Semiconductor manufacturing method and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus

• US 7,033,843 B2
• Filed: 10/30/2003
• Issued: 04/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp.), Mitsubishi Materials Silicon Corporation (Mitsubishi Materials Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Hasegawa, Hiroyuki, Ishihara, Yoshio, Yamaoka, Tomonori, Masusaki, Hiroshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Lebentritt, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): STEVENSON, ANDRE C
• Application Number:
  US10/696,702
• Publication Number:
  US 20040092043A1
• Time in Patent Office: 908 Days
• Field of Search: 438/6, 438/115, 438/773, 438/663, 438/680, 438/770, 438/778, 438/787, 438/795, 438/723, 438/716, 356/437, 356/72, 156/345, 156/346
• US Class Current: 438/11
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4401 Means for minimising impurities, e.g. dust, moisture or residual gas, in the reaction chamber
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4408 by purging residual gases from the reaction chamber or gas lines
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/52 Controlling or regulating the coating process C23C16/45557, C23C16/279 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/54 Apparatus specially adapted for continuous coating
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 25/14 Feed and outlet means for the gases; Modifying the flow of the reactive gases
• CPC Class Codes: C30B 25/165 the flow of the reactive gases
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67242 Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking testing or measuring during manufacture H01L22/00, marks per se H01L23/544; testing individual semiconductor devices G01R31/26
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 438/906 Cleaning of wafer as interim step
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 438/908 Utilizing cluster apparatus

Abstract

A semiconductor manufacturing method whereby reactive gas processing such as selective epitaxial growth can be carried out with high precision by correctly adjusting conditions during processing is performed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which can restrict increases in the moisture content, prevent heavy metal pollution and the like, and investigate the correlation between moisture content in the process chamber and outside regions. The moisture content in a reaction chamber and in a gas discharge system of the reaction chamber are measured when a substrate is provided, and the conditions for reactive gas processing are adjusted based on the moisture content. Furthermore, the moisture content in the airtight space is measured by a first moisture measuring device which is connected to the airtight space, and thereafter, the substrate is inserted and ejected by a substrate carrying system, and a reactive gas is processed while measuring the moisture content in the reaction chamber by a second moisture measuring device, which is connected to the reaction chamber, after the moisture content in the airtight space is measured.

Claims

1. A semiconductor manufacturing method which performs reactive gas processing, wherein, when a substrate carrying system inserts a substrate from an airtight space in the substrate carrying system into a reaction chamber, and when the substrate is ejected from the reaction chamber to the airtight space, a reactive gas is fed into the reaction chamber and reacts therein, the method comprising:

a substrate carrying step of measuring the moisture content in the airtight space by a first moisture measuring device connected to the airtight space;

inserting the substrate from the airtight space in the substrate carrying system into the reaction chamber, or ejecting the substrate from the reaction chamber into the airtight space in the substrate carrying system; and

a gas processing step of performing a reactive-gas-process while measuring the moisture content in the reaction chamber by second moisture measuring device connected to the reaction chamber, after the substrate carrying step, wherein

in the substrate carrying step, after it has been confirmed that the moisture content in the airtight space is lower than a first default value, the substrate is inserted from the airtight space into the reaction chamber, and the substrate is ejected from the reaction chamber to the airtight space; and

in the gas processing step, the reactive-gas-process starts after it has been confirmed that the moisture content in the reaction chamber is lower than a second default value.

2. The semiconductor manufacturing method according to claim 1, at least said second default value being lower than 1 ppm.

3. The semiconductor manufacturing method according to claim 1, at least one of the first moisture measuring device and the second moisture measuring device comprising a laser moisture measuring device which radiates laser light into a tubular cell main body, connected to the airtight space and the reaction chamber, and measures an absorption spectrum of transmitted laser light.

4. The semiconductor manufacturing method according to claim 1 wherein the measurement of the moisture in the substrate carrying system is conducted in accordance with:

an absorbant moisture measuring method;

an electrostatic capacity moisture measuring method;

or a qualitative analysis method.

5. The semiconductor manufacturing method according to claim 1 wherein the first default value of the moisture in the substrate carrying system is less than 5 ppm.

6. The semiconductor manufacturing method according to claim 1 wherein the first default value of the moisture in the substrate carrying system is less than 5 ppm.

7. A semiconductor manufacturing method for conducting a reactive-gas-process and measuring moisture content in a semiconductor manufacturing device, the semiconductor manufacturing device provided with an insertion load lock chamber, an ejection load lock chamber, a substrate carrying system having a carrying chamber and an inner gastight space, and a plurality of process chambers for receiving substrates from the substrate carrying system, the method comprising:

measuring the moisture content in an inert gas in the insertion load lock chamber when the substrates are inserted into the insertion load lock chamber;

inserting the substrates into the carrying chamber and measuring the moisture content in the inert gas in the carrying chamber only when the measured moisture content in the inert gas in the insertion load lock chamber is less than a predetermined value;

inserting the substrates into the process chambers and measuring the moisture content in the inert gas in the process chambers only when the measured moisture content in the inert gas in the carrying chamber is less than a first default value;

introducing a process gas law the process chambers and conducting epitaxial growth on the substrates only when the measured moisture content in the inert gas in the process chambers is less than a second default value;

measuring the moisture content in the process gas exhausted from the process chamber after conducting the epitaxial growth; and

measuring the moisture content in the inert gas in the ejection load lock chamber when the substrates are introduced into the ejection load lock chamber from the process chambers through the carrying chamber after conducting the epitaxial growth.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the first default value of the moisture content in the inert gas in the carrying chamber is 5 ppm, and the second default value of the moisture content in the inert gas in the process chamber is 1 ppm.