JP2001176865A - Processing device and processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [PROBLEMS] To provide a processing apparatus and a processing method which have high in-plane processing uniformity of a processing object without contamination of the processing object between a cleaning process and an oxidation process. A gas supply line (5) is provided in a processing chamber (7).
And the exhaust line 10 is connected. The gas supply line 5 is connected to a nitrogen gas supply line 1 and an oxygen gas supply line 2. Above and below the processing chamber 7, an infrared lamp 8 and an ultraviolet lamp 9, which are light sources for a cleaning process and an oxidation process, are arranged. The infrared lamps 8 and the ultraviolet lamps 9 are arranged alternately, and the infrared lamps 8 belonging to the group above the processing chamber 7 are arranged.
In addition, the longitudinal direction of the ultraviolet lamp 9 intersects with the longitudinal direction of the infrared lamp 8 and the ultraviolet lamp 9 belonging to the group below the processing chamber 7, and is substantially orthogonal here.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and a processing method for processing an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A semiconductor device manufacturing process includes an oxidation step of oxidizing a semiconductor wafer to be processed. In this oxidation step, first, the semiconductor wafer is subjected to a sulfuric acid chemical cleaning treatment in the cleaning device before the oxidation treatment, and the cleaned semiconductor wafer is transported to the oxidation device, where the semiconductor wafer is subjected to the oxidation treatment.

In particular, in the oxidation step, as shown in FIG. 4, infrared lamps 11 arranged at predetermined intervals are provided.
The semiconductor wafer W after the cleaning is arranged in between, and the semiconductor wafer W is oxidized by heating the semiconductor wafer W with infrared rays emitted from the infrared lamp 11.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned processing method, after performing the cleaning process in the cleaning device, the semiconductor wafer is once taken out of the cleaning device, carried into the oxidizing device, and subjected to the oxidizing process. It takes time from the cleaning process to the oxidation process. For this reason, the semiconductor wafer may be re-contaminated between the cleaning process and the oxidation process.

For example, when a semiconductor wafer is stored in a wafer box after a cleaning process, and then the semiconductor wafer is taken out of the wafer box and subjected to an oxidation process, components volatilized in the wafer box may adhere to the semiconductor wafer. .

[0006] In the processing apparatus shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of infrared lamps 11 are arranged above the surface of the semiconductor wafer W and aligned in the longitudinal direction. In this case, since the longitudinal directions of the infrared lamps 11 are all the same, the output adjustment in the arrow direction B in the drawing becomes impossible. It should be noted that the output adjustment in the arrow direction A in FIG.
1 can be adjusted by adjusting the output.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and a processing apparatus and a processing apparatus having high processing uniformity within a surface of a processing object without contamination of the processing object during a cleaning process and an oxidation process. It is intended to provide a processing method.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has taken the following means.

According to the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus for performing a cleaning process and an oxidation process on an object to be processed in the same chamber, and a processing chamber capable of housing the object to be processed therein;
A gas supply unit that supplies a processing gas into the processing chamber; and two groups of light sources that are disposed to face the outside of the processing chamber and perform the cleaning process and the oxidation process. The group of light sources is composed of a plurality of elongated body-shaped lamp elements arranged side by side with their longitudinal directions aligned, and the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to one group is the same as the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to the other group. A processing device is provided that intersects.

According to this configuration, since the cleaning process and the oxidation process can be performed continuously in the same chamber, the object to be processed can be prevented from being contaminated between the cleaning process and the oxidation process. Thus, a high-quality oxide film can be formed on the object to be processed. In addition, since the lamp elements of the light source are arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to one group intersects with the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to the other group, the in-plane of the object to be processed in the oxidizing process can be reduced. Uniformity can be improved. Thus, a high-quality oxide film can be uniformly formed on the target object.

[0011] In the processing apparatus of the present invention, the light source includes:
It is preferable that lamp elements for cleaning treatment and lamp elements for oxidation treatment are alternately arranged in parallel. Thus, the cleaning process and the oxidation process can be uniformly performed over the entire surface of the object.

In the processing apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the cleaning treatment lamp element is an ultraviolet lamp and the oxidation treatment lamp element is an infrared lamp.

It is preferable that the processing apparatus of the present invention further comprises a control means for individually controlling the outputs of the lamp elements. Accordingly, fine control can be performed in the cleaning process and the oxidation process, so that the cleaning process and the oxidation process can be performed more uniformly over the entire target object.

Further, the present invention is a processing method for performing a cleaning process and an oxidation process on an object to be processed in the same chamber, wherein a process gas is supplied to a processing chamber in which the object to be processed is housed. And a step of performing a cleaning process on the object using a light source for cleaning, and a step of performing an oxidation process on the object after cleaning using a light source for oxidation continuously after the cleaning process. And a processing method characterized by comprising:

According to this method, the cleaning process and the oxidation process can be performed continuously in the same chamber, so that the object to be processed can be prevented from being contaminated between the cleaning process and the oxidation process. Thus, a high-quality oxide film can be formed on the object to be processed.

