Dual section module having shared and unshared mass flow controllers

• US 10,364,496 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2011
• Issued: 07/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ASM Japan K.K. (ASM International NV)
• Original Assignee: ASM IP Holding B.V. (ASM International NV)
• Inventors: Yamagishi, Takayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Hassanzadeh, Parviz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ford, Nathan K
• Application Number:
  US13/169,951
• Publication Number:
  US 20120328780A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,955 Days
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45561 Gas plumbing upstream of the reaction chamber
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 7/0641 using a plurality of throttling means G05D7/067 takes precedence

Abstract

A dual section module with mass flow controllers, for processing wafers, includes: dual process sections integrated together; at least one mass flow controller (MFC) each shared by the dual process sections and provided in a gas line branching into two gas lines, at a branching point, connected to the respective interiors of the dual process sections and arranged symmetrically between the dual process sections; and at least one mass flow controller (MFC) each unshared by the dual process sections and provided in a gas line connected to the interior of each dual process section.

Claims

1. A dual section module with mass flow controllers, for processing wafers, comprising:

parallel-processing dual process sections integrated together to which different wafers are loaded simultaneously for parallel processing, each being adapted to process a wafer in its interior, wherein the interiors of the dual process sections are isolated and discrete from each other, and all gas lines for wafer-processing coupled gas-fluidically to one of the interior of the dual process sections and all gas lines for wafer-processing coupled gas-fluidically to the other of the interior of the dual process sections correspond to each other and are gas-fluidically coupled to sources of the same gases used in parallel processing, respectively;

a first shared mass flow controller (MFC) shared by the dual process sections and provided in a first gas line branching into two gas lines, at a first branching point, gas-fluidically coupled to the respective interiors of the dual process sections and arranged symmetrically between the dual process sections so that gas for wafer-processing passing through the first shared MFC can enter the dual process sections through the first gas line, said first shared MFC being disposed as a first MFC in said first gas line upstream of the dual process sections;

at least one mass flow controller (MFC) unshared by the dual process sections and provided in a fourth gas line directly coupled to, at a third gas mixing point, a second gas line gas-fluidically coupled to one of the interiors of the dual process sections so that all gas for wafer-processing passing through the unshared MFC can enter the one of the dual process sections through the fourth gas line and the second gas line without passing through the first shared MFC provided in the first gas line, said at least one unshared MFC being disposed as a first MFC in said fourth gas line upstream of said one of the dual process sections;

at least one mass flow controller (MFC) unshared by the dual process sections and provided in a fifth gas line directly coupled to, at a fourth gas mixing point, a third gas line gas-fluidically coupled to the other of the interiors of the dual process section so that all gas for wafer-processing passing through the unshared MFC can enter the other of the dual process sections through the fifth gas line and the third gas line without passing through the first shared MFC provided in the first gas line and without passing through the unshared MFC provided in the fourth gas line, said at least one unshared MFC being disposed as a first MFC in said fifth gas line upstream of said other dual process section;

a first passage-narrowing device which is an orifice gasket or filter, disposed on one of the two gas lines branched off at the first branching point from the first gas line, the first passage-narrowing device placed downstream of the first branching point and upstream of a first gas mixing point, wherein the second gas line is directly coupled to the one of the two gas lines branched off from the first gas line at the first gas mixing point;

a second passage-narrowing device which is an orifice gasket or filter, disposed on the other of the two gas lines branched off at the first branching point from the first gas line, the second passage-narrowing device placed downstream of the first branching point and upstream of a second gas mixing point, wherein the third gas line is directly coupled to the other of the two gas lines branched off from the first gas line at the second gas mixing point, wherein the two gas lines branched off at the first branching point from the first gas line, including the first passage-narrowing device and second passage-narrowing device and the first gas mixing point and second gas mixing point, are arranged symmetrically between the dual process sections,

wherein the second and third gas lines are gas lines branched off at a second branching point from a sixth gas line;

the fourth and fifth gas lines are gas lines branched off from a source gas line upstream of the respective unshared MFC'"'"'s provided in the fourth and fifth gas lines; and

a controller configured to control operation of the first passage-narrowing device and the second passage-narrowing device, the controller causing the first passage-narrowing device and the second passage-narrowing device to evenly distribute the gas to the first gas mixing point and the second gas mixing point;

wherein the two gas lines branched off at the first branching point from the first gas line in which the first shared MFC is provided are gas-fluidically coupled to respective showerheads of the dual process sections.

2. The dual section module according to claim 1, wherein the first and second passage-narrowing devices are stand-alone orifice gaskets.

3. The dual section module according to claim 1, wherein an orifice gasket or filter is disposed on each of the second and third gas lines branched off at the second branching point from the sixth gas line, wherein the orifice gasket or filter is placed downstream of the second branching point and upstream of the corresponding third or fourth gas mixing point.

4. The dual section module according to claim 1, wherein the first gas line upstream of the first shared MFC is gas-fluidically coupled to a source of a gas which does not constitute a main skeleton of a film depositing on the wafer, and each of the fourth and fifth gas lines upstream of the respective unshared MFCs is gas-fluidically coupled to a source of a gas which constitutes the main skeleton of the film depositing on the wafer.

5. The dual section module according to claim 4, wherein the gas which constitutes the main skeleton of the film is a precursor gas.

6. The dual section module according to claim 4, wherein the gas which does not constitute the main skeleton of the film is an inert gas or oxidizing gas.

7. The dual section module according to claim 1, further comprising remote plasma units each provided in the two gas lines branching from the first gas line, respectively, downstream of the respective passage-narrowing devices and upstream of the first gas mixing point and the second gas mixing point, respectively.

8. The dual section module according to claim 1, wherein the process sections are plasma CVD sections.

9. The dual section module according to claim 1, further comprising a single gas box which stores and consolidates, inside said gas box, the first shared MFC for the dual process sections, the unshared MFC for the one of the dual process sections, and the unshared MFC for the other one of the dual process sections, said gas box constituting a module and being disposed under the dual process sections.

10. The dual section module according to claim 1, further comprising a seventh gas line directly coupled to the first gas line at a point downstream of the first shared MFC in the first gas line and upstream of the first branching point, wherein the seventh gas line is provided with a second shared MFC.

11. The dual section module according to claim 1, further comprising:

an eighth gas line directly coupled to the fourth gas line at a point downstream of the unshared MFC in the fourth gas line and upstream of the third gas mixing point, wherein the eighth gas line is provided with a mass flow controller (MFC); and

a ninth gas line directly coupled to the fifth gas line at a point downstream of the unshared MFC in the fifth gas line and upstream of the fourth gas mixing point, wherein the ninth gas line is provided with a mass flow controller (MFC).

12. The dual section module according to claim 1, further comprising two gas lines branched off at a third branching point from a tenth gas line in which another shared MFC is provided, the two gas lines being gas-fluidically coupled to the respective dual process sections at their lower portions under respective susceptors.

13. The dual section module according to claim 12, wherein the two gas lines branched off from the tenth gas line are further provided with passage-narrowing devices, respectively, downstream of the third branching point and upstream of the respective dual process sections.

14. The dual section module according to claim 12, wherein the another shared MFC provided in the tenth gas line is gas-fluidically coupled to a source of a seal gas.

15. A wafer-processing apparatus comprising:

multiple dual section modules, wherein each dual section module is a dual section module according to claim 1; and

a wafer-handling section to which the multiple dual section modules are attached on the same plane.

16. The wafer-processing apparatus according to claim 15, the multiple dual section modules are four dual section modules, and the wafer-handling section has a pentagonal shape having five sides, to four of which the four dual section modules are attached.