Thin film deposition equipment and method and storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides thin film deposition equipment, a thin film deposition method and a storage medium. The thin film deposition equipment comprises a process chamber, the outer wall of which is provided with a radio frequency coil used for cooperating with a ground electrode of a wafer tray integrated in the process chamber and providing a radio frequency electric field for the interior of the process chamber so as to carry out a plasma enhanced thin film deposition process on a wafer carried by the wafer tray; and the tuner comprises a variable capacitor, a motor, a vibration sensor and a memory, and is used for adjusting the scribing position of the variable capacitor through the motor so as to adjust the intensity of the radio frequency electric field by adjusting the capacitance value of the variable capacitor, the vibration waveform generated at the contact position of the motor and the variable capacitor is detected through the vibration sensor so that the scribing position can be represented in real time, and the scribing position is stored in the storage in real time so that the scribing position can be called in the power-off restarting process.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and in particular to a thin film deposition device, a thin film deposition method, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In the field of semiconductor device processing technology, a radio frequency coil is usually installed on the outer wall of the process chamber, and cooperates with the radio frequency electrode located inside the process chamber to form a plasma inside the process chamber to improve the deposition efficiency of the thin film. Furthermore, in order to improve the utilization rate of radio frequency, the thin film deposition equipment usually also configures a tuner for the radio frequency electrode to adjust the value of its internal variable capacitor to achieve the regulation of the radio frequency field.

[0003] In the actual use of thin film deposition equipment, power outages are inevitable. When the power is turned off and restarted, since the thin film deposition equipment cannot accurately understand the real-time position of the variable capacitor scribe, it is usually necessary to slide the scribe to one end of its travel, zero the tuner, and then continue with the subsequent process steps. However, research has found that during the zeroing process of the thin film deposition equipment, when the variable capacitor scribe moves to near the zero point, the thin film deposition equipment will inevitably experience mechanical jitter, which affects the position of the wafers and components loaded inside the process chamber, and seriously affects the accuracy and repeatability of the deposited film parameters.

[0004] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, an improved RF control technology is urgently needed in the art to avoid jitter of the thin film deposition equipment after power failure and restart, thereby improving the accuracy and repeatability of the deposited thin film parameters. Summary of the invention

[0005] A brief summary of one or more aspects is given below to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of all conceived aspects, and is neither intended to identify the key or decisive elements of all aspects nor to define the scope of any or all aspects. Its only purpose is to give some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description that will be given later.

[0006] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the art is in urgent need of an improved RF control technology, including a thin film deposition device, a thin film deposition method, and a computer-readable storage medium, for avoiding jitter of the thin film deposition device after power failure and restart, thereby improving the accuracy and repeatability of the deposited thin film parameters.

[0007] Specifically, the thin film deposition equipment provided according to the first aspect of the present invention includes: a process chamber, the outer wall of which is provided with a radio frequency coil, which is used to cooperate with the ground electrode of the wafer tray integrated in the process chamber to provide a radio frequency electric field to the inside of the process chamber, so as to perform a plasma-enhanced thin film deposition process on the wafer carried by the wafer tray; and a tuner, including a variable capacitor, a motor, a vibration sensor and a memory, which is used to adjust the scribing position of the variable capacitor via the motor, so as to adjust the strength of the radio frequency electric field by adjusting the capacitance value of the variable capacitor, detect the vibration waveform generated at the contact between the motor and the variable capacitor via the vibration sensor, so as to characterize the scribing position in real time, and store the scribing position in real time in the memory for recall when power is off and restarted.

[0008] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the variable capacitor includes a blade and a rotating guide rail, and the motor includes a first engaging structure, wherein the first engaging structure rotates to push the blade engaged therewith to move axially along the rotating guide rail to adjust the capacitance value of the variable capacitor.

[0009] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the tuner further includes: an LC oscillation circuit, including at least one fixed-value inductor and at least one fixed-value capacitor, for filtering out signals exceeding a specified frequency band to obtain a signal of a preset frequency.