In the treatment method of the present invention, it is preferable that the light source for the cleaning treatment is an ultraviolet lamp and the light source for the oxidation treatment is an infrared lamp.

In the processing method of the present invention, it is preferable that the object to be processed is subjected to chemical cleaning before being introduced into the processing chamber. Thus, the effect of cleaning the object can be further improved.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, a case where a semiconductor wafer is used as an object to be processed will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 7 denotes a processing chamber for continuously performing a cleaning process and an oxidation process on a semiconductor wafer. The processing chamber 7 is made of, for example, quartz. A mounting table (not shown) is provided in the processing chamber 7, and the semiconductor wafer W can be mounted on the mounting table. The gas supply line 5 is connected to one side wall of the processing chamber 7, and the exhaust line 10 is connected to the other side wall. A valve is attached to the exhaust line.

The gas supply line 5 is connected to a nitrogen gas supply line 1 and an oxygen gas supply line 2. The nitrogen gas supply line 1 and the oxygen gas supply line 2 are connected to a nitrogen gas supply unit and an oxygen gas supply unit (not shown), respectively, so that nitrogen gas and oxygen gas can be supplied. Further, a gas supply line 5, a nitrogen gas supply line 1,
And the oxygen gas supply line 2 have valves 6,
3 and 4 are attached, and supply and stop of the gas of the valves 6, 3 and 4 can be performed. In addition, valve 6,
Control of opening and closing of 3 and 4 is performed by a control unit (not shown).

Above and below the processing chamber 7, an infrared lamp 8 and an ultraviolet lamp 9, which are light sources for cleaning and oxidation, are disposed. The infrared lamp 8 and the ultraviolet lamp 9 are each a lamp element having a long body shape, and are arranged side by side with their longitudinal directions being aligned.

The infrared lamp 8 and the ultraviolet lamp 9 are
As shown in FIG. 2, they are arranged alternately, and are arranged above and below the processing chamber 7 in the form of a lamp group composed of a plurality of lamp elements. This allows
The cleaning process and the oxidation process can be performed uniformly over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer W.

The longitudinal direction of the infrared lamp 8 and the ultraviolet lamp 9 belonging to the group above the processing chamber 7 intersects with the longitudinal direction of the infrared lamp 8 and the ultraviolet lamp 9 belonging to the group below the processing chamber 7. They are substantially orthogonal. Thereby, the oxidation treatment can be performed while keeping the temperature over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer W uniform. As a result, a high-quality oxide film can be uniformly formed over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer.

The infrared lamp 8 and the ultraviolet lamp 9 are individually electrically connected to the control unit 12 so that their outputs can be individually controlled. The control unit 12 operates the ultraviolet lamp 9 as a light source in the cleaning process, and operates the infrared lamp 8 as the light source in the oxidation process.
And the ultraviolet lamp 9 is controlled. Accordingly, fine control can be performed in the cleaning process and the oxidation process, so that the cleaning process and the oxidation process can be performed more uniformly over the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer W.

A case where the cleaning process and the oxidation process are continuously performed on the semiconductor wafer W in the processing apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

First, a semiconductor wafer W is loaded into the processing chamber 7 (ST1), and a processing gas is supplied into the processing chamber 7. Specifically, first, the valve 3 of the nitrogen gas supply line 1 and the valve 6 of the gas supply line 5 are opened to supply nitrogen gas into the processing chamber 7 to replace the inside of the processing chamber 7 with nitrogen (ST2).

Next, the valve 3 of the nitrogen gas supply line 1
After the valve 6 of the gas supply line 5 is closed, the valve 4 of the oxygen gas supply line 2 and the valve 6 of the gas supply line 5 are opened to supply oxygen gas into the processing chamber 7 (ST3). For example, oxygen gas is supplied at a flow rate of about 4 liters / minute.

Next, the control unit 12 controls the ultraviolet lamp 9.
Is operated to irradiate the processing chamber 7 with ultraviolet rays to oxidize oxygen gas and generate ozone. The semiconductor wafer W is cleaned using the photon energy of the ozone and the ultraviolet light to remove organic substances and the like attached on the semiconductor wafer W (ST4). This cleaning process is performed for about ten seconds to about one minute. The wavelength of the ultraviolet light used is desirably 172 nm or less in consideration of the cleaning effect.

Next, the operation of the ultraviolet lamp 9 is stopped by the control unit 12, and the infrared lamp 8 is continuously operated. Thereby, the semiconductor wafer W is heated by irradiating the processing chamber 7 with infrared rays, and the semiconductor wafer W is oxidized (ST5). The heating temperature is, for example, 900 to
It is about 1000 ° C. By heating the semiconductor wafer W in this manner, an oxide film is formed on the semiconductor wafer W. The thickness of the oxide film can be adjusted by controlling the heating time, that is, the irradiation time of infrared rays.

The outputs of the infrared lamps 8 can be individually controlled by the control unit 12, so that the surface of the semiconductor wafer W can be uniformly heated. This allows
An oxide film can be uniformly formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer W. In this case, since the oxidation process is performed continuously after the cleaning process, an oxide film is formed without contaminating the semiconductor wafer W, so that a high-quality oxide film can be formed on the semiconductor wafer W.

Since the longitudinal direction of the infrared lamp 8 above the processing chamber 7 is arranged so as to intersect with the longitudinal direction of the infrared lamp 8 below the processing chamber 7, the uniformity of the surface of the semiconductor wafer W in the oxidation process can be improved. Performance can be improved. Thereby, a high-quality oxide film can be uniformly formed on the semiconductor wafer W.

Next, with the infrared lamp 8 operating, the valve 4 of the oxygen gas supply line 2 and the valve 6 of the gas supply line 5 are closed, and then the valve 3 of the nitrogen gas supply line 1 and the gas supply line 5 are closed. The valve 6 is opened, and a nitrogen gas is supplied into the processing chamber 7 to replace the inside of the processing chamber 7 with nitrogen. Thereby, the oxide film formed on the semiconductor wafer W is annealed (ST6). This annealing temperature is about 900-1000 ° C. After annealing the oxide film, the semiconductor wafer W is taken out of the processing chamber 7 (ST7).

According to such a method, since the cleaning process and the oxidation process are performed in the same chamber, the semiconductor wafer W after the cleaning process is not contaminated with organic substances or the like.
A high-quality oxide film can be uniformly formed on the semiconductor wafer W in the plane.

In the above embodiment, the case where the chemical cleaning process is not performed on the semiconductor wafer W before the cleaning process is described. However, the present invention relates to the case where the chemical cleaning process is performed on the semiconductor wafer W before the cleaning process. Can also be applied. For this chemical cleaning, for example, a chemical such as sulfuric acid is used. By performing the chemical cleaning process on the semiconductor wafer W before the cleaning process in this manner, contamination by organic substances and the like on the semiconductor wafer W can be more reliably prevented.
The quality of the oxide film formed on the semiconductor wafer W can be further improved.

In the above embodiment, the case where the object to be processed is a semiconductor wafer is described. However, the present invention can be applied to a case where the object to be processed is other than a semiconductor wafer.

In the above embodiment, the infrared lamp 8 and the ultraviolet lamp 9 are arranged below the processing chamber 7, but it is also possible to arrange only the infrared lamp below the processing chamber 7.

[0037]

As described above, the processing apparatus of the present invention can continuously perform the cleaning process and the oxidation process in the same chamber, so that the object to be processed is contaminated between the cleaning process and the oxidation process. Can be prevented. Thus, a high-quality oxide film can be formed on the object to be processed. In addition, since the lamp elements of the light source are arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to one group intersects with the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to the other group, the in-plane of the object to be processed in the oxidation treatment is reduced. Uniformity can be improved. Thus, a high-quality oxide film can be uniformly formed on the object to be processed in the plane.

Further, in the processing method of the present invention, since the cleaning process and the oxidation process can be continuously performed in the same chamber, the object to be processed can be prevented from being contaminated between the cleaning process and the oxidation process. . Thus, a high-quality oxide film can be formed on the object to be processed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an arrangement of an infrared lamp and an ultraviolet lamp in the processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a conventional processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Nitrogen gas supply line 2 ... Oxygen gas supply line 3, 4, 6 ... Valve 5 ... Gas supply line 7 ... Processing chamber 8 ... Infrared lamp 9 ... Ultraviolet lamp 10 ... Exhaust line 12 ... Control part

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A processing apparatus for performing a cleaning process and an oxidation process on an object to be processed in the same chamber, comprising: a processing chamber capable of accommodating the object to be processed therein; and a processing gas in the processing chamber. And two groups of light sources arranged to face the outside of the processing chamber and performing the cleaning process and the oxidation process. The two groups of light sources are arranged in a longitudinal direction. And a plurality of long-shaped lamp elements arranged side by side, wherein the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to one group intersects the longitudinal direction of the lamp elements belonging to the other group. Processing equipment. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source comprises a lamp element for cleaning processing and a lamp element for oxidation processing arranged alternately. 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the cleaning treatment lamp element is an ultraviolet lamp, and the oxidation treatment lamp element is an infrared lamp. 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for individually controlling outputs of said lamp elements. 5. A processing method for performing a cleaning process and an oxidation process on an object to be processed in a same chamber, comprising: supplying a processing gas into a processing chamber containing the object to be processed; A step of performing a cleaning process on the processing object using a light source for cleaning processing, and a step of performing an oxidation process on the object after cleaning using a light source for oxidation processing continuously after the cleaning process. A processing method characterized in that: 6. The processing method according to claim 5, wherein the light source for the cleaning treatment is an ultraviolet lamp, and the light source for the oxidation treatment is an infrared lamp. 7. The processing method according to claim 5, wherein a chemical liquid cleaning is performed on the target object before being introduced into the processing chamber.