JPH09181007A - Semiconductor device manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a highly productive semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus capable of performing accurate temperature control by performing temperature control by monitoring the temperature without damaging the strip-shaped substrate. Especially. In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
While continuously moving the strip-shaped substrate in the longitudinal direction, the strip-shaped substrate is passed through a plurality of film-forming chambers equipped with radiant heaters, and the stacked thin-film elements are continuously formed on the surface of the strip-shaped substrate by each film-forming chamber. In the manufacturing device of the semiconductor element formed by
The radiant heating heater is characterized in that the temperature is controlled by a temperature control device having a temperature measuring means which is in non-contact with the strip-shaped substrate. For example, the temperature control means controls the heat emitted from the strip-shaped substrate. A thermocouple for monitoring and controlling the temperature of the strip-shaped substrate is installed in the hollow between the radiant heater and the strip-shaped substrate.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus capable of continuously forming laminated thin film elements such as photovoltaic elements on a strip-shaped substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus for continuously forming a thin film on the surface of a belt-shaped substrate, for example, a manufacturing method by a continuous plasma CVD method employing a roll-to-roll method. A device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,409. In this manufacturing apparatus, a plurality of glow discharge regions are provided,
By continuously transporting a belt-shaped substrate having a desired width and sufficiently long in the longitudinal direction of the belt-shaped substrate along a path that sequentially penetrates the glow discharge region, an element having a semiconductor junction can be continuously formed. It is stated that it can be done. Further, in the above-described manufacturing apparatus, a gas gate chamber is provided between each film forming space in order to prevent the film forming gas or the dopant gas used in forming each semiconductor layer from diffusing into and mixing with other glow discharge regions. is there. Specifically, each glow discharge region is separated by a slit-shaped separation passage, and a flow of a separation gas such as Ar or H2 is formed in the separation passage. Alternatively, a means for providing an exhaust means in the separation passage to exhaust gas flowing from the adjacent film forming chambers is adopted. Further, a thermocouple for controlling the heating temperature of the strip-shaped substrate is brought into contact with the strip-shaped substrate to monitor,
Had control.

[0003]

However, the manufacturing apparatus adopting the above-mentioned roll-to-roll system has the following problems. (1) Since a thermocouple is brought into contact with the strip-shaped substrate for temperature control, scratches are generated in the longitudinal direction on the back surface of the strip-shaped substrate,
This has been one of the causes of the decrease in the survival rate of semiconductor devices on the surface. (2) Since the thermocouple is pressed into contact with the strip-shaped substrate for temperature control, the thermocouple may break due to friction with the strip-shaped substrate during film formation, making temperature control impossible. there were. (3) When the strip-shaped substrate runs in reverse due to ON / OFF of tension, the shape of the thermocouple being pressed in is deformed, which affects the reproducibility of temperature control. (4) The pressing pressure of the thermocouple fluctuates due to the conveyance of the substrate, and the temperature display fluctuates each time, so the output of the radiant heating heater becomes unstable.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, performs temperature control by monitoring the temperature without damaging the band-shaped substrate, and enables accurate temperature control, and a highly productive semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus. Is provided.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the conductor element manufacturing apparatus of the present invention comprises a plurality of film formations provided with radiant heaters while continuously moving the strip-shaped substrate in the longitudinal direction. In the apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor element, which passes through a chamber and continuously forms laminated thin film elements independently on the surface of the strip-shaped substrate by the film forming chambers, the radiant heater is not in contact with the strip-shaped substrate. It is characterized in that the temperature is controlled by a temperature control device having a temperature measuring means. The temperature measuring means of the present invention monitors the heat radiated from the strip-shaped substrate, and installs a thermocouple for controlling the substrate temperature of the strip-shaped substrate in the hollow between the radiant heating heater and the strip-shaped substrate. Can be configured. Further, in the present invention, the thermocouple may be provided with a cover for suppressing the influence of radiant heat from the radiant heater, or may be provided with a jig for fixing its position.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention controls the substrate temperature by monitoring the temperature without contacting the thermocouple with the belt-shaped substrate in each film forming chamber forming a plurality of film forming spaces as described above. Therefore, it is possible to perform stable control with good reproducibility without damaging the strip-shaped substrate, and it is possible to increase the survival rate of the semiconductor element. In addition, by providing a cover that suppresses the influence of radiant heat from the radiant heater and a jig that fixes the position, more accurate temperature control and shortening the time for setting, etc., aiming to improve the operating rate. You can The strip-shaped substrate in the present invention is preferably one that has little deformation and distortion at the temperature required for producing a semiconductor film, has desired strength, and has conductivity, and specifically, stainless steel. , Thin plates of metal such as aluminum and its alloys, iron and its alloys, copper and its alloys, and composites thereof,
And a thin metal film of different materials and / or S on their surface
There may be mentioned those obtained by subjecting an insulating thin film of iO2, Si3N4, AlN or the like to a surface coating treatment by a sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, a plating method or the like. In addition, polyimide, polyamide, polyethylene terephthalate, heat-resistant resinous sheet of epoxy or the like, or a metal simple substance or alloy on the surface of a composite of these, glass fiber, carbon fiber, boron fiber, metal fiber, etc., and transparent conductive oxidation The thing (TCO) etc. which performed electroconductivity processing by methods, such as sputtering, vapor deposition, plating, and coating, are mentioned.

