Air inlet device capable of reducing number of particles, thin film deposition equipment and control method of air inlet device

Abstract

The invention discloses a gas inlet device capable of reducing the number of particles, which comprises a process gas inlet pipeline, a cleaning gas inlet pipeline, a remote plasma source and a central pipe, the gas inlet ends of the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline are both connected to the same gas tank, and the gas outlet end of the cleaning gas inlet pipeline is connected to the remote plasma source; the remote plasma source and the gas outlet end of the process gas inlet pipeline are both connected to the central pipe, and the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline can execute on-off actions so that the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline can be communicated or disconnected with a gas passage step by step. The invention further discloses thin film deposition equipment and a control method thereof, a process gas inlet pipeline and a cleaning gas inlet pipeline are independently arranged, and are respectively provided with an independent pneumatic valve for controlling the on-off of the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline, so that the process gas and the cleaning gas are respectively controlled to independently work according to the working state; therefore, fluorination corrosion or particle pollution caused by an existing shared pipeline is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of air intake devices in semiconductor equipment, and in particular to an air intake device for reducing the number of particles, a thin film deposition device and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] The top process gas O2 and cleaning gas NF3 of existing HDPCVD (high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition) equipment are usually designed to share a common inlet pipeline. During the cleaning operation, the NF3 gas introduced is mainly dissociated into fluoride ions through the RPS (remote plasma source) to remove the process film remaining inside the chamber. During the process operation, the process recipe will introduce O2 into the chamber through the same inlet pipeline as NF3.

[0003] Fluoride ions are highly oxidizing. During the cleaning operation, NF3 gas dissociates into fluoride ions. When flowing through the center tube, the high-temperature and high-concentration fluoride ions are likely to cause serious fluorination corrosion to the inner wall of the center tube, producing a large number of residual particles, which will not only reduce the service life of the center tube, but also affect the quality and yield of wafer film formation. In addition, some process formulas will pass O2 into the cavity through the same air intake pipeline as NF3. When O2 flows through the inside of the RPS, it is easy to blow the particles accumulated in the RPS for a long time into the cavity, causing particle pollution problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and to provide an air intake device for reducing the number of particles and a thin film deposition device and a control method thereof, so as to solve the technical problem that the existing process gas and cleaning gas share the same air intake pipeline.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an air intake device for reducing the number of particles, comprising: a process gas inlet pipeline, a cleaning gas inlet pipeline, a remote plasma source and a central tube, wherein the inlet ends of the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline are both connected to the same gas box, the outlet end of the cleaning gas inlet pipeline is connected to the remote plasma source, and the outlet ends of the remote plasma source and the process gas inlet pipeline are both connected to the central tube, wherein the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline can both perform an on-off action so that the two can connect or disconnect the gas passage in steps.

[0007] Wherein, a diaphragm valve is further provided between the gas inlet end of the central tube and the gas outlet end of the remote plasma source, and the diaphragm valve is used to control the on-off of the cleaning gas inlet pipeline leading to the central tube.

[0008] Wherein, the process gas inlet pipeline includes: a mixed air inlet pipe, a three-way pipe connected to the output end of the mixed air inlet pipe, a process gas inlet pipe connected to one of the outlet ends of the three-way pipe, and a first pneumatic valve connected to the process gas inlet pipe, the outlet end of the process air inlet pipe is connected to the center pipe, and the inlet end of the mixed air inlet pipe is connected to the air box.

[0009] Wherein, the cleaning gas inlet pipeline includes: a cleaning gas inlet pipe connected to the other outlet end of the three-way pipe, a second pneumatic valve connected to the cleaning gas inlet pipe, and the outlet end of the cleaning gas inlet pipe is connected to the inlet of the remote plasma source.

[0010] Wherein, the gas outlet end of the central tube is also connected to a process chamber, and the process chamber is used for semiconductor thin film deposition.

[0011] Wherein, a black anodized layer and / or heat dissipation fins are provided on the outer wall of the central tube.

[0012] Wherein, the black anodized layer is arranged on the upper part of the outer wall of the central tube, and the heat dissipation fins are protrudingly arranged on the lower part of the outer wall of the central tube.

