Method and device for determining the processability of a substrate

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for treating a substrate (7) in a process chamber (8), wherein the substrate (7) is heated to an elevated temperature (t) in order to remove oxides from the surface or deposit a layer on it. According to the invention, the surface of the substrate (7) or of the layer is observed using an optical measuring device (11). Measured values are obtained and considered in relation to comparative values which have been determined during the treatment of a processable substrate. A decision value is calculated. If the decision value lies in a predetermined value range, that is to say for example below a threshold value, the processability of the substrate or of the layer is answered in the affirmative. Otherwise, a manufacturing process is aborted.

Description

Description Method and device for determining the process capability of a substrate field of technology

[0001] The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor component, in which several process steps are carried out in a chronological sequence according to a predetermined recipe stored in a control device. The invention also relates to a method for determining the process capability of a substrate surface after its pretreatment in a process chamber of a treatment device, wherein the substrate is heated to an elevated temperature and treated with a treatment gas for a predetermined time in a pretreatment step. State of the art

[0002] EP 1 111 356 B1 describes a method for depositing a layer on a surface or for etching a layer on the surface. During the deposition process or the etching process, optical measurements are taken at the layer surface. The temporal progression of the measurements is examined for characteristic shapes that have been determined beforehand.

[0003] US 2019 / 0013224 Al describes a method by which the deflection of a substrate can be measured using a laser beam reflected from a layer surface.

[0004] US 2002 / 0129476 A1 describes a method in which properties of a surface of a substrate or the surface of a layer deposited on the substrate are observed by means of an optical measuring device, wherein the layer has an oxide layer which is removed.

[0005] US 6,440,760 B1 describes a method for performing optical measurements on a substrate whose surface has been etched.

[0006] US 2021 / 0164093 Al describes a method for observing the properties of an oxide layer on a surface of a substrate.

[0007] Before coating a surface, which can be the surface of a substrate or the surface of a layer already deposited on a substrate, the surface must be brought into a process-ready state. This is always necessary when the surface, e.g., the coating surface, has come into contact with atmospheric oxygen, water, or another liquid, for example, when the substrate is transported from one treatment facility, such as a CVD reactor, to another treatment facility, such as a cleaning chamber or another CVD reactor, or when the substrate has been cleaned with a liquid.

[0008] A semiconductor component initially consists of at least one, but usually a plurality of, layers deposited on a substrate. The deposition of the layers takes place in several consecutive process steps, with the surface of the substrate being cleaned in a pretreatment step. After the deposition of the layers, the layer system produced in this way must be further processed. The layers can structured. Electrodes can be applied to the layers. The substrate carrying the layer system can be divided. The components obtained from it can be inserted into housings. The prerequisite for the proper functionality of a semiconductor component manufactured in this way is that each of the process steps delivers a result of sufficient quality. If the quality, for example a physical or chemical property of a surface or layer, lies below a threshold value, it is unlikely that the semiconductor component manufactured in the subsequent process steps will meet the requirements placed on it. A semiconductor component that does not meet these requirements must be rejected. Summary of the invention

[0009] The invention is based on the object of reducing the costs associated with the rejection of semiconductor components that do not meet the requirements and of saving manufacturing resources.

[0010] The problem is solved by the invention specified in the claims, which allows a decision to be made at an early stage of the recipe execution as to whether it is technically feasible to perform further process steps or to discard the semiconductor component that has only been partially manufactured up to that point. The recipe execution is aborted.

[0011] For example, before treating a silicon surface, oxides must be removed from the surface. When treating surfaces of other crystals, especially IV crystals, II-VI crystals or III-V crystals, it may be necessary to remove other unwanted coatings, adhesions or To remove contaminants from the surface. For this purpose, the substrate to be treated is placed in a process chamber of a treatment facility. The treatment facility can be a CVD reactor or a pre-cleaning facility. The process chamber is heated to an elevated temperature. The surface is treated with a treatment gas for a specified time. For this purpose, the treatment gas is fed into the process chamber. The treatment gas can react with the coating to be removed. However, it is also possible for the coating to be removed or the like to evaporate without a chemical reaction. The treatment gas is then an inert gas. Preferably, however, an interaction takes place between the treatment gas and the surface.

