JP2000331981A - Semiconductor device manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device capable of performing a drying process without contaminating a substrate. In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device formed by forming a thin film on a substrate, a cleaning step of cleaning the substrate with a cleaning liquid, and a method of injecting compressed gas onto the cleaned substrate to adhere to the substrate. The method includes a draining step of removing a cleaning liquid and a film forming step of forming a thin film on the drained substrate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device formed by forming a thin film on a substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when manufacturing a thin film type solar cell panel as a semiconductor device, a thin film such as a semiconductor film or a metal film is formed on a substrate made of a material such as glass having a transparent electrode formed thereon. I have to.

When a thin film is formed on a substrate, particles adhered to the substrate may cause defects. Therefore, before a thin film is formed on a substrate, the substrate is washed to remove particles.

When the washed substrate is left to dry,
Since the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate causes generation of a water mark (stain), the substrate is forcibly dried after cleaning.

Conventionally, a clean oven has been used to dry the washed substrate. The clean oven has a configuration in which clean air is introduced into the interior having a heater, and the clean air is circulated while being heated by the heater.

[0006] Therefore, by accommodating the cleaned substrate in the clean oven, it is possible to dry the substrate by heated air circulating in the clean oven.

[0007]

However, since the clean oven is configured to dry the substrate while circulating the heated air, even if the air initially introduced into the clean oven is clean, The air contains particles that remain in the clean oven as it circulates through the clean oven.

[0008] For this reason, particles are likely to adhere to a substrate dried in a clean oven, so that a defect may easily occur in a thin film formed on the substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device in which a substrate subjected to a cleaning process is not contaminated when the substrate is dried.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device for forming a thin film on a substrate, a cleaning step of cleaning the substrate with a cleaning liquid, and injecting compressed gas to the cleaned substrate. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: a draining step of removing a cleaning liquid attached to the substrate; and a film forming step of depositing a thin film on the drained substrate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the cleaning step includes a brush cleaning step of brush-cleaning the substrate, a rinsing step of rinsing the brush-cleaned substrate, and an ultra-sonic cleaning of the rinsed substrate. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising an ultrasonic cleaning step.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the first aspect, in the liquid draining step, the compressed gas injected into the substrate is heated to a predetermined temperature.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the first aspect, wherein in the liquid draining step, the compressed gas injected to the substrate is ionized.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the film forming step includes a heating step of heating the substrate to a predetermined temperature before forming a thin film on the substrate. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the first aspect, the substrate from which the cleaning liquid has been removed in the draining step is immediately formed into a thin film in the film forming step. is there.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the film forming step, before the thin film is formed on the substrate, the inert gas is turned into plasma and the substrate is plasma-cleaned. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate, a cleaning section for cleaning the substrate with a cleaning liquid, and a compressed gas jetted onto the cleaned substrate to spray the substrate with the cleaning gas. An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: a liquid removal processing unit that removes an attached cleaning liquid; and a film formation processing unit that forms a thin film on a substrate that has been drained.

By injecting a compressed gas to the substrate and drying the substrate, the substrate can be always dried by a clean gas, so that the substrate is not contaminated by the drying process. be able to.

[0019]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present invention. The apparatus includes a cleaning section 1, a liquid removing section 2, and a film forming section 3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning section 1 cleans a glass substrate 10 on which a transparent conductive film as an electrode film has been formed in advance. This substrate 10
A thin-film type solar cell panel as a semiconductor device is formed. After being subjected to cleaning processing in the cleaning processing unit 1, dried in the liquid removal processing unit 2, and then dried in the film forming processing unit 3, the electrode film is formed. The surface on which is formed (this surface is the upper surface)
A thin film such as a semiconductor film or a metal film is formed on the substrate.