[0013] Among them, the central tube includes: a central tube body and a cooling tube buried in the central tube body; an arc-shaped groove is opened at the top of the central tube body, part of the cooling tube is sunk in the arc-shaped groove, and the arc-shaped groove is arranged around the central channel of the central tube.

[0014] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a thin film deposition device, wherein the thin film deposition device comprises an air intake device for reducing the number of particles as described in any one of the above items.

[0015] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an intake control method, the intake control method being performed by an intake device for reducing the number of particles as described in any one of the above, comprising the following steps:

[0016] Start the air intake device for reducing the number of particles, and determine whether the current working state is the process gas intake state or the process chamber cleaning state;

[0017] If the current working state is the process gas intake state, the first pneumatic valve is controlled to open, and the second pneumatic valve and the diaphragm pump are closed at the same time;

[0018] If the current working state is the process chamber cleaning state, the first pneumatic valve is controlled to be closed, and the second pneumatic valve and the diaphragm pump are opened at the same time.

[0019] The air intake device for reducing the number of particles and its thin film deposition equipment and control method of the present invention independently set the air intake pipeline for process gas and the air intake pipeline for cleaning gas, and each is provided with an independent pneumatic valve to control the on-off thereof, so that the process gas and the cleaning gas can be controlled to work independently according to the working status, thereby avoiding fluorination corrosion or particle contamination caused by the existing shared pipeline.

[0020] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present invention, it can be implemented in accordance with the contents of the specification. In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the following preferred embodiments are specifically cited and described in detail as follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 This is an axonometric view of the overall structure of an air intake device for reducing the number of particles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 FIG. 1 is an overall side view of an air intake device for reducing the number of particles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3 A longitudinal cross-sectional view of an air intake device for reducing the number of particles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 for Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the enlarged structure of local A in the middle.

[0025] Figure 5 This is a schematic structural diagram of a first implementation of a central tube of an air intake device for reducing the number of particles according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 6 This is a schematic structural diagram of a second implementation of the central tube of the air intake device for reducing the number of particles in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Description of reference numerals:

[0028] An air intake device 100 for reducing the number of particles, an air intake pipeline assembly 1, a remote plasma source 2, a central tube 3, a process chamber 4, a gas block 5, a top nozzle 6, a cleaning gas intake pipeline 10, a process gas intake pipeline 20, a mixing intake pipe 11, a three-way pipe 12, a cleaning gas intake pipe 13, a process gas intake pipe 14, a first pneumatic valve 15, a second pneumatic valve 16, a diaphragm valve 17, a process chamber 41, a black anodized layer 31, a heat dissipation fin 32, an annular disk 33, a flange 34, a central tube body 301, a circular disk 302, a cooling tube 303, a bottom flange 304, a central channel 311, a screw hole 312, a central channel 3011, an arc groove 3021, and a connecting hole 3022. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0030] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships described in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0032] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0033] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be connected, detachably connected, or integrated; it can be mechanically connected or electrically connected; it can be directly connected or indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0034] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being "above" or "below" a second feature may include that the first and second features are in direct contact, or may include that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact through another feature between them. Moreover, a first feature being "above", "above" and "above" a second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being "below", "below" and "below" a second feature includes that the first feature is directly below and obliquely below the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0035] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic representation of the above terms should not be understood as necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0036] The top process gas O2 and the cleaning gas NF3 of the existing HDPCVD (high-density plasma chemical vapor deposition) equipment are usually designed to share a common air inlet pipeline. When performing the cleaning operation, the NF3 gas introduced is mainly dissociated into fluoride ions through the RPS (remote plasma source) to remove the process film remaining inside the chamber. When performing the process operation, the process recipe will pass O2 into the chamber through the same air inlet pipeline as NF3. However, fluoride ions have strong oxidizing properties. During the cleaning operation, the NF3 gas is dissociated into fluoride ions. When flowing through the central tube, the high-temperature and high-concentration fluoride ions are likely to cause serious fluorination corrosion to the inner wall of the central tube, generating a large number of residual particles, which will not only reduce the service life of the central tube, but also affect the quality and yield of wafer film formation. In addition, some process recipes will pass O2 into the chamber through the same air inlet pipeline as NF3. When O2 flows through the inside of the RPS, it is easy to blow the particles accumulated in the RPS for a long time into the chamber, causing particle pollution problems. Based on the above requirements, this embodiment provides an air intake device 100 for reducing the number of particles.

