TW201535563A - Substrate processing device, shower plate and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

The substrate processing apparatus includes a processing container that airtightly houses the substrate, a mounting table that mounts the substrate in the processing container, and a shower plate that is disposed opposite to the substrate placed on the mounting table. a plurality of supply nozzles; the processing gas supply source supplies the processing gas to the processing container through the shower plate; the supply nozzle has a predetermined position from the upper end surface of the shower plate toward the lower end surface and to the thickness direction of the shower plate. A gas inlet aperture is formed and is in oblique communication with respect to the gas inlet aperture and extends to a plurality of gas outlet apertures at the lower end surface of the shower plate.

Description

Substrate processing device, shower plate and substrate processing method

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for performing chemical oxide removal processing using a predetermined processing gas, a shower panel used for the substrate processing apparatus, and a substrate processing method using the substrate processing apparatus.

In recent years, along with the conventional etching technique of dry etching or wet etching, the method of finer etching which is called chemical oxide removal (COR) has been attracting attention.

The COR is supplied with hydrogen fluoride (HF) gas and ammonia gas as a processing gas to a tantalum oxide film (SiO ₂ film) on the surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as "wafer") of a target object in a vacuum. NH ₃ ), a process in which these gases are reacted with a ruthenium oxide film to form a product (for example, Patent Document 1).

The product generated on the surface of the wafer by COR is sublimated by heat treatment in the next step, thereby removing the tantalum oxide film from the surface of the wafer.

[Previous Technical Literature] [Patent Literature]

Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-214513

In the above-described COR process, a wafer is placed in a processing container that holds a vacuum, and a processing gas is supplied from above the wafer. At this time, in order to uniformly process the inside of the wafer, the processing gas may be supplied into the processing container through a shower plate provided above the wafer and having a plurality of openings penetrating through the thickness direction. In this case, in order to uniformly distribute the processing gas supplied to the wafer surface in the wafer surface, the shower plate is separated from the wafer by a predetermined distance. In particular, since the processing gas is linearly discharged from the opening of the shower plate toward the vertical downward direction, when the distance between the shower plate and the wafer is too close, the crystal is reached while the processing gas has not sufficiently diffused. As a result, a problem arises in which the so-called opening is transferred onto the wafer and etched.

Further, in the COR process, there is also a demand for increasing the yield and reducing the amount of processing gas used. In the related case, by reducing the volume of the processing container, it is possible to reduce the amount of the processing gas used and to increase the yield due to the shortening of the evacuation time. However, in order to maintain uniformity of wafer processing, it is necessary to provide a predetermined interval between the wafer and the shower plate as described above. Therefore, it is difficult to simultaneously satisfy the requirements for improving the yield and the amount of processing gas used, as well as the uniformity of wafer processing.

The present invention has been made in view of the related points, and an object thereof is to maintain uniformity of substrate processing by efficiently diffusing a processing gas supplied to a substrate, and to improve processing yield and cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising: a processing container for airtightly accommodating the substrate; and a mounting table for placing the substrate in the processing container; the shower plate is facing The substrate disposed on the mounting table is formed with a plurality of supply nozzles, and a processing gas supply source for supplying the processing gas into the processing container through the shower plate. Then, the supply nozzle has a gas inlet hole formed from an upper end surface of the shower plate toward the lower end surface and at a predetermined position in the thickness direction of the shower plate, and is obliquely connected with respect to the gas inlet hole And extending to a plurality of gas outlet holes of the lower end surface of the shower plate.

The inventors conducted a detailed review of, for example, a method of efficiently diffusing a process gas supplied from a shower plate. As a result, it has been found that by not allowing the opening formed in the shower plate to penetrate through the thickness direction of the shower plate, it is formed to a predetermined position in the thickness direction, and thereafter, the divergence is a plurality of openings extending obliquely downward. The process gas is released from being linearly discharged from the shower plate toward the vertical direction, so that the process gas is efficiently diffused. The present invention is based on such a discoverer that, according to the present invention, a shower plate has a gas inlet hole formed at a predetermined position in a thickness direction of the shower plate, and obliquely communicates with respect to the gas inlet hole, And extending to a plurality of gas outlet holes of the lower end surface of the shower plate. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the linear release of the process gas from the shower plate toward the vertical downward direction, so that the process gas is efficiently diffused. As a result, even if the distance between the shower plate and the substrate is made shorter than in the past, the uniformity of wafer processing can be maintained. Therefore, the volume of the processing container can be made smaller by lowering the height of the processing container, and the use of the processing gas can be reduced. Amount to cut costs and increase productivity due to reduced vacuuming time.