Further, the thickness of the belt-shaped substrate is within a range in which the curved shape produced at the time of carrying by the carrying means can be maintained and the strength can be maintained. The thinner one is preferable. Specifically, it is preferably 0.01 mm to 1 mm, most preferably 0.
It is desirable that the thickness is 05 mm to 0.5 mm, but when a thin plate made of metal or the like is used, the desired strength can be easily obtained even if the thickness is relatively thin. The width of the strip-shaped substrate is not particularly limited and is determined by the size of the semiconductor film forming means or the container thereof. The length of the belt-shaped substrate is not particularly limited, and may be such a length that it can be wound into a roll, and a long one is further lengthened by welding or the like. Is also good.

As a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus for continuously forming the thin film of the present invention, for example, there is a roll-to-roll type apparatus shown in FIG. Examples of semiconductor elements include integrated circuits typified by LSIs, various sensors typified by semiconductor lasers, and various photovoltaic elements typified by solar cells. Particularly, the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is preferably applied to a solar cell that requires a large-area light receiving section. The solar cell is, for example, a layer structure shown in FIG. 6, that is, an n-type semiconductor layer 602, an i-type semiconductor layer 603, a p-type semiconductor layer 604, and an ITO transparent conductive film 605 on the surface of a base body 601 made of a band-shaped member. It is a power generation element having a layered structure in which each layer is sequentially stacked.

The structure of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus for continuously forming thin films will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, 101, 102, and 103 are film forming chambers by a microwave plasma CVD method, and 104 and 105 are a supply chamber and a winding chamber for a strip-shaped substrate. The film forming chambers are connected by a gas gate 106. Reference numeral 107 denotes a belt-shaped substrate, which passes through three film forming chambers before being transported from the supply chamber to the winding chamber, and has a three-layer functional deposited film on the surface thereof, for example, a pin-structure semiconductor film for solar cell. Is formed. In each of the film forming chambers 101 to 103, a radiant heater 108 for heating the substrate, and a gas introducing pipe 1 for introducing a film forming gas supplied from a gas supply means (not shown) into the film forming chambers
09, an exhaust pipe 110 for exhausting the film forming chamber by an exhaust means (not shown) is provided to form a deposited film 11
3 is a film formation region adjusting plate, 114 is a pressure gauge, and 115 and 1.
Reference numeral 16 is an exhaust pipe for exhausting the supply chamber and the winding chamber.