[0037] See also Figures 1 to 6 This embodiment discloses an air intake device 100 for reducing the number of particles, which includes an air intake pipeline assembly 1 with one inlet and two outlets, and an air intake device controlled by the air intake pipeline assembly 1.

[0038] Specifically, the air intake device 100 for reducing the number of particles includes: a process gas inlet pipeline 20, a cleaning gas inlet pipeline 10, a remote plasma source 2 and a central tube 3, wherein the inlet ends of the process gas inlet pipeline 20 and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline 10 are both connected to the same gas box (not shown in the figure), the outlet end of the cleaning gas inlet pipeline 10 is connected to the remote plasma source 2, and the outlet ends of the remote plasma source 2 and the process gas inlet pipeline 20 are both connected to the central tube 3, wherein the process gas inlet pipeline 20 and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline 10 can both perform an on-off action so that the two can connect or disconnect the gas passage in steps.

[0039] The gas box is a device that can provide process gas and cleaning gas. For example, the process gas in this embodiment is oxygen, and the cleaning gas is NF3.

[0040] During the cleaning operation, the RPS (remote plasma source) is mainly used to dissociate the introduced NF3 gas into fluorine ions to remove the residual process film inside the process chamber 41 (the chamber for film deposition). In this process, the process gas inlet pipeline 20 is closed, and the process gas O2 will not bring particles generated by fluorine ion cleaning into the process chamber 41, thereby preventing the particles from affecting the quality of film deposition.

[0041] Among them, a diaphragm valve 17 is also provided between the gas inlet end of the central tube 3 and the gas outlet end of the remote plasma source 2, and the diaphragm valve 17 is used to control the on-off of the cleaning gas inlet pipeline 20 to the central tube 3. Since the process gas inlet pipeline 20 and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline 10 are ultimately connected to the same central tube 3, and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline 10 needs to be processed by the remote plasma source 2 before entering the central tube 3, the diaphragm valve 17 is provided between the central tube 3 and the remote plasma source 2, and the process gas can be prevented from flowing back to the remote plasma source 2 through the central tube 3, thereby preventing the process gas from carrying particles generated by the cleaning gas into the process chamber 41, polluting the chamber and affecting the quality of thin film deposition.

[0042] In the gas pipeline, the diaphragm valve 17 also has the function of quickly controlling the on and off of the cleaning gas without causing pollution to the gas pipeline.

[0043] Please refer again Figure 1 The process gas inlet pipeline 20 includes: a mixed air inlet pipe 11, a three-way pipe 12 connected to the output end of the mixed air inlet pipe 11, a process gas inlet pipe 14 connected to one of the outlet ends of the three-way pipe 12, and a first pneumatic valve 15 connected to the process gas inlet pipe 14. The outlet end of the process air inlet pipe 14 is connected to the central pipe 3, and the inlet end of the mixed air inlet pipe 11 is connected to the air box (not shown in the figure).

[0044] The first pneumatic valve 15 is connected to the process gas inlet pipe 14 and is arranged as close to the center pipe 3 as possible, so as to prevent the cleaning gas from remaining in the process gas inlet pipe 14 after reflux.

[0045] The cleaning gas inlet pipeline 10 includes: a cleaning gas inlet pipe 13 connected to the other outlet end of the three-way pipe 12, a second pneumatic valve 16 connected to the cleaning gas inlet pipe 13, and the outlet end of the cleaning gas inlet pipe 13 is connected to the inlet of the remote plasma source 2.

[0046] Similarly, the second pneumatic valve 16 is disposed on the cleaning gas inlet pipe 13 and is disposed close to the remote plasma source 2 .

[0047] The gas outlet end of the central tube 3 is also connected to a process chamber 4, and the process chamber 4 is used for semiconductor thin film deposition.

[0048] The end of the output pipeline of the central tube 3 is also connected to the gas block 5, and the cleaning gas is transported to the top nozzle 6 through the gas block 5, and finally input into the process chamber 4 for chamber cleaning.

