KR20070080771A - Substrate Processing Apparatus and Method - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a substrate processing apparatus and method capable of quickly modifying deposition conditions according to a state of a substrate having a deposition process completed. The substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate processing unit for performing a deposition process on a substrate, a substrate transfer module for transferring the substrate to the substrate processing unit, a measuring device for measuring a state of the substrate having completed the deposition process, and measurement using the measuring device. And a controller for modifying deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate. Thus, process errors that may occur in subsequent processes can be quickly eliminated.

Description

Substrate processing apparatus and method {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TREATING A SUBSTRATE}

1 is a plan view schematically showing a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

2 is a view showing a state that the substrate is moved in the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

3 is a flowchart showing a substrate processing method according to the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

100: substrate transfer module 120: load port

140: housing 160: substrate transfer unit

200: substrate processing unit 220: load lock chamber

240: transfer chamber 260: process chamber

280: transfer robot 300: alignment device

400: measuring device 500: controller

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus and method that can quickly modify the deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate has completed the deposition process.

Current research on semiconductor devices is progressing toward high integration and high performance in order to process more data in a short time. In order to achieve high integration and high performance of a semiconductor device, a thin film deposition technology for accurately forming a thin film on a wafer is important. Therefore, after depositing the thin film on the wafer, it is necessary to measure the state of the deposited thin film and modify the deposition conditions according to the measured result.

Conventionally, in order to check the state of a thin film deposited on a wafer, the wafer in which the deposition process is completed is unloaded from the process chamber and measured by a separate measuring device provided externally, and the deposition conditions are modified according to the measured result.

However, this method takes a lot of time until the unloaded wafer to be transferred to the outside of the measuring device is located, it takes a lot of time to measure the wafer and modify the deposition conditions.

In addition, if the deposited film is in a bad state, the deposition process is continuously performed in the process chamber according to the deposition conditions before the modification until the deposition conditions are corrected. Therefore, a large number of defects may occur depending on the deposition conditions before correction.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus that can quickly modify the deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate having completed the deposition process.

According to the present invention, a substrate processing apparatus includes a substrate processing unit for performing a deposition process on a substrate, a substrate transfer module for transferring the substrate to the substrate processing unit, a measuring apparatus for measuring a state of the substrate having completed the deposition process, and the measurement. And a controller for modifying deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate measured using an apparatus, wherein the substrate transfer module is installed between a load port into which a substrate container is loaded, the load port and the substrate processing unit, and the substrate processing unit. And a housing for providing a space for transferring the substrate, and a substrate transfer unit installed in the housing and transferring the substrate between the load port and the substrate processing unit.

The substrate processing unit is a process chamber in which a deposition process is performed, a load lock chamber in which the substrate is loaded to perform a deposition process, a space between the process chamber and the load lock chamber, and a space for transferring the substrate to the process chamber. It may include a transfer chamber for providing a transfer robot, which is located inside the transfer chamber and transfers the substrate loaded in the load lock chamber to the process chamber.

The measuring unit may be installed on one side of the housing.

The measuring device may be a device for measuring a thickness of a thin film deposited on the substrate.

According to the present invention, a method of processing a substrate includes the steps of loading a substrate container on a load port, transferring a substrate loaded in the substrate container to a process chamber, and depositing the substrate according to a predetermined deposition condition. Performing, measuring the state of the substrate is completed the deposition process, may include the step of modifying the deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate.

Measuring the state of the substrate may include measuring the thickness of a thin film deposited on the substrate.

Modifying the deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate may include modifying the supply time of the deposition gas.

Modifying the deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate may include modifying the concentration of the deposition gas.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Embodiment of the present invention may be modified in various forms, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described below. This embodiment is provided to explain in detail the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the shape of each element shown in the drawings may be exaggerated to emphasize a more clear description.

1 is a plan view schematically showing a substrate processing apparatus 10 according to the present invention.

The substrate processing apparatus 10 includes an substrate front end module (EFEM) 100, a substrate processing unit 200, an alignment device 300, a measurement device 400, and a controller 500.

