Substrate processing method, semiconductor device production method, substrate processing device, and program

Abstract

The present invention provides a technique that enables modification processing while inhibiting thermal diffusion.　The present invention comprises: a step for preparing a substrate on which at least a first film is formed; and a step for performing modification processing by supplying an electromagnetic wave such that the temperature of the substrate becomes equal to or lower than a prescribed temperature so that the electromagnetic wave absorption coefficient with respect to the first film becomes higher than the electromagnetic wave absorption coefficient with respect to the substrate.

Description

Substrate processing method, semiconductor device manufacturing method, substrate processing apparatus, and program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a substrate processing method, a semiconductor device manufacturing method, a substrate processing apparatus, and a program.

[0002] One process in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices is a modification process, typified by annealing, in which a substrate in a processing chamber is heated using a heating device to change the composition or crystalline structure of a thin film formed on the surface of the substrate or to repair crystal defects in the formed thin film. Heat treatment methods using electromagnetic waves, such as those described in Patent Document 1, have been considered as modification processes.

[0003] JP 2015-070045 A

[0004] In conventional treatments using electromagnetic waves, heat treatment can cause thermal diffusion from a film to be treated to films other than the film to be treated.

[0005] The present disclosure provides a technique that enables modification treatment while suppressing thermal diffusion.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a technology comprising: a step of preparing a substrate on which at least a first film is formed; and a step of supplying the electromagnetic waves so that the temperature of the substrate is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, so that the absorption rate of the electromagnetic waves in the first film is higher than the absorption rate of the electromagnetic waves in the substrate.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to perform a modification process while suppressing thermal diffusion.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of a processing furnace portion of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a processing furnace portion of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a cross-sectional configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a controller of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a waveform obtained by pulse-controlling a microwave power supply, which is preferably used in an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of microwave power supply settings, which is preferably used in an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a substrate processing flow according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a film configuration on a substrate, which is preferably used in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0009] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that all drawings used in the following description are schematic, and the dimensional relationships, ratios, etc. of the elements shown in the drawings do not necessarily correspond to the actual ones. Furthermore, the dimensional relationships, ratios, etc. of the elements do not necessarily correspond between multiple drawings. Furthermore, substantially identical elements are assigned the same reference numerals between multiple drawings, and each element is described in the drawing in which it first appears, and its description is omitted in subsequent drawings unless otherwise necessary. Unless otherwise specified in the specification, each element is not limited to one, and multiple elements may be present.

[0010] (1) Configuration of the Substrate Processing Apparatus The substrate processing apparatus in this embodiment is configured as a single-wafer heat treatment apparatus that performs various heat treatments on one or more wafers as substrates, and will be described as an apparatus that performs an annealing treatment (modification treatment) using electromagnetic waves, which will be described later. The substrate processing apparatus in this embodiment uses a FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod, hereinafter referred to as a pod) as a storage container (carrier) that houses wafers inside a processing chamber. The pod is also used as a transport container for transporting wafers between various substrate processing apparatuses.

[0011] 1, 2, and 3, the substrate processing apparatus 100 includes a transfer housing 202 having a transfer chamber 203 therein for transferring wafers 200, and cases 102-1 and 102-2 as processing containers (described later) provided on the side walls of the transfer housing 202 and having processing chambers 201-1 and 201-2 therein for processing the wafers 200. A cooling case 109 forming a cooling chamber 204 is provided between the processing chambers 201-1 and 201-2.

[0012] 2 (lower side in FIG. 3), which is the front side of the transfer housing 202, is disposed a load port unit (LP) 106 as a pod opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the lid of the pod 110 and loading and unloading the wafers 200 into and out of the transfer chamber 203. The load port unit 106 includes a housing 106a, a stage 106b, and an opener 106c. The stage 106b is configured to mount the pod 110 and bring the pod 110 close to a substrate loading / unloading opening 134 formed in the front of the housing of the transfer chamber 203, and the opener 106c opens and closes a lid (not shown) provided on the pod 110. The load port unit 106 also controls the inside of the pod 110 to be N ２ The transfer housing 202 may have a function of purging the inside of the transfer chamber 203 with a purge gas such as N ２ The purge gas 111 is circulated by a fan 116.