[0049] Fluoride ions are highly oxidizing. During the cleaning operation, NF3 gas dissociates into fluoride ions. When flowing through the central tube, the high-temperature and high-concentration fluoride ions easily cause serious fluorination corrosion to the inner wall of the central tube, generating a large amount of residual particles, which not only reduces the service life of the central tube, but also affects the quality and yield of wafer film formation. In order to reduce the temperature at the central tube 3, this embodiment adopts the following two methods to reduce the temperature of the central tube 3.

[0050] The first embodiment of the central tube 3 is as follows Figure 5 As shown, a black anodized layer 31 and / or heat dissipation fins 32 are provided on the outer wall of the central tube 3. The main body of the central tube 3 is a round tube, and a central channel 311 is provided in the middle for passing gas. In order not to increase the complexity of the pipeline and reduce the leakage points, the outer wall of the central tube 3 is subjected to black anodizing treatment to improve the emissivity of the central tube 3 and enhance the radiation heat exchange capacity. At the same time, a plurality of heat dissipation fins 32 are also provided on the side wall of the central tube 3 to increase its heat dissipation area and improve the heat dissipation efficiency.

[0051] It should be noted that the black anodized layer 31 or the heat dissipation fins 32 arranged on the side wall of the central tube 3 may be provided with the black anodized layer 31 only on the side wall of the central tube 3, or only the raised heat dissipation fins 32 may be provided. The black anodized layer 31 and the heat dissipation fins 32 may also be provided at different positions of the side wall of the central tube 3, and the black anodized layer 31 may be provided on the surface of the heat dissipation fins 32.

[0052] In this embodiment, a raised annular disk 33 is further provided at the middle position of the side wall of the central tube 3, the black anodized layer 31 is arranged on the upper part of the outer wall of the central tube 3, that is, the upper side wall of the annular disk 33, and the heat dissipation fins 32 are protruded from the lower part of the outer wall of the central tube 3, that is, the lower side wall of the annular disk 33.

[0053] The top of the central tube 3 is also provided with a plurality of screw holes 312 for inserting screws to connect the central tube 3 to the outlet of the remote plasma source 2. The lower end of the central tube 3 is also provided with a flange 34 for connecting the gas block 5.

[0054] Please refer again Figure 6 , which is a structural schematic diagram of a second embodiment of the central tube 3. In this embodiment, the central tube 3 includes: a central tube body 301 and a cooling tube 303 buried in the central tube body 301; an arc groove 3021 is provided at the top of the central tube body 301, and part of the cooling tube 303 is sunk in the arc groove 3021, and the arc groove 3021 is arranged around the central channel 3011 of the central tube 3. In order to facilitate the burying of the cooling tube 303, a circular disk 302 with a diameter larger than the central tube body 301 is provided at the top of the central tube body 301, and the arc groove 3021 is provided on the circular disk 302. When the central tube 3 is working, a circulating coolant, such as water, is introduced into the cooling tube 303, and the heat generated by it is taken away by the circulation of the coolant. The cooling tube 303 is preferably a copper tube with good heat dissipation. A connecting hole 3022 is also provided on the top end surface of the circular disk 302, which is used to penetrate a screw to fix the central tube 3 to the remote plasma source 2. A bottom flange 304 is also provided at the lower end of the central tube body 301 , and the bottom flange 304 is used to connect the gas block 5 .

[0055] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a thin film deposition device, which includes the air intake device 100 for reducing the number of particles as described in any one of the above.

[0056] The embodiment of the present invention further provides an intake control method, which is performed by the intake device 100 for reducing the number of particles as described above, and includes the following steps:

[0057] Start the air intake device to reduce the number of particles, determine whether the current working state is the process gas intake state or the process chamber cleaning state; or based on the semiconductor thin film deposition process, confirm whether the current state is to clean the process chamber 41 or to input process gas for thin film deposition.

[0058] If the current working state is the process gas intake state, the first pneumatic valve 15 is controlled to open, and the second pneumatic valve 16 and the diaphragm pump 17 are closed at the same time; at this time, the process gas can only be directly transported to the central tube 3 through the process gas intake pipe 14, and will not flow back or reflux into the cleaning gas intake pipeline 10.

