Film forming apparatus and maintenance method thereof

Abstract

To shorten downtime.SOLUTION: The film forming apparatus includes a processing chamber having a rectangular parallelepiped shape for accommodating a substrate, a stage heater disposed inside the processing chamber, a gas supply unit for supplying a raw material gas for film formation to the inside of the processing chamber, and a cylindrical liner disposed inside the processing chamber, wherein the liner is disposed such that openings at both ends thereof face the stage heater and the gas supply unit, respectively, and a maintenance door capable of being opened and closed is disposed on one side surface of the processing chamber. A first side heater is disposed on an inner side of each side surface other than the one side surface, a second side heater is attached to an inner side of the maintenance door, the first side heater and the second side heater surround the liner when the maintenance door is closed, and the first side heater is configured to be removable from the one side surface when the maintenance door is opened.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a film forming apparatus and a maintenance method thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] A downflow-type thermal CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) apparatus is known as a film formation apparatus for forming a silicon carbide (SiC) film on the surface of a wafer substrate by a vapor deposition reaction. This thermal CVD apparatus includes a stage heater disposed within a processing chamber, a gas injector that supplies source gas, such as silane (SiH4) gas or propane (C3H8) gas, into the processing chamber, and a cylindrical liner disposed within the processing chamber. The liner is positioned with its central axis aligned vertically so that openings at both ends face the stage heater and the gas injector, respectively. The gas injector supplies the source gas toward the wafer through the interior of the liner. A cylindrical side heater is also disposed within the processing chamber, surrounding the liner. The side heater heats the source gas passing through the liner to a high temperature. The stage heater also heats the wafer to a high temperature. When the high-temperature source gas reaches the wafer surface, a SiC film is formed by a vapor deposition reaction (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7023826 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The techniques disclosed herein reduce downtime. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of the technology disclosed herein is a film formation apparatus comprising: a rectangular parallelepiped processing chamber that accommodates a substrate; a stage heater disposed inside the processing chamber; a gas supply unit that supplies a raw material gas for film formation into the processing chamber; and a cylindrical liner disposed inside the processing chamber, wherein the liner is disposed so that openings at both ends face the stage heater and the gas supply unit, respectively; an openable and closable maintenance door is disposed on one side of the processing chamber; a first side heater is disposed on the inside of each side other than the one side; and a second side heater is attached to the inside of the maintenance door; when the maintenance door is closed, the first side heater and the second side heater surround the liner; and the first side heater is configured to be removable from the one side when the maintenance door is opened. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the technology disclosed herein, downtime can be reduced. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating a configuration of a substrate processing system including a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus of FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus of FIG. [Figure 4] 10A to 10C are process diagrams illustrating a method for removing a liner and a heater on the processing chamber side as a maintenance method for a film forming apparatus. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a horizontal cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a modified example of the film forming apparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0008] In a downflow-type thermal CVD apparatus, repeated film formation processes result in the deposition of by-products produced during SiC film formation on the inner surface of the liner, causing the side heater to deteriorate over time. Therefore, for maintenance purposes, the liner and side heater must be periodically removed from the processing chamber. In particular, because the side heater has a cylindrical shape surrounding the liner, it must be moved upward to avoid interference with the liner when removed from the processing chamber. However, this configuration requires securing space above the processing chamber to extend the side heater, reducing the flexibility of the thermal CVD apparatus's layout. Furthermore, the difficult and time-consuming task of extending the side heater above the processing chamber results in extended downtime for the thermal CVD apparatus.

[0009] Therefore, it has been considered to configure the processing chamber of a thermal CVD apparatus so that it has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and to attach independent side heaters to each side, thereby surrounding the liner with each side heater. In this case, each side is configured to be removable from the processing chamber, or each side is provided with a maintenance door for removing the side heater. Then, each side heater can be removed relatively easily by removing each side or opening each maintenance door.