[0012] During the pretreatment step, the surface is observed at least at one measuring point using an optical measuring device. The optical measuring device can measure the reflectance of the surface. For example, the surface is illuminated by a light source. The reflected light is measured by the optical measuring device, which can be a pyrometer. Measurement values are generated. The temporal progression of the measurement values is stored, for example, in the form of a measurement curve or a series of measurements. The light can have a wavelength of 405 nm, 633 nm, or 950 nm.

[0013] In a preliminary test or with model calculations, comparative values were previously obtained. For example, in a preliminary test, an identical surface was treated with the same or similar process parameters, for example, heated to the same elevated temperature and treated with the same treatment gas for the same specified time in a pretreatment step. During the pretreatment step, measured values were obtained at a measuring point on the surface using an identical measuring device. The surface was then measured in another way, for example with a XRD measurements were used. It was determined that the surface quality meets the criteria required for further processing. Several preliminary tests can be conducted, even with modified process parameters, and the measured values from the preliminary tests that resulted in surfaces with the quality required for further processing are selected. The selected series of measured values from the preliminary test, which resulted in a process-ready surface, is used as reference values for the process.

[0014] The measured values obtained when carrying out the method for determining the process capability of a surface are related to the comparison values using a computing device. For example, a comparison of the measured values is carried out with the comparison values. This is done in such a way that a decision value is calculated. This can be done, for example, by comparing the course of a measurement curve formed from the measured values with the course of a comparison curve formed using the comparison values. For example, the comparison curve can have characteristic sections. If the measurement curve does not have one of these characteristic sections, the decision value can be set to a level that lies outside a predetermined value range.It is also possible that the comparison values are based on a preliminary test that resulted in a surface that is not suitable for the process, and in which the comparison values form a comparison curve with a characteristic section. If the measurement curves exhibit the characteristic section of the comparison curve, the decision value can be set to a value that lies outside the specified value range. However, it is also possible to calculate a squared distance between each individual measured value and an assigned comparison value and to use the decision value. value from the sum of these squared distances. The value range can then lie in the range below a threshold value or in the range above a threshold value. Instead of using each individual measured value or all measured values, however, only certain measured values can be compared with certain assigned comparison values. For example, only subsets of the measured values can be related to corresponding subvalues of the comparison values. In other words, only subsections of a measurement curve are related to subsections of a comparison curve. The pretreatment step can consist of several substeps. Thus, only the measured values that were obtained in one or more of these substeps can be related to corresponding comparison values.

[0015] The substrate can be made of a IV material, Si (110), Si (111), Si (100), 4H-SiC, 6H-SiC, sapphire, a III-V material, AlN, GaN, or a III-VI material. The surface can be the surface of this substrate. However, the surface can also be a layer deposited on a substrate consisting of a IV material, Si (110), Si (111), Si (100), 4H-SiC, 6H-SiC, sapphire, a III-V material, AlN, GaN, or a III-VI material. The surface is preferably a Si surface. After chemical cleaning of this surface, the surface can have a natural oxide, namely SiO. The oxygen of this oxide must be removed. This takes place in a pretreatment step as described above. At the elevated temperature, the oxygen can escape from the layer surface.Hydrogen is used as the treatment gas, so that the unsaturated bonds after the removal of oxygen from the Si crystal are saturated with H. However, it is also possible that the hydrogen reacts with the oxygen bound to the layer surface to form a volatile reaction product. The goal of the process is the complete removal of oxygen and the saturation of the Si bonds with hydrogen.