[0013] 2 (upper side in FIG. 3), which is the rear side of the transfer housing 202, are disposed gate valves (GV) 205-1 and 205-2 for opening and closing the processing chambers 201-1 and 201-2, respectively. A substrate transfer robot, which is a substrate transfer mechanism for transferring the wafer 200, and a transfer machine 125, which serves as a substrate transfer unit, are disposed in the transfer chamber 203. The transfer machine 125 is composed of a transfer device 125b that can rotate or linearly move each of tweezers 125a-1 and 125a-2, which serve as mounting units for mounting the wafer 200, in the horizontal direction, and a transfer device elevator 125c that raises and lowers the transfer device 125b. The system is configured such that continuous operation of the tweezers 125a-1 and 125a-2, the transfer device 125b, and the transfer device elevator 125c enables the wafers 200 to be charged or discharged into or from a substrate holder (substrate holder) 217 ​​(described later), the cooling chamber 204, and the pod 110. Hereinafter, unless there is a need to distinguish between them, the cases 102-1 and 102-2, the processing chambers 201-1 and 201-2, and the tweezers 125a-1 and 125a-2 will be simply referred to as the case 102, the processing chamber 201, and the tweezers 125a.

[0014] The tweezers 125a-1 are made of ordinary aluminum and are used to transport low-temperature and room-temperature wafers. The tweezers 125a-2 are made of a material with high heat resistance but poor thermal conductivity, such as alumina or quartz, and are used to transport high-temperature and room-temperature wafers. In other words, the tweezers 125a-1 are low-temperature substrate transport units, and the tweezers 125a-2 are high-temperature substrate transport units. The high-temperature tweezers 125a-2 are preferably configured to be heat-resistant to, for example, 100°C or higher, and more preferably, 200°C or higher. A mapping sensor can be installed on the low-temperature tweezers 125a-1. By installing a mapping sensor on the low-temperature tweezers 125a-1, it becomes possible to confirm the number of wafers 200 in the load port unit 106, the number of wafers 200 in the processing chamber 201, and the number of wafers 200 in the cooling chamber 204.

[0015] In the substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment, the tweezers 125a-1 are described as low-temperature tweezers, and the tweezers 125a-2 are described as high-temperature tweezers, but this is not limiting. The tweezers 125a-1 may be made of a material with high heat resistance but low thermal conductivity, such as alumina or quartz, and used to transport wafers at high and room temperatures, while the tweezers 125a-2 may be made of a normal aluminum material and used to transport wafers at low and room temperatures. Alternatively, both the tweezers 125a-1 and 125a-2 may be made of a material with high heat resistance but low thermal conductivity, such as alumina or quartz.

[0016] (Processing Furnace) A processing furnace (processing chamber 201) having a substrate processing structure as shown in Fig. 1 is configured in an area A surrounded by a dashed line in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 3, in this embodiment, a plurality of processing furnaces are provided, but since the processing furnaces have the same configuration, only the configuration of one of them will be described, and a description of the configuration of the other processing furnace will be omitted.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1 , the processing furnace has a case 102 serving as a cavity (processing vessel) made of a material that reflects electromagnetic waves, such as metal. A cap flange (closure plate) 104 made of a metal material closes the upper end of the case 102 via an O-ring (not shown) that serves as a sealing member. The space inside the case 102 and the cap flange 104 constitutes a processing chamber 201 for processing wafers 200. A quartz reaction tube (not shown) that transmits electromagnetic waves may be installed inside the case 102, or the processing vessel may be configured so that the interior of the reaction tube serves as the processing chamber. Alternatively, the processing chamber 201 may be configured using a case 102 with a closed ceiling without providing the cap flange 104.

[0018] A mounting table 210 is provided within the processing chamber 201, and a boat 217 serving as a substrate holder (substrate holder) for holding a wafer 200 is mounted on the upper surface of the mounting table 210. The boat 217 holds the wafer 200 to be processed and susceptors 103a and 103b, which are mounted vertically above and below the wafer 200 so as to sandwich the wafer 200, at a predetermined distance. The susceptors 103a and 103b are made of materials such as silicon plates (Si plates) or silicon carbide plates (SiC plates) and are disposed above and below the wafer 200 to prevent the electric field intensity from concentrating on the edge of the wafer 200. In other words, the susceptors suppress the absorption of electromagnetic waves by the wafer edge. Quartz plates 101a and 101b serving as heat insulating plates may be held at a predetermined distance on the upper and lower surfaces of the susceptors 103a and 103b. In this embodiment, the quartz plates 101a and 101b and the susceptors 103a and 103b are each composed of the same parts, and hereinafter, unless there is a need to distinguish between them, they will be referred to as the quartz plate 101 and the susceptor 103. The boat 217 can hold multiple wafers 200, which improves processing capacity.

