TW201819676A - Atomic layer deposition equipment and pumping speed controlling method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a pumping speed controlling method for an atomic layer deposition equipment and an atomic layer deposition equipment using the pumping speed controlling method. The atomic layer deposition equipment includes a reaction chamber, a gas supply device, a pumping device, and a parallel line. The gas supply device is connected to the reaction chamber so as to selectively provide at least two reaction gases and at least one purge gas to the reaction chamber. The pumping device is connected to the reaction chamber so as to evacuate the reaction chamber. The parallel line connects the gas supply device and the pumping device and includes a parallel control valve. The gas supply device provides a loading gas through the parallel line to the pumping device. Thereby, opening or closing the parallel control valve can change the pumping loading to the pumping device, leading to a change in the pumping efficiency to the reaction chamber.

Description

Atomic layer deposition equipment and method for controlling pumping rate

The present invention relates to an atomic layer deposition device, and more particularly, to a method for controlling a pumping rate of an atomic layer deposition device.

In the atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, the substrate is alternately soaked in two different reaction gas (precursor) environments, and a monolayer is formed thereon after the reaction. Two different reaction gases cannot exist in the reaction chamber at the same time, otherwise the two reaction gases react to produce a large amount of particulate pollutants, so the appropriate purge procedure (for example, to purge the gas) is required between the alternating processes of the reaction gases. Clean the reaction chamber). In order to increase the utilization rate of the reaction gas, the smaller the volume of the reaction chamber, the better. In addition, closing the suction valve during the immersion state can further increase the utilization rate of the reaction gas. However, the instantaneous vacuum (exhaust) easily raises the particulates (including the pollutants existing in the reaction chamber) and destroys the coating quality. In the smaller reaction chamber, this problem will become more serious. For this problem, usually in the immersion state, it is possible to keep the reaction chamber evacuated so that the gas in the reaction chamber can maintain a certain degree of flow state, thereby suppressing the rise of dust. At this time, in order to avoid excessive waste of reaction gas, the pump is usually operated at a lower pumping rate. However, during the cleaning process, the pump needs to increase the pumping rate to reduce the time taken by the cleaning process.

The demand for this pumping rate currently exists in the way of changing (or switching) the gas flow path (for example, using a specially designed air inlet chamber or air inlet (Shower) or quickly turning the hole-shaped wheel disc), but its reaction chamber The mechanism is complex, and the switching actions are all mechanical, the speed is slow, and the process time is increased. In addition, the author has changed the design of the valve body of the suction valve (such as a throttle valve and a butterfly valve), but the valve body is all mechanical, the speed is still not fast enough, and it is easy to accumulate between the components of the valve body Dust, which in turn affects coating quality. There are also authors who change the pumping end of the pump (for example, the size of the pumping line is adjustable), but the design of the reaction chamber mechanism is quite complicated, and may affect its plasma impedance, and its switching action is mechanical Type, slow speed, easy to accumulate dust in the twists and turns, and then affect the coating quality. It can also be implemented by changing the exhaust gas conductance of the pump to reduce the pumping efficiency, but this is only applicable to turbo molecular pumps. Other types of pumps have oil and gas return. doubt.

In view of the problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a pumping rate control method for an atomic layer deposition apparatus. The pumping rate control method uses changing the pumping load of the pumping device to achieve the purpose of changing the pumping rate of the pumping device to the reaction chamber.

The gas extraction rate control method according to the present invention is used in an atomic layer deposition device, which includes a reaction chamber, a gas supply device, a gas extraction device, and a parallel pipeline, and the gas supply device is connected to the reaction The chamber selectively provides at least two reaction gases and at least one purge gas of the reaction chamber. The pumping device is connected to the reaction chamber to pump the reaction chamber. The parallel pipeline is connected to the gas supply device and the pumping device. A parallel control valve is included, and the gas supply device provides a load gas through which the gas extraction device does not react with the at least two reaction gases via the parallel pipeline. The pumping rate control method includes the following steps: when the gas supply device provides the reaction chamber with one of the at least two reaction gases, opening the parallel control valve to cause the pumping device to pump the reaction chamber and the parallel pipeline at the same time Gas, reducing the pumping rate of the reaction chamber; and when the gas supply device provides the reaction chamber with the at least one purge gas, closing the parallel control valve so that the pumping device pumps the reaction chamber but does not Pump in parallel. Thereby, the gas extraction device can keep the gas extraction to the reaction chamber at all times, and dust can be prevented from being raised. When the reaction chamber is vented, the gas extraction device can evacuate the reaction chamber in a larger manner. The pumping rate is performed, so the pumping rate control method has both the maintenance of the coating quality and the shortening of the time for the reaction chamber to switch between different reaction gases.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an atomic layer deposition device having a parallel pipeline through which the suction load of a suction device can be changed so as to change the suction speed of the reaction device by the suction device. the goal of.

