Substrate processing apparatus

• US 10,546,761 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2017
• Issued: 01/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kokusai Electric Corp.
• Original Assignee: Kokusai Electric Corp.
• Inventors: Ueda, Tatsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Golightly, Eric W
• Application Number:
  US15/591,806
• Publication Number:
  US 20170243764A1
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4405 Cleaning of reactor or parts inside the reactor by using reactive gases
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4408 by purging residual gases from the reaction chamber or gas lines
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4412 Details relating to the exhausts, e.g. pumps, filters, scrubbers, particle traps
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45551 for relative movement of the substrate and the gas injectors or half-reaction reactor compartments
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4584 the substrate being rotated
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/54 Apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02057 Cleaning during device manufacture
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02186 the material containing titanium, e.g. TiO2
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67017 Apparatus for fluid treatment H01L21/67126, H01L21/6715 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67103 mainly by conduction
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67248 Temperature monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/68707 the wafers being placed on a robot blade, or gripped by a gripper for conveyance
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/68742 characterised by a lifting arrangement, e.g. lift pins
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/68764 characterised by a movable susceptor, stage or support, others than those only rotating on their own vertical axis, e.g. susceptors on a rotating caroussel
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/68771 characterised by supporting more than one semiconductor substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/68785 characterised by the mechanical construction of the susceptor, stage or support

Abstract

There is provided a technique that includes: loading substrates into a process chamber and mounting the substrates on a substrate mounting stand, which is installed in the process chamber, along a circumferential direction; maintaining the substrate mounting stand at a substrate processing position; processing the substrates on the substrate mounting stand, which is maintained at the substrate processing position, by supplying a first gas and a second gas from a first gas supply unit and a second gas supply unit, respectively, arranged above the substrate mounting stand while rotating the substrate mounting stand; unloading the substrates from the process chamber; maintaining the substrate mounting stand at a cleaning position; and cleaning the substrate mounting stand, which is maintained at the cleaning position, by supplying a cleaning gas from a third gas supply unit arranged above the substrate mounting stand, wherein the cleaning position is lower than the substrate processing position.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:

loading a plurality of substrates into a process chamber and mounting the plurality of substrates on a substrate mounting stand, which is installed in the process chamber, along a circumferential direction;

maintaining the substrate mounting stand at a substrate processing position;

processing the plurality of substrates on the substrate mounting stand, which is maintained at the substrate processing position, by supplying a first gas and a second gas from a first gas supply unit and a second gas supply unit, respectively, arranged above the substrate mounting stand while rotating the substrate mounting stand;

unloading the plurality of substrates from the process chamber;

maintaining the substrate mounting stand at a cleaning position; and

cleaning the substrate mounting stand, which is maintained at the cleaning position, by supplying a cleaning gas from a third gas supply unit arranged above the substrate mounting stand,

wherein the cleaning position is lower than the substrate processing position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a distance between a surface of the substrate mounting stand at the substrate processing position and a convex member protruding from a ceiling of the process chamber is shorter than a distance between the surface of the substrate mounting stand at the cleaning position and the convex member protruding from the ceiling of the process chamber.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the convex member is any of the first gas supply unit, the second gas supply unit, and the third gas supply unit.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a distance between a surface of the substrate mounting stand at the substrate processing position and a ceiling of the process chamber is shorter than a distance between the surface of the substrate mounting stand at the cleaning position and the ceiling of the process chamber.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the third gas supply unit is configured to supply an inert gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the substrate processing position, and is further configured to supply the cleaning gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the cleaning position.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the third gas supply unit is configured to supply an inert gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the substrate processing position, and is further configured to supply the cleaning gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the cleaning position.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the third gas supply unit is configured to supply an inert gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the substrate processing position, and is further configured to supply the cleaning gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the cleaning position.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the third gas supply unit is configured to supply an inert gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the substrate processing position, and is further configured to supply the cleaning gas into the process chamber while the substrate mounting stand is maintained at the cleaning position.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein an inert gas is supplied from one or both of the first gas supply unit and the second gas supply unit while the cleaning gas is supplied from the third gas supply unit.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein an inert gas is supplied from one or both of the first gas supply unit and the second gas supply unit while the cleaning gas is supplied from the third gas supply unit.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein an inert gas is supplied from one or both of the first gas supply unit and the second gas supply unit while the cleaning gas is supplied from the third gas supply unit.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein an inert gas is supplied from one or both of the first gas supply unit and the second gas supply unit while the cleaning gas is supplied from the third gas supply unit.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the inert gas is supplied from one or both of the first gas supply unit and the second gas supply unit while the cleaning gas is supplied from the third gas supply unit.