[0019] The case 102 serving as a processing vessel has, for example, a circular cross section and is configured as a flat, sealed vessel. The transfer housing 202 serving as a lower vessel is configured, for example, from a metal material such as aluminum (Al) or stainless steel (SUS), or from quartz. The space enclosed by the case 102 may be referred to as a processing chamber (or reaction area) 201 serving as a processing space, and the space enclosed by the transfer housing 202 may be referred to as a transfer chamber (or transfer area) 203 serving as a transfer space. The processing chamber 201 and the transfer chamber 203 may not necessarily be configured adjacent to each other horizontally as in this embodiment, but may also be configured adjacent to each other vertically, with a substrate holder having a predetermined structure being raised and lowered.

[0020] 1, 2, and 3, a substrate loading / unloading port 206 adjacent to a gate valve 205 is provided on the side of the transfer housing 202, and the wafer 200 moves between the processing chamber 201 and the transfer chamber 203 through the substrate loading / unloading port 206. A choke structure having a length of ¼ wavelength of the electromagnetic wave used is provided around the gate valve 205 or the substrate loading / unloading port 206 as a countermeasure against leakage of the electromagnetic wave, which will be described later.

[0021] An electromagnetic wave supply unit serving as a heating device, which will be described in detail later, is installed on the side of the case 102, and electromagnetic waves such as microwaves supplied from the electromagnetic wave supply unit are introduced into the processing chamber 201 to heat the wafers 200, etc., and process the wafers 200. The electromagnetic wave supply unit is installed at a position opposite to the substrate loading / unloading port 206.

[0022] The mounting table 210 is supported by a shaft 255 serving as a rotation axis. The shaft 255 penetrates the bottom of the processing chamber 201 and is connected to a drive mechanism 267 that performs rotation outside the processing chamber 201. By operating the drive mechanism 267 to rotate the shaft 255 and the mounting table 210, it is possible to rotate the wafer 200 mounted on the boat 217. The lower end of the shaft 255 is covered with a bellows (not shown), and the processing chamber 201 and the transfer area 203 are kept airtight.

[0023] Here, the mounting table 210 may be configured to be raised or lowered by a drive mechanism 267 depending on the height of the substrate loading / unloading port 206 so that the wafer 200 is at a wafer transfer position when the wafer 200 is being transported, and to be raised or lowered to a processing position (wafer processing position) within the processing chamber 201 when the wafer 200 is being processed.

[0024] An exhaust unit that exhausts the atmosphere in the processing chamber 201 is provided below the processing chamber 201 and on the outer periphery of the mounting table 210. As shown in Fig. 1, the exhaust unit is provided with an exhaust port 221. An exhaust pipe 231 is connected to the exhaust port 221, and a pressure regulator 244 such as an APC valve that controls the valve opening depending on the pressure inside the processing chamber 201 and a vacuum pump 246 are connected to the exhaust pipe 231 in series.

[0025] Here, the pressure regulator 244 is not limited to an APC valve, and may be configured to use a normal opening / closing valve and a pressure adjustment valve in combination, as long as it is capable of receiving pressure information within the processing chamber 201 and a feedback signal from a pressure sensor 245 described later and adjusting the exhaust volume.

[0026] An exhaust unit (also referred to as an exhaust system or an exhaust line) is mainly composed of the exhaust port 221, the exhaust pipe 231, and the pressure regulator 244. Note that exhaust ports may be provided to surround the mounting table 210, allowing gas to be exhausted from the entire periphery of the wafer 200. A vacuum pump 246 may also be included in the exhaust unit.

[0027] The cap flange 104 is provided with a gas supply pipe 232 for supplying various processing gases for substrate processing, such as an inert gas, a source gas, and a reaction gas, into the processing chamber 201. The gas supply pipe 232 is provided with, in order from the upstream side, a mass flow controller (MFC) 241, which is a flow rate controller (flow rate control section), and a valve 243, which is an open / close valve. On the upstream side of the gas supply pipe 232, for example, nitrogen (N ２ ) gas source is connected, and the gas is supplied into the processing chamber 201 via the MFC 241 and the valve 243. The gas source may be included in the gas supply system. When multiple types of gases are used during substrate processing, multiple types of gases can be supplied by using a configuration in which a gas supply pipe provided with an MFC, which is a flow rate controller, and a valve, which is an on-off valve, is connected to the gas supply pipe 232 downstream of the valve 243, in this order from the upstream side. A gas supply pipe provided with an MFC and a valve for each gas type may be installed.

