Substrate Processing Apparatus Thermal Expansion Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In single-wafer semiconductor manufacturing, thermal expansion of metal process chambers during substrate processing can cause shifts in the substrate mounting position, leading to variations in film quality due to mismatch between teaching operation and processing conditions.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing apparatus with a reactor, substrate mounting stand, gas supply, and controller that estimates and adjusts the substrate mounting surface position using a coordinate table to maintain uniform processing, even after thermal expansion, ensuring consistent film formation across substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the process chamber is made of metal with high thermal conductivity for efficient heating, then the heating efficiency is improved, but thermal expansion causes substrate mounting position shift
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter of the process chamber from metal to ceramic material, which has different thermal properties (lower thermal conductivity but also lower thermal expansion). This parameter change resolves the contradiction by maintaining heating capability while reducing thermal expansion-induced position shifts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the actual substrate mounting position is measured and compared with the target position, and the robot's movement parameters are adjusted based on this comparison to compensate for thermal expansion effects.
2Ease of operation
If robot teaching is performed at room temperature for ease of operation, then the teaching operation is simplified, but the substrate position shifts during heated processing
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs robot teaching at room temperature for ease of operation, then uses feedback from position detection during actual processing to compensate for thermal expansion effects, allowing the robot to maintain precision despite temperature changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The robot teaching operation is performed in advance at room temperature, and the teaching results are stored. During actual processing, the stored teaching data is used as a baseline, and corrections are applied based on real-time position feedback to account for thermal expansion.
3Device complexity
If the substrate mounting position is not adjusted for thermal expansion, then the device complexity is reduced, but the film quality varies across the substrate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adding complex mechanical adjustment mechanisms, the patent uses a feedback-based software control approach where position detection data is used to calculate and apply corrections to the robot's movement, achieving position compensation without additional hardware complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces potential mechanical position adjustment mechanisms with a computational approach, using detection data and calculations to determine corrected robot movement parameters, thereby avoiding additional mechanical complexity.
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 solution improves in-plane film thickness uniformity and reproducibility, enhancing the quality of films formed on substrates by compensating for thermal expansion-induced shifts and maintaining uniform processing conditions.
Implementation Method 1
a heater configured to heat the substrate
Implementation Method 2
a gas supply part configured to supply a gas into the process chamber
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a technique that includes: a reactor including a process chamber where substrate is processed, the reactor being fixed to a vacuum transfer chamber; a substrate mounting stand disposed in the reactor and having substrate mounting surface where the substrate is mounted; a heater heating the substrate; a gas supply part supplying gas into the process chamber; an extraction part extracting basic information for estimating position of the substrate mounting surface; a calculation part calculating estimated position information of center of the substrate mounting surface based on the basic information; a transfer robot disposed in the vacuum transfer chamber and including an end effector supporting the substrate when the substrate is transferred; and a controller performing control to set target coordinate of the end effector according to the estimated position information, move the end effector to the target coordinate, and mount the substrate on the substrate mounting surface.