[0010] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the step of detecting the vibration waveform generated at the contact point between the motor and the variable capacitor via the vibration sensor to characterize the dicing position in real time includes: collecting the vibration signal of the motor in real time via the vibration sensor; fitting the vibration waveform of the vibration signal according to the vibration amplitude, vibration frequency and timestamp of the vibration signal; and substituting the vibration waveform into a pre-constructed relationship mapping diagram to determine the dicing position.

[0011] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the step of constructing the relationship mapping map includes: before performing the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process, collecting multiple vibration signal samples of the motor via the vibration sensor in advance, and measuring their corresponding slicing positions; respectively determining the vibration amplitude, vibration frequency and timestamp of each vibration signal to fit its corresponding vibration waveform sample; and constructing a relationship mapping map characterizing the mapping relationship between the slicing position and the vibration waveform based on each of the vibration waveform samples and its corresponding slicing position.

[0012] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the tuner is also configured to: in response to a power-off restart of the thin film deposition device, call the data of the slicing position from the memory to determine an actual capacitance value of the variable capacitor; determine a corresponding target capacitance value according to the strength of the radio frequency electric field required for the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process; determine an adjustment amount for the slicing position according to a difference between the target capacitance value and the actual capacitance value; and control the rotation of the motor according to the adjustment amount to continue the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process.

[0013] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the memory is a non-volatile memory, and the power-off and restart include an active power-off and restart of the safety control module of the thin film deposition equipment in response to an abnormal alarm, and a passive power-off and restart of the thin film deposition equipment due to external power failure.

[0014] In addition, the thin film deposition method provided according to the second aspect of the present invention includes the following steps: placing the wafer to be processed on a wafer tray inside a process chamber of a thin film deposition device as described in any one of the first aspects of the present invention; providing an RF signal to an RF coil arranged on the outer wall of the process chamber to establish an RF electric field inside the process chamber and excite in-situ plasma; and adjusting the dicing position of the variable capacitor of the tuner of the thin film deposition device according to the intensity of the RF electric field required for the plasma-enhanced thin film deposition process, and storing the dicing position in real time in a memory.

[0015] Furthermore, in some embodiments of the present invention, the thin film deposition method also includes the following steps: in response to a power-off restart of the thin film deposition device, calling the data of the slicing position from the memory to determine the actual capacitance value of the variable capacitor; determining the corresponding target capacitance value according to the strength of the radio frequency electric field required for the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process; determining an adjustment amount for the slicing position according to the difference between the target capacitance value and the actual capacitance value; and controlling the rotation of the motor according to the adjustment amount to continue the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process.

[0016] In addition, the computer-readable storage medium provided according to the third aspect of the present invention stores computer instructions, which, when executed by a processor, implement the thin film deposition method according to the second aspect of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The above features and advantages of the present invention can be better understood after reading the detailed description of the embodiments of the present disclosure in conjunction with the following drawings. In the drawings, the components are not necessarily drawn to scale, and components with similar related properties or features may have the same or similar reference numerals.

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a tuner provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0019] Figure 2 A circuit diagram of a tuner provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0020] Reference numerals:

[0021] 10 First input

[0022] 20 Second input terminal

[0023] 30 Variable Capacitor

[0024] 40 Motor DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The following specific embodiments illustrate the implementation of the present invention, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Although the description of the present invention will be introduced in conjunction with the preferred embodiment, this does not mean that the features of this invention are limited to this implementation. On the contrary, the purpose of introducing the invention in conjunction with the implementation is to cover other options or modifications that may be extended based on the claims of the present invention. In order to provide a deep understanding of the present invention, the following description will include many specific details. The present invention can also be implemented without using these details. In addition, in order to avoid confusion or blurring the focus of the present invention, some specific details will be omitted in the description.

[0026] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0027] In addition, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "horizontal" and "vertical" used in the following description should be understood as the directions shown in the paragraph and the related drawings. Such relative terms are only used for the convenience of description and do not mean that the device described therein must be manufactured or operated in a specific direction, and therefore should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0028] It is understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. may be used herein to describe various components, regions, layers and / or parts, these components, regions, layers and / or parts should not be limited by these terms, and these terms are only used to distinguish different components, regions, layers and / or parts. Therefore, the first component, region, layer and / or part discussed below may be referred to as a second component, region, layer and / or part without departing from some embodiments of the present invention.