[0028] A gas supply system (gas supply unit) is mainly composed of the gas supply pipe 232, the MFC 241, and the valve 243. When an inert gas flows through the gas supply system, it is also called an inert gas supply system.

[0029] A temperature sensor 263 is installed on the cap flange 104 as a non-contact temperature measurement device. The output of a microwave oscillator 655 (described later) is adjusted based on the temperature information detected by the temperature sensor 263 to heat the substrate and achieve a desired substrate temperature distribution. The temperature sensor 263 is configured as a radiation thermometer, such as an IR (Infrared Radiation) sensor. The temperature sensor 263 is installed to measure the surface temperature of the quartz plate 101a or the surface temperature of the wafer 200. If a susceptor is provided as the heating element, the temperature sensor 263 may be configured to measure the surface temperature of the susceptor. In this embodiment, the term "wafer temperature" refers to the wafer temperature converted using temperature conversion data (described later), i.e., the estimated wafer temperature, the temperature directly measured by the temperature sensor 263, or both.

[0030] The temperature sensor 263 may acquire the transition of temperature changes in advance for the quartz plate 101 or the susceptor 103 and the wafer 200, and store temperature conversion data indicating the correlation between the temperatures of the quartz plate 101 or the susceptor 103 and the wafer 200 in the storage device 121c or the external storage device 123. By creating the temperature conversion data in advance in this manner, the temperature of the wafer 200 can be estimated by measuring only the temperature of the quartz plate 101, and the output of the microwave oscillator 655, i.e., the heating device, can be controlled based on the estimated temperature of the wafer 200.

[0031] The means for measuring the substrate temperature is not limited to the radiation thermometer described above, and temperature measurement may be performed using a thermocouple, or a combination of a thermocouple and a non-contact thermometer. However, when temperature measurement is performed using a thermocouple, the thermocouple must be placed near the wafer 200. In other words, since the thermocouple must be placed inside the processing chamber 201, the thermocouple itself is heated by microwaves supplied from a microwave oscillator (described later), making it impossible to accurately measure the temperature. Therefore, it is preferable to use a non-contact thermometer as the temperature sensor 263.

[0032] Furthermore, the temperature sensor 263 is not limited to being provided on the cap flange 104, but may be provided on the mounting base 210. The temperature sensor 263 may not only be directly installed on the cap flange 104 or the mounting base 210, but may also be configured to measure indirectly by reflecting, with a mirror or the like, radiation from a measurement window provided on the cap flange 104 or the mounting base 210. Furthermore, the number of temperature sensors 263 installed is not limited to one, but multiple sensors may be installed.

[0033] Electromagnetic wave introduction ports (microwave introduction ports) 653-1 and 653-2 are provided on the sidewall of the case 102. One end of waveguides 654-1 and 654-2 for supplying electromagnetic waves (microwaves) into the processing chamber 201 is connected to the electromagnetic wave introduction ports 653-1 and 653-2, respectively. Microwave oscillators (electromagnetic wave sources, electromagnetic wave oscillators) 655-1 and 655-2 are connected to the other ends of the waveguides 654-1 and 654-2, respectively, as heating sources that supply electromagnetic waves into the processing chamber 201 to heat the interior. The microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2 supply electromagnetic waves such as microwaves to the waveguides 654-1 and 654-2, respectively. Furthermore, magnetrons, klystrons, or the like are used as the microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2. Hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between the electromagnetic wave introduction ports 653-1 and 653-2, the waveguides 654-1 and 654-2, and the microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2, they will be referred to as the electromagnetic wave introduction port 653, the waveguide 654, and the microwave oscillator 655.

[0034] The frequency of the electromagnetic waves generated by microwave oscillator 655 is preferably controlled to be in the frequency range of 13.56 MHz to 24.125 GHz. More preferably, it is controlled to be 2.45 GHz or 5.8 GHz. Here, the frequencies of microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2 may be the same or different.

[0035] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, two microwave oscillators 655 are described as being arranged on the side surfaces of case 102, but this is not limiting, and one or more may be provided, and the microwave oscillators may be arranged on different side surfaces, such as opposing side surfaces, of case 102. An electromagnetic wave supply unit (also referred to as an electromagnetic wave supply device, microwave supply unit, or microwave supply device) serving as a heating device is mainly configured by microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2, waveguides 654-1 and 654-2, and electromagnetic wave introduction ports 653-1 and 653-2.