The substrate processing unit 200 includes process chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d in which a deposition process is performed, a loadlock chamber 220 and a process chamber in which a substrate for performing the deposition process is loaded. 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d and a transfer chamber 240 installed between the load lock chamber 220. The transfer robot 240 is installed in the transfer chamber 240 to transfer the substrate loaded in the load lock chamber 220 to the process chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d.

The process chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d include a first chamber 260a, a second chamber 260b, a third chamber 260c, and a fourth chamber 260d and surround the transfer chamber 240. Is placed on. In the first to fourth chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d, deposition processes for the first to fourth materials are performed. However, in order to deposit the same material on a plurality of substrates at the same time, the same material may be included in the first to fourth materials.

The load lock chamber 220 maintains low vacuum to load and unload the substrate into the process chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d, and temporarily stores the substrate to be processed.

The transfer chamber 240 provides a space for transferring the substrate from the load lock chamber 220 to the process chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d, and a transfer robot 280 is installed inside the transfer chamber 240. .

The substrate transfer module 100 is installed in the load port 120 in which the substrate container is loaded, the housing 140 installed between the load port 120 and the substrate processing unit 200, the housing 140, and the load port ( It includes a substrate transfer unit 160 for transferring the substrate between the 120 and the substrate processing unit 200. The substrate transfer module 100 serves as an interface between the substrate container and the load lock chamber 220.

The load port 120 is disposed on the front surface of the housing 140 and serves to support a substrate container in which a plurality of substrates are accommodated. As a substrate container, a front open unified pod (FOUP) may be used. The front open unitary pod is a hermetically sealed substrate container to protect the wafer from airborne foreign matter or chemical contamination between substrate transfers. The front opening integral pod is loaded or unloaded into the load port 120 by a separate transfer device (not shown).

The housing 140 provides a space for transferring the substrate between the load port 120 and the substrate processing unit 200. In the housing 140, a substrate transfer unit 160 for removing the substrate from the substrate container loaded on the load port 120 and transferring the substrate to the load lock chamber 220 is installed.

Alignment device 300 is located on one side of the housing 140, serves to align the substrate. The substrate transfer unit 160 withdraws the substrate from the substrate container loaded in the load port 120 and transfers the substrate to the alignment device 300, wherein the alignment device faces the predetermined direction in which the flat zone of the substrate is set. To sort it out.

The measuring device 400 is located at the other side of the housing 140 and serves to measure the state of the substrate on which the deposition process is completed. The measurement apparatus 400 measures the thickness of the thin film deposited on the substrate. As described above, in order to achieve high integration and high performance of the semiconductor device, it is important to accurately form a thin film on a substrate, and to measure whether the thin film having a desired thickness is formed by measuring the thickness of the deposited thin film.

The data measured by the measuring device 400 is transmitted to the controller 500, which will be described later, and the controller 500 compares the received data with preset data to determine whether the thin film is defective. Preset data refers to the thickness of the thin film to be deposited

The controller 500 is electrically connected to the measuring device 400 and the transfer robot 280. The controller 500 compares the data received from the measurement apparatus 400 with the preset data, modifies the deposition conditions according to the comparison result, and controls the transfer robot 280 by the modified deposition conditions. In this embodiment, the transfer robot 280 is described as being controlled. However, in addition to the transfer robot 280, a gas supply unit (not shown) or process chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d that supply deposition gas may be controlled. Can be. Detailed description thereof will be described later.

2 is a view showing a state in which a substrate moves in the substrate processing apparatus 10 according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a flow chart showing a substrate processing method according to the present invention.

First, the substrate container 122 is loaded into the load port 120 by a separate transfer device (not shown) (S10).

Next, the substrate loaded in the substrate container is transferred to the process chamber 260 (S20).

The substrate transfer unit 160 located in the housing 140 extracts the substrate from the substrate container 122 and transfers the extracted substrate to the alignment device 300. In the alignment device 300, the substrate is aligned, and the aligned substrate is again loaded into the load lock chamber 220 by the substrate transfer unit 160.

When the substrate is loaded into the load lock chamber 220, the transfer robot 280 transfers the substrate to the process chamber 260. As described above, the first to fourth chambers 260a, 260b, 260c, and 260d are respectively deposited with the first to fourth materials, and thus, the first to fourth chambers 260a according to the material to be deposited. , 260b, 260c, and 260d).