The atomic layer deposition apparatus according to the present invention includes a reaction chamber, an air extraction device, a gas supply device, and a parallel pipeline. The suction device is connected to the reaction chamber. The gas supply device includes at least three gas sources for providing a first reaction gas, a second reaction gas, a purge gas, and a load gas. The gas supply device is connected to the reaction chamber to selectively provide the reaction. The first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas in the chamber are not reacted with the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas. The parallel pipeline is directly connected to the pumping device and an air source for providing the load gas. The parallel pipeline includes a parallel control valve, and the gas supply device provides the pumping device with the load gas through the parallel pipeline. Wherein, when the gas supply device provides the first reaction gas or the second reaction gas in the reaction chamber, the parallel control valve is opened so that the pumping device simultaneously evacuates the reaction chamber and the parallel pipeline, and when When the air supply device provides the reaction chamber with the at least one purge gas, the parallel control valve is closed to make the air extraction device evacuate the reaction chamber but not the parallel pipeline. Thereby, the gas extraction device can keep the gas extraction to the reaction chamber at all times, and dust can be prevented from being raised. When the reaction chamber is vented, the gas extraction device can evacuate the reaction chamber in a larger manner. The pumping rate is performed, so the pumping rate control method has both the maintenance of the coating quality and the shortening of the time for the reaction chamber to switch between different reaction gases.

Compared with the prior art, the atomic layer deposition device and the pumping rate control method thereof according to the present invention utilize additional pumping space (ie, the parallel pipeline) to adjust the pumping load of the pumping device. The atomic layer deposition The other components of the equipment do not need to be modified, that is, the other components can remain unchanged in structure. Therefore, the atomic layer deposition equipment can be easily satisfied with maintaining the air extraction of the reaction chamber to avoid lifting when it is immersed through a simple structural change (that is, adding the parallel pipeline relative to the conventional atomic layer deposition equipment). Dust and accelerated pumping of the reaction chamber during the purge procedure to reduce the time required to switch the reaction gas.

The advantages and spirit of the present invention can be further understood through the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.

See Figure 1. According to an embodiment of the present invention, an atomic layer deposition apparatus 1 includes a reaction chamber 10, a gas supply device 12, a suction device 14, a parallel pipeline 16, and a control system (not shown in the figure). A suction device 14 is connected to the reaction chamber 10. The gas supply device 12 includes a first gas source 122, a second gas source 124, a third gas source 126, and a fourth gas source 127. The first gas source 122 is used to provide a first reaction gas and a second gas source. The source 124 is used to provide a second reaction gas, the third gas source 126 is used to provide a purge gas, and the fourth gas source 127 is used to provide a load gas. The gas supply device 12 is connected to the reaction chamber 10 to selectively provide the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas, and the purge gas in the reaction chamber 10, and the purge gas and the load gas are not related to the first reaction gas. And the second reaction gas; in practice, the purge gas and the load gas may be inert gas or nitrogen, but the present invention is not limited thereto; for example, other reaction gases that do not react with the reaction chamber 10 ( That is, the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas) react. The parallel pipeline 16 is directly connected to the extraction device 14 and a fourth gas source 127 for providing the load gas, and includes a parallel control valve 162. The gas supply device 12 provides the extraction device 14 with the load gas through the parallel pipeline 16.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the gas supply device 12 includes a first connection pipeline 128, a second connection pipeline 130, a first bypass pipeline 132, and a second bypass pipeline 134. The first connection line 128 is connected to the reaction chamber 10 and is connected to the first gas source 122 through a valve V1a, and the third gas source 126 is connected to the first connection line 128 through a valve V3a; the second connection line 130 is connected to The reaction chamber 10 is connected to the second air source 124 via a valve V2a, and the third air source 126 is connected to the second connection pipe 130 via a valve V3b; the first bypass line 132 is connected to the suction device 14 and via a valve V1b is connected to the first air source 122; the second bypass line 134 is connected to the air extraction device 14 and is connected to the second air source 124 via the valve V2b. The parallel line 16 is connected to the air extraction device 14 and is connected to the fourth air source 127 via the valve V4. The parallel pipeline 16 is independent of the first connection pipeline 128, the second connection pipeline 130, the first bypass pipeline 132, and the second bypass pipeline 134, so the parallel pipeline 16 will not have the first reaction gas and This second reaction gas circulates. The suction device 14 is connected to the reaction chamber 10 via a suction valve 142. The control system is electrically connected to the reaction chamber 10, the gas supply device 12, the air extraction device 14 and the valves V1a, V1b, V2a, V2b, V3a, V3b, V4, 142, 162 to control the atomic layer deposition equipment 1 Operation. The air extraction device 14 discharges gas via its exhaust air guide. In practice, the atomic layer deposition equipment 1 may be implemented by a general atomic layer deposition equipment and a parallel pipeline 16. Therefore, for other descriptions of the atomic layer deposition equipment 1, reference may be made to the general atomic layer deposition equipment without further description, such as pumping. The air device 14 uses a general suction pump. In addition, in practice, the valves V1a, V2a, V3a, V3b, and 162 are all implemented as diaphragm valves to enable fast operation.