[0036] A controller 121, which will be described later, is connected to each of the microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2. A temperature sensor 263, which measures the temperature of the quartz plate 101a or 101b or the wafer 200 housed in the processing chamber 201, is connected to the controller 121. The temperature sensor 263 measures the temperature of the quartz plate 101 or the wafer 200 using the method described above and transmits the measured temperature to the controller 121, which then controls the output of the microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2 to control the heating of the wafer 200. Methods for controlling heating using the heating device include controlling the voltage input to the microwave oscillator 655 to control the heating of the wafer 200, and changing the ratio of the time the microwave oscillator 655 is powered on to the time it is powered off to control the heating of the wafer 200.

[0037] Here, microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2 are controlled by the same control signal transmitted from controller 121. However, this is not limiting, and microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2 may be configured to be individually controlled by transmitting individual control signals from controller 121 to microwave oscillators 655-1 and 655-2, respectively.

[0038] 4, the controller 121, which is a control unit (control device, control means), is configured as a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 121a, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 121b, a storage device 121c, and an I / O port 121d. The RAM 121b, the storage device 121c, and the I / O port 121d are configured to be able to exchange data with the CPU 121a via an internal bus 121e. An input / output device 122, which is configured as, for example, a touch panel, is connected to the controller 121.

[0039] The storage device 121c is composed of, for example, a flash memory, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. A control program for controlling the operation of the substrate processing apparatus, a process recipe describing the procedure and conditions of an annealing (modification) process, etc. are readably stored in the storage device 121c. The process recipe is a combination of procedures in the substrate processing step (described later) that are executed by the controller 121 to obtain a predetermined result, and functions as a program. Hereinafter, the process recipe, the control program, etc. are collectively referred to simply as a program. The process recipe is also simply referred to as a recipe.

[0040] In this specification, when the term "program" is used, it may include only a recipe, only a control program, or both. The RAM 121b is configured as a memory area (work area) where programs and data read by the CPU 121a are temporarily stored.

[0041] The I / O port 121d is connected to the above-mentioned MFC 241, valve 243, pressure sensor 245, APC valve 244, vacuum pump 246, temperature sensor 263, drive mechanism 267 (including transfer machine 125), microwave oscillator 655, etc.

[0042] The CPU 121a is configured to read and execute a control program from the storage device 121c, and to read a recipe from the storage device 121c in response to input of an operation command from the input / output device 122. The CPU 121a is configured to control, in accordance with the contents of the read recipe, the transfer operation of the substrate by the transfer machine, the flow rate adjustment operation of various gases by the MFC 241, the opening and closing operation of the valve 243, the pressure adjustment operation by the APC valve 244 based on the pressure sensor 245, the start and stop of the vacuum pump 246, the output adjustment operation of the microwave oscillator 655 based on the temperature sensor 263, the ON / OFF operation of the microwave output from the microwave oscillator 655, the rotation and rotation speed adjustment operation or the lifting and lowering operation of the mounting table 210 (or the boat 217) by the drive mechanism 267, etc.

[0043] The controller 121 can be configured by installing the above-mentioned program stored in an external storage device 123 (for example, a magnetic disk such as a hard disk, an optical disk such as a CD, a magneto-optical disk such as an MO, or a semiconductor memory such as a USB memory) into a computer. The storage device 121c and the external storage device 123 are configured as computer-readable recording media. Hereinafter, these will be collectively referred to as recording media. When the term recording media is used in this specification, it may include only the storage device 121c alone, only the external storage device 123 alone, or both. Note that the program may be provided to the computer using a communication means such as the Internet or a dedicated line, without using the external storage device 123.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 5 , the microwave oscillator 655 supplies electromagnetic waves in pulses that alternate between ON and OFF over a short period of time, i.e., a first predetermined time (T1) is ON and a second predetermined time (T2) is OFF. The first and second predetermined times are variable. For example, the pulse frequency can be set from 1 to 100 kHz. In other words, the pulse period (T = T1 + T2) can be set from 10 microseconds to 1 second. Furthermore, the duty ratio (D = T1 / T) can be set from 10 to 90%, for example. This setting allows electromagnetic waves to be output in the range of the power supply frequency (e.g., 2.45 GHz), and the output power per unit time decreases depending on the duty ratio.

