Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Differential fluid etching apparatus – With means for passing discrete workpiece through plural...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-17
2003-10-07
Mills, Gregory (Department: 1763)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Differential fluid etching apparatus
With means for passing discrete workpiece through plural...
C118S719000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06630053
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus using a vacuum load lock chamber connected to a reactor, and it particularly relates to a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus comprising compact free-layout single-wafer-processing units, its gas-line system, and the structure of a reactor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, chambers of a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus using a vacuum load lock system comprise a load lock chamber, a transfer chamber and multiple reactors (processing chambers) connected with the transfer chamber. For each chamber, a substrate-handling robot for automatically supplying substrates is used and it functions as described in the following: First, the atmospheric robot brings a substrate inside a load lock chamber from a cassette or a front opening unified pod (“FOUP”, e.g., a detachable cassette and a box with a front-opening interface). After evacuating air into the load lock chamber, the substrate is transferred to each reactor by a vacuum robot provided inside a common polygon-shaped transfer chamber. The substrate processed in the reactor is transferred inside the load lock chamber by the vacuum robot. Lastly, after restoring atmospheric pressure inside the load lock chamber, the processed substrate is taken out to the cassette or the FOUP by the atmospheric robot. This type of apparatus is generally called a cluster tool.
Conventionally, there are two types of cluster tools, i.e., a single-wafer-processing type and a batch-based wafer processing type. With the single wafer processing type, each reactor processes one wafer at a time. With the batch-based wafer processing type, a single reactor processes multiple wafers at a time.
Because the batch-based wafer processing apparatus processes multiple sheets of substrates in a single reactor, its productivity is high. A thin film formed on a substrate by the batch-based wafer processing apparatus, however, is not uniform in thickness and quality and this often becomes a problem. To improve the uniformity of film thickness and quality, using a single-wafer-processing apparatus is effective.
If attempting to increase productivity using a conventional single-wafer-processing type apparatus, the number of reactors increases, the footprint (an area occupied by an apparatus) and faceprint (the width of an apparatus front panel) increase, and costs increase as well. This is because the conventional single-wafer-processing apparatus possesses a common polygon-shaped transfer chamber and reactors are attached to it, radiating in all directions. Additionally due to the number of sides of a polygon, the number of reactors or a layout is restricted. Furthermore, conventionally, each reactor independently possesses a gas line and a vacuum line, and independently performs deposition (film forming). If increasing the number of reactors to improve productivity, the number of vacuum elements increases because the same number of gas lines and vacuum pumps as the reactors is required. As a result, costs per reactor increase and at the same time the footprint increases.
Furthermore, in conventional single-wafer-processing semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus, a reactor has a one-layered structure, and placing and processing a substrate are performed inside the same chamber. Consequently, the capacity of a processing chamber is large, and an amount of reaction gas and time required for deposition and cleaning increase accordingly. To solve this problem, a method for reducing the capacity of a processing chamber by sealing a reactor after a wafer is transferred was reported (U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,801 or Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 8-172037). This method is a technique generally used for batch-processing vertical furnaces. If applying this method to single-wafer-processing reactors, the following problem occurs: Normally, for a susceptor inside a single-wafer-processing reactor, to create a space between a substrate and a susceptor so that end factors of a vacuum robot can get in and out when transferring a substrate, a substrate lift pin passing through the susceptor is provided for supporting a substrate temporarily. To perform sealing at the periphery of a susceptor, it is necessary to fill this through hole. For sealing up the hole, one approach using a substrate lift pin's own weight for this purpose was devised. It provides the lift pin with a flange which can seal the hole (U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,801 or Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 8-172037). This approach, however, is very unstable and has a risk wherein a leak may occur when sealing is not done properly, for example, if the pin is caught under some influence or if pressure inside a transfer chamber becomes higher than pressure inside a processing chamber.
Additionally, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 10-30183 discloses an ashing apparatus including a transfer mechanism inside a load lock chamber connected to a processing chamber, which is characterized simply in that a handing unit holding a semiconductor substrate is loaded and unloaded to and from the processing chamber. According to the above structures, the footprint or faceprint can be reduced to a certain degree. However, a reduction of the footprint or faceprint is not satisfactory, and no consideration is given to improve process efficiency and productivity or to simplify a total system or scale-up apparatus. The above structure will be explained further later.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 10-154739 (or U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,681) discloses a substrate-processing apparatus comprising (a) a load lock chamber, (b) a transfer chamber, (c) more than one reactors, each being connected to the transfer chamber and having multiple (virtually two) processing zones, and (d) a first substrate-handling member provided inside the transfer chamber. This apparatus includes multiple reactors but must include the transfer chamber as a platform common to the reactors in addition to the load lock chamber. A reduction of the footprint or faceprint cannot be achieved, and insufficient consideration is given to improve process efficiency and productivity or to simplify a total system or scale-up apparatus. The above structure will be explained further later.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Consequently, an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus that realizes low costs, a small footprint and a small faceprint.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a compact and free-layout semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus that can accommodate a range from small-quantity production to mass production.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor-manufacturing apparatus that realizes a stable process and high throughput.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a gas-line system which includes a gas line and a vacuum line, realizing labor reduction and low costs.
Further another object of the present invention is to provide a sealing mechanism for a reactor, which can securely seal a reaction zone of a processing chamber for treatment, which zone is defined by dividing the interior of the processing chamber using a simple structure or a another structure that can obtain the same effects as obtained using a seal.
The above objects are merely examples and do not limit the scope of the present invention. To achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention includes the following embodiments:
In an embodiment, a semiconductor processing module adapted to be connected to an atmospheric robot unit, comprises: (a) multiple single-wafer processing units disposed side by side, and (b) a gas supply system common to said multiple units. Each unit comprises: (i) a reactor for treating a semiconductor substrate, said reactor having a pressure control valve in a gas exhaust line; and (ii) at least one load lock chamber for transferring the semiconductor substrate into and from the reactor in a vacuum. The load lock chamber has a front end and
Suwada Masaei
Watanabe Takeshi
Yamagishi Takayuki
ASM Japan K.K.
Crowell Michelle
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Mills Gregory
LandOfFree
Semiconductor processing module and apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Semiconductor processing module and apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Semiconductor processing module and apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3121546