[0029] As mentioned above, in the field of semiconductor device processing technology, a radio frequency coil is usually set on the outer wall of the process chamber, and cooperates with the radio frequency electrode located inside the process chamber to form a plasma inside the process chamber to improve the deposition efficiency of the thin film. Furthermore, in order to improve the utilization rate of radio frequency, the thin film deposition equipment usually also configures a tuner for the radio frequency electrode to adjust the value of its internal variable capacitor to achieve the regulation of the radio frequency field.

[0030] In the actual use of thin film deposition equipment, power outages are inevitable. When the power is turned off and restarted, since the thin film deposition equipment cannot accurately understand the real-time position of the variable capacitor scribe, it is usually necessary to slide the scribe to one end of its travel, zero the tuner, and then continue with the subsequent process steps. However, research has found that during the zeroing process of the thin film deposition equipment, when the variable capacitor scribe moves to near the zero point, the thin film deposition equipment will inevitably experience mechanical jitter, which affects the position of the wafers and components loaded inside the process chamber, and seriously affects the accuracy and repeatability of the deposited film parameters.

[0031] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art, the art is in urgent need of an improved RF control technology, including a thin film deposition device, a thin film deposition method, and a computer-readable storage medium, for avoiding jitter of the thin film deposition device after power failure and restart, thereby improving the accuracy and repeatability of the deposited thin film parameters.

[0032] In some non-limiting embodiments, the thin film deposition method provided in the second aspect of the present invention can be implemented based on the thin film deposition device provided in the first aspect of the present invention. Specifically, the computer readable storage medium provided in the third aspect of the present invention stores computer instructions thereon. When the computer instructions are executed by the processor, the thin film deposition method as described in the second aspect of the present invention is implemented.

[0033] Specifically, the thin film deposition device provided in the first aspect of the present invention includes a process chamber and a tuner. The process chamber has an outer wall provided with a radio frequency coil, which is used to cooperate with a ground electrode of a wafer tray integrated in the process chamber to provide a radio frequency electric field to the inside of the process chamber, so as to perform a plasma enhanced thin film deposition process on the wafer carried by the wafer tray.

[0034] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the internal structure of a tuner provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0035] like Figure 1 As shown, the tuner includes a variable capacitor 30, a motor 40, a vibration sensor and a memory, which are used to adjust the slicing position of the variable capacitor 30 via the motor 40, so as to adjust the strength of the radio frequency electric field by adjusting the capacitance value of the variable capacitor 30, and detect the vibration waveform generated at the contact point between the motor 40 and the variable capacitor 30 via the vibration sensor to characterize the slicing position in real time, and store the slicing position in real time in the memory for recall when power is off and restarted.

[0036] Further, the variable capacitor 30 includes a scriber and a rotating guide rail, and the motor 40 includes a first meshing structure, wherein the first meshing structure rotates to push the scriber meshed therewith to move axially along the rotating guide rail to adjust the capacitance value of the variable capacitor 30. Here, the rotating guide rail can use a lead screw, and the first meshing structure can use a threaded structure. When adjusting the capacitance value via the motor 40, the capacitance value can be increased when the motor 40 rotates clockwise, and the capacitance value can be reduced when the motor 40 rotates counterclockwise.

[0037] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 A circuit diagram of a tuner provided according to some embodiments of the present invention is shown.

[0038] like Figure 2 As shown, the tuner may include a first input terminal 10 for providing a radio frequency voltage, and a second input terminal 20 for providing an electrostatic adsorption voltage. In addition, the tuner also includes an LC oscillation circuit, including at least one fixed value inductor and at least one fixed value capacitor, for filtering out signals beyond a specified frequency band to obtain a signal of a preset frequency.