[0045] The pulse frequency and duty ratio of the electromagnetic wave output from microwave oscillator 655 can be set from input / output device 122. In this setting, as shown in Fig. 6, the operator first checks the parameter settings, then inputs the pulse value (pulse frequency) and duty ratio, and finally checks the power supply output.

[0046] (2) Substrate Processing Process Using the processing furnace of the above-mentioned substrate processing apparatus 100, an example of a method for modifying (crystallizing) a processing target film FL1 that is the target of a heat treatment (modification process) formed on a wafer 200 as one step in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device (device) will be described in accordance with the processing flow shown in Figure 7.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 8 , a wafer 200 has a first film, a target film FL1, and a second film, a non-target film FL2, formed on the wafer 200. The second film FL2 is, for example, an oxide film or a nitride film, and is formed between the wafer 200 and the first film FL1. The target film FL1 is, for example, an amorphous silicon (Si) film doped with a dopant (impurity). The dopant is, for example, phosphorus (P) or boron (B). A silicon film doped with P is called a P-doped-Si film. The non-target film FL2 is, for example, a silicon oxide film (SiO film) or a silicon nitride film (SiN film). The target film FL1 is a target film that is the subject of modification processing using electromagnetic waves.

[0048] The electromagnetic wave (microwave) absorption rates of the processing target film FL1 and the wafer 200 differ depending on the processing temperature. When the processing temperature is between approximately 20° C. and approximately 200° C., the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 is 0.20%, while the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 200 is 0.05%. The ratio of the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 to the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 200 is 4:1. Thus, when the ratio of the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 (0.20%) to the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 200 (0.05%) is 4:1, the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 is higher than that of the wafer 200. This makes it possible to heat the processing target film FL1 while suppressing heating of the wafer 200. Furthermore, when the processing temperature exceeds 200° C., the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 200 increases. When the processing temperature reaches 250°C, the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 remains unchanged at 0.20%. However, the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 20 becomes 0.20%, which is the same as the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1. The ratio of the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 to the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 200 becomes 1:1. When the processing temperature reaches 250°C, the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 200 increases, and the wafer 200 is heated by the electromagnetic waves. Furthermore, at a low processing temperature of around 200°C, the non-processing target film FL2 does not absorb the electromagnetic waves and is not processed. Thus, when the processing temperature is set to 200°C or below, the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 becomes higher than the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the wafer 200. Therefore, it is possible to heat the processing target film FL1 and perform a modification process while suppressing heating of the wafer 200.

[0049] In this specification, the processing temperature refers to the temperature of the wafer 200 or the temperature inside the processing chamber 201, and the processing pressure refers to the pressure inside the processing chamber 201. Furthermore, the processing time refers to the time the processing continues. These terms also apply to the following explanations.

[0050] The SiO film is a film formed by diffusing oxygen (O) on the surface of a silicon substrate in an oxygen atmosphere inside a reaction chamber. The P-doped-Si film is a film into which P (phosphorus) ions are implanted. These SiO film and P-doped-Si film are formed on the wafer 200 by a substrate processing apparatus other than the above-mentioned substrate processing apparatus 100, for example, a batch-type substrate processing apparatus or an ion implantation apparatus.

[0051] In the following description, the operation of each component of the substrate processing apparatus 100 is controlled by a controller 121. As with the processing furnace structure described above, in the substrate processing process of this embodiment, the same processing content, i.e., recipe, is used in the multiple processing furnaces, and therefore only the substrate processing process using one of the processing furnaces will be described, and a description of the substrate processing process using the other processing furnace will be omitted.

[0052] The term "wafer" used in this specification may refer to the wafer itself or to a laminate of the wafer and a predetermined layer or film formed on its surface. The term "surface of a wafer" used in this specification may refer to the surface of the wafer itself or to the surface of a predetermined layer or the like formed on the wafer. When described in this specification, "forming a predetermined layer on a wafer" may mean forming a predetermined layer directly on the surface of the wafer itself or forming a predetermined layer on a layer or the like formed on the wafer. When used in this specification, the term "substrate" is synonymous with the term "wafer".

[0053] First, after the substrate removal step (S801), a substrate loading step (S802) is performed, in which wafers 200 are loaded (boat loaded) into a predetermined processing chamber 201 by opening and closing the gate valve 205. That is, two wafers placed on the low-temperature tweezers 125a-1 and the high-temperature tweezers 125a-2 are loaded (prepared) into the processing chamber 201.