When the atomic layer deposition equipment 1 is operating, when the gas supply device 12 sequentially supplies the reaction chamber 10 with the first reaction gas or the second reaction gas to form a coating film on a substrate W provided in the reaction chamber 10 (that is, The reaction chamber 10 is in a soaking state), and the control system opens the parallel control valve 162 so that the air extraction device 14 simultaneously evacuates the reaction chamber 10 and the parallel pipeline 16. In other words, the extraction load of the extraction device 14 at this time includes the reaction chamber 10 and the parallel pipeline 16 (that is, the space formed therein is logically represented by a load space 16a, as shown by the dashed box in FIG. 1); On the other hand, at this time, the gas extraction device 14 continuously extracts the gas (that is, the first reaction gas or the second reaction gas) in the reaction chamber 10 and extracts the load gas through the parallel pipe 16. Therefore, the pumping rate of the reaction chamber 10 is low at this time. In addition, when the gas supply device 12 provides the reaction chamber 10 and the purge gas is used to purge the reaction gas in the reaction chamber 10 (that is, the first reaction gas or the second reaction gas), the control system closes the parallel control valve 162 This allows the suction device 14 to evacuate the reaction chamber 10 but not the parallel line 16. In other words, at this time, the pumping load of the pumping device 14 does not include the parallel pipeline 16, so the reaction chamber 10 can obtain a higher pumping rate, which is beneficial to the switching operation of the reaction gas in the reaction chamber 10.

In this embodiment, when the atomic layer deposition device 1 is in the operation of coating deposition, the extraction valve 142 is kept open, and the extraction device 14 always keeps the extraction of the reaction chamber 10, which can avoid raising dust, and the reaction chamber 10 When carrying out the purge procedure, the evacuation of the reaction chamber 10 by the evacuation device 14 can be performed at a relatively large evacuation rate, so the evacuation rate control method adopted by the atomic layer deposition equipment 1 has both the maintenance of the coating quality and the shortening of the reaction chamber. 10 Time to switch between different reaction gases. In addition, in practice, the parallel pipeline 16 may physically include a load cavity 164 (as shown in FIG. 2) for containing the load gas, and the parallel control valve 162 is located in the load cavity 164 and the air extraction device 14. between. Therefore, when the parallel control valve 162 is opened, the suction device 14 evacuates the load cavity 164 and also the space in the parallel pipeline 16 (ie, the aforementioned load space 16a); when the parallel control valve 162 is closed, the pump The air device 14 does not evacuate the load cavity 164. Therefore, the load chamber 164 increases the pumping load of the pumping device 14. By controlling the volume of the load chamber 164, it is helpful to control the pumping rate of the pumping device 14 to the reaction chamber 10. For example, when the load chamber 164 has the same volume as the reaction chamber 10, generally, the pumping rate of the reaction chamber 10 when it is in the soaking state is about half that when the purge procedure is performed; in practice, the volume of the load chamber 164 is the reaction The volume of the chamber 10 is 1/5 to 5 times, but the present invention is not limited to this.