[0016] The pretreatment step can comprise several sub-steps, for example a first sub-step in which the process chamber is heated from a low temperature at which the process chamber is loaded with the substrates to a pretreatment temperature, a second sub-step in which a first pretreatment gas, which is for example hydrogen, is fed into the process chamber and a third sub-step in which another treatment gas or an additional treatment gas, for example a hydride of an element of main group V or an organometallic compound of an element of main group III, is fed into the process chamber, wherein in one of the sub-steps or an intermediate step a change in the treatment temperature is also carried out.Preferably, however, in at least some of the sub-steps of the pretreatment step, no process gas or process gas mixture is fed into the process chamber that leads to the deposition of a layer on the substrate. Preferably, during the pretreatment step, only a conversion of the surface termination from an O termination to an H termination or a termination of the surface with an element from main group III or V takes place. However, a final pretreatment step can also involve the deposition of a metal layer, for example, an Al layer. GaN can be deposited in a later process step.

[0017] In a preliminary test conducted with the same process parameters as the aforementioned pretreatment, which resulted in a perfect surface, measurements were taken. These measurements are used as reference values against which the measurements obtained during the aforementioned pretreatment are compared. A decision value is calculated in the same way, and a check is made to determine whether the decision value lies within a specified range. If this is not the case, the substrate is rejected. Otherwise, the substrate can be further processed.

[0018] The decision value can be a positive value or simply the value "Yes" or "No." If the decision value is positive or "Yes," the surface has the quality required for the deposition of a layer. If the decision value is "No," the cleaned substrate is not further processed but discarded.

[0019] In subsequent process steps, further layers are deposited onto the substrate surface, which has been cleaned using the cleaning method described above. This occurs in a deposition step. According to a recipe stored in a computer, treatment gases containing reactive gases that have elements that determine the layer composition are fed into the process chamber. The process chamber is heated to an elevated temperature. During the deposition of the layers, the surface of the layer or the layer itself is observed using an optical measuring device. In particular, the reflectance of the surface is measured at a measuring point, for which the measuring point is illuminated with light of the previously specified wavelengths. However, it is also possible to measure the deflection of the substrate using the optical measuring device.Here, too, the measured values are compared with reference values obtained in preliminary tests or using a model to calculate a decision value. The decision value can also be "yes" or "no." In the first case, another layer can be deposited on top of the layer. In the second case, the substrate is rejected. The processing of the recipe is aborted.

[0020] The layer can be a nucleation layer that is deposited directly onto the cleaned surface of the substrate. However, it can also be another layer that is deposited onto the nucleation layer. The nucleation layer may contain aluminum. The substrate may contain silicon or consist of silicon. The nucleation layer may also contain nitrogen. The layer may be a III-V layer.

[0021] The device for carrying out the method can have a display for indicating the decision value. It can also be provided that, after determining a decision value that results in the termination of the recipe processing, the device, for example, the CVD reactor, is checked for possible errors.

[0022] A device according to the invention comprises a reactor housing and a susceptor arranged therein, which has the capability of accommodating one or more substrates. The device comprises an optical measuring device configured to obtain optical measurement values at a measuring point on a surface of the substrate. Furthermore, the device comprises a programmable computing device configured or programmed to control the measuring device and to correlate the measurement values with reference values. The computing device can calculate a decision value with which a statement can be made as to whether a pretreated substrate is suitable for processing or not.

[0023] The process chamber can surround a central gas inlet or be located beneath it. The susceptor can be rotated around a center point. A plurality of storage locations can be arranged on the susceptor, where the substrates to be treated are located. During pretreatment, the substrates move past a measuring point where the optical measuring device acquires measured values. Short description of the drawings

[0024] An embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings. They show: Fig. 1 shows the comparison values of a Reflectance measurement and the measured values of a reflectance measurement shown as curve b, Fig. 2 schematically shows the structure of a treatment device of a first embodiment, Fig. 3 shows the section along the line III-III in Figure 2, Fig. 4 schematically shows the structure of a treatment device of a second embodiment, Fig. 5 shows the section along the line VV in Figure 4. Description of the embodiments

[0025] Figures 2 and 4 show a treatment facility for carrying out the process. A reactor housing 1 is made of stainless steel and is gas-tight to the outside. It can be evacuated using a vacuum pump (not shown). Process gases can be provided using a gas mixing device (not shown), and in particular, a treatment gas, which is preferably hydrogen, can be provided. The treatment gas can be fed into a process chamber 8 of the reactor housing through a gas supply line 3 by means of a gas inlet device 2.

