JPH032372A - Treatment of material to be treated and treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the whole time spent in treatment and to drastically enhance throughput by supplying the same reactive gas to both a standby chamber and a reaction chamber before a shielding means is opened and a material to be treated is sent to the reaction chamber from the standby chamber and closing the shielding means and thereafter treating the material to be treated by the reactive gas in the reaction chamber. CONSTITUTION:The materials 3b to be treated are set in a standby chamber 2 and thereafter the inside of the chamber 2 is exhausted 8. The same reactive gas is introduced 5, 6 into the reaction chamber 1 and the chamber 2. The flow rate regulation of the reactive gas and the pressure regulation of the chambers 1, 2 are performed. Then a shielding means 4 is opened to transfer one of the materials 3b to be treated to the chamber 1 and thereafter closed. Reaction of the reactive gas is started by a reaction controlling means 1a and treatment such as formation and etching, etc., of deposit is performed for the material 3a to be treated. Then the means 4 is opened to return the treated material 3a to the chamber 2 and also the untreated material 3b is transferred to the chamber 1 and the means 4 is closed. Then the above-mentioned respective stages are repeatedly performed for the whole material to be treated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a processing method and a processing apparatus for processing a workpiece such as a semiconductor using a gas reaction.

[Prior Art] A so-called load-lock vacuum device is used to form deposits or etch a workpiece, such as a semiconductor wafer, by utilizing the chemical action of a reactive gas. There is. This load-lock type vacuum device includes a reaction chamber in which the object to be processed is processed using a reaction gas;
A waiting chamber in which the objects to be processed to be sent to the reaction chamber are kept on standby is connected by a gate valve, and has six effects when processing objects in stages in sequence.

In the load-lock type vacuum apparatus described above, a workpiece is processed in the following manner.

(a) A plurality of objects to be processed are set in a waiting room.

(b) Evacuate the waiting room.

(c) Open the gate valve, move one of the objects to be processed into the reaction chamber, and close the gate valve.

(cl) A reaction gas is introduced into the reaction chamber, and the flow rate of the reaction gas and the pressure of the reaction chamber are adjusted.

(e) Due to the chemical reaction of the reaction gas, the object to be treated is
Performing treatments such as formation of deposits and etching <1> Stop the reaction of the reaction gas and complete the treatment of the object to be treated.

(g) Stop introducing the reaction gas into the reaction chamber and evacuate the reaction chamber.

(h) Open the gate valve, return the processed object to the waiting chamber, move the unprocessed object to the reaction chamber, and close the gate valve.

(i) Repeat the steps (d) to (h) above for all the objects to be treated.

(j) Once the processing has been completed for all the objects to be processed,
The pressure in the waiting chamber is set to atmospheric pressure and the object to be processed is taken out.

[Problem to be solved] When adjusting the flow rate of the reaction gas and the pressure in the reaction chamber in the step (d) above, or when exhausting the reaction chamber in the step (g) above, it is necessary to adjust the pressure in the reaction chamber to a predetermined level. Spend a considerable amount of time under pressure. In the conventional process described above, each time the steps (d) to (h) above are repeated, the flow rate of the reaction gas and the pressure in the reaction chamber are adjusted, and the reaction chamber is evacuated, so the total time spent on these processes is was considerable. Therefore, the throughput of conventional processing methods was not very good.

An object of the present invention is to provide a processing method and a processing apparatus thereof, which can improve throughput by shortening the total time spent adjusting the flow rate of reaction gas and the pressure of the reaction chamber, and evacuation of the reaction chamber. be.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a reaction chamber in which an object to be processed is processed using a reaction gas, a standby chamber in which the object to be processed to be sent to the reaction chamber is kept on standby, and a reaction chamber and a standby chamber. The same reaction gas is supplied to the reaction chamber and the waiting chamber before the shutoff means is opened and the material to be processed is sent from the waiting chamber to the reaction chamber. After the chamber is closed, the object to be processed is treated with a reaction gas in the reaction chamber.

In order to carry out the above processing method, the present invention includes a reaction chamber, a standby chamber, a shutoff means such as a gate valve, and a first supply control means for controlling the supply of reaction gas to the reaction chamber.
and a first pressure control means for controlling the pressure in the reaction chamber, and a second supply control for controlling the supply of the same reaction gas as the reaction gas supplied to the reaction chamber to the standby chamber. and second pressure control means for controlling the pressure in the waiting chamber.

[Example] The figure is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a processing apparatus using the present invention. The basic configuration of the processing device in this embodiment is the so-called load-lock type described above.

First, each component shown in the figure will be explained. Reference numeral 01 is a reaction chamber, where the object to be processed 3a is processed using a reaction gas. 1a is a reaction control means,
When the reaction carried out in the reaction chamber 1 is a plasma reaction, a pair of opposing electrodes to which high frequency waves are applied constitute this.

2 is a waiting chamber, in which the processed material 3 is sent to the reaction chamber.
This is where b is placed on standby.