[0054] (In-furnace pressure and temperature adjustment process (S803)) After the wafer 200 has been loaded into the processing chamber 201, the atmosphere inside the processing chamber 201 is controlled to a predetermined pressure (for example, 10 to 102,000 Pa). Specifically, while exhausting the gas using the vacuum pump 246, the valve opening of the pressure regulator 244 is feedback-controlled based on pressure information detected by the pressure sensor 245, and the pressure inside the processing chamber 201 is set to the predetermined pressure.

[0055] In this specification, when a numerical range such as "10 to 102,000 Pa" is expressed, it means that the lower limit and the upper limit are included in the range. Therefore, for example, "10 to 102,000 Pa" means "10 Pa or more and 102,000 Pa or less." The same applies to other numerical ranges.

[0056] (Inert Gas Supply Step (S804)) After the pressure and temperature inside the processing chamber 201 are controlled to predetermined values ​​by the furnace pressure / temperature adjustment step S803, the drive mechanism 267 rotates the shaft 255 to rotate the wafer 200 via the boat 217 on the mounting table 210. At this time, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is supplied via the gas supply pipe 232 (S804). Furthermore, at this time, the pressure inside the processing chamber 201 is adjusted to a predetermined value in the range of 10 to 102,000 Pa, for example, 101,300 to 101,650 Pa. Note that the shaft may be rotated during the substrate loading step S802, i.e., after the wafer 200 has been loaded into the processing chamber 201.

[0057] The inert gas is nitrogen (N ２ In addition to the above gases, rare gases such as argon (Ar) gas, helium (He) gas, neon (Ne) gas, and xenon (Xe) gas can be used.

[0058] (Preheating step (S805)) Next, when the pressure inside the processing chamber 201 reaches a predetermined level, the microwave oscillator 655 supplies microwaves into the processing chamber 201 via the above-mentioned components. The microwave output is smaller than the microwave output in the modification step described below, and a preheating step is performed to heat the wafers 200. This allows the temperature of the wafers to rise more slowly, thereby preventing warping and cracking of the wafers.

[0059] (Modification Step (S806)) While maintaining a predetermined pressure inside the processing chamber 201, the microwave oscillator 655 supplies microwaves into the processing chamber 201 via the above-mentioned components to process the wafers 200 (modification process). Microwave pulse irradiation is performed by repeatedly turning the microwave supply OFF before thermal conduction and ON to raise the temperature and maintain heating (thermal equilibrium). The ON and OFF times of the microwave supply are variable, allowing for repeated ON / OFF cycles in short cycles. The microwave ON time is preferably on the order of 1 microsecond. This allows heating to maintain the processing temperature at a predetermined temperature of 200° C. or below. By heating to maintain the processing temperature at a predetermined temperature of 200° C. or below, the electromagnetic wave absorption rate of the processing target film FL1 becomes higher than that of the wafer 200. This makes it possible to heat the processing target film FL1 and perform the modification process while suppressing heating of the wafer 200. In addition, the controller 121 is configured to be able to control the microwave oscillator 655 to start microwave pulse irradiation to heat the treatment target film FL1 by microwave pulse irradiation, and to repeatedly turn microwave irradiation ON and OFF in a short period of time so that the treatment temperature becomes 200°C.

[0060] For example, the frequency of the microwave power supply is 2.45 GHz. For example, the wafer 200 is heated by repeating an ON period of microwave supply and an OFF period longer than the ON period a predetermined number of times or for a predetermined period of time. Here, the ON period is preferably 0.6 microseconds or more and 10 microseconds or less. If the ON period is 0.6 microseconds or less, heating is insufficient and the dopant is not activated. If the ON period is 10 microseconds or more, heating becomes dominant due to thermal conduction, and heat is transferred to the wafer 200 and films not being processed.

[0061] (Substrate Unloading Process (S807)) After the pressure inside the processing chamber 201 is returned to atmospheric pressure, the gate valve 205 is opened to spatially connect the processing chamber 201 to the transfer chamber 203. Thereafter, one wafer 200 after heating (processing) placed on the boat 217 is unloaded into the transfer chamber 203 by the high-temperature tweezers 125a-2 of the transfer machine 125 (S807).