The cleaning section 1 and the liquid removing section 2 are provided with a transport mechanism 5 comprising a plurality of transport rollers 4 which are driven to rotate as shown in FIGS. The substrate 10 is transported by the transport mechanism 5 from the cleaning section 1 to the liquid removing section 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cleaning section 1 includes a brush cleaning section 6, a rinsing section 7, and an ultrasonic cleaning section 8 which are sequentially arranged along the direction in which the substrate 10 is conveyed.

The brush cleaning unit 6 includes a pair of cleaning brushes 9 that contact the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 10 conveyed by the conveying roller 4 and a contact portion between the cleaning brush 9 and the substrate 10 such as a detergent or pure water. And a nozzle body 11 for supplying a cleaning liquid. Thereby, the substrate 10
Is designed such that the upper surface thereof is brush-cleaned by a cleaning liquid.

The nozzle body 11 is formed by forming a plurality of nozzle holes 11b at predetermined intervals in a tube body 11a longer than the width of the substrate 10.

In this embodiment, the cleaning liquid is supplied to the nozzle 11
Is supplied to only the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 10 on which the thin film is formed. However, the nozzle body 11 may be provided only on the upper surface side, and only the upper surface of the substrate 10 may be cleaned.

The rinsing section 7 has a rinsing tank 12. In the rinsing tank 12, a carry-in port 13 is formed on one side wall located on the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrate 10, and a carry-out port 14 is formed on the other side wall located on the downstream side. Loading port 1
The 3 and the carry-out port 14 are formed at substantially the same height position as the substrate 10 carried by the carry roller 4.

Further, inside the rinsing tank 12, there is provided a transport roller 4 which constitutes the transport mechanism 5 at the same height level as the transport roller 4 disposed outside, so that the substrate 10 can be moved. Rinsing tank 12 as indicated by the arrow
After being carried in from the carry-in port 13, it is carried out from the carry-out port 14.

A rinsing liquid such as pure water is supplied into the rinsing tank 12 by a supply nozzle (not shown). The rinsing liquid supplied to the rinsing tank 12 flows out of the carry-in port 13 and the carry-out port 14. The amount of the rinsing liquid supplied to the rinsing tank 12 is set to be substantially the same as or slightly larger than the amount of the rinsing liquid flowing out of the carry-in port 13 and the carry-out port 14.

Thus, the liquid level of the rinsing liquid in the rinsing tank 12 can be maintained at a higher position than the substrate 10 transported inside the rinsing liquid. That is, the rinsing tank 12
The upper surface of the substrate 10 conveyed inside can also be reliably rinsed by the rinsing liquid. Further, since the rinsing liquid is constantly discharged from the carry-in port 13 and the carry-out port 14, particles washed off from the substrate 10 by the rinsing process are less likely to remain in the rinsing tank 12.

In this embodiment, only one rinsing tank 12 is provided. However, a plurality of rinsing tanks 12 are arranged along the transport direction of the substrate 10 so that the rinsing process of the substrate 10 cleaned by the cleaning liquid is performed. You may make it possible to perform it reliably.

Substrate 10 rinsed in rinsing bath 12
Are cleaned by the ultrasonic cleaning unit 8. The ultrasonic cleaning section 8 has a cleaning tank 15. This washing tank 15
In the figure, a carry-in port 16 is formed on one side wall located on the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrate 10, and a carry-out port 17 is formed on the other side wall located on the downstream side at substantially the same height as the transport height of the substrate 10.

The rinsing tank 12 is provided inside the cleaning tank 15.
In the same manner as described above, the transport roller 4 is arranged, and
An ultrasonic generator 18 that oscillates ultrasonic vibration of about 0 to 40 kHz is arranged. Pure water is supplied into the cleaning tank 15 as a cleaning liquid. Thereby, ultrasonic vibration generated by the ultrasonic generator 18 is applied to the cleaning liquid.

The supply amount of the cleaning liquid is set to be substantially the same as or slightly larger than the amount flowing out of the carry-in port 16 and the carry-out port 17. As a result, the level of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 15 is adjusted by the substrate 1 transported by the transport roller 4.
Since the height of the substrate 10 is slightly higher than the upper surface of the substrate 10, the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 10 are cleaned by the cleaning liquid to which ultrasonic vibration is applied.

Moreover, since a part of the cleaning liquid flows out of the carry-in port 16 and the carry-out port 17, the particles removed from the substrate 10 by the ultrasonic cleaning can flow out.

The substrate 10 cleaned by the ultrasonic cleaning section 8
Is subjected to a drying process in the draining unit 2. The liquid draining unit 2 includes a pair of air knives 21 provided to face the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 10 to be transported. The air knife 21 is supplied with compressed air purified by, for example, an alpa filter as clean compressed gas. The pressure of the compressed air is 5 kg / cm
It is set to about ² .

Each of the air knives 21 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 3, a slit hole 22 is formed in the end face which is longer than the width of the substrate 10 and faces the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 10 over substantially the entire length in the length direction.

As a result, the air knife 21 moves the substrate 1
The substrate 10 is arranged so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction intersecting the transport direction 0, and the slit hole 22 is inclined backward in the transport direction of the substrate 10 with respect to the vertical direction.

The compressed air supplied to each air knife 21 is blown out from the slit holes 22 toward the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 10. As a result, the cleaning liquid adhering to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 10 is removed from the substrate 10 as shown by arrows in FIG.
Is pushed toward one end in the width direction behind
It will be smoothly removed from one end.

The compressed air supplied to the air knife 21 is heated to a temperature higher than room temperature, for example, about 40 to 50 ° C. Therefore, the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate 10 is not only removed by the force of the compressed air, but is also heated and dried by the heat of the compressed air, so that the drying process can be performed efficiently and reliably.

It should be noted that the substrate 1 can be heated without heating the compressed air.
0 can be dried to a predetermined state. Further, if the compressed air is ionized and sprayed onto the substrate 10, the drying process is performed simultaneously with the drying process by the action of the ionized compressed air.
Can be cleaned.

The substrate 10 that has been dried in the liquid removal unit 2 is immediately conveyed to the film formation unit 3. That is,
When the substrate 10 is processed in the liquid removal processing unit 2 and carried out by the transport roller 4, it is transferred to the film forming processing unit 3 by a robot (not shown).

The substrate 10 dried in the liquid removal unit 2
Is immediately conveyed to the film forming unit 3,
Opportunities for particles in the air to adhere to the dried substrate 10 are reduced. That is, the substrate 10 can be supplied to the film forming processing section 3 in a clean state.
The drying process is performed by using compressed air instead of using a clean oven as in the prior art, so that the drying process can be performed continuously with the cleaning process.

Therefore, unlike the case where the cleaning-processed substrate 10 is dried in a batch method, it does not take much time from the cleaning to the drying process. The cleaning liquid is partially dried before being subjected to the drying treatment, thereby preventing a water mark from being formed on the substrate 10.

The film forming section 3 has a film forming chamber 25 as shown in FIG. The film forming chamber 25 is for forming a thin film on the upper surface of the substrate 10 by a plasma process (CVD). The film forming chamber 25 has a carry-in port 26 on one side and a carry-out port 27 on the other side. I have.
In the film forming chamber 25, a table 28 having a heater 28a built therein and a high-frequency electrode 29 facing the upper surface of the table 28 are arranged.

Further, a first supply pipe 31 for supplying a raw material gas and a second supply pipe 32 for supplying an inert gas are connected to the upper part of the film forming chamber 25, and an exhaust pump 33 is provided at the bottom part. Is connected to the exhaust pipe.

A load lock chamber 35 is disposed on the loading port 26 side of the film forming chamber 25, and an unload lock chamber 36 is disposed on the loading port 27 side.
These chambers 35, 36 have a carry-in port 35a,
36a and outlets 35b and 36b are formed.

A preheater 37 and a support table 38 are disposed inside the load lock chamber 35, and an exhaust pipe 40 having an exhaust pump 39 is connected to the bottom.