[0010] In a typical substrate processing system, a thermal CVD apparatus is connected to a transfer device that transports substrates. In this case, one side of the rectangular parallelepiped processing chamber is connected to the transfer device. Therefore, while the thermal CVD apparatus remains connected to the transfer device, it is impossible to remove the side or open the maintenance door on that side. Therefore, when removing all of the side heaters, the thermal CVD apparatus must be detached from the transfer device and moved. However, this configuration requires space for moving the thermal CVD apparatus, which increases the footprint of the substrate processing system. Furthermore, because the thermal CVD apparatus is heavy, moving the thermal CVD apparatus is difficult and time-consuming. This results in extended downtime for the substrate processing system.

[0011] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the technology according to the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view schematically illustrating the configuration of a substrate processing system including a film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.

[0012] 1, a substrate processing system 10 includes three load ports 11 to which FOUPs (not shown), which are containers for accommodating a plurality of wafers W (substrates), are attached. These load ports 11 are connected to a loader chamber 12, which is a transfer chamber for the wafers W. The loader chamber 12 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a transfer robot 13 for transferring the wafers W is disposed inside the loader chamber 12.

[0013] The transfer robot 13 has a base 14 that is movable in the longitudinal direction of the loader chamber 12, an arm 15 that is rotatable and extendable in a horizontal plane relative to the base 14, and a pick 16 that is provided at the tip of the arm 15 and holds a wafer W. The transfer robot 13 moves the base 14 and rotates and extends the arm 15, thereby loading and unloading the wafer W into and from each FOUP and each load lock chamber 17, which will be described later.

[0014] In addition, on the opposite side of each load port 11 across the loader chamber 12, two load lock chambers 17 are arranged which function as intermediate transfer chambers for transferring wafers W between the loader chamber 12 and a substrate transfer chamber 18 described below.

[0015] Furthermore, a substrate transfer chamber 18 is disposed on the opposite side of the loader chamber 12, with each load lock chamber 17 in between. The substrate transfer chamber 18 (transfer device) has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a transfer robot 19 for transferring wafers W is disposed inside the substrate transfer chamber 18. The transfer robot 19 has a base 20 that is movable in the longitudinal direction of the substrate transfer chamber 18, an arm 21 that is rotatable and extendable in a horizontal plane relative to the base 20, and a pick 22 that is provided at the tip of the arm 21 and holds the wafer W. The transfer robot 19 transfers wafers W into and out of each load lock chamber 17 and each film formation device 23, which will be described later, by moving the base 20 and rotating and extending the arm 21.

[0016] Four film formation devices 23 are connected to the substrate transfer chamber 18 via gate valves 24, and the gate valves 24 control communication between each film formation device 23 and the substrate transfer chamber 18. Each film formation device 23 performs a film formation process on the wafer W to form, for example, a SiC film on the surface of the wafer W.

[0017] The substrate processing system 10 also includes a control unit 25 that controls the operation of each component of the substrate processing system 10. The control unit 25 has a CPU, a memory, etc., and the CPU executes film formation processing in each film formation apparatus 23 according to a recipe stored in the memory, etc.

[0018] Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus 23 of Fig. 1, taken along line AA in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of the film forming apparatus 23 of Fig. 1, taken along line BB in Fig. 2.

[0019] The film forming apparatus 23 includes a processing chamber 26 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and arranged with its longitudinal direction aligned along the vertical direction to accommodate a wafer W. Inside the processing chamber 26, a stage heater 27 functioning as a mounting table for mounting the wafer W is disposed at a bottom 26a of the processing chamber 26. A gas injector 28 (gas supply unit) for supplying a source gas into the processing chamber 26 is disposed at an upper portion of the processing chamber 26 so as to face the stage heater 27. Inside the processing chamber 26, a cylindrical liner 29 is disposed between the stage heater 27 and the gas injector 28. The liner 29 is disposed with its central axis aligned along the vertical direction so that an opening at its lower end faces the stage heater 27 and an opening at its upper end faces the gas injector 28. The liner 29 is made of a highly heat-resistant material, such as carbon, SiC, carbon coated with SiC, or carbon coated with tantalum carbide (TaC). Furthermore, an exhaust mechanism (not shown) having a vacuum pump is connected to the processing chamber 26, and the exhaust mechanism exhausts the inside of the processing chamber 26 and adjusts the pressure therein to a predetermined pressure.