Examples of the objects to be processed 3a and 3b include silicon wafers.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a shutoff means, which can be opened and closed to shut off the reaction chamber 1 and the standby chamber 2, and is constituted by, for example, a gate valve.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a first supply control means, which controls the supply of reaction gas to the reaction chamber 1. This first supply control means 5 is composed of a stop valve 5a and a mass flow controller 5b.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a second supply control means, which controls the supply of the same reaction gas as the reaction gas supplied to the reaction chamber 1 to the standby chamber 2. This second supply control means 6 is
Stop valve 6a and mass flow controller 6b
It is made up of.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a first pressure control means, which controls the pressure in the reaction chamber 1. The first pressure control means 7 includes a stop valve 7a and a barrier pull conductance valve 7b that adjusts the pressure in the reaction chamber 1.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a second pressure control means, which controls the pressure in the waiting chamber 2. This second pressure control means 8 includes a stop valve 8a and a barrier pull conductance valve 8b that adjusts the pressure in the waiting chamber 2.

Reference numeral 9 denotes an evacuation means, which evacuates the reaction chamber 1 and the standby chamber 2 through the first pressure control means 7 and the second pressure control means 8. This exhaust means 9 is constructed using various vacuum pumps such as a rotary pump and a mechanical booster pump.

Next, the operation of this embodiment with the above configuration will be explained.

(a)) Thirty-two objects to be processed 3b are set in the waiting chamber 2.

(b) The waiting chamber is evacuated by the exhaust means 9 through the second pressure control means 8.

(c) The same reaction gas is introduced into the reaction chamber 1 and the standby chamber 2 through the first supply control means 5 and the second supply control means 6, respectively, and the flow rate of the reaction gas is adjusted. Adjust the pressure. The flow ffi of the reaction gas is adjusted by mass flow controllers 5b and 6b.

The pressure in the reaction chamber 1 and the waiting chamber 2 is adjusted by barrier pull conductance valves 7b and 8b, respectively.

Note that it is preferable that the pressure in the reaction chamber 1 be equal to or slightly lower than the pressure in the waiting chamber 2.

(d) Open the blocking means 4, move one of the objects 3b to the reaction chamber 1, and close the blocking means 4. The pressure in reaction chamber 1 is
Since it has already been adjusted in step 1-(C), there is no need to adjust it again.

(e) The reaction control means 1a starts a reaction of the reaction gas, and processes such as deposit formation and etching are performed on the object 3a. When the reaction carried out in the reaction chamber 1 is a plasma reaction, a high frequency voltage may be applied between a pair of opposing electrodes constituting the reaction control means 1a.

(f) Stopping the reaction of the reaction gas and terminating the treatment of the object to be treated 3a.

(g) Open the shutoff means 4 to remove the processed object 3
a is returned to the waiting room 2, and the unprocessed workpiece 3b is returned to the waiting room 2.
is moved to the reaction chamber 1 and the blocking means 4 is closed.

(h) Repeat steps (e) to (g) above for all objects to be treated.

(i) Once the processing has been completed for all the objects to be processed,
Stopping the introduction of the reaction gas into the reaction chamber 1 and the standby chamber 2,
The reaction chamber 1 and standby chamber 2 are evacuated.

(j) The pressure in the waiting chamber 1 is set to atmospheric pressure and the object to be processed 3b is taken out.

As described above, in this embodiment, the pressures in the reaction chamber 1 and the standby chamber 2 are kept almost equal, and the objects to be processed are replaced without exhausting the reaction chamber 1 after the processing of the objects to be processed is completed. be able to.

[Effects] In the present invention, the same reaction gas is supplied to the reaction chamber and the waiting chamber before the material to be processed is sent from the waiting chamber to the reaction chamber. Since there is no need to repeat evacuation, etc., the total time spent on processing can be shortened, and throughput can be significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. 1...Reaction chamber 2...Waiting room 4... Cutting off means 5...First supply control means 6...Second supply control means 7...First pressure control means 8...Second pressure control means that's all

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A reaction chamber in which the object to be processed is processed using a reaction gas, a waiting chamber in which the object to be processed to be sent to the reaction chamber is kept on standby, and a function that can be opened and closed to isolate the reaction chamber and the waiting chamber. supplying the same reaction gas to the reaction chamber and the waiting chamber before opening the blocking means and sending the processed material from the waiting chamber to the reaction chamber; A method for treating a workpiece, in which the workpiece is treated with the reaction gas in the reaction chamber after the reaction chamber is closed. (2) A reaction chamber in which the object to be processed is processed using a reaction gas; A standby chamber in which the object to be processed is kept waiting to be sent to the reaction chamber; and an openable/closable space that isolates the reaction chamber and the standby chamber. a first supply control means for controlling the supply of a reaction gas to the reaction chamber; and a first supply control means for controlling the supply of the same reaction gas as the reaction gas supplied to the reaction chamber to the waiting chamber. 2; a first pressure control means for controlling the pressure in the reaction chamber; and a second pressure control means for controlling the pressure in the waiting chamber.