Film deposition apparatus

• US 8,951,347 B2
• Filed: 11/13/2009
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Kato, Hitoshi, Takeuchi, Yasushi
• Primary Examiner(s): Zervigon, Rudy
• Application Number:
  US13/128,908
• Publication Number:
  US 20110214611A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,915 Days
• Field of Search: 118/715, 118/728, 118/50, 118/730, 118/719, 15634531-34532, 156/345.29, 156/345.33, 156/345.34, 156/345.35, 156/345.36, 156/345.26, 156/345.51, 156/345.55
• US Class Current: 118/715
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45519 Inert gas curtains
• 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 16/45578 Elongated nozzles, tubes with holes
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45591 Fixed means, e.g. wings, baffles

Abstract

A film deposition apparatus is provided with a gas nozzle in which ejection holes that eject a reaction gas are formed along a longitudinal direction of the gas nozzle, and a flow regulation member that protrudes from the gas nozzle in either one of upstream and downstream directions of a rotation direction of a turntable. In such a configuration, a separation gas flowing from an upstream side of the rotation direction to the gas nozzle is restricted from flowing between the gas nozzle and the turntable on which a substrate is placed, and the reaction gas flowing upward from the turntable is restricted by the separation gas, thereby impeding a reaction gas concentration in a process area from being lowered.

Claims

1. A film deposition apparatus for forming a thin film by sequentially supplying at least two kinds of reaction gases to a surface of a substrate and performing such a gas supply cycle a plurality of times to deposit multiple layers of a reaction product in a vacuum chamber, the film deposition apparatus comprising:

a turntable provided in the vacuum chamber;

a substrate receiving area provided in the turntable in order for the substrate to be placed therein;

a first reaction gas supplying portion and a second reaction gas supplying portion that are provided above the turntable, away from each other in a rotation direction of the turntable, and supply a first reaction gas and a second reaction gas, respectively;

a separation area that is positioned between a first process area where the first reaction gas is supplied and a second process area where the second reaction gas is supplied, in order to separate atmospheres of these process areas, and includes a separation gas supplying portion that supplies a separation gas; and

an evacuation port that evacuates the vacuum chamber,

wherein at least one of the first reaction gas supplying portion and the second reaction gas supplying portion extends in a direction intersecting a direction along which the substrate receiving area moves, and is configured as a gas nozzle in which ejection holes for ejecting a reaction gas toward the turntable are arranged along a longitudinal direction thereof,

wherein a flow space for causing the separation gas to flow therethrough is formed above the gas nozzle, and

wherein the gas nozzle is provided with a flow regulation member that extends outward in at least one direction of an upstream direction and a downstream direction from the gas nozzle.

2. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flow regulation member extends in both directions of the upstream direction and the downstream direction from the gas nozzle.

3. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flow regulation member is wider in a position drawing away from a center portion of the turntable.

4. The film deposition apparatus of claim 3, wherein the flow regulation member has a fan shape in a plan view such that the flow regulation member increases a width thereof continuously from an inner end closer to a center of the turntable toward an outer end away from the inner end.

5. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the separation area is provided with ceiling surfaces that create narrow spaces that allow the separation gas to flow therethrough between the ceiling surface and the turntable, and the ceiling surfaces are positioned on both sides of the separation gas supplying portion along the rotation direction.

6. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a center area that is positioned in a center portion of the vacuum chamber in order to separate the atmospheres of the first process area and the second process area, and is provided with an ejection hole that ejects the separation gas to the surface of the turntable, where the substrate receiving area is formed.

7. The film deposition apparatus of claim 6, wherein the center area is an area partitioned by a rotation center portion of the turntable and an upper portion of the vacuum chamber.

8. The film deposition apparatus of claim 7, wherein the evacuation port is provided so that the reaction gases are evacuated along with the separation gas that spreads toward both sides of the separation area and the separation gas ejected from the center area through the evacuation port.

9. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the evacuation ports are provided one on each side of the separation area along the rotation direction in the plan view.

10. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein the separation gas supplying portion is provided with gas ejection holes that eject the separation gas, and

wherein the ejection holes are arranged from one side to the other side of a rotation center portion and a circumferential portion of the turntable.

11. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein a portion in a ceiling surface of the separation area, the portion being on the outer circumferential side of the vacuum chamber, is bent in order to oppose an outer circumferential surface of the turntable, thereby constituting a part of an inner circumferential wall of the vacuum chamber, and

wherein a gap between the bent portion of the ceiling surface and the outer circumferential surface of the turntable is set to a size that can provide a preventive effect of the reaction gas flowing thereinto.

12. The film deposition apparatus of claim 1, wherein a portion of a ceiling surface of the separation area on the upstream side of the rotation direction of the turntable with respect to the separation gas supplying portion has a greater width along the rotation direction toward an outer circumference thereof.

13. A film deposition apparatus wherein a turntable on which plural substrates are placed is rotated in a vacuum chamber so that the substrates contact in turn reaction gases that are supplied to plural different process areas, thereby forming a thin film on the substrates, the film deposition apparatus comprising:

a separation area that is provided between the plural process areas and supplies a separation gas that impedes different reaction gases from reacting with each other in a space away from upper surfaces of the substrates;

reaction gas supplying portions that supply the corresponding reaction gases toward the substrates in the vicinities of the substrates and that are away from a ceiling of the process areas;

a flow regulation member that suppresses a concentration of the reaction gas from being lowered by the separation gas that flows into the process area from the separation area and further flows into a gap between the reaction gas supplying portion and the substrate; and

a gas flow passage that is provided between the ceiling of the process area and the reaction gas supplying portion, and to which the flow regulation member guides the separation gas.

14. The film deposition apparatus of claim 13, wherein a height of the ceiling of the process area from an upper surface of the substrate placed on the turntable is higher than that of a ceiling of the separation area from the substrate placed on the turntable.

15. The film deposition apparatus of claim 13, wherein the plural process areas includes a first process area and a second process area having respective, mutually different heights of the ceilings, the reaction gases include a first reaction gas and a second reaction gas different from the first reaction gas, the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas being supplied respectively to the first process area and the second process area.