[0026] The process chamber 8 is bounded at the bottom by a susceptor 4, which can be made of graphite or coated graphite. The susceptor 4 can also have cover plates, which can be coated, on its upper side facing the process chamber 8. The susceptor has a plurality of storage locations 6, arranged in particular around a center of the susceptor 4, each for storing a substrate 7.

[0027] In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the storage locations 6 form substrate holders located in pockets of the susceptor 4. Carrier gas streams can be fed into the pockets to create a gas cushion 6', on which a substrate holder 6 rests. The carrier gas streams can cause the substrate holder 6 to rotate.

[0028] The susceptor 4 can be rotated about a rotational axis 16 by means of a shaft 9. A rotary drive device 14 is provided for this purpose. A heating device 5 is located below the susceptor 4. This can be an RF heating device with a water-cooled heating coil, which can be used to generate eddy currents in the susceptor 4.

[0029] The process chamber 8 is bounded at the top by a process chamber ceiling 17. The process chamber ceiling 17 can have an opening 18 through which an optical path 19 can pass. The optical path 19 extends from a measuring point 13 on the top side of the substrate holder 6 through the opening 18 to a beam splitter 10 or a reflectance measuring device 11. An additional emissivity measuring device 12 can be provided. The two optical measuring devices 11, 12 are typically used to monitor the layer thickness and, if applicable, also the layer composition during the deposition of a layer.

[0030] A computing device 15 is provided which controls the optical measuring devices 11, 12 and can evaluate the measured values measured by the optical measuring devices 11, 12.

[0031] The embodiment shown in Figure 4 differs from the embodiment shown in Figure 2 essentially in the gas inlet element 2. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, it is arranged in the center of the process chamber 8. The substrates 7 are arranged around the gas inlet element 2. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the gas inlet element 2 is a showerhead and extends over the entire base area of the susceptor 4 and has evenly distributed gas outlet openings. The broad side surface of the susceptor 4 facing the process chamber can be completely covered with substrates 7.

[0032] One of the gas outlet openings forms a channel 18 through which the optical path 19 can pass.

[0033] A manufacturing process for producing a semiconductor device involves numerous process steps. Some of the process steps are performed outside a CVD reactor. Other process steps are performed inside a CVD reactor. Production follows a predefined recipe that includes all process steps.

[0034] With the method according to the invention, a decision can be made at an early stage, namely during the process steps carried out within the CVD reactor, as to whether further process steps, and in particular process steps carried out after the process steps carried out within the CVD reactor, should be carried out at all. With the method according to the invention, it is also possible to The sequence of process steps performed within the CVD reactor can be interrupted. The process steps for depositing the layer can be performed in a treatment facility that has multiple process chambers or multiple CVD reactors. These process steps are carried out one after the other in a chronological order according to the recipe. Subsequently, further process steps are performed outside the treatment facility; the layers are structured, electroded, etc. Early detection of errors during the processing of the process steps in the treatment facility allows a decision to be made as to whether the subsequent process steps should be carried out or whether the workpiece produced up to that point should be rejected.

[0035] A substrate to be processed, for example, a silicon substrate, is first cleaned outside the reactor housing 1, for example, mechanically, with organic solvents, and with inorganic liquids, such as acids or bases. After this pre-cleaning, the cleaned substrate has a surface that requires pretreatment. For example, a Si substrate may have oxides on its surface. These oxides must be removed.

[0036] For this purpose, the substrate 7 or several substrates 7 are pretreated. The pretreatment can be performed in the same treatment facility in which layers or layer sequences are subsequently deposited onto the surface of the substrate 7. However, it is also possible that the substrates to be treated already bear layers; for example, these layers may have been deposited in prior coating processes. These layers must also be pretreated.

