Device for manufacturing semiconductor device and method of manufacturing the same

• US 6,395,563 B1
• Filed: 10/27/1999
• Issued: 05/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Eriguchi, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Fourson, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): GARCIA, JOANNIE A
• Application Number:
  US09/427,586
• Time in Patent Office: 944 Days
• Field of Search: 438/7,8,9,16,FOR 141,FOR 433 356/908
• US Class Current: 438/7
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/0625 with measurement of absorption or reflection
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/70483 Information management; Active and passive control; Testing; Wafer monitoring, e.g. pattern monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67167 surrounding a central transfer chamber
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67253 Process monitoring, e.g. flow or thickness monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 22/20 Sequence of activities consisting of a plurality of measurements, corrections, marking or sorting steps
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 414/139 including wafer charging or discharging means for vacuum chamber

Abstract

There is provided a clustered device for manufacturing a semiconductor device in which a cleaning chamber, a rapid thermal processing chamber, an optical measurement chamber, and the like are arranged around a load-lock room. In an optical measurement system, there are disposed an exciting light source, a measuring light source, a light detector, a control/analyze system, and the like. During the formation of an oxide film, for example, a wafer is cleaned in the cleaning chamber and then the amount of a natural oxide film remaining on the wafer or the like is measured by optical modulation reflectance spectroscopy in the optical measurement chamber. Thereafter, the wafer is oxidized in the rapid thermal processing chamber. As a result, the surface of the wafer is prevented from being oxidized on exposure to an atmosphere and the surface state of the wafer can be monitored in the course of a sequential process steps. By measuring the thickness of a film on a semiconductor region by optical evaluation in the clustered manufacturing device, the manufacturing process using the clustered device can be controlled.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, including formation of a film on a semiconductor region of a wafer or removal of a film from a surface of the semiconductor region of the wafer, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) irradiating the semiconductor region of the wafer with measuring light;

(b) intermittently irradiating the semiconductor region of the wafer with exciting light; and

(c) calculating a change rate of reflectance by dividing the difference between the reflectances of the measuring light when the semiconductor region of the wafer is irradiated and not irradiated with the exciting light by the reflectance of the measuring light when the semiconductor region is not irradiated with the exciting light, wherein

the thickness of the film is determined based on the change rate of reflectance.

2. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the step (c) includes producing a spectrum indicative of the change rate of reflectance when the wavelength of the measuring light is varied and determining the thickness of the film based on a peak value which is a maximum absolute value of the change rate of reflectance.

3. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the step (c) includes producing a spectrum indicative of the change rate of reflectance when the wavelength of the measuring light is varied and determining the thickness of the film based on a peak-to-peak value which is the difference between a positive maximum value of the change rate of reflectance and a negative maximum value thereof.

4. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the step (c) includes determining the thickness of the film based on the change rate of reflectance at a constant wavelength close to the wavelength of the measuring light indicative of a peak value which is a maximum absolute value of the change rate of reflectance.

5. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the film is 2 nm or less.

6. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 5, wherein the optical evaluation is performed with respect to a p-type semiconductor region as the semiconductor region when the thickness of the film is 1 nm or less.

7. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein

the thickness of the film is measured in each of a p-type semiconductor region and an n-type semiconductor region as the semiconductor region and

the value measured based on the higher change rate of reflectance in the p-type semiconductor region or in the n-type semiconductor region is used as the thickness of the film.

8. The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 7, wherein the semiconductor region has a resistivity of 0.1 Ω

cm<sup>−

1</sup> or less.