The film forming chamber 101 shown in FIG.
The rectangular parallelepiped film forming space shown in FIG. This film forming space is formed by a film forming container 301 and a strip-shaped substrate 302. An applicator 303 for introducing microwave energy is attached in the film formation space. This applicator 303 is a waveguide (not shown)
Is connected to a microwave power source (not shown). Further, a gas introduction part 304 for introducing the source gas is attached to the bottom surface of the film forming container, and a large number of gas emission holes for releasing the source gas are arranged so as to face the strip-shaped substrate. There is. The gas introduction unit 304 is connected to a gas supply facility (not shown). An exhaust punching board 305 is attached to the side wall on the opposite side of the applicator, that is, the side wall on the front side of the film forming container 301, and confines microwave energy in the film forming space and is connected to an exhaust pipe (not shown). ing. The film forming chambers 102 and 103 in FIG. 1 also have the same configuration as above.
Although FIG. 1 illustrates only the film forming chamber by the microwave plasma CVD method, the same effect can be obtained by using a film forming chamber by low or high frequency plasma CVD method such as RF or VHF. To be

Here, the plurality of film forming spaces are, for example, a charging chamber in which the strip-shaped substrate is first charged and a decompression process is performed, a heating chamber for raising the transported strip-shaped substrate to an appropriate temperature, and a transporting chamber. A film forming chamber for forming an appropriate thin film on the surface of the strip-shaped substrate that is received, a cooling chamber for lowering the conveyed strip-shaped substrate to an appropriate temperature, and the strip-shaped substrate for which film formation has been completed under atmospheric pressure. There is a take-out room for returning. In particular, a plurality of film forming chambers may be continuously provided to form a plurality of thin films of different materials.
At this time, a means for preventing the influence of adjacent film forming chambers by providing a gas gate chamber described below between the film forming chambers is also used.

As a means for continuously transporting the strip-shaped substrate in a plurality of film forming chambers in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped substrate in the present invention, there is, for example, the roll-to-roll system shown in FIG. . In this system, the strip-shaped substrate wound on the drum arranged in the supply chamber 104 is moved by the roll-shaped winding device provided in the winding chamber 105 through the plurality of film formation spaces. It is important that the strip-shaped substrate is transported at a constant speed through the plurality of film-forming spaces without causing wrinkles, twists, warps, etc. in its surface. The transport speed at this time is appropriately selected depending on the film forming conditions (film thickness of semiconductor film, forming speed, etc.), but is preferably 200 mm / min to 2000 mm / min.

Further, the gas gate chamber here means that the supply chamber and the winding chamber for the strip-shaped substrate are separated and independent from each other, and the strip-shaped substrate is continuously conveyed through them. This is a vacuum container provided for the purpose of Further, when a plurality of thin films made of different materials are formed, they are also provided to separate adjacent film forming chambers. As the gas gate chamber, for example, one having the configuration of FIG. 2 (enlarged sectional view of FIG. 1 [106]) can be mentioned. The opening cross-section adjusting member 201 is installed above and below the strip-shaped base 202 in a flat plate shape,
A predetermined gap is provided between the strip-shaped substrate and the deposition surface. This gap is, for example, 1 to 5 for the purpose of reducing the conductance and preventing the diffusion and mixing of the gas in each film forming chamber.
It is preferable to set the width to mm. Opening cross section adjusting member 2
The material of 01 is basically formed in a flat plate shape by ceramics such as alumina, which is less likely to be thermally deformed or worn, glass such as quartz, or a composite material thereof. However, in order to stabilize the gas flow on the back surface of the substrate, a groove or the like may be provided in the longitudinal direction of the substrate.