[0020] The film forming apparatus 23 has four sides, and of the four sides, side 26b, which is connected to the substrate transfer chamber 18 via gate valve 24, has a loading / unloading port 30 for loading and unloading the wafer W. This loading / unloading port 30 is opened and closed by gate valve 24, and when loading / unloading port 30 is opened, arm 21 of transfer robot 19 enters the interior of processing chamber 26 through loading / unloading port 30 to load and unload the wafer W.

[0021] Among the four side surfaces, side surface 26c (one side surface) opposite side surface 26b rotates horizontally around a rotation axis extending vertically by means of hinge 31 to form an openable and closable maintenance door 32. When maintenance door 32 is opened, the interior of processing chamber 26 is exposed. Furthermore, to maintain airtightness inside processing chamber 26 when maintenance door 32 is closed, sealing members 33 such as O-rings are disposed between maintenance door 32 and the other side surfaces 26d and 26e, bottom 26a, and ceiling 26f of processing chamber 26 that contact maintenance door 32. Note that side surface 26c itself does not need to constitute maintenance door 32; for example, a maintenance opening may be provided in side surface 26c, and maintenance door 32 may be disposed on side surface 26c so as to be able to open and close the maintenance opening.

[0022] A door-side side heater 34 (second side heater) that uses electrical resistance is disposed inside the maintenance door 32. The door-side side heater 34 is made of a panel heater or a resistance wire that is folded and disposed so as to form a flat surface, and is attached to the maintenance door 32 by a support member 35 that also serves as a current introducing portion for introducing current from the outside to the door-side side heater 34. The door-side side heater 34 has an I-shape in plan view, and a heat insulating material (not shown) is disposed between the door-side side heater 34 and the maintenance door 32.

[0023] Side heaters 36-38 (first side heaters) that utilize electrical resistance are also arranged inside each of the side surfaces 26b, 26d, and 26e other than side surface 26c. Each of the side heaters 36-38 is made of a panel heater or a resistance wire folded and arranged to form a flat surface. The side heaters 36-38 are integrated by being connected to each other with connecting members 39 and 40 made of a conductive material, and form a processing chamber side heater 41 that is U-shaped in plan view. The processing chamber side heater 41 is attached to the maintenance door 32 side of the ceiling portion 26f by a support member 43 that also serves as a current introducing portion for introducing current from the outside. Note that a heat insulating material (not shown) is also arranged between the processing chamber side heater 41 and the side surfaces 26b, 26d, and 26e.

[0024] In the film forming apparatus 23, the liner 29 is disposed in the center of the processing chamber 26, and therefore, when the maintenance door 32 is closed, the liner 29 is surrounded by the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41. In addition, at this time, the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 have a rectangular cylindrical shape.

[0025] Stage heater 27 incorporates a heater (not shown) that utilizes electrical resistance and heats the placed wafer W. Stage heater 27 is also configured to be rotatable around a rotation axis extending in the vertical direction, and rotates the placed wafer W within a horizontal plane.

[0026] The gas injector 28 supplies a source gas for film formation, including, for example, SiH gas, C3H8 gas, hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas, and nitrogen (N2) gas, into the inside of the liner 29 through a gas supply port 42 opened in the ceiling portion 26f of the processing chamber 26. The gas injector 28 also supplies hydrogen (H2) gas as a carrier gas for the source gas.

[0027] In the film forming apparatus 23, when a film forming process is performed on the wafer W, the exhaust mechanism adjusts the pressure inside the processing chamber 26 to, for example, 26.7 kPa, and the gas injector 28 supplies the source gas into the inside of the liner 29. At this time, the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 generate heat, heating the source gas passing through the inside of the liner 29 toward the wafer W placed on the stage heater 27. Furthermore, the stage heater 27 rotates to rotate the wafer W in a horizontal plane and heat the wafer W. The wafer W is also heated by radiant heat from the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41. When the heated source gas reaches the surface of the wafer W, a SiC film is formed on the surface of the wafer W by a vapor phase growth reaction.

[0028] In the film forming apparatus 23, when the film forming process is repeatedly performed, by-products generated during the formation of the SiC film adhere to the inner circumferential surface of the liner 29, reducing the efficiency with which the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 heat the source gas. Therefore, the liner 29 needs to be periodically removed from inside the processing chamber 26 to be cleaned or replaced. Furthermore, the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 deteriorate over time, reducing the efficiency with which the source gas and wafer W are heated. Therefore, like the liner 29, the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 need to be periodically removed from inside the processing chamber 26 to be repaired or replaced.

[0029] 4 is a process diagram illustrating a method for removing the liner 29 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 as a maintenance method for the film formation apparatus 23. First, the maintenance door 32 is opened to expose the interior of the processing chamber 26. At this time, it is preferable to rotate the maintenance door 32 counterclockwise by 90° or more in a plan view from its closed state (FIG. 4(A)). Here, because the door-side side heater 34 is attached to the maintenance door 32 by a support member 35, opening the maintenance door 32 essentially removes the door-side side heater 34 from the interior of the processing chamber 26. Furthermore, as a result, the door-side side heater 34 is no longer present between the side surface 26c and the liner 29, allowing the operator direct access to the liner 29.

[0030] Next, the worker accesses the liner 29, moves it to the side opposite the substrate transfer chamber 18, and removes it from the side surface 26c (FIG. 4(B)). At this time, the liner 29 is no longer present between the side surface 26c and the side heaters 36 to 38, so the worker can directly access the side heaters 36 to 38.

[0031] Thereafter, the worker removes the side heaters 37, 38 from the support member 43 and moves the side heaters 37, 38 to the side opposite the substrate transfer chamber 18. Here, since the side heater 36 is integrated with the side heaters 37, 38, the worker can remove the entire processing chamber heater 41 from the side surface 26c in one step by moving the side heaters 37, 38 (FIG. 4(C)).

[0032] In the removal method shown in FIG. 4, not only the liner 29 but also the processing chamber heater 41 is removed from inside the processing chamber 26, but it is also possible to remove only the liner 29 when the maintenance door 32 is opened.

[0033] According to this embodiment, the liner 29 and the processing chamber heater 41 can be removed by simply opening the maintenance door 32, which is the side 26c of the processing chamber 26 of the film formation apparatus 23 opposite the side 26b connected to the substrate transfer chamber 18. That is, when removing the liner 29 or the processing chamber heater 41, it is not necessary to separate the film formation apparatus 23 from the substrate transfer chamber 18 and move it. Moreover, because the side heaters 36 to 38 are integrated as the processing chamber heater 41, it is not necessary to remove the side heaters 36 to 38 individually. Furthermore, simply opening the maintenance door 32 allows the door-side side heater 34 to be essentially removed from inside the processing chamber 26. As described above, it does not take time to remove the liner 29, the door-side side heater 34, and the processing chamber heater 41 from inside the processing chamber 26, thereby reducing downtime of the substrate processing system 10.

[0034] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, as described above, it is not necessary to separate and move the film formation apparatus 23 from the substrate transfer chamber 18, and therefore it is not necessary to secure a space for moving the film formation apparatus 23. Furthermore, the support member 35 of the door-side side heater 34 is attached to the maintenance door 32, and the support member 43 of the processing chamber-side heater 41 is attached to the maintenance door 32 side of the ceiling portion 26f. Note that the support member 43 may also be attached to the maintenance door 32 side of the bottom portion 26a. That is, the current introduction portions of the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 are arranged together on the maintenance door 32 (side surface 26c) side of the processing chamber 26. Furthermore, because the side heater 36 is integrated with the side heaters 37 and 38, it is not necessary to provide a current introduction portion for the side heater 36. As a result, the current introduction portion does not protrude toward the side surfaces 26b, 26e, and 26d, and the processing chamber 26 of the film formation apparatus 23 can be prevented from expanding horizontally. As a result, the footprint of the substrate processing system 10 can be prevented from increasing.

[0035] However, the frequency with which the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 deteriorate over time is higher than the frequency with which products adhere to the inner peripheral surface of the liner 29, reducing the heating efficiency of the source gas, and particles generated from the products adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the liner 29 adhere to the wafer W, causing an increase in defects. Therefore, there is a demand for removing only the liner 29. In contrast, in this embodiment, when the maintenance door 32 is opened, only the liner 29 can be removed without removing the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41, thereby meeting the above-mentioned demand. This increases the frequency with which the liner 29 is replaced or manufactured, and ultimately suppresses a decrease in the heating efficiency of the source gas.

[0036] Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present disclosure.

[0037] For example, in the film forming apparatus 23, the side heaters 36 to 38 and the door-side side heater 34 are configured so that the door-side side heater 34 and the processing chamber-side heater 41 surrounding the liner 29 have a rectangular cylindrical shape when the maintenance door 32 is closed. However, each heater may be configured so that the heater surrounding the liner 29 has a cylindrical shape when the maintenance door 32 is closed. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the door-side side heater 44, which has an arc shape in a plan view, is disposed inside the maintenance door 32, and the processing chamber-side heater 45, which has a C-shape in a plan view, is disposed inside the side surfaces 26b, 26d, and 26e.

[0038] Alternatively, the side heaters 36 to 38 may not be integrated, but may be attached to the side surfaces 26b, 26d, and 26e by support members. However, even in this case, it is preferable that the current introduction portions of the side heaters 36 to 38 be concentrated on the maintenance door 32 (side surface 26c) side. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] W wafer 18 Substrate transfer chamber 23 Film deposition equipment 26 Processing Room 26b,26c,26d,26e side 27 Stage heater 28 Gas Injector 29 Liner 32 Maintenance door 34 Door side heater 36~38 Side heater 41 Processing chamber side heater

Claims

1. a rectangular parallelepiped processing chamber for accommodating a substrate; a stage heater disposed inside the processing chamber; a gas supply unit that supplies a source gas for film formation into the processing chamber; a cylindrical liner disposed inside the processing chamber; the liner is disposed such that openings at both ends face the stage heater and the gas supply unit, respectively; an openable maintenance door is disposed on one side of the processing chamber; a first side heater is disposed on the inside of each side surface other than the one side surface; a second side heater mounted inside the service door; when the service door is closed, the first side heater and the second side heater surround the liner; The film forming apparatus is configured so that the first side heater can be removed from the one side surface when the maintenance door is opened.

2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first side heaters disposed inside the respective side surfaces are integrated.

3. The deposition apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the liner is configured to be removable from the one side when the maintenance door is opened.

4. The film deposition apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the film deposition apparatus is attached to a transport device, and the one side on which the maintenance door is arranged is a side opposite to a side connected to the transport device.

5. 2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein current introducing portions of the first side heater and the second side heater are arranged on the maintenance door side in the processing chamber.

6. a rectangular parallelepiped processing chamber for accommodating a substrate; a stage heater disposed inside the processing chamber; a gas supply unit that supplies a source gas for film formation into the processing chamber; a cylindrical liner disposed inside the processing chamber; the liner is disposed such that openings at both ends face the stage heater and the gas supply unit, respectively; an openable maintenance door is disposed on one side of the processing chamber; a first side heater is disposed on the inside of each side surface other than the one side surface; a second side heater mounted inside the service door; In a deposition apparatus, when a maintenance door is closed, the first side heater and the second side heater surround the liner, a maintenance method for a film deposition apparatus, the maintenance door being opened and the first side heater being removed from the one side surface;

7. The maintenance method for a film deposition apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising the steps of opening the maintenance door and removing the liner from the one side surface.

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