substances other than the filler (403), so that it can present the following Figure 4 The complete and solid filling effect shown. Void-free filling is important because the film may be subjected to further processing in subsequent process steps, which will cause voids to be exposed. In particular, the voids may then be filled with conductive materials, resulting in short circuits between different conductors on the chip. However, under the influence of various factors, it is often difficult to obtain the above ideal filling effect in actual processes.

[0039] Figure 5 Schematic diagram showing hole or groove filling under traditional ALD process. Figure 5As shown, the hole (502) on the surface of the substrate (501) cannot actually be completely filled by the filler (503) under the traditional ALD process, and the film deposited on the sidewall may merge and close the opening of the hole (502), resulting in a gap (504) in the center of the filler (503). For holes (502) with an aspect ratio (AR) greater than or equal to 10:1, the above phenomenon is particularly obvious. In addition, the gap (504) is often wide at the bottom and narrow at the top and is sealed at the upper surface of the adjacent filler (503). Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish whether there is a gap (504) inside the hole (502) from the surface of the finished product, thereby causing device defects or even failure.

[0040] Figure 6 Schematic diagram showing hole or groove filling under improved ALD process. By increasing deposition time, increasing RF time, changing high / low RF power (e.g. changing HRF / LRF power) and adding opening correction and other ALD process improvement measures, the following can be obtained: Figure 6 The filling effect shown is that most of the holes (602) on the surface of the substrate (601) are filled with fillers (603), and only a small gap (604) appears in the upper part of the center of the filler (603). Figure 6 The hole filling effect shown is significantly better than Figure 5 The hole filling effect shown in Figure 4 The ideal filling effect shown is not achieved, so it is still difficult to avoid device defects or failures.

[0041] In order to achieve Figure 4 The ideal filling effect shown requires a lot of gas conversion to fill or process, but the general hardware gas conversion design takes too long to produce. FIG. 2A to FIG. 3B A semiconductor process method of a gas switching system according to the embodiment is shown.

[0042] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a semiconductor manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. In step (a), a semiconductor device having a hole feature (such as Figure 7 A substrate (701) having holes (702) as shown in the figure is provided, and a thin film adsorption deposition (adsorption / depo) process is performed to deposit a thin film material (703) in the holes (702) on the surface of the substrate (701). In one embodiment, step (a) can be implemented under conditions of a higher film production rate to increase the surface adsorption amount and the hole filling ability. It should be understood that step (a) itself can be repeated multiple times, and a precursor absorption step can be selectively added before the plasma reaction to improve the deposition effect. It should also be understood that the pressure of the thin film adsorption deposition process can be 2 Torr to 30 Torr, and the pulse time can be greater than or equal to 1 second. As Figure 7As shown, in step (a), due to the geometric shielding effect, the film deposited on the top of the sidewall will be more than the film deposited on the bottom of the sidewall. If no timely intervention is made, the opening of the hole (502) will close prematurely, thereby forming a cavity in the hole (702).

[0043] To prevent the opening from closing prematurely, in step (b), a trimming / treatment process is performed on the hole (702) by applying, for example (but not limited to), a plasma pulse, etc., so as to delay the closing of the opening at the opening of the hole (702). In one embodiment, the trimming / treatment process of step (b) can be performed using a higher RF power and / or a longer RF time. It should be understood that step (b) itself can be repeated multiple times, and can return to step (a) to cyclically perform steps (a) and (b).

[0044] Next, in step (c), atomic layer deposition is performed and switching between the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas is performed at a cycle of less than 1 second, thereby further filling the hole (702) on the basis of the corrected opening obtained in step (b). In one embodiment, the intensity of the plasma and / or the reaction of different gases can be controlled to avoid premature sealing of the upper half of the thin film material (703) (i.e., the growth rate of the upper half of the hole (702) is slower than that of the lower half), so that the thin film material (703) grows from bottom to top in the hole (702). It should be understood that the atomic layer deposition process used in step (c) may include, for example, thermal atomic layer deposition (Th-ALD) and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD). It should still be understood that step (c) itself can be repeated multiple times, and can return to step (a) to cyclically perform steps (a), step (b) and step (c).

[0045] As an embodiment, by using the high-frequency reaction gas switching device disclosed in this case, step (b) and step (c) can be combined and performed in the same step. For example, whether the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas are the same gas with different contents or belong to two different types of gases, the trimming process can be performed at any time as needed during the switching process of the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas.

[0046] Finally, in step (d), several atomic layer depositions are performed to finally form the desired filling effect as shown in step (d). Figure 7During the entire process shown, the camber angle of the inner cone of the hole (702) on the substrate (701) is controlled to be no greater than 88.2 degrees so that no gaps appear in the hole. It should be understood that step (d) itself can be repeated multiple times, and can return to step (a) to cycle through steps (a), (b), (c) and (d) to obtain a better filling effect. However, step (c) does not have to be included in the cycle, and can only be cycled between steps (a), (b) and (d).

[0047] It can be seen that in order to achieve the ideal filling effect shown in step (d), it is necessary to ensure that the period of switching between the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas in steps (c) and (d) is less than 1 second. The one-way and separate valve bodies used in the prior art cannot meet this requirement. However, with the help of the present invention FIG. 2A to FIG. 3B The gas switching system and the main unit disclosed in each embodiment, Figure 7 The above steps (c) and (d) can ensure that the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas are switched in a cycle of less than 1 second, thereby achieving an ideal filling effect.

[0048] The gas switching system provided in each embodiment of the present disclosure reduces the connection distance and connection characteristics of the pipelines between valve bodies, realizes rapid switching of gas circuits, and can flexibly add purge gas circuits as needed to ensure that different reactants do not converge in the same pipeline, thereby avoiding dead zones in the pipelines.