Another aspect of the present invention is a shower plate for supplying a processing gas to a processing container of a substrate processing apparatus for performing substrate processing, comprising: a disk-shaped body portion having a predetermined thickness; and a plurality of supply nozzles In the body portion. Then, the supply nozzle has a gas inlet hole formed from an upper end surface of the body portion toward the lower end surface and at a predetermined position in the thickness direction of the body portion, and is obliquely communicated with respect to the gas inlet hole, and a plurality of gas outlet holes extending to the lower end surface of the body portion.

Further, another aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing method using the substrate processing apparatus, wherein a processing gas is supplied from a processing gas supply source to a gas inlet hole of the shower plate, and is transmitted through the gas inlet hole. The gas outlet port supplies a processing gas to the substrate in the processing container.

According to the present invention, it is possible to maintain the uniformity of the substrate processing by efficiently diffusing the processing gas supplied to the substrate, and to improve the yield of the substrate processing and to reduce the cost.

1‧‧‧Substrate processing system

2‧‧‧ moving in and out

3‧‧‧Loading room

4‧‧‧ Heat treatment unit

5‧‧‧COR processing unit

10‧‧‧Transport room

11‧‧‧ wafer transfer mechanism

12‧‧‧ mounting table

13‧‧‧ Alignment device

14‧‧‧ gate valve

20‧‧‧Processing container

21‧‧‧ mounting table

30‧‧‧Exhaust mechanism

40‧‧‧Processing container

41‧‧‧ mounting table

50‧‧‧Sprinkler

51‧‧‧Support members

52‧‧‧Spray plate

53‧‧‧ board

71‧‧‧1st gas supply source

74‧‧‧2nd gas supply source

80‧‧‧Exhaust mechanism

90‧‧‧Supply nozzle

91‧‧‧ gas inlet hole

92‧‧‧ gas outlet hole

93‧‧‧Depression

100‧‧‧Control device

W‧‧‧ wafer

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a substrate processing system including a COR processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a heat treatment apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a COR processing apparatus.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a supply nozzle.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a supply nozzle.

Figure 6 is a bottom view of the shower plate.

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of a shower plate according to another embodiment.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged bottom view of a shower plate according to another embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a gas outlet hole according to another embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a gas outlet hole according to another embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional supply nozzle.

Fig. 12 is an explanatory view showing an experimental result of a comparison of a case where the depth and diameter of the gas inlet hole are changed.

Fig. 13 is an explanatory view showing a schematic connection state of a gas outlet hole and a recessed portion.

Fig. 14 is an explanatory view showing a result of a comparison experiment in which the diameter of the depressed portion and the connection position between the depressed portion and the gas outlet hole are changed.

Fig. 15 is an explanatory view showing a comparison experimental result of a case where the angle of connection between the gas inlet hole and the gas outlet hole is changed.

Fig. 16 is an explanatory view showing a simulation result of the flow of the gas released from the supply nozzle according to the embodiment.

Fig. 17 is an explanatory view showing a simulation result of the flow of the gas released from the conventional supply nozzle.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and the drawings, constituent elements that have substantially the same functional structure are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the repeated description is omitted. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view schematically showing a substrate processing system 1 including a COR processing apparatus as a substrate processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

The substrate processing system 1 includes a loading/unloading unit 2 for loading and unloading the wafer W, two loading chambers 3 provided adjacent to the loading/unloading unit 2, and a heat treatment device 4 adjacent to the loading/unloading unit 2 provided in each of the loading chambers 3, and abutting The COR processing apparatus 5 provided on the opposite side of each of the load chambers 3 in the heat treatment apparatus 4 is provided.

The loading/unloading unit 2 includes a transfer chamber 10, a wafer transfer mechanism 11 having a plurality of transfer arms, and a mounting table 12 on which the wafer cassette C of the plurality of wafers W is placed. Further, the transfer chamber 10 is provided adjacent to the alignment device 13 for performing wafer alignment. The wafer transfer mechanism 11 is disposed inside the transfer chamber 10. The transfer arm of the wafer transfer mechanism 11 is freely movable in, for example, the horizontal direction, the θ direction, and the vertical direction, and the wafer W can be transferred between the wafer cassette C, the load chamber 3, and the aligning device 13.

A gate valve 14 is provided between each of the load chambers 3 and the transfer chamber 10, and is configured to depressurize the inside of the load chamber 3 to a predetermined pressure by an exhaust mechanism (not shown). Further, a wafer transfer mechanism 15 is provided inside each of the load chambers 3, respectively. The wafer transfer mechanism 15 includes a transfer arm that is horizontally movable in a direction toward the COR device 5, and the wafer W can be transferred between the load chamber 3, the heat treatment device 4, and the COR processing device 5 by the transfer arm. .

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the heat treatment apparatus 4 has a processing container 20 that is hermetically constructed, and The mounting table 21 on which the wafer W is placed in the processing container 20 is placed. The mounting table 21 is internally provided with, for example, a resistance heating type heater 22. The heater 22 heats the wafer W on the stage 21 by supplying power from a power source of the same type. In the mounting table 21, a process of heating the COR-processed wafer W in the COR processing apparatus 5 and vaporizing the reactants generated by the COR processing is referred to as PHT (Post Heat Treatment).