[0037] During pretreatment, one or more substrates are heated to an elevated temperature and treated with a treatment gas for a specified time.

[0038] In the exemplary embodiment, the substrates 7 are heated to temperatures above 1000°C, for example, temperatures between 1000 and 1100°C. This takes place in a hydrogen atmosphere until the treatment temperature is reached. The substrates are then held at this temperature in the hydrogen atmosphere for a predetermined time. During this time, the oxygen atoms on the surface are replaced by hydrogen atoms until the surface is hydrogen-terminated.

[0039] Throughout the entire time, reflectance values are recorded using the optical measuring device, and in particular the reflectance measuring device 11, under illumination with light of, for example, 405 nm, 633 nm, or 950 nm. The measured values recorded in this way can be plotted as curves a, b, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows the temporal progression of the reflectance values. Curve a corresponds to a pretreatment that results in a process-ready surface. Curve a can, for example, have been recorded in a preliminary test. Curve b corresponds to a pretreatment that resulted in a non-process-ready surface. It can be seen that the comparison curve a has a characteristic property e1 that the measurement curve b does not have. On the other hand, the measurement curve b has a characteristic property e2 that the comparison curve a does not have.There are curve sections c3 and c4 in which the course of the measurement curve b differs significantly from the course of the comparison curve a.

[0040] The computing device 15 is programmed to relate the measured values or comparison values underlying the two curves a, b. For example, the sum of the squared differences of the measured values / comparison values can be calculated. The summation can take place over the entire duration of the pretreatment. However, the summation can also be limited to curve sections c3 and / or c4, i.e., to curve sections in which the measured curve or the comparison curve can exhibit characteristic shapes. If the sum calculated in this way lies within a predetermined value range, for example, between zero and a threshold value, the processability of the surface is affirmed. The surface is considered processable and can, for example, be further treated in the same treatment device, for example, by depositing a layer onto the surface.If, however, the sum lies outside a specified value range, for example, above a threshold, the treatment process is aborted. The substrate is removed from process chamber 8 and disposed of. The decision value can, for example, be positive or have the value "Yes." The substrate is then coated in further process steps. The decision value can, for example, be negative or have the value "No." The substrate is then discarded.

[0041] Curve sections c3 and / or c4 can belong to different phases of the pretreatment step if the pretreatment step has different phases that follow one another in time. Thus, in a first phase c1, the process chamber can be heated from a low temperature to a high temperature upon introduction of a first gas, for example, an inert gas, or a first process chamber pressure. Hydrogen can also be introduced into the process chamber. However, the heating can also take place in a different atmosphere or under vacuum conditions. During heating, the refractive index changes. the layer forming the surface or the substrate forming the surface, so that the reflection curve increases.

[0042] At least in a subsequent second phase c2, c3, a treatment gas, for example hydrogen, is fed into the process chamber to change the surface. During sub-phase c2, a slight decrease in reflectance is observed. In this sub-phase c2, a transformation of the surface takes place. The roughness of the surface decreases in the process. In curve a, a significant increase in reflectance can then be observed, which is due to the fact that the property of the surface has changed, for example, is now terminated with H. In the subsequent sub-phase c3, the reflectance in curve a initially no longer changes. The temperature is kept at an essentially constant value.

[0043] In curve b, a significant increase in reflectance can also be observed at the beginning of subphase c3. However, the reflectance then drops to a lower value. This may be due to insufficient cleaning, leaving oxide on the surface. However, it can also be due to the formation of SiN on the surface, for example, if nitrogen compounds from previous deposition processes remain in the process chamber. However, the decrease can also have other causes, such as metal bonding on the surface. For example, aluminum atoms can accumulate on the surface. This leads to a roughened surface.

[0044] In a subsequent third phase c4, the temperature can be changed, for example, lowered. The total pressure within the process chamber can also be changed. This results in a decrease in reflectance.

[0045] In a fourth phase c5, a different gas can also be fed into the process chamber, for example, to stabilize the modified surface. For example, a gas containing aluminum, a gas containing gallium, a gas containing arsenic, a gas containing phosphorus, or a gas containing indium can also be fed into the process chamber. The aforementioned elements are components of the molecules of a gas.