[0062] (Substrate cooling process (S808)) The one wafer 200 after heating (processing) is carried out by the high-temperature tweezers 125a-2 and moved to the cooling chamber 204 by the continuous operation of the transfer device 125b and the transfer device elevator 125c, and two wafers 200 are placed in the cooling chamber 204 by the high-temperature tweezers 125a-2 and cooled by being left there for a predetermined time (S808).

[0063] (Substrate Accommodating Step (S809)) The two wafers 200 cooled in the substrate cooling step S808 are taken out of the cooling chamber 204 and transferred to a predetermined pod.

[0064] Although the above describes one step in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, the present invention is not limited to this and can also be applied to substrate processing techniques such as patterning processes in the manufacturing process of liquid crystal panels, solar cells, and power devices.

[0065] It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and further includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to those having all of the described configurations.

[0066] Furthermore, although the above-described configurations, functions, and controllers serving as control units have been described mainly with reference to examples in which programs are created to realize some or all of them, it goes without saying that some or all of them may be realized in hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. That is, some or all of the functions of the processing unit may be realized by integrated circuits such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) and FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) instead of programs.

[0067] In the above-described embodiment, an example of forming a film using a single-wafer substrate processing apparatus that processes one or several substrates at a time has been described. The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be suitably applied, for example, to a case where a film is formed using a batch-type substrate processing apparatus that processes several substrates at a time. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example of forming a film using a substrate processing apparatus having a cold-wall processing furnace has been described. The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment and can be suitably applied to a case where a film is formed using a substrate processing apparatus having a hot-wall processing furnace.

[0068] When using these substrate processing apparatuses, each process can be performed under the same process procedures and conditions as in the above-described embodiment, and the same effects as in the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

[0069] 100 Substrate processing apparatus 200 Wafer 121 Controller (controller) 201 Processing chamber 655-1, 655-2 Microwave oscillator (electromagnetic wave oscillator)

Claims

1. A step of preparing a substrate on which at least a first film is formed; and a step of supplying the electromagnetic wave so that the temperature of the substrate becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature and performing a modification treatment so that the absorption rate of the electromagnetic wave with respect to the first film is higher than the absorption rate of the electromagnetic wave with respect to the substrate. A substrate processing method comprising:

2. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined temperature is a temperature at which the ratio of the absorption rate of the electromagnetic wave with respect to the first film to the absorption rate of the electromagnetic wave with respect to the substrate is 4:

1.

3. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined temperature is 200°C or lower.

4. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein a second film different from the first film is formed on the substrate.

5. The substrate processing method according to claim 4, wherein the second film is formed between the first film and the substrate.

6. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the first film is a processing target film to be processed by the electromagnetic wave.

7. The substrate processing method according to claim 4, wherein the first film is a film to which a dopant is added.

8. The substrate processing method according to claim 7, wherein the dopant is phosphorus or boron.

9. The substrate processing method according to claim 4, wherein the second film is a non-processing target film.

10. The substrate processing method according to claim 4, wherein at least an oxide film or a nitride film is formed on the second film.

11. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic wave is in a pulse shape in which a first predetermined time is ON and a second predetermined time is OFF.

12. The substrate processing method according to claim 11, wherein the second predetermined time is longer than the first predetermined time.

13. The substrate processing method according to claim 11, wherein the first predetermined time and the second predetermined time are variable.

14. The substrate processing method according to claim 11, wherein the first predetermined time is set so as not to be 0.6 microseconds or less.

15. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic wave is a microwave.

16. A step of preparing a substrate on which at least a first film is formed; and a step of supplying the electromagnetic wave so that the temperature of the substrate becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature and performing a modification treatment so that the absorption rate of the electromagnetic wave with respect to the first film is higher than the absorption rate of the electromagnetic wave with respect to the substrate. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising:

17. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a processing chamber for preparing a substrate on which at least a first film is formed; an electromagnetic wave supply unit for supplying electromagnetic waves to the substrate; and a control unit configured to be capable of controlling the electromagnetic wave supply unit so as to apply the electromagnetic waves such that the temperature of the substrate becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, with the absorption rate of the electromagnetic waves with respect to the predetermined film being higher than the absorption rate of the electromagnetic waves with respect to the substrate.

18. A program comprising: a procedure for preparing a substrate on which at least a first film is formed; and a procedure for performing a reforming process by supplying the electromagnetic waves such that the temperature of the substrate becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, with the absorption rate of the electromagnetic waves with respect to the first film being higher than the absorption rate of the electromagnetic waves with respect to the substrate.

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