[0039] The working principle of the above-mentioned thin film deposition device will be described below in conjunction with some embodiments of the thin film deposition method. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments of the thin film deposition method are only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, which are intended to clearly demonstrate the main concept of the present invention and provide some specific solutions that are convenient for the public to implement, rather than to limit all functions or all working modes of the thin film deposition device. Similarly, the thin film deposition device is also only some non-limiting implementation methods provided by the present invention, and does not constitute a limitation on the execution subject or execution order of each step in these thin film deposition methods.

[0040] Firstly, before performing a plasma enhanced thin film deposition process on the wafer carried by the wafer tray, the thin film deposition equipment may first perform pre-process preparation on the tuner.

[0041] Specifically, the tuner can detect the vibration waveform generated at the contact point between the motor 40 and the variable capacitor 30 via a vibration sensor to characterize the dicing position in real time.

[0042] Here, the tuner can collect the vibration signal of the motor 40 in real time via a vibration sensor. Afterwards, the vibration waveform of the vibration signal is fitted according to the vibration amplitude, vibration frequency and timestamp of the vibration signal. Finally, the vibration waveform is substituted into a pre-constructed relationship mapping map to determine the dicing position. Among them, the step of constructing a relationship mapping map may include: before performing a plasma enhanced thin film deposition process, collecting multiple vibration signal samples of the motor 40 via a vibration sensor in advance, and measuring their corresponding dicing positions; respectively determining the vibration amplitude, vibration frequency and timestamp of each vibration signal to fit its corresponding vibration waveform sample; and constructing a relationship mapping map characterizing the mapping relationship between the dicing position and the vibration waveform according to each vibration waveform sample and its corresponding dicing position.

[0043] Afterwards, during the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process of the wafer carried by the wafer tray, the wafer to be processed is placed on the wafer tray inside the process chamber of the thin film deposition equipment. Then, a radio frequency signal is provided to the radio frequency coil arranged on the outer wall of the process chamber to establish a radio frequency electric field inside the process chamber and excite in-situ plasma. Finally, according to the intensity of the radio frequency electric field required by the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process, the scribing position of the variable capacitor 30 of the tuner of the thin film deposition equipment is adjusted, and the scribing position is stored in a memory in real time.

[0044] Further, as described above, in actual use, the tuner will inevitably encounter a power outage. Therefore, the tuner is also configured to: in response to the power-off restart of the thin film deposition device, call the data of the slicing position from the memory to determine the actual capacitance value of the variable capacitor 30; determine the corresponding target capacitance value according to the intensity of the radio frequency electric field required by the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process; determine the adjustment amount of the slicing position according to the difference between the target capacitance value and the actual capacitance value; and control the rotation of the motor 40 according to the adjustment amount to continue the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process.

[0045] Here, the memory is a non-volatile memory (NVM), such as flash memory, and the power-off restart includes an active power-off restart of the safety control module of the thin film deposition equipment in response to an abnormal alarm, and a passive power-off restart of the thin film deposition equipment due to external power failure.

[0046] In summary, by detecting and recording the position characteristics of the motor to record the slicing position of the variable capacitor in real time, the present invention can directly obtain the slicing position before power failure from the memory after the thin film deposition device is powered off and restarted, because there is no need to move the slicing of the variable capacitor to the vicinity of the zero point for zero adjustment, thereby avoiding the jitter after the thin film deposition device is powered off and restarted, so as to improve the accuracy and repeatability of the deposited film parameters. Therefore, the technical solution provided by the present invention can improve the stability of the thin film deposition process by about 60%.

[0047] Although the above methods are illustrated and described as a series of actions for simplicity of explanation, it should be understood and appreciated that these methods are not limited by the order of the actions, because according to one or more embodiments, some actions may occur in a different order and / or concurrently with other actions from those illustrated and described herein or not illustrated and described herein but understandable to those skilled in the art.