The carry-out port 35a of the load lock chamber 35 and the carry-in port 26 of the film forming chamber 25 are air-tightly connected by a first connector 41.
The carry-out port 27 and the carry-in port 36a of the unload lock chamber 36 are air-tightly connected by a second connector 42.

The entrance and exit of each of the chambers 25, 35 and 36 are hermetically closed by a shutter 43 which can be opened and closed, respectively. , A delivery robot (not shown) is arranged. A loading table 44 is provided in the unload lock chamber 36, and an exhaust pipe 46 having an exhaust pump 45 is connected to the bottom.

The substrate 10 that has been dried in the liquid draining section 2 is held in the holding table 3 in the load lock chamber 35.
When the substrate 10 is supplied onto the substrate 8, the entrance 35 a is closed to reduce the pressure inside, and the substrate 10 is preheated by the preheater 37. Load lock chamber 38 during preheating
Is reduced by the exhaust pump 39.

When the substrate 10 is preheated, the loading port 3a is closed while the loading port 35a of the load lock chamber 38 is closed.
5b is opened, and the robot provided on the first connector 41 enters the load lock chamber 35 and receives the substrate 10 from the holding table 38.

Next, the loading port 35b of the load lock chamber 35 is airtightly closed by the shutter 43, and at the same time, the loading port 26 of the film forming chamber 25 is opened. The substrate 10 preheated by the above is supplied onto the table 28 in the film forming chamber 25, and the robot moves backward. And carry-in entrance 2
6 is closed, and the inside thereof is depressurized by the exhaust pump 33.

When the pressure inside the film forming chamber 25 is reduced to a predetermined pressure, an inert gas is supplied into the inside from the second supply pipe 32, and a high-frequency power is supplied to the high-frequency electrode 29 to remove the inert gas. Activate. This makes it possible to further clean the substrate 10 cleaned by the cleaning processing unit 1 by the cleaning action of the activated gas.

When the cleaning of the substrate 10 by the activated inert gas is performed for a predetermined time, the source gas is supplied from the first supply pipe 31 into the film forming chamber 25 instead of the inert gas. The source gas reacts in plasma generated by supplying high-frequency power to the high-frequency electrode 29.

As a result, since the solid species generated by the reaction precipitates on the upper surface of the substrate 10, a thin film is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 10.

The substrate 10 is cleaned in the cleaning processing section 1,
Further, it is dried and supplied to the film forming chamber 25 without being contaminated by the liquid removing unit 2.

As a result, no particles are contained in the thin film formed on the substrate 10, so that the occurrence of defects in the thin film can be prevented. That is, a semiconductor device can be manufactured with a high yield.

According to an experiment, when manufacturing a solar cell panel having cells in a 50-stage series, when the substrate 10 is dried using a clean oven as in the prior art,
The number of cell defects was 40 steps, but it was confirmed that when the substrate 10 was dried with a compressed gas as in the present invention, it was reduced to 10 steps or less.

In order to check whether or not the cell has a defect, a reverse voltage is applied to the cell. If particles are included during film formation, the particles are short-circuited. Therefore, the presence or absence of a defect can be inspected by a change in the applied voltage.

When the film formation on the substrate 10 is completed, the carry-out port 27 of the substrate film formation chamber 25 is opened, and a robot provided in the second connector 42 enters the inside and the substrate 1
Receives 0. At the same time, the loading port 36a of the unload lock chamber 36 is opened.

Then, the above-mentioned robot operates in the film forming chamber 25.
Unload lock chamber 3
6, is placed on the placement table 44, and then retreats to the second connector 42. At the same time, the loading / unloading port 27 of the film forming chamber 25 and the unload lock chamber 3
6 is closed.

That is, the load lock chamber 35 is connected to the loading port 26 side of the film forming chamber 25 and the unload lock chamber 36 is connected to the loading port 27 side in an airtight manner. The transfer of the substrate 10 becomes possible without any trouble.