Further, the gas gate chamber is constructed so that the separation gas is introduced from the separation gas introduction pipe 203 and the film forming gas in the film forming chamber which enters the gas gate chamber is pushed back. As the separation gas, for example, Ar, He, N
Examples thereof include rare gases such as e, Kr, Xe, and Rn, or diluent gas for forming a semiconductor film, such as H2. The gate gas flow rate is
Although it is appropriately determined by the conductance of the entire gas gate chamber, for example, if a point at which the pressure is maximized is provided approximately in the center of the gas gate, the gate gas flows from the center of the gas gate to the vacuum container side on both sides, Mutual gas diffusion between the vacuum containers can be minimized.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. Example 1 A pin type amorphous silicon solar cell was produced on the surface of a strip-shaped substrate by the following operation using the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. First, the strip-shaped substrate 107 was set so as to be unwound from the supply chamber 104, passed through the three film forming chambers 101 to 103 connected by the gas gate chamber 106, and wound into the winding chamber 105. The band-shaped substrate 107 has a width of 30 cm and a length of 50.
m, 0.2 mm thick SUS430BA was used.
The height of the slits in the gas gate chamber 106 is 10 mm.
And Next, the strip-shaped substrate supply chamber, the winding chamber, and the film-forming chambers are exhausted to the 10 ⁻⁶ Torr level through an exhaust pipe 110, 115, 116 by an exhaust device (not shown), and then exhausted. While introducing each film forming gas into each film forming chamber through the gas introducing pipe 109, the pressure gauge 11
While confirming No. 4, the exhaust amount was adjusted to adjust each film forming chamber to a predetermined pressure. In the slit of the gas gate 106, H 2 as a separating gas is introduced from the upper and lower gas introducing pipes 112 at 300 sc each.
cm. The radiant heater 108 is used to form the strip-shaped substrate 10.
The microwave waveguide 1 is heated from the rear surface of 7 at a predetermined temperature.
Microwave power was introduced from 11 to generate glow discharge in each film forming chamber, and the strip-shaped substrate was transported at a constant speed to continuously form an n, i, p-type amorphous silicon film on the strip-shaped substrate. A method of monitoring the temperature of the strip-shaped substrate in the present invention at this time will be described below with reference to FIG. 4 is shown in FIG.
3 is an enlarged view of the film forming chamber in FIG. 401 is a film forming container, 4
Reference numeral 02 is a gas gate, and 403 is a belt-shaped substrate. Reference numeral 404 is a waveguide for supplying microwave power, 405 is a gas introducing pipe for introducing a film forming gas into the film forming chamber, 406 is an exhaust pipe, and 407.
Is a pressure gauge. Further, reference numeral 408 is a film formation region adjusting plate, and a deposited film is formed in the opening portion. 409-4
Reference numeral 12 is a substrate heating heater unit, 409 and 411 are temperature control devices, and 410 and 412 are radiant heating heaters. When the deposited film was formed by applying microwaves, heating was performed by controlling the temperature control device with thermocouples 413 and 414 directly below. Here, a method for mounting the control thermocouple will be described. Conventionally, a thermocouple has been in contact with a strip-shaped substrate to monitor the temperature of the strip-shaped substrate.However, the friction caused by the transportation of the strip-shaped substrate may cause scratches in the longitudinal direction of the back surface of the strip-shaped substrate, or friction during film formation. Due to this, the tip of the thermocouple was scraped and the wire was broken, which could lead to an uncontrollable state. Therefore, a thermocouple as shown in FIG. 5 was installed. The radiant heater 502 and the strip-shaped substrate 50 are arranged so as not to come into contact with the strip-shaped substrate 501.
The thermocouple 503 was installed in the hollow of No. 1. By this installation method, the problems in the above thermocouple were solved and experiments were conducted. The substrate heating set temperatures in the film forming chambers are 250 ° C., 300 ° C. and 15 ° C. for n, i and p layers, respectively.
It was set to 0 ° C. The band-shaped substrate on which the amorphous silicon film obtained by the above method is deposited is taken out from the roll-to-roll apparatus and cut into a size of 10 cm × 10 cm,
It was placed in a single chamber vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, and an ITO transparent conductive film was laminated by a vacuum vapor deposition method to fabricate a solar cell shown in the schematic sectional view of FIG. In FIG. 6, 601 is a substrate, 602 is an n-type layer, 603 is an i-type layer, 604 is a p-type layer, and 605 is an ITO transparent conductive film.

(Comparative Example 1) In Comparative Example 1, the method of heating the strip-shaped substrate at the time of forming the deposited film by applying the microwave power is the thermocouple in which the temperature control device in FIG. 4 is brought into contact with the strip-shaped substrate immediately below. The heating was carried out by controlling.
The other points were the same as in Example 1. From the above experiment, the following results were obtained. (1) In the solar cells manufactured with the same formulation (same microwave power) in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, the solar cell in Example 1 was better in both characteristics and survival rate. Conventionally, since a thermocouple for temperature control was brought into contact with the strip-shaped substrate, scratches were generated in the longitudinal direction on the back surface of the strip-shaped substrate,
It is considered that the scratches affected the semiconductor layer formed on the surface of the substrate to reduce the survival rate, and as a result, the characteristics of the solar cell were also reduced. It was possible to fabricate a solar cell excellent in characteristics and survival rate. The survival rate here is 1 cm when the open circuit voltage is 0.5 V or more.
It is the ratio of the corners to 10 solar cells. (2) In Comparative Example 1, the tip of the thermocouple was scraped during film formation and the wire was sometimes broken, which made the temperature control impossible.
In Example 1, since the thermocouple was installed in the hollow without contacting it, such a trouble did not occur. (3) In Comparative Example 1, the pressing pressure of the thermocouple fluctuates as the substrate is transported, and the temperature monitored each time is 10
%, But in Example 1, such a run was hardly seen.

[Embodiment 2] In Embodiment 2, in order to determine the position of the thermocouple in the hollow thermocouple in Embodiment 1 in order to suppress the influence from the radiant heating heater, as shown in FIG. The cover 701 covered the thermocouple 702, and the position fixing jig 703 fixed the position of the thermocouple 702 to determine the position. A pin-type amorphous silicon solar cell was manufactured on the surface of the belt-shaped substrate by using the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1 using this cover 701. The other points were the same as in Example 1. As a result, the following results were obtained. (1) By providing the above cover or the position fixing jig, the influence from the radiant heater can be suppressed,
Since the thermocouple position is fixed, there is no need to check or adjust the thermocouple position during setting. Therefore, this setting time was omitted, and the time to expose the film formation chamber to atmospheric pressure was shortened by this, and the time to evacuate the film formation chamber to the vacuum degree of 10 ^-6 Torr after that was shortened by 30 minutes or more compared with the conventional method. It has become possible. In addition, although the film formation is performed by using the microwave discharge in the above embodiment,
Similar good results were obtained even when low or high frequency discharge such as F or VHF was used.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the means for measuring the substrate temperature of the strip-shaped substrate as described above is constituted by a thermocouple which is not in contact with the strip-shaped substrate, so that the strip-shaped substrate can be heated without being damaged. In addition, it is possible to prevent troubles due to disconnection of the thermocouple, and it is possible to produce a semiconductor element such as a solar cell having a high survival rate and good characteristics. Further, by providing the thermocouple with the cover or the position fixing jig, the maintenance time can be further shortened, and the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus having a high operating rate can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a gas gate chamber according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a film forming space of the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a film forming chamber of the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a thermocouple installation configuration in the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the layer structure of the solar cell according to Example 1.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configurations of a thermocouple cover and a position fixing jig according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101, 102, 103: Film forming chamber 104: Supply chamber 105: Winding chamber 106, 402: Gas gate chamber 107, 202, 302, 403, 501: Strip substrate 108, 410, 412, 502: Radiant heating heater 109, 112 : Gas introduction pipe 110, 115, 116, 406: Exhaust pipe 111, 404: Microwave waveguide 113, 408: Film formation region adjusting plate 114, 407: Pressure gauge 201: Opening cross-section adjusting member 203: Separation gas introduction pipe 301, 401: Film forming container 303: Applicator 304, 405: Gas introduction part 305: Exhaust punching board 409, 411: Temperature control device 413, 414, 503: Thermocouple 601: Substrate 602: n-type semiconductor layer 603: i-type Semiconductor layer 604: p-type semiconductor layer 605: ITO transparent conductive film 701: cover 703: Position fixture

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A belt-shaped substrate is continuously moved in the longitudinal direction while passing through a plurality of film-forming chambers equipped with a radiant heater, and each of the film-forming chambers independently forms a film on the surface of the belt-shaped substrate. In a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus for continuously forming laminated thin film elements, the radiant heater is temperature controlled by a temperature controller having a temperature measuring means that is not in contact with the belt-shaped substrate. apparatus. 2. The temperature measuring means monitors heat radiated from the strip-shaped substrate, and a thermocouple for controlling the substrate temperature of the strip-shaped substrate is installed in the hollow between the radiant heater and the strip-shaped substrate. It is comprised, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor element according to 1. 3. The apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor element according to claim 2, wherein the thermocouple is provided with a cover for suppressing an influence of radiant heat from the radiant heater. 4. The semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the thermocouple is provided with a jig for fixing its position.