Electric heating – Metal heating – By arc
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-12
2001-02-06
Paschall, Mark (Department: 3742)
Electric heating
Metal heating
By arc
C219S121410, C118S7230AN, C204S298110, C156S345420
Reexamination Certificate
active
06184489
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a particle-removing apparatus for a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and to a method of removing particles, and more specifically it relates to a particle-removing apparatus that prevents the falling of particles that are generated during a process onto a wafer, and to a method for removing particles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Particles that are generated in the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and in particular in a process that makes use of plasma, are a cause of reduced yield and a deterioration of uptime. These particles can be caused by the peeling off of substances that have been deposited within the process equipment by reactions and by growth of substances generated by reaction within the plasma. To prevent the falling of these particles onto a substrate, as described in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications (KOKAI) No. 5-29272 and No. 7-58033, there has been a proposal of an apparatus in which the substrate is covered after a process is completed.
FIG.
9
(
a
) is a drawing that shows a plasma etching apparatus of the past, in which the reference numeral
2100
denotes a processing chamber, inside which are provided an upper processing electrode
2200
and a lower processing electrode
2300
, the upper processing electrode
2200
being grounded, and a high-frequency power supply
2400
being connected to the lower processing electrode
2300
.
Above the lower processing electrode
2300
there is provided an electrostatic chuck electrode
2700
, which is insulated by means of an insulator
1900
, a voltage being applied to this electrostatic chuck electrode
2700
from a power supply
2600
, so as to hold a semiconductor substrate
3000
. The processing chamber
2100
is provided with an intake port
3100
for processing gas and an exhaust port
3200
. A cover
3600
is provided so that particles do not fall onto the semiconductor substrate
3000
.
FIG.
9
(
b
) illustrates the general equipment operation cycle of a plasma etching process in a semiconductor device manufacturing process.
This process is for the case of a cycle in which a single substrate is processed. The substrate
3000
, which is transported from a transporting port
3800
, is transported to within the processing chamber
2100
, at which point the process gas is introduced from the process gas intake port
3100
. When the pressure within the processing chamber
2100
reaches a prescribed value, a high-frequency voltage is applied from the power supply
2400
, so as to generated a plasma that etches the substrate
3000
. Simultaneously with the above, the substrate
3000
is held by the electrostatic chuck. After completion of the etching, the supply of the high-frequency voltage, the supply of the process gas, and the electrostatic chuck are all stopped. After several seconds, an inert gas that does not contribute to etching is supplied for a prescribed amount of time in order to quickly purge the chamber of the process gas. The substrate
3000
, after completion of this processing, is transported to outside the processing chamber
2100
from the transporting port
3800
.
In an apparatus of the past as described above, in order to prevent particles from falling onto the substrate
3000
, the cover
3600
is provided over the substrate
3000
. According to an experiment by the inventor, however, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process that uses plasma, the timing of the falling of particles onto a substrate was shown to be intimately connected with the operating status of the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus. Specifically, in the above-noted publications of the past, there was absolutely no consideration given to the timing of the covering of the substrate, this representing a major problem with regard to not being able to prevent the attachment of particles to the substrate.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to improve over the above-noted drawback in the prior art, in particular by providing a novel particle-removing apparatus of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus and a method of removing particles whereby, by controlling the timing of the covering by a cover provided over the substrate in accordance with the processing condition of the substrate, the attachment of particles that are generated within the manufacturing apparatus during a process that uses plasma to the substrate is prevented.
It is another object of the present invention to provide novel particle-removing apparatus of a semiconductor device particle and method of removing particles whereby, by making use of the characteristic that particles are positively charged, attachment of the particles to the substrate is prevented without the use of a cover or the like.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to achieve the above-noted object, the present invention adopts the following basic technical constitution.
Specifically, a first aspect of a particle-removing apparatus of a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is a particle-removing apparatus in which a high-frequency voltage is applied between an upper electrode and a lower electrode so as to generate a plasma within a processing chamber that processes a substrate located in the processing chamber, in which is provided a cover that covers the substrate, the substrate being covered by closing this cover, so as to prevent the attachment of particles within the processing chamber to the substrate, this particle-removing apparatus being provided with a first control means for controlling the timing of the drive of the above-noted cover, this control means performing control so as to change the cover from the opened condition to the closed condition immediately before stopping the application of the high-frequency voltage.
In a second aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the present invention, control is performed so as to change the above-noted cover from the closed condition to the opened condition in synchronization with a tranport operation of a substrate- transporting apparatus that is provided in the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus.
In a third aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the present invention, the timing of control of changing the cover from the closed condition to the opened condition is immediately before transporting the substrate after completion of processing to outside the processing chamber.
In a fourth aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the present invention, the timing of control of changing the cover from the closed condition to the opened condition is immediately after transporting the substrate after completion of processing to outside the processing chamber.
In a fifth aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the present invention, the timing of the control of changing the cover from the closed condition to the opened condition is immediately before the application of the high-frequency voltage.
In a sixth aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to imparting a potential to the above-noted cover, a second control means, for controlling the timing of application of the potential to the cover, is provided, this second control means performing control so that the potential is imparted to the cover minimally from immediately before the stopping of application of the high-frequency voltage to several seconds after the starting of introduction of a purging gas.
In a seventh aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the present invention, the above-noted potential is imparted minimally until immediately before the introduction of the purging gas.
In an eighth aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the present invention, the above-noted potential is imparted until the time at which the substrate is transported to outside the processing chamber.
In a ninth aspect of a particle-removing apparatus according to the pr
Ito Natsuko
Moriya Tsuyoshi
Uesugi Fumihiko
Hutchinson, Wheeler & Dittmar
NEC Corporation
Paschall Mark
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