Coating apparatus – Gas or vapor deposition
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-29
2001-08-28
Lund, Jeffrie R. (Department: 1763)
Coating apparatus
Gas or vapor deposition
C422S083000, C073S863000, C073S864000, C118S724000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279503
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a Chemical Vapor Deposition apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices, its driving method, and a method of optimizing a cleaning process for the process chamber. More particularly, the invention relates to in-situ cleaning of process chamber after processing of semiconductor wafers by using Residual Gas Analyzer Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (RGA-QMA).
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Generally, the semiconductor device fabrication process is carried out inside a process chamber having certain pre-set process conditions. In particular, when a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) process is performed on a semiconductor wafer, a layer of material is deposited not only on the wafer, but also on the inner wall of the process chamber tube, and the boat(s) for moving the wafers between the process chamber and a loadlock chamber where the wafers are stored. As these unwanted layers are repeatedly stressed during the loading/unloading of the wafers, particles are released into the chamber that can cause defects on the wafer during the fabrication process.
In order to reduce the causes for defects, PM (Preventive Maintenance) is repeatedly conducted to clean the process tube at regular intervals, but the productivity of semiconductor devices is decreased due to the interruption of the process line operation.
FIG. 1
illustrates a conventional PM sequence for a general process tube. First, the system is cooled down after carrying out a specific process on semiconductor wafers. After the process chamber is completely cooled, the tubes of the process chamber are taken out one by one so as to carry out wet-etch cleaning of the tubes. The wet-etch generally uses chemicals such as HF group in order to remove a polysilicon film or a silicon nitride film from the inside of the process tube. Then, the removed tubes are assembled inside the process chamber and a vacuum test is performed. Process Recertification is carried out to see if the process chamber is ready for a new process and if the process conditions for the next process are substantially set up therein.
However, the above PM process represents considerable efforts and expenses, and takes over 24 hours to complete. Therefore, in order to overcome the problems, a plasma etch of using NF
3
and CF
4
gas is carried out instead of the wet-etch. Alternatively, Thermal Shock Technology is used for removing the layers formed by thermal stress inside the chamber, or the chamber is dry-etch using ClF
3
, BrF
5.
However, even though these technologies are employed, the tubes still must be removed and reassembled and the expense, the labor, and downtime remain as problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to provide a CVD apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices wherein a process chamber is equipped with cleaning gas supply line, a sampling manifold, and a gas analyzer which are used to clean the tubes in situ. As a result, the method of the present invention substantially obviates one or more problems, disadvantages, and limitations of prior art.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of driving the CVD apparatus, wherein a specific process is performed on wafers, and then in-situ cleaning is performed inside a process chamber, after semiconductor wafers are unloaded.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of optimizing a cleaning process for a process chamber.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention as embodied and broadly described, a CVD apparatus of the present invention includes a process chamber in which a deposition process for manufacturing semiconductor devices is carried out; a plurality of process gas supply lines for supplying process gases to the process chamber; a waste-gas exhaust line for removing the waste-gas from the process chamber; a cleaning-gas supply line for supplying a cleaning gas to the process chamber; a sampling manifold connected to the process chamber for sampling the gas inside therein by using pressure difference; and a gas analyzer for analyzing the sampling gas from the sampling manifold.
Preferably, the process chamber is a Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) chamber having a sealed outer tube and an inner tube having an open top inside the outer tube. The cleaning gas is CIF
3
. The cleaning-gas supply line is connected to the inner tube, and the sampling manifold is connected to the outer tube. An orifice is installed in the sampling manifold such that the pressure therein is maintained at the same pressure as in the process chamber. The sampling manifold comprises a first air valve, a second air valve, a first isolation valve, a second isolation valve, a third isolation valve, and a gate valve between the connecting point with the outer tube. A purge-gas supply line is also provided in the sampling manifold. The purge-gas supply line of the sampling manifold is connected to the first air valve and the second air valve respectively from the purge gas supply source, and third and a forth air valves are further provided between them respectively. A Capacitance Manometer (CM) gauge and a sampling pump are preferably installed between the first isolation valve and the second isolation valve of the sampling manifold in order to control the first pressure of the sampling manifold.
A scrubber is provided for receiving and cleaning the waste-gas passing through the waste-gas exhaust line, and the gas sampling line.
The gas analyzer is preferably a RGA-QMS(Residual Gas Analyzer-Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer) comprising a mass-analyzer, a turbo pump, and a baking pump, which is preferable in the aspect of environmental protection.
The invention is also embodied in a method of driving a CVD apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices. The CVD apparatus includes: a process chamber; a plurality of process gas supply lines for supplying process gases into the process chamber; a waste-gas exhaust line for removing the waste-gas from the process chamber after processing; a cleaning-gas supply line for supplying a cleaning gas to the process chamber; a sampling manifold connected to the process chamber; and a gas analyzer for analyzing the sampling gas from the sampling manifold. The method comprises the steps a) sampling the gas from the process chamber; b) outgasing while baking the gas in order to reduce the initial background of the gas analyzer below a certain value; c) conducting a contamination analysis of each of the process gas supply lines; d) performing a specific process for the semiconductor wafers contained in the process chamber) unloading the wafers after the above specific process is completed, and exhausting the waste-gas from the process chamber; and f) cleaning the inside of the process chamber by supplying a cleaning gas thereinto.
The sampling manifold and the gas analyzer are continuously purged with a purge gas before conducting the sampling to ensure the precision of the gas analyzer. The contamination analysis for the process gas supply line is performed by passing nitrogen gas through each isolated process gas supply line and checking for leakage. Preferably, the fabrication process of semiconductor wafers is the one for forming a silicon-containing layer on the wafer, and the cleaning process is conducted by introducing nitrogen gas and ClF
3
gas as cleaning gases while maintaining uniform pressure and inside the process chamber so that the end point of the cleaning process is easily detected.
The method further comprises a step of measuring particles inside the process chamber before and after the cleaning process, and the step of measuring metal/ion contaminants inside the process chamber before and after the cleaning process so as to determine the effectiveness of the cleaning process.
To achieve still another object of the present invention, a method of optimizing the cleaning process for a process chamber, the cleaning process carried out in-situ after a specific process is per
An Jung-il
Choi Baik-soon
Kim Jin-Sung
Kim Jung-ki
Lund Jeffrie R.
MacArthur Sylvia R.
Marger & Johnson & McCollom, P.C.
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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