[0048] The steps of the method or algorithm described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a RAM memory, a flash memory, a ROM memory, an EPROM memory, an EEPROM memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, a storage medium may be integrated into a processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0049] In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented as a computer program product in software, each function may be stored on or transmitted by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. Any connection is also properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, a server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc as used herein include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disk often reproduces data magnetically, while disc reproduces data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0050] The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but should be granted the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A thin film deposition device, characterized in that: include: A process chamber, the outer wall of which is provided with a radio frequency coil, which is used to cooperate with a ground electrode of a wafer tray integrated in the process chamber to provide a radio frequency electric field to the interior of the process chamber, so as to perform a plasma enhanced thin film deposition process on the wafer carried by the wafer tray; as well as A tuner includes a variable capacitor, a motor, a vibration sensor and a memory, and is used to adjust the slicing position of the variable capacitor via the motor, so as to adjust the strength of the radio frequency electric field by adjusting the capacitance value of the variable capacitor, detect the vibration waveform generated at the contact point between the motor and the variable capacitor via the vibration sensor, so as to characterize the slicing position in real time, and store the slicing position in real time in the memory for recall when power is off and restarted.

2. The thin film deposition device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The variable capacitor includes a scriber and a rotating guide rail, and the motor includes a first meshing structure, wherein the first meshing structure rotates to push the scriber meshed therewith to move axially along the rotating guide rail to adjust the capacitance value of the variable capacitor.

3. The thin film deposition device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tuner also includes: The LC oscillation circuit includes at least one fixed-value inductor and at least one fixed-value capacitor, and is used to filter out signals exceeding a specified frequency band to obtain a signal of a preset frequency.

4. The thin film deposition device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of detecting the vibration waveform generated at the contact point between the motor and the variable capacitor via the vibration sensor to characterize the dicing position in real time includes: The vibration sensor collects the vibration signal of the motor in real time; Fitting a vibration waveform of the vibration signal according to the vibration amplitude, vibration frequency and timestamp of the vibration signal; and The vibration waveform is substituted into a pre-constructed relationship map to determine the scribe position.

5. The thin film deposition device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The steps of constructing the relationship mapping graph include: Before performing the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process, a plurality of vibration signal samples of the motor are collected in advance by the vibration sensor, and the corresponding scribing positions are measured; Respectively determining the vibration amplitude, vibration frequency and time stamp of each of the vibration signals to fit the corresponding vibration waveform sample; According to each of the vibration waveform samples and its corresponding scribing position, a relationship mapping graph representing the mapping relationship between the scribing position and the vibration waveform is constructed.

6. The thin film deposition device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The tuner is further configured to: In response to the power-off restart of the thin film deposition device, calling the data of the dicing position from the memory to determine the actual capacitance value of the variable capacitor; Determining a corresponding target capacitance value according to the intensity of the radio frequency electric field required by the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process; Determining an adjustment amount for the scribing position according to a difference between the target capacitance value and the actual capacitance value; as well as According to the adjustment amount, the motor is controlled to rotate to continue the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process.

7. The thin film deposition device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The memory is a non-volatile memory, and the power-off restart includes an active power-off restart of the safety control module of the thin film deposition equipment in response to an abnormal alarm, and a passive power-off restart of the thin film deposition equipment due to external power failure.

8. A thin film deposition method, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Placing a wafer to be processed on a wafer tray inside a process chamber of a thin film deposition device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7; Providing a radio frequency signal to a radio frequency coil disposed on an outer wall of the process chamber to establish a radio frequency electric field inside the process chamber and excite an in-situ plasma; as well as According to the intensity of the radio frequency electric field required by the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process, the scribing position of the variable capacitor of the tuner of the thin film deposition equipment is adjusted, and the scribing position is stored in a memory in real time.

9. The thin film deposition method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The following steps are also included: In response to the power-off restart of the thin film deposition device, calling the data of the dicing position from the memory to determine the actual capacitance value of the variable capacitor; Determining a corresponding target capacitance value according to the intensity of the radio frequency electric field required by the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process; Determining an adjustment amount for the scribing position according to a difference between the target capacitance value and the actual capacitance value; as well as According to the adjustment amount, the motor is controlled to rotate to continue the plasma enhanced thin film deposition process.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having computer instructions stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer instructions are executed by a processor, the thin film deposition method according to claim 8 or 9 is implemented.

Images