Method of manufacturing semiconductor device, method of loading substrate and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium

• US 10,559,485 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2018
• Issued: 02/11/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kokusai Electric Corp.
• Original Assignee: Kokusai Electric Corp.
• Inventors: Kaga, Yukinao, Yoshida, Ryosuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Hoang-Quan T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Klein, Jordan M
• Application Number:
  US16/059,760
• Publication Number:
  US 20180350638A1
• Time in Patent Office: 551 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/34 Nitrides C23C16/303 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45544 characterized by the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4583 the substrate being supported substantially horizontally
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0228 deposition by cyclic CVD, e.g. ALD, ALE, pulsed CVD
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0262 Reduction or decomposition of gaseous compounds, e.g. CVD
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67017 Apparatus for fluid treatment H01L21/67126, H01L21/6715 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67109 mainly by convection
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67253 Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/677 for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67757 vertical transfer of a batch of workpieces
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/6776 Continuous loading and unloading into and out of a processing chamber, e.g. transporting belts within processing chambers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67778 involving loading and unloading of wafers
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 22/12 for structural parameters, e.g. thickness, line width, refractive index, temperature, warp, bond strength, defects, optical inspection, electrical measurement of structural dimensions, metallurgic measurement of diffusions electrical measurement of diffusions H01L22/14

Abstract

Described herein is a technique capable of improving the controllability of a thickness of a film formed on a large surface area substrate having a surface area greater than a surface area of a bare substrate and improving the thickness uniformity between films formed on a plurality of large surface area substrates accommodated in a substrate loading region by reducing the influence of the surface area of the large surface area substrate and the number of the large surface area substrates due to a loading effect even when the plurality of large surface area substrates are batch-processed using a batch type processing furnace.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device using a substrate retainer comprising a substrate loading region provided with a plurality of slots and capable of loading and holding a maximum of X substrates in the plurality of slots, where X is a natural number equal to or greater than 3, the method comprising:

(a) loading Y, where Y is a natural number less than X, substrate(s) to be processed in the substrate retainer in a dispersed manner by adjusting Z, where Z is a natural number, indicating a maximum number of the substrates to be loaded consecutively in the substrate retainer such that a density distribution of the substrate(s) to be processed in the substrate loading region when Z is adjusted is more flattened compared with the density distribution of the substrate(s) to be processed when Z is equal to Y; and

(b) loading the substrate retainer where the Y substrate(s) to be processed is/are dispersedly loaded into a process chamber and processing the Y substrate(s) to be processed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the density distribution of the substrate(s) to be processed is calculated based on a density of the substrate(s) to be processed of every 11 slots consisting of a given slot and 10 slots closest thereto when X is equal to or greater than 25 and equal to or less than 200.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the density distribution of the substrate(s) to be processed is calculated based on a density of the substrate(s) to be processed of every 5 slots consisting of a given slot and 4 slots closest thereto when X is equal to or greater than 11 and equal to or less than 24.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the density distribution of the substrate(s) to be processed is calculated based on a density of the substrate(s) substrate to be processed of every 3 slots consisting of a given slot and 2 slots closest thereto when X is equal to or greater than 5 and equal to or less than 10.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate(s) to be processed is/are Y large surface area substrate(s) comprising patterns formed on surface(s) thereof and a film having a predetermined thickness is formed on the surface(s) of the Y large surface area substrate(s) by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times in (b), the cycle comprising supplying a plurality of process gases to the process chamber without mixing the plurality of process gases.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate(s) to be processed is/are large surface area substrate(s) comprising patterns formed on surface(s) thereof, wherein each of the large surface area substrate(s) is a substrate whose surface area is larger than or equal to 3π

r² where r is a radius thereof.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the film having the predetermined thickness is formed on Y large surface area substrate(s) by correcting the predetermined number of times according to a total surface area of the Y large surface area substrate(s) obtained by multiplying a surface area of each of the Y large surface area substrate(s) and the number Y.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of a fill-dummy substrate and a monitor substrate is loaded in (X-Y) empty slots.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein monitor substrates are respectively loaded in empty slots such that distances between the monitor substrates and slots where substrate(s) to be processed closest above and below the monitor substrates are loaded vary minimally.

10. A method of loading a substrate, comprising:

loading Y substrates, where Y is a natural number less than X and X is a natural number equal to or greater than 3, to be processed in a substrate retainer in a dispersed manner by adjusting Z, where Z is a natural number, indicating a maximum number of the substrates to be processed loaded consecutively in the substrate retainer such that a density distribution of the substrate to be processed in the substrate loading region when Z is adjusted is more flattened compared with the density distribution of the substrate to be processed when Z is equal to Y.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the substrates to be processed are large surface area substrates comprising patterns formed on surfaces thereof, wherein each of the large surface area substrates is a substrate whose surface area is larger than or equal to 3π

r² where r is a radius thereof.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of a fill-dummy substrate and a monitor substrate is loaded in (X-Y) empty slots.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein monitor substrates are respectively loaded in empty slots such that distances between the monitor substrates and slots where the substrates to be processed closest above and below the monitor substrates are loaded vary minimally.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute:

(a) loading Y substrates, where Y is a natural number less than X and X is a natural number equal to or greater than 3, to be processed in a substrate retainer in a dispersed manner by adjusting Z, where Z is a natural number, indicating a maximum number of the substrates to be processed loaded consecutively in the substrate retainer such that a density distribution of the substrate to be processed in the substrate loading region when Z is adjusted is more flattened compared with the density distribution of the substrate to be processed when Z is equal to Y.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium of claim 14, wherein the substrates to be processed are large surface area substrates comprising patterns formed on surfaces thereof, wherein each of the large surface area substrates is a substrate whose surface area is larger than or equal to 3π

r² where r is a radius thereof.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium of claim 15, wherein the program causes the computer to further execute:

(b) loading the substrate retainer where the Y large surface area substrates are loaded dispersedly into a process chamber and processing the Y large surface area substrates,

wherein a cycle is performed a predetermined number of times in (b) where the cycle includes supplying a plurality of process gases to the process chamber without mixing the plurality of process gases, and a film having a predetermined thickness is formed on the surfaces of the Y large surface area substrates in (b) by correcting the predetermined number of times according to a total surface area of the Y large surface area substrates obtained by multiplying a surface area of each of the Y large surface area substrates and the number Y.