[0059] If the current working state is the process chamber cleaning state, the first pneumatic valve 15 is controlled to be closed, and the second pneumatic valve 16 and the diaphragm pump 17 are opened at the same time. At this time, the process gas inlet pipeline 20 is closed, and only the cleaning gas inlet pipeline is opened, allowing only the cleaning gas to be input into the process chamber 4. When the process pipeline is opened next time, the process gas will not pass through the remote plasma source 2, and the particles generated during the cleaning process will not be carried to the process chamber 4, affecting the film deposition quality.

[0060] The air intake device for reducing the number of particles and its thin film deposition equipment and control method of this embodiment independently set the air intake pipeline for process gas and the air intake pipeline for cleaning gas, and each is provided with an independent pneumatic valve to control the on-off thereof, so that the process gas and the cleaning gas can be controlled to work independently according to the working status, thereby avoiding fluorination corrosion or particle contamination caused by the existing shared pipeline.

[0061] The above examples are only used to further illustrate the technical content of the present invention, so that readers can understand it more easily, but they do not mean that the implementation of the present invention is limited to this. Any technical extension or re-creation made according to the present invention is protected by the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the claims.

Claims

1. An air intake device for reducing the number of particles, characterized in that: include: A process gas inlet pipeline, a cleaning gas inlet pipeline, a remote plasma source and a central tube, wherein the inlet ends of the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline are connected to the same gas box, the outlet end of the cleaning gas inlet pipeline is connected to the remote plasma source, and the outlet ends of the remote plasma source and the process gas inlet pipeline are connected to the central tube, wherein the process gas inlet pipeline and the cleaning gas inlet pipeline can both perform on-off actions so that the two can connect or disconnect the gas passage in steps.

2. The particle number reducing air intake device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A diaphragm valve is also provided between the gas inlet end of the central tube and the gas outlet end of the remote plasma source, and the diaphragm valve is used to control the on-off of the gas path between the cleaning gas inlet pipeline and the central tube.

3. The air intake device for reducing the number of particles according to claim 2, characterized in that: The process gas inlet pipeline includes: a mixed air inlet pipe, a three-way pipe connected to the output end of the mixed air inlet pipe, a process gas inlet pipe connected to one of the outlet ends of the three-way pipe, and a first pneumatic valve connected to the process gas inlet pipe, the outlet end of the process air inlet pipe is connected to the center pipe, and the inlet end of the mixed air inlet pipe is connected to the air box.

4. The air intake device for reducing the number of particles according to claim 3, characterized in that: The cleaning gas inlet pipeline includes: a cleaning gas inlet pipe connected to the other outlet end of the three-way pipe, a second pneumatic valve connected to the cleaning gas inlet pipe, and the outlet end of the cleaning gas inlet pipe is connected to the inlet of the remote plasma source.

5. The particle number reduction air intake device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The gas outlet end of the central tube is also connected to a process chamber, and the process chamber is used for semiconductor thin film deposition.

6. The particle number reducing air intake device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The outer wall of the central tube is provided with a black anodized layer and / or heat dissipation fins.

7. The air intake device for reducing the particle number according to claim 6, characterized in that: The black anodized layer is arranged on the upper part of the outer wall of the central tube, and the heat dissipation fins are protrudingly arranged on the lower part of the outer wall of the central tube.

8. The particle number reduction air intake device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The central tube comprises: a central tube body and a cooling tube buried in the central tube body; an arc-shaped groove is provided at the top of the central tube body, and a portion of the cooling tube is sunk in the arc-shaped groove, and the arc-shaped groove is arranged around the central channel of the central tube.

9. A thin film deposition device, characterized in that: The thin film deposition apparatus comprises an air intake device for reducing the number of particles as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An air intake control method, the air intake control method being performed by the air intake device for reducing the number of particles according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Start the air intake device for reducing the number of particles, and determine whether the current working state is the process gas intake state or the process chamber cleaning state; If the current working state is the process gas intake state, the first pneumatic valve is controlled to open, and the second pneumatic valve and the diaphragm pump are closed at the same time; If the current working state is the process chamber cleaning state, the first pneumatic valve is controlled to be closed, and the second pneumatic valve and the diaphragm pump are opened at the same time.

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