[0046] In the fourth phase c5, however, a gas can also be fed in to deposit a layer, for example, an aluminum-containing gas can be fed in in this regard, for example, to deposit an aluminum layer or an AlN layer.

[0047] If, for example, a measurement curve b is similar to and only slightly different from the comparison curve a, this is a sign of process capability of the pretreated surface so that the substrate can be further processed, for example by depositing additional layers on the substrate, for example III-V layers and in particular at least one GaN layer or layers for producing light-emitting diodes.

[0048] To confirm process capability, the curve in the second sub-phase c3 of the second phase can be used. Process capability can be confirmed if the measured curve changes only insignificantly in this sub-phase c3. To confirm process capability, the reflectance must increase by a predetermined value during the transition from the first sub-phase c2 to the second sub-phase c3. To confirm process capability, it is also necessary that the reflectance R does not decrease insignificantly during the further course of the second sub-phase c3, in particular, does not decrease by more than, for example, half of the increase in reflectance in the transition region from from the first subphase c2 to the second subphase c3. The reflectance may only decrease in the subsequent phase c4, in which the temperature is lowered.

[0049] However, a sufficient criterion for denying process capability can also be that the reflectance, after its increase during the transition from the first sub-phase c2 to the second sub-phase c3, drops abruptly or falls in the second sub-phase c3 below the minimum value that the reflectance reaches in the first sub-phase c2.

[0050] According to an alternative of the method according to the invention, measured values are measured with the optical device 10, 11, 12 in an arrangement according to Figures 2 or 4 at a measuring point 13 during the deposition of a nucleation layer or of a further layer deposited on a nucleation layer. In a manner analogous to the previously described method, a measurement curve is formed from the measured values, which reflects the temporal progression of the measured values. This measurement curve can be compared with one or more comparison curves determined in preliminary tests or by model calculations. The comparison curves can contain curves recorded during the deposition of layers that had a high quality. However, the comparison curves can also contain curves recorded during the deposition of layers that had a low quality. Depending on the quality, a decision value is assigned to the curve.By comparing the measurement curve obtained during the deposition of the current layer with the historical measurement curve determined in preliminary tests or by model calculations, a decision value can be obtained with which the decision is made as to whether the recipe should be further processed or whether the processing of the recipe should be aborted.

[0051] The set of comparison curves can be continuously supplemented by adding measurement curves obtained during the manufacturing process.

[0052] The above statements serve to explain the inventions covered by the application as a whole, which each independently develop the state of the art by at least the following combinations of features, whereby two, several or all of these combinations of features can also be combined, namely:

[0053] A method characterized by using the decision value to abort the sequence of process steps.

[0054] A process characterized in that during the pretreatment step with hydrogen as treatment gas, oxides are removed from the surface of the substrate and the surface is terminated with hydrogen.

[0055] A process characterized in that the layer is an aluminum-containing nucleation layer deposited directly onto the surface of a silicon substrate.

[0056] A method which is characterised in that in the preliminary tests a quality of the surface or a quality of the layer is determined and this is assigned to the temporal course of the measured values, and from the quality a result value is obtained which affirms or denies the process capability, which is adopted as the decision value when relating.

[0057] A process characterized in that the surface is a silicon surface and that the elevated temperature T is at least 1000°C.

[0058] A method characterized in that the surface is formed of the following material: a IV material, Si (110), Si (111), Si (100), 4H-SiC, 6H-SiC, sapphire, a III-V material, AlN, GaN or a II-VI material.

[0059] A method which is characterized in that with the optical measuring device 11 at the measuring point 13 the reflectance of the surface is measured, in particular with an illumination having a wavelength of 405 nm, 633 nm or 950 nm, and the measured values are reflectance measured values.

[0060] A method which is characterized in that a deflection of the substrate 7 is measured with the optical measuring device 11 and the measured values characterize the deflection of the substrate 7.