Next, a deposition process for a substrate is performed in the process chamber 260 according to a predetermined deposition condition (S30). Deposition conditions refer to a time for performing a deposition process on a substrate, a concentration of a deposition gas, a deposition temperature in the process chamber 260, and the like.

The deposition process may be performed in the plurality of process chambers 260. For example, after the deposition of the first material in the first chamber 260a is completed, it may be transferred from the first chamber 260a to the second chamber 260b through the transfer robot 280, and the second chamber 260b. Deposition of the second material may take place within

Next, the state of the substrate on which the deposition process is completed using the measurement apparatus 400 is measured (S40). After the process is completed, the substrate is transferred back to the housing 140 in the reverse order of the method transferred from the housing 140 to the process chamber 260. In this case, the load lock chamber 220 loaded when transferred to the process chamber 260 and the load lock chamber 220 loaded when transferred to the housing 140 may be different from each other.

The substrate transferred to the housing 140 is transferred to the measurement apparatus 400 by the substrate transfer unit 160. The measurement apparatus 400 may measure the thickness of the deposited thin film. Data measured by the measuring device 400 is transmitted to the controller 500.

Next, the controller 500 modifies the deposition conditions according to the measured state of the substrate (S50). The controller 500 determines whether the thin film is defective by comparing the received data with preset data. The preset data refers to the thickness of the thin film to be deposited.

The controller 500 is electrically connected to the measuring device 400 and the transfer robot 280. The controller 500 modifies the deposition conditions according to the result of comparing the data received from the measurement apparatus 400 with the preset data, and controls the transfer robot 280 by the modified deposition conditions. Deposition conditions refer to a time for performing a deposition process on a substrate, a concentration of a deposition gas, a deposition temperature in the process chamber 260, and the like. In order to modify the time for performing the deposition process, the time for unloading the substrate in the process chamber 260 using the transfer robot 280 or the time for supplying the deposition gas should be modified.

As described above, since the deposition conditions may be modified through the controller 500 according to the data measured by the measurement apparatus 400, an error may be prevented from occurring in the substrate performing the subsequent deposition process.

According to the present invention, it is possible to quickly modify the deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate having completed the deposition process, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an error in the substrate performing the subsequent deposition process.

Claims (8)

A substrate processing unit performing a deposition process on the substrate; A substrate transfer module transferring the substrate to the substrate processing unit; A measuring device for measuring a state of the substrate having completed a deposition process; And It includes a controller for modifying the deposition conditions according to the state of the substrate measured using the measuring device, The substrate transfer module, A load port into which the substrate container is loaded; A housing disposed between the load port and the substrate processing unit and providing a space for transferring the substrate to the substrate processing unit; And a substrate transfer unit installed in the housing and transferring the substrate between the load port and the substrate processing unit. The method of claim 1, The substrate processing unit, A process chamber in which a deposition process is performed; A load lock chamber in which the substrate is loaded to perform a deposition process; A transfer chamber installed between the process chamber and the load lock chamber and providing a space for transferring the substrate to the process chamber; And a transfer robot positioned in the transfer chamber and transferring the substrate loaded in the load lock chamber to the process chamber. The method of claim 1, The measuring unit is a substrate processing apparatus, characterized in that installed on one side of the housing. The method of claim 1, The measuring device is a substrate processing apparatus, characterized in that for measuring the thickness of the thin film (thin film) deposited on the substrate. Loading the substrate container onto the load port; Transferring the substrate loaded in the substrate container to a process chamber; Performing a deposition process on the substrate according to a predetermined deposition condition; Measuring a state of the substrate on which a deposition process is completed; And modifying deposition conditions in accordance with the state of the substrate. The method of claim 5, Measuring the state of the substrate comprises measuring a thickness of a thin film deposited on the substrate. The method of claim 5, And modifying the deposition condition according to the state of the substrate comprises modifying the supply time of the deposition gas. The method of claim 5, And modifying the deposition condition according to the state of the substrate comprises modifying the concentration of the deposition gas.

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