[0049] Moreover, the gas switching system provided in each embodiment of the present disclosure has a simple structure and can effectively shorten the atomic layer deposition reaction time and purge time, thereby increasing production capacity, improving process production quality and creating good production economic value. Therefore, it can be widely used in existing processes such as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD) and future semiconductor processes.

[0050] The technical content and technical features of the present disclosure have been described by the above-mentioned relevant embodiments, but the above-mentioned embodiments are only examples for implementing the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art may still make various substitutions and modifications based on the teachings and disclosures of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments of the present disclosure do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. On the contrary, modifications and equivalent settings contained in the spirit and scope of the claims are included in the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A gas switching system, which is suitable for providing a gas switching function to a semiconductor process device, wherein the semiconductor process device at least comprises a process gas source disposed upstream, a process chamber disposed downstream, and a vacuum pump, wherein the gas switching system is disposed between the process gas source and the process chamber, and wherein: The gas switching system comprises: a first reaction gas inlet and a second reaction gas inlet, wherein the first reaction gas inlet and the second reaction gas inlet are respectively configured to receive reaction gas from the process gas source; a first valve body unit and a second valve body unit respectively disposed on both sides of the first reaction gas inlet; and a third valve unit and a fourth valve unit respectively disposed on both sides of the second reaction gas inlet, wherein the fourth valve unit is connected to the second valve unit via a channel and is disposed upstream of the channel leading to the second valve unit, The gas switching system is configured to simultaneously deliver one of the first reactant gas and the second reactant gas and a cleaning gas from a cleaning gas source to the process chamber.

2. The gas switching system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first valve unit is configured to control opening or closing of a passage leading to the vacuum pump, and the second valve unit is configured to control opening or closing of a passage leading to the process chamber.

3. The gas switching system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The third valve unit is connected to the first valve unit via a channel and is configured to control opening or closing of a channel leading to the vacuum pump, and the fourth valve unit is configured to control opening or closing of a channel leading to the process chamber.

4. The gas switching system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first reaction gas inlet and the second reaction gas inlet are substantially centrally disposed.

5. The gas switching system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The gas switching system includes a body unit, wherein the first reaction gas inlet and the second reaction gas inlet are substantially disposed along a symmetry axis of the body unit.

6. The gas switching system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The first valve body unit and the second valve body unit respectively arranged on both sides of the first reaction gas inlet are substantially mirror-imaged relative to the symmetry axis; and the third valve body unit and the fourth valve body unit respectively arranged on both sides of the second reaction gas inlet are substantially mirror-imaged relative to the symmetry axis.

7. The gas switching system according to claim 5, characterized in that Further including: The output pipe extends along the symmetry axis and is in fluid communication with the process chamber, and is disposed at one end of the body unit.

8. The gas switching system according to claim 5, characterized in that Further including: an exhaust pipe extending along the symmetry axis and connected to the vacuum pump fluid; and a clean gas inlet extending along the symmetry axis and connected to the clean gas source fluid, wherein the exhaust pipe and the clean gas inlet are both arranged at the other end of the body unit.

9. The gas switching system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The third valve body unit is connected to the first valve body unit via a first bending channel; The fourth valve body unit is connected to the second valve body unit via a second bending channel; and The first bending channel and the second bending channel are not connected to each other.

10. The gas switching system according to claim 9, characterized in that: The first bending channel and the second bending channel are substantially arranged in a mirror image with respect to a symmetry axis of a main unit of the gas switching system.

11. The gas switching system according to claim 10, characterized in that: The first bending channel and the second bending channel are respectively V-shaped, and the vertices thereof point to the symmetry axis respectively.

12. The gas switching system according to claim 1, wherein: The gas switching system is connected to a controller signal and is configured to control the switching of the output of the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas to the process chamber in a cycle of less than 1 second.

13. The gas switching system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first reaction gas contains at least oxygen atoms, and the second reaction gas contains at least nitrogen atoms.

14. The gas switching system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first reaction gas contains at least nitrogen atoms, and the second reaction gas contains at least hydrogen atoms.

15. A semiconductor manufacturing method, characterized in that: include: receiving a semiconductor workpiece having a hole feature therein; performing thin film adsorption deposition to deposit thin film material in the hole features; as well as performing a trimming process at the opening of the hole mouth feature to delay closing of the opening, During the thin film adsorption deposition and the trimming process, the gas switching system according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is used to implement reaction source switching, wherein the reaction source switching includes switching between a first reaction gas and a second reaction gas in a cycle of less than 1 second.

16. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, characterized in that: The trimming process includes increasing RF power to enlarge the opening to avoid closing the opening.

17. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, characterized in that: The trimming process includes increasing the RF time to enlarge the opening to avoid closing the opening.

18. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, characterized in that: include: The reaction source is switched to control the outward inclination angle of the inner cone of the hole feature on the semiconductor workpiece to be controlled to be no greater than 88.2 degrees.

19. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, wherein: The process pressure for implementing the thin film adsorption deposition is 2 Torr to 30 Torr.

20. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, wherein: The hole feature of the semiconductor workpiece has an aspect ratio of substantially at most 10.

21. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, wherein: At least one of the thin film adsorption deposition, the trimming treatment, and the reaction source switching process is repeatedly performed.

22. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, characterized in that: The thin film adsorption deposition, the trimming treatment and the atomic layer deposition process are performed cyclically.

23. The semiconductor process method according to claim 15, wherein: The thin film adsorption deposition, the trimming treatment, the reaction source switching and the atomic layer deposition process are performed cyclically.

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