[0061] A method characterized in that the pretreatment step is a cleaning step and the processing of the recipe is aborted if the decision value is negative or that the processing of the recipe is aborted after the separation step if the decision value is negative.

[0062] A device for carrying out a method according to one of the preceding claims, with a susceptor 4 arranged in a process chamber 8 of a reactor housing 1, which has at least one storage location 6 for storing a substrate 7, with an optical measuring device 11 which is set up at a measuring point 13 on a surface of the substrate 7 to obtain optical measurement values and to control the measuring device 11 with a computing device 15 which is set up according to one of the preceding claims and to relate the measurement values to comparison values stored in the computing device 15.

[0063] A method which is characterized in that a substrate 7 is heated to an elevated temperature T and is treated with a treatment gas for a predetermined time t in a pretreatment step, wherein a plurality of measured values are obtained at a measuring point 13 of the substrate 7 during the pretreatment step using an optical measuring device 11 and the time course of the measured values is stored, wherein the quality of the surface of the substrate 7 is determined in another way or a layer is deposited on the surface of the substrate 7 and its quality is determined, and wherein the time course of the measured values is stored as a comparison value in the computing device 15 if the determined quality is above a threshold value.

[0064] A method which is characterized in that the pretreatment step has a first phase c1 in which the process chamber 8 is heated from a low temperature to the elevated temperature T, a second phase c2, c3 in which hydrogen is fed into the process chamber 8 at the elevated temperature T, wherein in a partial phase c2 of the second phase a decrease in the reflectance measured with the optical measuring device 11 is observable and the roughness of the surface decreases, wherein after this partial phase c2 with a significant increase in the reflection a further partial phase c3 begins, during which the reflectance must not decrease to a low value in order to confirm the process capability.

[0065] A method which is characterized in that after a decision value has been determined which results in the processing of the recipe being aborted, a check of the device for errors is carried out according to claim 8.

[0066] All disclosed features are essential to the invention (individually, but also in combination with one another). The disclosure of the application hereby fully incorporates the disclosure content of the associated / attached priority documents (copy of the prior application), also for the purpose of incorporating features of these documents into claims of the present application. The subclaims characterize, even without the features of a referenced claim, independent inventive developments of the prior art with their features, in particular for filing divisional applications based on these claims. The invention specified in each claim may additionally comprise one or more of the features provided in the above description, in particular with reference numbers, and / or specified in the list of reference numbers.The invention also relates to designs in which individual features mentioned in the above description are not implemented, in particular insofar as they are clearly unnecessary for the respective intended use or can be replaced by other technically equivalent means. List of reference symbols 1 Housing c5 Partial step / curve section 2 Gas inlet element t Time 3 Gas supply line 4 Susceptor T Temperature 5 Heating device 6 Storage space / substrate holder 6' gas cushion 7 Substrate 8 Process chamber 9 shaft 10 beam splitters 11 Reflectance measuring device 12 Emissivity measuring device 13 Measuring point 14 Rotary drive device 15 Calculation device 16 Rotation axis 17 Process chamber ceiling 18 Opening 19 Optical path a Comparison curve b Measurement curve cl Partial step / curve section c2 Partial step / curve section c3 Partial step / curve section c4 Partial step / curve section

Claims

Claims 1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor component, wherein several process steps are carried out in a chronological sequence, wherein in a pretreatment step a surface of a substrate (7) is pretreated and in one or more deposition steps one or more layers are deposited on the substrate, wherein the substrate (7) is treated with a treatment gas in the pretreatment step and the one or more deposition steps for a predetermined time (t), wherein at least during the pretreatment step or during one of the deposition steps a plurality of measured values are obtained with an optical measuring device (11) at a measuring point (13) on the surface, and the temporal progression of the measured values is related to a temporal progression of comparison values obtained in preliminary tests or with the aid of a model, and a decision value is calculated therefrom, characterized in thatthat the decision value is used to abort the sequence of process steps., 2. Method for determining the process capability of a surface of a substrate (7) during a pretreatment step in a process chamber (8) of a treatment device, wherein the substrate (7) is heated to an elevated temperature (T) and is treated with a treatment gas, wherein a plurality of measured values are obtained with an optical measuring device (11) at a measuring point (13) on the surface during the pretreatment step, wherein a decision value is calculated by relating a time course of the measured values with a time course of comparison values obtained in preliminary tests or with the aid of a model, characterized in that during the pretreatment step with hydrogen as Treatment gas removes oxides from the surface of the substrate and terminates the surface with hydrogen.