The loading chamber 3 side of the processing container 20 is provided with a gate valve 23 for opening and unloading the wafer W between the loading chamber 3 and opening and closing the loading and unloading port 20a. Further, on the side of the COR processing apparatus 5 of the processing container 20, a gate valve 24 for opening and closing the inlet/outlet 20b for moving the wafer W to and from the processing apparatus 5, and opening and closing the loading and unloading inlet 20b is provided.

The processing container 20 is connected to a gas supply mechanism 25 that supplies an inert gas such as nitrogen to the inside of the processing container 20 through the gas supply pipe 26. The gas supply pipe 26 is provided with a flow rate adjustment mechanism 27 that adjusts the amount of nitrogen supplied. Further, for example, the bottom surface of the processing container 20 is connected to the exhaust mechanism 30 for exhausting the inside of the processing container 20 through the exhaust pipe 31. The exhaust pipe 31 is provided with an adjustment valve 32 that adjusts the amount of exhaust of the exhaust mechanism 30.

As shown in FIG. 3, the COR processing apparatus 5 is a processing container 40 which is airtight, and a mounting table 41 on which the wafer W is placed in the processing container 20. The processing container 40 has a container portion 42 having a bottomed substantially cylindrical shape having an opening therethrough, and a lid portion 43 that hermetically blocks the upper surface of the container portion 42. The side of the container portion 42 is provided with a carry-out port 42a for carrying in and out of the wafer W between the heat treatment device 4. The carry-out port 42a is opened and closed by the gate valve 24.

The shower head 50 is provided on the lower surface of the lid portion 43 of the processing container 20 so as to face the mounting table 41. The shower head 50 has, for example, a slightly cylindrical support member 51 having an opening below, a shower plate 52 provided on the inner side surface of the support member 51 at a predetermined distance from the top of the support member 51, and a shower plate 52. A plate body 53 is provided between the plate 52 and the support member 51 in parallel with respect to the shower plate 52. A first space 54 is formed between the top of the support member 51 and the plate body 53, and a second space 55 is formed between the plate body 53 and the shower plate 52.

The shower plate 52 has a main body portion 52a and a plurality of supply nozzles 90 for supplying a processing gas to the wafer W on the mounting table 41. The plate body 53 has a plurality of gas passages 60 penetrating the plate body 53 in the thickness direction. The gas flow path 60 is formed to have a number of about half of the supply nozzle 90, and the gas flow path 60 extends to the upper end surface of the shower plate 52 below the plate body 53 and is connected to the upper end portion of the supply nozzle 90. Therefore, the gas flow path 60 and the inside of the supply nozzle 90 connected to the gas flow path 60 It is isolated from the second space 55. The body portion 52a and the plate body 53 of the shower plate 52 are made of a metal such as aluminum. Further, in the present embodiment, the distance between the surface of the wafer W on the mounting table 41 and the lower end surface of the shower plate 52 is set to be about 50 mm. Further, the thickness of the shower plate 52 is set to be about 15 mm.

The first space 54 is connected to the first gas supply source 71 through the first gas supply pipe 70. The first gas supply source 71 is configured as a first processing gas in which a mixed gas of hydrogen fluoride (HF) gas which is a reaction gas and argon (Ar) gas which is a diluent gas is supplied. The first gas supply pipe 70 is provided with a flow rate adjustment mechanism 72 that adjusts the supply amount of the first process gas. The first process gas system supplied from the first gas supply source 71 is supplied into the processing container 40 through the first space 54, the gas flow path 60 of the plate body 53, and the supply nozzle 90 of the shower plate 52.

The second space 55 is connected to the second gas supply source 74 through the second gas supply pipe 73. The second gas supply source 74 is configured as a second processing gas by supplying a mixed gas of ammonia gas (NH ₃ ) which is a reaction gas and nitrogen gas (N ₂ ) gas which is a diluent gas. The second gas supply pipe 73 is provided with a flow rate adjusting mechanism 75 that adjusts the amount of supply of the second processing gas. Further, the diluent gas is not limited to the embodiment, and for example, only argon gas may be used, or only nitrogen gas may be used, or another inert gas may be used. The second process gas system supplied from the second gas supply source 74 is supplied to the processing container 40 through the second space 55 and the supply nozzle 90 of the shower plate 52. Therefore, the first process gas and the second process gas are mixed for the first time at a position below the shower plate 52 in the processing container 40.

The mounting table 41 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is supported by the bottom surface of the container portion 42. The stage 41 is provided with a temperature adjustment mechanism 41a for adjusting the temperature of the stage 41. The temperature adjustment mechanism 41a adjusts the temperature of the mounting table 41 by circulating a refrigerant such as water, and controls the temperature of the wafer W on the mounting table 41.

In order to process the bottom surface of the container portion 42 of the container 40, the exhaust mechanism 80 for exhausting the inside of the processing container 40 is connected to the outside of the mounting table 41 through the exhaust pipe 81. The exhaust pipe 81 is provided with an adjustment valve 82 that adjusts the amount of exhaust of the exhaust mechanism 80. Further, the side walls of the container portion 42 are provided with pressure measuring mechanisms 83a, 83b for measuring the pressure in the processing container 40. The pressure measuring mechanism 83a is used for high pressure, and the pressure measuring mechanism 83b is used for low pressure. Further, as the pressure measuring mechanisms 83a and 83b, for example, a capacitive pressure gauge or the like can be used.

Next, the structure of the above-described shower plate 52 will be described in detail. Formed on the shower plate 52 As described above, the supply nozzle 90 of the body portion 52a has a supply nozzle 90a at a position corresponding to the gas flow path 60 of the plate body 53 and a supply nozzle 90b at a position different from the gas flow path 60. The supply nozzle 90a and the supply nozzle 90b are arranged alternately, for example, in a concentric shape.

The supply nozzle 90 has a gas inlet hole 91 formed at a predetermined depth from the upper end surface of the main body portion 52a of the shower plate 52 toward the lower end surface, and is formed at a predetermined depth in the thickness direction of the main body portion 52a, as shown in Fig. 4, and The gas inlet hole 91 is obliquely communicated at a predetermined angle θ near the lower end of the gas inlet hole 91, and extends to the gas outlet hole 92 at the lower end surface of the shower plate 52. The diameter of the gas outlet hole 92 is smaller than the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91, and the processing gas released from the shower plate 52 into the processing container 40 is set to flow back to the first space 54 and the second space 55 side. Value. In the present embodiment, the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91 is set to, for example, 3 mm, and the diameter of the gas outlet hole 92 is set to, for example, 0.5 mm. In addition, in FIG. 4, the gas inlet hole connected to the supply nozzle 90a of the gas flow path 60 is described as the first inlet hole 91a, and is not connected to the gas flow path 60, that is, it is connected to the second space 55. The gas inlet hole serves as the second inlet hole 91b, but the first inlet hole 91a and the second inlet hole 91b have the same structure. Further, the configuration of the supply nozzle 90a and the supply nozzle 90b is also the same.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the gas outlet holes 92 are radially provided from the vicinity of the lower end of the gas inlet hole 91, and are radially disposed at equal intervals of 90 degrees around the gas inlet hole 91. Therefore, when the shower plate 52 is viewed from below, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the collection of the four gas outlet holes 92 is placed at equal intervals on the entire surface of the shower plate 52. Further, in Fig. 6, in order to distinguish the gas outlet hole 92 of the supply nozzle 90a from the gas outlet hole 92 of the supply nozzle 90b, the gas outlet hole 92 of the supply nozzle 90a is surrounded by a solid circle, and the supply is surrounded by a dotted circle. Gas outlet port 92 of nozzle 90b. By providing the spray nozzle 52 with the supply nozzle 90 of such a structure, the process gas released from the supply nozzle 90 is efficiently diffused, and the discharge of the process gas linearly from the shower plate 52 toward the vertical downward is suppressed. . Further, the gas outlet hole 92 is formed to be obliquely communicated with respect to the vicinity of the lower end of the gas inlet hole 91, and is a result of a comparative experiment conducted by the inventors based on the supply nozzle according to the present embodiment using the conventional supply nozzle. The results of the comparative experiments are detailed later.

Further, the end portion of the gas outlet hole 92 on the mounting table 41 side communicates with, for example, the recessed portion 93 formed on the lower end surface of the shower plate 52. The recessed portion 93 is recessed toward the upper end surface side of the shower plate 52 to have, for example, a substantially conical shape. Therefore, the end portion of the side of the mounting table 41 of each of the gas outlet holes 92 becomes a gas. The shape of the side end of the gas inlet hole 91 of the outlet hole 92 to be enlarged. By providing the depressed portion 93, the process gas released from the gas outlet hole 92 is formed, for example, by turbulent flow due to the depressed portion 93. Therefore, the processing gas is further diffused by the depressed portion 93, and the gas can be more efficiently diffused in the processing container.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing system 1 is provided with a control device 100. The control device 100 is, for example, a computer and has a program storage unit (not shown). The program storage unit stores a program for controlling the wafer W processing in the substrate processing system 1. In addition, the program can be recorded on a computer readable storage medium such as a computer readable hard disk (HD), a floppy disk (FD), a compact disk (CD), a magneto-optical disk (MO), a memory card, and the like. It is installed in the control device 100 from its memory medium.

The substrate processing system 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, and then the processing performed by the substrate processing system 1 will be described.

First, the wafer cassette C in which the plurality of wafers W having the tantalum oxide film on the surface are accommodated is placed at a predetermined position on the mounting table 12 of the loading/unloading unit 2. Thereafter, in a state where the gate valve 14 is opened, the wafer transfer mechanism 11 transfers the wafer W from the wafer cassette C to the wafer transfer mechanism 15 in the load chamber 3.

Next, after the gate valve 14 is closed and the inside of the load chamber 3 is exhausted to a predetermined pressure, the gate valve 23 and the gate valve 24 are opened, and the wafer W is placed on the mounting table 41 of the COR processing apparatus 5 by the wafer transfer mechanism 15. Next, after the wafer transfer mechanism 15 exits to the load chamber 3, the gate valve 24 is closed to seal the inside of the processing container 40.

Thereafter, the inside of the processing container 40 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure, and the wafer W on the mounting table 41 is adjusted to a predetermined temperature by the temperature adjusting mechanism 41a. In the present embodiment, for example, it is 20 ° C to 40 ° C. Next, the first processing gas and the second processing gas are supplied from the first gas supply source 71 and the second gas supply source 74 to the processing container 40, respectively. At this time, the first processing gas and the second processing gas are not mixed in the shower head 50, but are supplied into the processing container 40 from the gas outlet holes 92 of the supply nozzle 90a and the supply nozzle 90b to perform COR processing. In the COR process, the ruthenium oxide film on the surface of the wafer W is chemically reacted with hydrogen fluoride gas and ammonia gas, and is maintained on the surface of the wafer W by fluoroantimonic acid amine (AFS), water, or the like which is formed as a reaction product. At this time, since the processing gas supplied from the supply nozzle 90 is efficiently diffused in the processing container 40 and uniformly discharged to the entire surface of the wafer W, uniform COR processing is performed in the wafer W surface.

When the COR process is performed, the gate valves 23, 24 are opened and the wafer transfer mechanism 15 is used. The wafer W on the mounting table 41 is transported to the mounting table 21 of the heat treatment apparatus 4. Next, after the wafer transfer mechanism 15 is retracted to the load chamber 3, the gate valves 23 and 24 are closed, and nitrogen gas is introduced into the processing container 20. At the same time, the wafer W on the mounting table 21 is heated by the heater 22 to vaporize and remove the reaction product generated by the COR process.

Thereafter, the gate valves 14 and 23 are sequentially opened, and the wafer W on the mounting table 21 is transferred to the wafer transfer mechanism 11 by the wafer transfer mechanism 15. Then, the wafer W is accommodated to a predetermined wafer C, and a series of wafer processing is ended.

According to the above embodiment, the supply nozzle 90 formed in the shower plate 52 has a gas inlet hole 91 formed at a predetermined position in the thickness direction of the shower plate 52, and is obliquely communicated with respect to the gas inlet hole 91, and A plurality of gas outlet holes 92 extend to the lower end surface of the shower plate 52. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the linear discharge of the processing gas from the shower plate 52 toward the vertical downward direction, and to efficiently diffuse the processing gas. As a result, even if the distance between the shower plate and the substrate is shorter than in the related art, the processing gas can be uniformly supplied in the wafer surface, and the uniformity of the wafer processing can be maintained. Therefore, the height of the processing container 40 can be lowered to reduce the volume of the processing container 40, and the cost can be reduced by the use of the processing gas to reduce the cost or the vacuuming time can be shortened to improve the yield.

Further, since the recessed portion 93 is provided on the lower end surface of the shower plate 52, and the gas outlet hole 92 is communicated with the recessed portion 93, the process gas released from the gas outlet hole 92 is further advanced by the recessed portion 93. diffusion. Thereby, the process gas can be more efficiently diffused and the uniformity of wafer processing can be further improved.

Further, in the above embodiment, the gas outlet holes 92 are radially provided at a pitch of 90 degrees with respect to the gas inlet holes 91, but the arrangement of the gas outlet holes 92 is not limited to the present embodiment. For example, three gas outlet holes 92 may be provided at a pitch of 120 degrees around the gas inlet hole 91, or five gas outlet holes 92 may be provided at a pitch of 72 degrees. Further, as long as the process gas can be efficiently diffused in the processing container 40, the gas outlet holes 92 are not necessarily provided at equal intervals.

Further, the gas outlet hole 92 does not have to be connected to the vicinity of the lower end of the gas inlet hole 91, and may be connected to the vicinity of the intermediate portion of the gas inlet hole 91. However, when the connection height of the gas outlet hole 92 with respect to the gas inlet hole 91 is changed in the supply nozzle 90, since the gas outlet hole 92 provided on the upper side of the gas inlet hole 91 is more difficult to allow the process gas to circulate, the gas outlet The arrangement of the height direction of the holes 92 is preferably unified within the supply nozzle 90. Also, although the gas outlet holes 92 are connected The angle θ of the gas inlet hole 91 may also vary depending on the gas outlet hole 92. However, when the angle θ is too small, since the processing gas does not diffuse in the shower plate 52, the line is straight at an angle close to the vertical direction. The treatment gas is released, so the angle θ is preferably 30 degrees or more.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the supply nozzle 90a and the supply nozzle 90b are disposed at equal intervals. However, as shown in Fig. 7, the supply nozzle 90a and the supply nozzle 90b may be arranged concentrically, as long as they are capable of being arranged in a concentric manner. The arrangement in which the first processing gas and the second processing gas are appropriately mixed in the processing container 40 can be arbitrarily set. Further, although the gas outlet holes 92 of the supply nozzles 90a and 90b are provided at the same angle in Fig. 6, the angles of the gas outlet holes 92 may be changed between the supply nozzle 90a and the supply nozzle 90b as shown in Fig. 8, for example, The angle of the gas outlet opening 92 can also be varied depending on each supply nozzle 90.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the recessed portion 93 is provided at the tip end of the gas outlet hole 92 on the mounting table 41 side, but the recessed portion 93 is not necessarily provided. However, based on the comparative experiment described later, it is preferable to provide the depressed portion 93 from the viewpoint of efficiently diffusing the processing gas. Further, according to the present inventors, the shape of the depressed portion 93 does not have to be a conical shape as long as the turbulent flow of the processing gas can be formed in the depressed portion 93, and may be, for example, a pyramid shape, a cylindrical shape, or a rectangular shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the recessed portion 93 may have a shape in which the diameter of the gas outlet hole 92 is gradually expanded, and as shown in FIG. 10, for example, a projection having a cylindrical shape may be formed at the upper end portion of the conical shape. The recessed portion 93 of 93a connects the gas outlet hole 92 to the projection 93a.

In the above embodiment, the shower head 50 is configured by the shower plate 52 and the plate body 53, and is configured to supply the first process gas and the second process gas. However, the supply nozzle 90 according to the present embodiment is of course It can also be applied to a shower head 50 or a shower plate 52 that supplies only one type of gas.

Next, a comparison experiment result between the supply nozzle 90 according to the present embodiment and a conventional supply nozzle will be described. A cross-sectional view of a conventional supply nozzle 200 used in this comparative experiment is shown in FIG. The conventional supply nozzle 200 is the same as the supply nozzle 90 according to the present embodiment except that one gas outlet hole 201 is provided at a lower end portion of the gas inlet hole 91 at an angle θ of 0 degrees.

In the comparative experiment, the experimental gas was released from the supply nozzle 90 and the supply nozzle 200, respectively, and the gas pressure released from the supply nozzles 90, 200 at a position far below the vertical distance from the supply nozzles 90, 200 was measured. The pressure from the supply nozzle 200 at a position away from 50 mm and 100 mm was used as Comparative Examples 1 and 2, and the pressure from the supply nozzle 90 at a position away from 50 mm was taken as an example, and the measurement was performed in a circle having a diameter of 100 mm. At this time, in the supply nozzle 90, the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91, the depth of the gas inlet hole 91 from the upper end surface of the shower plate 52, the presence or absence of the recessed portion 93 at the tip end of the gas outlet hole 92, and the recessed portion 93 are changed. The experiment was carried out by the connection position of the gas outlet hole 92, the diameter of the recessed portion 93 having a substantially conical shape, and the angle θ at which the gas outlet hole 92 communicated with the gas inlet hole 91. Further, the pressure in the processing vessel 40 was about 80 Pa (0.6 Torr), the temperature in the processing vessel 40 was 60 ° C, and nitrogen gas was supplied as an experimental gas at a flow rate of 440 sccm.

The measurement results of the gas pressure in the case where the length of the gas inlet hole 91 and the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91 are changed are shown in FIG. In the comparative example shown in Fig. 12, the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91 is fixed at 3 mm, and the depth of the gas inlet hole 91 is fixed at 9.5 mm. In the embodiment, the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91 is from 2 mm to 5 mm. The range is changed by an interval of 1 mm, and the depth of the gas inlet hole 91 is changed from 5 mm to 10 mm. In addition, in the measurement of FIG. 12, a recessed portion 93 is provided at the front end of the gas outlet hole 92, and the diameter of the recessed portion 93 having a substantially conical shape is 3 mm, and the connection position of the gas outlet hole 92 toward the recessed portion 93 is as shown in FIG. At the position of the circled numeral "2" shown, the intersection θ of the gas outlet hole 92 communicating with the gas inlet hole 91 is fixed at 45 degrees. Further, the pressure shown in Fig. 12 is a numerical value (ΔP) of the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the pressure measured in the circle of the above-described diameter of 100 mm. Therefore, it can be judged that the smaller the value is, the more the gas can be uniformly supplied in-plane.

As shown in Fig. 12, in the first to fourth embodiments in which the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91 is 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, and 5 mm, the pressure difference ΔP is 50 mm larger than that of the conventional supply nozzle 200. Comparative Example 1 in which the pressure is measured in the lower portion is small. Therefore, as shown in the supply nozzle 90, by connecting the plurality of gas outlet holes 92 at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the gas inlet hole 91, the wafer measured at a position away from the supply nozzle away from the same distance can be obtained. The pressure difference ΔP of the process gas pressure in the plane is smaller than the case where the supply nozzle 200 is used. In other words, it can be confirmed that the processing gas can be supplied more uniformly in the wafer W surface. In particular, when the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91 is 3 mm and the depth is 10 mm (Example 2), the pressure difference ΔP in the position away from the conventional supply nozzle 200 by 100 mm is smaller. Therefore, by using the shower plate 52 having the supply nozzle 90 of the second embodiment, the distance between the wafer W and the shower plate 52 can be made less than about half of that of the shower plate provided with the conventional supply nozzle 200. . As a result, the height of the processing container 40 can be lowered to make the volume of the processing container 40 small, and the cost can be reduced and the yield of the wafer processing can be improved.

Next, the measurement result of the gas pressure difference ΔP in the case where the diameter D of the depressed portion 93 shown in FIG. 13 and the connection position of the gas outlet hole 93 toward the recessed portion 93 is changed is shown in FIG. In Comparative Examples 1 and 2 shown in Fig. 14, the depressed portion 93 has a conical shape with a diameter of 3 mm, and the gas outlet hole 92 is connected to the upper end portion of the depressed portion 93. In the first to third embodiments, the diameter of the depressed portion 93 is changed from 2 mm to 4 mm at intervals of 1 mm, and the depressed portion 93 is located near the upper end (the position of the circled numeral "1" shown in Fig. 13). The vicinity of the intermediate portion (the position of the circled numeral "2" shown in Fig. 13) and the vicinity of the lower end portion (the position of the circled numeral "3" shown in Fig. 13) are changed. Further, in the fourth embodiment, the gas outlet hole 92 is directly communicated with the lower end surface of the shower plate 52 without providing the recessed portion 93. Further, in the measurement of Fig. 14, the gas inlet hole 91 has a diameter of 3 mm, the gas inlet hole 91 has a depth of 9 mm, and the gas outlet hole 92 communicates with the gas inlet hole 91 at an angle θ of 45 degrees.

As shown in Fig. 14, in any of the first to third embodiments in which the depressed portion 93 is provided, the pressure difference ΔP is smaller than that of the fourth embodiment in which the depressed portion 93 is not provided. Thus, it was confirmed that by connecting the gas outlet hole 92 to the recessed portion 93, the processing gas is efficiently diffused, and the uniformity of the processing gas in the plane of the wafer W is improved. Further, even in the fourth embodiment in which the depressed portion 93 is not provided, the pressure difference ΔP is smaller than that of Comparative Example 1 in which the pressure is measured below 50 mm of the conventional supply nozzle 200. Thus, it has been confirmed that even if the depressed portion 93 is not provided, the supply nozzle 90 can efficiently diffuse the processing gas from the conventional supply nozzle 90. Further, as a result of the third embodiment, the pressure difference ΔP is smaller as the connection position of the gas outlet hole 92 toward the recessed portion 93 is lower toward the depressed portion 93. Thereby, it is confirmed that the gas outlet hole 92 is preferably provided in the vicinity of the lower end portion of the recessed portion 93.

Next, the gas pressure difference ΔP in the case where the angle θ at which the gas outlet hole 92 communicates with the gas inlet hole 91 is changed is shown in Fig. 15 . In the first embodiment, the angle θ is 45 degrees, and the second embodiment is the measurement result in the case where the angle θ is 60 degrees. In addition, in the measurement of FIG. 15, a recessed portion 93 is provided at the front end of the gas outlet hole 92, and the diameter of the recessed portion 93 having a substantially conical shape is 3 mm, and the connection position of the gas outlet hole 92 toward the recessed portion 93 is as shown in FIG. At the position of the circled numeral "2" shown, the diameter of the gas inlet hole 91 is 3 mm, and the depth of the gas inlet hole 91 is fixed by 9 mm.

From the results shown in Fig. 15, it can be confirmed that the pressure difference ΔP in the second embodiment in which the angle θ becomes large It will be smaller than Embodiment 1. Further, in the first and second embodiments, the pressure difference ΔP is smaller than that of the comparative example 1 in which the pressure is measured below 50 mm of the conventional supply nozzle 200. Therefore, it is estimated that the angle θ can be in the range of 90 to 120 degrees. set up.

Moreover, as another comparative experiment, the simulation was performed from the airflow in the case where the supply nozzle 90 according to the present embodiment and the conventional supply nozzle 200 released a predetermined gas. The results are shown in Fig. 16 and Fig. 17. Fig. 16 is a view schematically showing an air flow in a case where a predetermined gas is released from the supply nozzle 90 according to the present embodiment, and it can be confirmed from Fig. 16 that the gas is diffused immediately below the supply nozzle 90 and becomes approximately parallel. Flow direction.

FIG. 17 is a view schematically showing an air flow in a case where a predetermined gas is released from the conventional supply nozzle 200, and it is confirmed that the gas system released from the conventional supply nozzle 200 has a linearity and is diffused into a radial direction. Sex. Therefore, from this result, it can be confirmed that the supply nozzle 200 needs to make the distance between the supply nozzle 200 and the wafer W larger than the supply nozzle 90 in order to reduce the pressure difference ΔP in the wafer surface.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the invention is not limited to the examples. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the scope of the present invention. Although the above embodiment is described as an example in which the wafer is subjected to COR processing, the present invention is also applicable to other wafer processing using a processing gas, such as plasma processing.

(Reciprocal reference of related applications)

The present application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-009694, filed on Jan. 22,,,,,,,,,

5‧‧‧COR processing unit

24‧‧‧ gate valve

40‧‧‧Processing container

41‧‧‧ mounting table

41a‧‧‧temperature adjustment mechanism

42‧‧‧ Container Department

42a‧‧‧ moving out of the entrance

43‧‧‧ 盖部

50‧‧‧Sprinkler

51‧‧‧Support members

52‧‧‧Spray plate

53‧‧‧ board

54‧‧‧1st space

55‧‧‧Second space

60‧‧‧ gas flow path

70‧‧‧1st gas supply pipe

71‧‧‧1st gas supply source

72‧‧‧Flow adjustment mechanism

73‧‧‧2nd gas supply pipe

74‧‧‧2nd gas supply source

75‧‧‧Flow adjustment mechanism

80‧‧‧Exhaust mechanism

81‧‧‧Exhaust pipe

82‧‧‧Adjustment valve

83a‧‧‧Pressure measuring agency

83b‧‧‧Pressure measuring agency

90‧‧‧Supply nozzle

W‧‧‧ wafer

Claims (8)

A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising: a processing container for airtightly accommodating the substrate; and a mounting table for placing the substrate in the processing container; and the shower plate being disposed opposite to the mounting table a substrate, and a plurality of supply nozzles; and a processing gas supply source for supplying a processing gas into the processing container through the shower plate; the supply nozzle having a lower end surface from the upper end surface of the shower plate And a gas inlet hole formed at a predetermined position in the thickness direction of the shower plate, and a plurality of gas outlet holes extending obliquely with respect to the gas inlet hole and extending to the lower end surface of the shower plate. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of gas outlet holes are radially arranged at equal intervals from the gas inlet holes in plan view. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein a lower end surface of the shower plate is provided with a recessed portion recessed toward an upper end side of the shower plate; and an end portion of the gas outlet hole on the mounting table side Connected to the recess. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing gas supply source includes a first gas supply unit that supplies the first processing gas, and a second gas supply unit that supplies the second processing gas; and the shower plate The gas inlet hole has a first inlet hole connected to the first gas supply unit, and a second inlet hole connected to the second gas supply unit. A shower plate is provided in a processing container for supplying a processing gas to a substrate processing apparatus for performing substrate processing, comprising: a disk-shaped main body portion having a predetermined thickness; and a plurality of supply nozzles formed on the main body portion; the supply The nozzle has a gas inlet hole formed from an upper end surface of the body portion toward a lower end surface and at a predetermined position in a thickness direction of the body portion, and obliquely communicates with respect to the gas inlet hole, and extends to the body a plurality of gas outlet holes at the lower end face. The shower plate of claim 5, wherein the plurality of gas outlet holes are radially arranged at equal intervals from the gas inlet hole in plan view. The spray panel of claim 5, wherein the lower end surface of the body portion is provided with a plurality of recessed portions recessed toward the upper end side of the body portion; the end portion of the gas outlet hole on the mounting table side is connected In the depression. A substrate processing method using a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, wherein the substrate processing apparatus includes: a processing container for airtightly accommodating the substrate; and a mounting table for placing the substrate in the processing container; and a shower plate a plurality of supply nozzles are disposed on the substrate disposed on the mounting table, and a processing gas supply source is supplied through the shower plate to supply the processing gas into the processing container; the supply nozzle has a slave a gas inlet hole formed by the upper end surface of the shower plate facing the lower end surface and at a predetermined position in the thickness direction of the shower plate, and obliquely communicating with respect to the gas inlet hole, and extending to the shower plate a plurality of gas outlet holes of the lower end surface; supplying a processing gas from the processing gas supply source to the gas inlet hole of the shower plate, and transmitting the substrate in the processing container through the gas outlet hole communicating with the gas inlet hole Supply process gas.