Substrate Processing Apparatus for Residue-Free Thin Film Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method for forming thin films in semiconductor manufacturing often results in residual components from source gases remaining in the thin film, leading to insufficient reactions and poor film quality.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing apparatus with a configuration of multiple processing regions and gas supply systems, including a rotating mechanism, source gas, reactive gas plasma, and modifying gas plasma, to sequentially form and modify layers on the substrate, ensuring complete reaction and residue removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If only source gas and reactive gas are supplied sequentially, then the process is simple, but the reaction is insufficient and residues remain in the thin film
Solution Approach 1:
The process chamber is divided into three distinct processing regions: a source gas supply region, a reactive gas plasma region, and a modifying gas plasma region. This segmentation allows each gas to perform its specific function in a dedicated zone, ensuring complete reaction and removal of residues while maintaining a systematic and manageable process structure
Solution Approach 2:
A modifying gas plasma is introduced as an intermediary between the source gas and reactive gas processing. This modifying gas plasma serves to further react with and remove residual components from the thin film, acting as a mediator that bridges the gap between initial deposition and final film quality, thereby eliminating residues without complicating the overall process
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple processing regions and gas supply systems are added, then reaction completeness improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The process chamber is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a deposition chamber for source gas supply, a plasma generation chamber for reactive gas processing, and a modification chamber for residue removal. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate apparatus for each processing step, thereby maintaining relatively simple device structure while achieving complete reaction
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple gas supply systems (source gas, reactive gas, and modifying gas) are merged into a single integrated process chamber with unified substrate processing. The rotating substrate placement unit allows all three gas regions to process the same substrate sequentially, combining what would otherwise require separate equipment into one apparatus, thus reducing overall device complexity while ensuring reaction completeness
3Manufacturing precision
If substrate passes through all three regions sequentially, then thin film quality improves, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate continuously rotates and passes through all three processing regions in a seamless sequence without interruption. The source gas supply, reactive gas plasma treatment, and modifying gas plasma treatment occur back-to-back in continuous motion, eliminating idle time between processing steps. This continuous action ensures high thin film quality while minimizing processing time by avoiding stops and starts
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate undergoes periodic rotation to bring different areas of the substrate surface sequentially through the three processing regions. This periodic motion allows efficient use of processing time by ensuring every part of the substrate receives all three treatments in rapid succession, maintaining high film quality across the entire substrate while keeping total processing time minimal
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the formation of high-quality thin films by ensuring complete reaction and residue removal, improving film density and reducing impurities, thus enhancing the performance of semiconductor devices.
Implementation Method 1
a reactive gas plasma generating unit configured to generate plasma of the reactive gas in the second processing region
Implementation Method 2
a modifying gas plasma generating unit configured to generate plasma of the modifying gas in the third processing region
Implementation Method 3
a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method has been known. The CVD method is a method in which a gas-phase reaction of a source gas and a reactive gas or a reaction at a surface of a substrate is used and a thin film having an element included in a molecule of the source gas as a component is deposited on the substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A high quality thin film is formed by forming a layer in which remaining residues are suppressed for each cycle. When a substrate sequentially passes through a first processing region, a second processing region, and a third processing region by rotating a substrate placement unit, a first layer is formed on the substrate while the substrate passes through the first processing region, a second layer is formed by reacting plasma of a reactive gas with the first layer while the substrate passes through the second processing region, and the second layer is modified by plasma of a modifying gas while the substrate passes through the third processing region.