See also Figure 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for controlling an extraction rate according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the pumping rate control method is implemented in the aforementioned atomic layer deposition apparatus 1 (shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2), and the related description of the atomic layer deposition apparatus 1 is as described above, and will not be described again. When the atomic layer deposition equipment 1 is in operation, the valves 142 and V4 are kept open and the suction device 14 is kept in the suction state. Therefore, the valves 142 and V4 can be used as valves with a slower moving speed, but the present invention is not limited thereto; moreover, The valves V1b, V2b remain closed. The valves V1a, V2a, V3a, and V3b are initially closed, and the atomic layer deposition device 1 performs pumping control according to the pumping rate control method. As shown in FIG. 3, the pumping rate control method evacuates the reaction chamber 10 to a desired background pressure, as shown in step S110; then, the parallel control valve 162 is opened to reduce the pumping rate of the reaction chamber 10 and make the The first reaction gas enters the reaction chamber 10, for example, the valves V2a, V3a, and V3b are kept closed, and the valve V1a is opened so that the first reaction gas can enter the reaction chamber 10 through the first connection pipe 128, so that the reaction chamber 10 can be at the first A state of reaction gas soaking, as shown in step S120.

After the reaction of the first reaction gas with the substrate W (including the film layer thereon) is completed, the pumping rate control method closes the valve V1a so that the first reaction gas stops entering the reaction chamber 10 through the first connection pipe 128 and is closed. Control valve 162 in parallel to increase the pumping rate of pumping device 14 to reaction chamber 10 and allow the purge gas to enter reaction chamber 10, for example, keep valve V3b closed and open valve V3a so that the purge gas can pass through the first connection line 128 enters the reaction chamber 10 to clean the reaction chamber 10, as shown in step S130.

After the reaction chamber 10 is cleaned, the pumping rate control method closes the valve V3a so that the purge gas stops entering the reaction chamber 10 via the first connection line 128, and the parallel control valve 162 is opened to reduce the pumping rate of the reaction chamber 10. The second reaction gas is allowed to enter the reaction chamber 10, for example, the valves V1a, V3a, and V3b are kept closed, and the valve V2a is opened so that the second reaction gas can enter the reaction chamber 10 through the second connection pipe 130 so that the reaction chamber 10 can The second reaction gas is soaked, as shown in step S140.

After the reaction of the second reaction gas with the substrate W (including the film layer thereon) is completed, the pumping rate control method closes the valve V2a so that the second reaction gas stops entering the reaction chamber 10 through the second connection pipe 130 and is closed. Control valve 162 in parallel to increase the pumping rate of pumping device 14 to reaction chamber 10 and allow the purge gas to enter reaction chamber 10, for example, keep valve V3a closed and open valve V3b so that the purge gas can pass through the second connection line 130 enters the reaction chamber 10 to clean the reaction chamber 10, as shown in step S150.

After the reaction chamber 10 is cleaned, the plating film deposition on the substrate W is completed once. Next, the pumping rate control method determines whether the plating film on the substrate W has a predetermined thickness, as shown in step S160. If it is determined that the predetermined thickness has not been reached, the process returns to step S120 and repeats steps S120 to S150; if it is determined that the predetermined thickness has been reached, the deposition operation is ended. Next, the pumping rate control method inflates the reaction chamber 10, as shown in step S170; for example, the pumping valve 142 is closed, and then the valves V3a, V3b are opened by the purge gas or other gas (via the existing pipeline or otherwise) Cooperatingly provided pipelines) aerate the reaction chamber 10. After filling the gas, the coated substrate W can be taken out from the reaction chamber 10.

It is added that the foregoing embodiments are based on two types of reaction gases, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In practice, there is general knowledge in the technical field based on the foregoing description, and it is possible to infer more types of reaction gases to form a coating film. The atomic layer deposition equipment and its pumping rate control method need not be described in detail. In addition, in the foregoing embodiment, the same purge gas is used to purge the gas in the reaction chamber 10 (including the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas), but the present invention is not limited thereto. In practice, different purge gases can be used with different reaction gases, and the load gas can be the same as one of the purge gases, or can be implemented with other gases. In addition, in the foregoing embodiment, the load gas and the purge gas are provided by the third gas source 126 and the fourth gas source 127, respectively, so the load gas and the purge gas may be different gases. In practice, the load gas and the purge gas can also be the same gas. In this case, the fourth gas source 127 can be omitted and the third gas source 126 (or the third gas source and the fourth gas source) can be omitted. (Merge) Provide the load gas and the purge gas at the same time, as shown in FIG. 4. The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