3. Method for determining the process capability of a layer deposited on a surface of a substrate (7) during a deposition step in a process chamber (8) of a treatment device, wherein the substrate (7) is heated to an elevated temperature (T) and is treated with a treatment gas which comprises elements forming the layer, wherein a plurality of measured values are obtained with an optical measuring device (11) at a measuring point (13) on the surface during the deposition step, wherein a decision value is calculated by relating a time course of the measured values to a time course of comparison values obtained in preliminary tests or with the aid of a model, characterized in that the layer is an aluminum-containing nucleation layer which is deposited directly onto the surface of a silicon substrate.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the preliminary tests a quality of the surface or a quality of the layer is determined and this is assigned to the temporal course of the measured values, and from the quality a result value is obtained which affirms or denies the process capability and which is adopted as a decision value when relating.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surface is a silicon surface and that the elevated temperature (T) is at least 1000°C.

6. Method according to one of claims 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the surface is formed from the following material: a IV material, Si (110), Si (111), Si (100), 4H-SiC, 6H-SiC, sapphire, a III-V material, AIN, GaN or a II-VI material.

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that with the optical measuring device (11) at the measuring point (13) the reflectance of the surface is measured, in particular with an illumination having a wavelength of 405 nm, 633 nm or 950 nm, and the measured values are reflectance measured values.

8. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a deflection of the substrate (7) is measured with the optical measuring device (11) and the measured values characterize the deflection of the substrate (7).

9. Method according to one of claims 1 or 4 to 8, characterized in that the pretreatment step is a cleaning step and the processing of the recipe is aborted if the decision value is negative or that the processing of the recipe is aborted after the separation step if the decision value is negative.

10. Device for carrying out a method according to one of the preceding claims, with a susceptor (4) arranged in a process chamber (8) of a reactor housing (1), which has at least one storage space (6) for storing a substrate (7), with an optical measuring device (11) which is set up to obtain optical measured values at a measuring point (13) on a surface of the substrate (7) and with a- a computing device (15) which is configured, according to one of the preceding claims, to control the measuring device (11) and to relate the measured values to comparison values stored in the computing device (15).

11. A method for setting up a device according to claim 10, characterized in that a substrate (7) is heated to an elevated temperature (T) and is treated with a treatment gas for a predetermined time (t) in a pretreatment step, wherein a plurality of measured values are obtained with an optical measuring device (11) at a measuring point (13) of the substrate (7) during the pretreatment step and the time course of the measured values is stored, wherein the quality of the surface of the substrate (7) is determined in another way or a layer is deposited on the surface of the substrate (7) and its quality is determined, and wherein the time course of the measured values is stored as a comparison value in the computing device (15) if the determined quality is above a threshold value.

12. The method according to any one of claims 2 or 4 to 9, characterized in that the pretreatment step comprises a first phase c1 in which the process chamber (8) is heated from a low temperature to the elevated temperature (T), a second phase (c2, c3) in which hydrogen is fed into the process chamber (8) at the elevated temperature (T), wherein in a partial phase (c2) of the second phase a decrease in the reflectance measured with the optical measuring device (11) is observable and the roughness of the surface decreases, wherein after this partial phase (c2) with a significant increase in reflection a further partial phase (c3) begins, during which the reflectance must not drop to a low value in order to confirm process capability.

13. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that after determining a decision value that results in the termination of the processing of a recipe, a check of the device for errors is carried out according to claim 10.

14. Device or method characterized by one or more of the characterizing features of one of the preceding claims.

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