The substrate 10 placed on the loading table 44 of the unload lock chamber 36 is
Is taken out by a robot (not shown) provided outside the carry-out port 43 side, and supplied to the next process.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, a brush cleaning section, a rinsing section, and an ultrasonic cleaning section in the cleaning section may be provided in plurals instead of one. Alternatively, the cleaning processing may be performed by one or two types of processing units without combining the above three types of processing units.

Further, a nozzle cleaning section for spraying a cleaning liquid to which ultrasonic vibration is applied from a nozzle toward a substrate may be combined with the above-described cleaning section, or may be used alone.

In the film forming section, one load lock chamber is provided upstream of the film forming chamber to preheat the substrate and to maintain the reduced pressure of the film forming chamber. Or the time required for processing in the cleaning processing unit and the liquid removal processing unit is substantially the same as the time required for film formation in the film forming processing unit, and a series of substrate processing is performed. A plurality of load lock chambers may be provided in order to enable continuous operation without occurrence.

The semiconductor device according to the present invention is not limited to a solar cell panel, but may be a liquid crystal display panel, a semiconductor wafer, or the like, which can be applied to a case where a thin film is formed on a substrate.

[0069]

According to the first and eighth aspects of the present invention, since the substrate cleaned by the cleaning liquid is dried by the compressed gas, the cleaned substrate is maintained in a clean state. Drying can be performed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the cleaning process of the substrate is performed by a combination of brush cleaning, rinsing cleaning and ultrasonic cleaning. Therefore, the cleaning of the substrate can be performed with high cleanliness. Become.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the substrate can be dried quickly and reliably by heating the compressed gas for drying the substrate to a predetermined temperature.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the substrate can be cleaned during the drying process by ionizing the compressed gas for performing the drying process on the substrate.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, since the substrate is heated before the film is formed on the substrate, the film can be reliably and efficiently formed on the substrate.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the substrate that has been dried in the liquid draining step is immediately formed in the film forming step. It can be prevented from being stained before.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, before forming a film on a substrate, the substrate is cleaned with an activated inert gas. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an overall configuration of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cleaning processing unit.

FIG. 3 (a) is a plan view of a liquid drainage processing unit, and FIG.
Is a side view.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a film formation processing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cleaning processing part 2 ... Liquid removal processing part 3 ... Film formation processing part 6 ... Brush cleaning processing part 7 ... Rinsing processing part 8 ... Ultrasonic cleaning processing part 10 ... Substrate 21 ... Air knife 25 ... Film formation chamber 35 ... Load Lock chamber 37: Preheater

Claims (8)

[Claims] In a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device formed by forming a thin film on a substrate, a cleaning step of cleaning the substrate with a cleaning liquid; A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: a draining step of removing a cleaning liquid; and a film forming step of forming a thin film on a drained substrate. 2. The cleaning step includes a brush cleaning step of brush-cleaning the substrate, a rinsing step of rinsing the brush-cleaned substrate, and an ultrasonic cleaning step of ultrasonic-cleaning the rinsed substrate. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein in the liquid draining step, the compressed gas injected to the substrate is heated to a predetermined temperature. 4. The liquid draining step according to claim 1, wherein the compressed gas injected to the substrate is ionized.
The manufacturing method of the semiconductor device described in the above. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the film forming step includes a heating step of heating the substrate to a predetermined temperature before forming a thin film on the substrate. . 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a thin film is formed on the substrate from which the cleaning liquid has been removed in the draining step immediately. 7. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein in said film forming step, before forming a thin film on said substrate, said substrate is plasma-cleaned by turning an inert gas into plasma. . 8. A semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus formed by depositing a thin film on a substrate, comprising: a cleaning processing section for cleaning the substrate with a cleaning liquid; and a compressed gas jetted onto the cleaned substrate to adhere to the substrate. An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: a liquid removal processing unit that removes a cleaning liquid that has been removed; and a film formation processing unit that forms a thin film on a substrate that has been drained.