1‧‧‧ Atomic Layer Deposition Equipment

10‧‧‧ Reaction Room

12‧‧‧Air supply device

122‧‧‧ the first gas source

124‧‧‧Second gas source

126‧‧‧Third gas source

127‧‧‧Fourth gas source

128‧‧‧first connection line

130‧‧‧Second connection line

132‧‧‧The first bypass line

134‧‧‧Second bypass line

14‧‧‧Exhaust device

142‧‧‧Exhaust valve

16‧‧‧ parallel pipeline

16a‧‧‧Load space

162‧‧‧parallel control valve

164‧‧‧load cavity

V1a, V1b, V2a, V2b, V3a, V3b, V4‧‧‧ valves

W‧‧‧ substrate

S110 ~ S170‧‧‧Implementation steps

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an atomic layer deposition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an atomic layer deposition apparatus according to another embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for controlling an extraction rate according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an atomic layer deposition apparatus according to another embodiment.

Claims (12)

An extraction rate control method for an atomic layer deposition device. The atomic layer deposition device includes a reaction chamber, a gas supply device, a gas extraction device, and a parallel pipeline. The gas supply device is connected to the reaction chamber to Selectively providing at least two reaction gases and at least one purge gas in the reaction chamber, the pumping device is connected to the reaction chamber to pump the reaction chamber, and the parallel pipeline is connected to the gas supply device and the pumping device and includes A parallel control valve, the gas supply device provides a load gas through which the gas extraction device does not react with the at least two reaction gases via the parallel pipeline, and the gas extraction rate control method includes the following steps: when the gas supply device provides the reaction Opening one of the at least two reaction gases in the chamber, opening the parallel control valve so that the pumping device simultaneously pumps the reaction chamber and the parallel pipeline; and when the gas supply device provides the reaction chamber with the at least one purge gas At this time, the parallel control valve is closed so that the pumping device pumps the reaction chamber but does not pump the parallel pipeline. The pumping rate control method according to claim 1, wherein the parallel pipeline includes a load chamber for containing the load gas, and the parallel control valve is located between the load chamber and the pumping device. When the parallel control valve is opened, the pumping device evacuates the load cavity, and when the parallel control valve is closed, the pumping device does not evacuate the load cavity. The pumping rate control method according to claim 2, wherein the volume of the load chamber is 1/5 to 5 times the volume of the reaction chamber. The pumping rate control method according to claim 1, wherein the purge gas is nitrogen or an inert gas. The pumping rate control method according to claim 1, wherein the load gas is nitrogen or an inert gas. The pumping rate control method according to claim 1, wherein the purge gas and the load gas do not react with the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas. An atomic layer deposition device includes: a reaction chamber; an air extraction device connected to the reaction chamber; a gas supply device including at least three gas sources for providing a first reaction gas, a second reaction gas, A purge gas and a load gas, the gas supply device is connected to the reaction chamber to selectively provide the first reaction gas, the second reaction gas and the purge gas, the purge gas and the load gas in the reaction chamber Both do not react with the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas; and a parallel pipeline directly connected to the pumping device and a gas source for providing the load gas, the parallel pipeline includes a parallel control valve The gas supply device provides the pumping device and the load gas through the parallel pipeline; wherein when the gas supply device provides the first reaction gas or the second reaction gas in the reaction chamber, the parallel control valve is opened so that The pumping device evacuates the reaction chamber and the parallel pipeline at the same time, and when the gas supply device provides the reaction chamber with the at least one purge gas, the parallel control valve is closed to make the pumping equipment The reaction chamber is not evacuated, but the parallel exhaust line. The atomic layer deposition equipment according to claim 7, wherein the parallel pipeline includes a load cavity for containing the load gas, and the parallel control valve is located between the load cavity and the pumping device. When the parallel control valve is opened, the pumping device evacuates the load cavity, and when the parallel control valve is closed, the pumping device does not evacuate the load cavity. The atomic layer deposition apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the volume of the load chamber is 1/5 to 5 times the volume of the reaction chamber. The atomic layer deposition apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the purge gas is nitrogen or an inert gas. The atomic layer deposition apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the load gas is nitrogen or an inert gas. The atomic layer deposition apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the purge gas and the load gas do not react with the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas.