CN117187780A

CN117187780A - Semiconductor substrate processing device and film thickness improvement method

Info

Publication number: CN117187780A
Application number: CN202210597406.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卢佳宾
Original assignee: Changxin Memory Technologies Inc
Current assignee: Changxin Memory Technologies Inc
Priority date: 2022-05-30
Filing date: 2022-05-30
Publication date: 2023-12-08
Also published as: WO2023231054A1

Abstract

The application relates to a semiconductor substrate processing device and a film thickness improving method, wherein the bottom end of an exhaust pipeline is abutted or connected with the upper surface of an airflow control ring, namely, the inner ring of the traditional exhaust pipeline is extended to the upper surface of the airflow control ring, and a plurality of exhaust holes are arranged on the inner ring at intervals and are communicated with a reaction chamber through the exhaust holes. In addition, the opening ratio of the exhaust holes in each area on the inner ring tends to increase in the direction away from the exhaust port, that is, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes in each area on the inner ring is improved, so that the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes in each area on the inner ring is kept consistent or basically consistent. Therefore, the influence of different air flows at different positions on the semiconductor substrate caused by the deviation of the position of the exhaust port from the center position of the reaction chamber can be made up, the uniformity of the thickness of the film on the finally produced semiconductor substrate is better, and the product quality is improved.

Description

Semiconductor substrate processing apparatus and film thickness improvement method

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology, and more particularly, to a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus and a film thickness improvement method.

Background

In the conventional art, productivity (for example, the number of semiconductor substrates that can be processed per unit time) is a very important factor in a mass production process for a semiconductor or display processing apparatus. Devices capable of mass production typically include batch reactors and single-chip stations. Among them, a batch reactor is a system in which tens of semiconductor substrates are vertically stacked, loaded into the reactor, and then processed. It can be seen that the batch reactor can process tens of semiconductor substrates at a time with high productivity, but the batch reactor has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to precisely control the production process of a single semiconductor substrate by simultaneously processing a plurality of semiconductor substrates through the same reaction chamber. For the single-chip machine, the single-chip machine is provided with a plurality of cavities, each cavity is provided with at least two reaction chambers, and the exhaust port is positioned at the middle position of the two reaction chambers and used for collecting waste gas generated by processing the semiconductor substrate to obtain the film, and the defects of uneven film thickness are still present although the production efficiency can be ensured and the processing quality of the film is improved to a certain extent.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on this, it is necessary to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus and a film thickness improvement method capable of improving uniformity of film thickness.

The technical scheme is as follows: a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus comprising: the reactor comprises at least two bearing tables for bearing semiconductor substrates, spray heads, an airflow control ring and an exhaust pipeline, wherein the spray heads are arranged opposite to the bearing tables at intervals, the airflow control ring is circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables, the exhaust pipeline, the bearing tables, the airflow control ring and the spray heads are circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables to form a reaction chamber, the bottom ends of the exhaust pipeline are abutted against or connected with the upper surface of the airflow control ring, an inner ring is arranged at the bottom end of the exhaust pipeline, a plurality of exhaust holes are formed in the inner ring at intervals, and the exhaust holes are communicated with the reaction chamber; and the common exhaust mechanism is provided with an exhaust port, the reaction chamber is communicated with the exhaust port through the exhaust hole, and the opening ratio of the exhaust hole in each region on the inner ring tends to increase in the direction away from the exhaust port.

In one embodiment, the vent hole aperture on the inner ring increases in a direction away from the vent.

In one embodiment, the vent apertures in the inner ring increase progressively in an arithmetic progression in a direction away from the vent.

In one embodiment, the tolerance of the vent aperture is defined as t1, t1 being 0.01nm to 0.1nm.

In one embodiment, the vent hole spacing on the inner ring is in a decreasing trend in a direction away from the vent.

In one embodiment, the vent hole pitch on the inner ring is gradually reduced in an arithmetic progression in a direction away from the vent.

In one embodiment, the tolerance of the vent hole spacing is defined as t2, t2 being-5 mm to-0.5 mm.

In one embodiment, the hole diameter of the exhaust hole of the inner ring closest to the exhaust port is defined as d, the length of the inner ring along the axial direction is defined as h, and d and h satisfy the following relationship: d=20%h to 50%h.

In one embodiment, d=30% h to 40% h.

In one embodiment, a plane passing through the central axis of the reaction chamber and the central axis of the exhaust port is defined as a reference plane, and the exhaust holes on the inner ring are symmetrically arranged with respect to the reference plane.

In one embodiment, the number of the exhaust holes is 60 to 200.

In one embodiment, when the number of reactors is at least three, at least three of the reactors are spaced around the exhaust port.

In one embodiment, the number of the reactors is two, a plane passing through the central axis of the reaction chamber and the central axis of the exhaust port is defined as a reference plane, and the connection lines of the two reference planes are arranged at an included angle.

In one embodiment, the angle between the two reference surfaces is defined as a, which is 45 ° to 135 °.

In one embodiment, the shape of the vent hole is circular, elliptical, square, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal or octagonal; the shape of the exhaust port is round, elliptic, square, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal and octagonal.

A method for improving film thickness of a semiconductor substrate, which uses a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus comprising a reactor and a common exhaust mechanism; the reactor comprises at least two bearing tables for bearing the semiconductor substrate, spray heads arranged at intervals opposite to the bearing tables, an airflow control ring circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables, and exhaust pipelines circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables, wherein the exhaust pipelines, the bearing tables, the airflow control ring and the spray heads are enclosed to form a reaction chamber; the common exhaust mechanism is provided with an exhaust port communicated with the reaction chamber;

The film thickness improvement method of the semiconductor substrate includes the steps of: and adjusting the air flow at different positions of the semiconductor substrate to reduce the air flow deviation at different positions of the semiconductor substrate.

In one embodiment, the method for adjusting the air flow at different positions of the semiconductor substrate to reduce the air flow deviation at different positions of the semiconductor substrate includes:

the exhaust duct is modified so that the deviation in the magnitude of the exhaust outwardly from each position in the circumferential direction of the reaction chamber through the exhaust duct is reduced.

In one embodiment, modifying the exhaust conduit comprises the steps of:

the bottom end of the exhaust pipeline is abutted or connected with the upper surface of the airflow control ring;

the bottom of exhaust duct is equipped with the inner ring be equipped with a plurality of exhaust holes of spaced on the inner ring, the exhaust hole with the reaction chamber is linked together, the reaction chamber passes through the exhaust hole with the gas vent is linked together, makes each regional on the inner ring the hole ratio of exhaust hole is the increase trend in the direction of keeping away from the gas vent.

In one embodiment, when the thickness of the film at a certain area on the semiconductor substrate is higher than the average value of the thickness of the film on the semiconductor substrate, the aperture ratio of the part of the inner ring corresponding to the certain area is increased; when the film thickness of a certain area position on the semiconductor substrate is lower than the average value of the film thickness on the semiconductor substrate, the opening ratio of a part corresponding to the certain area position on the inner ring is reduced.

In one embodiment, the increasing the opening rate of the exhaust hole in each region of the inner ring in a direction away from the exhaust port includes:

the aperture of the exhaust hole on the inner ring is made to be in an increasing trend in a direction away from the exhaust port; and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the distance between the vent holes on the inner ring is reduced in the direction away from the vent.

In the semiconductor substrate processing device and the film thickness improving method, the bottom end of the exhaust pipeline is abutted or connected with the upper surface of the airflow control ring, namely, the inner ring of the traditional exhaust pipeline is extended to the upper surface of the airflow control ring, and a plurality of exhaust holes are arranged on the inner ring at intervals and are communicated with the reaction chamber through the exhaust holes. In addition, the opening ratio of the exhaust holes in each area on the inner ring tends to increase in the direction away from the exhaust port, that is, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes in each area on the inner ring is improved, so that the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes in each area on the inner ring is kept consistent or basically consistent. Therefore, the influence of different air flows at different positions on the semiconductor substrate caused by the deviation of the position of the exhaust port from the center position of the reaction chamber can be made up, the uniformity of the thickness of the film on the finally produced semiconductor substrate is better, and the product quality is improved.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application, illustrate and explain the application and together with the description serve to explain the application.

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a single-chip microcomputer stage according to an embodiment of the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a simplified top view of the reaction chamber and exhaust port of the single-chip microcomputer station shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic diagram of the singlechip stage shown in FIG. 1 at A;

FIG. 4 is a thermal image of a semiconductor substrate produced by the single-chip microcomputer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a structure of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a simplified schematic view of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 5 at B;

FIG. 7 is a simplified top view of the reaction chamber and exhaust port of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 5;

fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the inner ring shown in fig. 7 through the reference plane L toward the direction f;

FIG. 9 is a simplified top view of a reaction chamber and exhaust port of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is a simplified top view of a reaction chamber and exhaust port of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 11 is a simplified top view of a reaction chamber and exhaust port of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 5;

fig. 12 is a thermal image of a semiconductor substrate produced by the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus shown in fig. 5.

110. A reaction chamber; 120. an exhaust port; 130. a spray head; 140. a semiconductor substrate; 150. an exhaust duct; 160. an airflow control ring; 170. a gap;

200. a reactor; 210. a carrying platform; 220. a spray head; 230. an airflow control ring; 240. an exhaust duct; 241. an inner ring; 2411. an exhaust hole; 250. a reaction chamber; 300. a common exhaust mechanism; 310. an exhaust port; 400. a semiconductor substrate.

Detailed Description

In order that the above objects, features and advantages of the application will be readily understood, a more particular description of the application will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present application. The application may be embodied in many other forms than described herein and similarly modified by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the application, which is therefore not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.

As described above, the inventor has found that the reason for the uneven film thickness of the semiconductor substrate produced by the monolithic computer in the conventional technology is that the distances between the exhaust structure and the exhaust port are different, so that the outward exhaust speed of the exhaust structure at the position far from the exhaust port is significantly lower than that at the position close to the exhaust port. The following will be a detailed analysis of the conventional single-chip stage according to an embodiment.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a single-chip stage according to an embodiment of the prior art, fig. 2 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating a top view of a reaction chamber 110 and an exhaust port 120 of the single-chip stage shown in fig. 1, and fig. 3 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating a portion a of the single-chip stage shown in fig. 1. Generally, during the process of the singlechip stage, process gases are delivered from the top of the chamber down to the interior of the reaction chamber 110. In order to ensure good uniformity of film thickness, it is required that the process gas is uniformly supplied, that is, a plurality of gas inlets are uniformly formed in the showerhead 130 of the reaction chamber 110, thereby ensuring that the process gas is uniformly supplied to the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 140. The process gas enters the reaction chamber 110 through the showerhead 130 and then undergoes a chemical reaction, and the gas generated during the reaction and the excessive process gas are discharged to the exhaust port 120 through the gap 170 between the exhaust pipe 150 and the gas flow control ring 160, and finally pumped to the factory by the pumping device.

Referring to fig. 2 and 4, fig. 4 shows a thermal image of the semiconductor substrate 140 produced by the monolithically shown in fig. 1. In this embodiment, since the semiconductor substrate 140 processed simultaneously in each cavity of the monolithic apparatus is greater than or equal to 2, and specifically, taking the semiconductor substrate 140 processed simultaneously in each cavity as an example, the simplified diagram of the top view is shown in fig. 2, and the exhaust port 120 is located in the middle of the two reaction chambers 110. The inventors have found that there is a large difference in the exhaust speed of the exhaust duct 150 at points b and c in fig. 2, that is, the exhaust speed of the exhaust duct 150 tends to gradually decrease with increasing distance from the exhaust port 120, resulting in uniformity of each semiconductor substrate 140 being greater than a standard value (the standard value is generally set to 0.1), it is possible to obtain a film uniformity of the semiconductor substrate 140 of 0.31 and a film thickness of the upper left position of the semiconductor substrate 140 by fig. 4.

It should be noted that the semiconductor substrate in this embodiment includes, but is not limited to, a wafer, and may also be other semiconductor structures, which can be flexibly set and selected according to actual requirements.

Based on this, referring to fig. 5 to 8, fig. 5 shows a schematic structural view of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, fig. 6 shows a simplified schematic structural view of a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus shown in fig. 5 at B, fig. 7 shows a simplified schematic structural view of an embodiment of a reaction chamber 250 and an exhaust port 310 of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus shown in fig. 5, fig. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of an inner ring 241 shown in fig. 7 along a direction f through a reference plane L, and an embodiment of the present application provides a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus comprising: reactor 200 and common exhaust mechanism 300. The reactor 200 includes at least two reactors 200, and the reactor 200 includes a susceptor 210 for carrying a semiconductor substrate 400, a shower head 220 disposed opposite to the susceptor 210 at a spacing, an air flow control ring 230 circumferentially disposed around the susceptor 210, and an exhaust duct 240 circumferentially disposed around the susceptor 210. The exhaust pipe 240, the carrying table 210, the airflow control ring 230 and the nozzle 220 enclose a reaction chamber 250, and the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 240 is abutted or connected with the upper surface of the airflow control ring 230. Specifically, an inner ring 241 is provided at the bottom end of the exhaust duct 240, and the inner ring 241 abuts against or is connected to the upper surface of the airflow control ring 230. The inner ring 241 is provided with a plurality of spaced exhaust holes 2411, and the exhaust holes 2411 are communicated with the reaction chamber 250. The common exhaust mechanism 300 is provided with an exhaust port 310, and the reaction chamber 250 communicates with the exhaust port 310 through exhaust holes 2411, and the aperture ratio of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 tends to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310.

The aperture ratio of the exhaust hole 2411 in a certain region of the inner ring 241 refers to a ratio of a total area of the apertures of the exhaust hole 2411 in a certain region of the inner ring 241 to an area of the certain region.

It should be further noted that, the inner ring 241 refers to a pipe section of the exhaust pipe 240 closest to the central axis of the reaction chamber 250 (shown by a dashed line O in fig. 5), that is, a distance from the central axis of the reaction chamber 250 is smaller than a distance from other portions of the exhaust pipe 240 to the central axis, and is located at the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 240. In addition, the purpose of the inner ring 241 abutting against or connecting with the upper surface of the airflow control ring 230 is to avoid a gap between the inner ring 241 and the upper surface of the airflow control ring 230, so that the airflow in the reaction chamber 250 can be prevented from flowing out through the gap, so that the airflow in the reaction chamber 250 is mainly discharged out of the reaction chamber 250 through the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241, and the outward discharging effect of the airflow in the reaction chamber 250 can be better controlled by adjusting the size and the number of the exhaust holes 2411, so that the outward discharging speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each area on the inner ring 241 can be kept consistent or basically consistent. Of course, as some alternative solutions, the inner ring 241 may abut against the end surface of the airflow control ring 230, and/or the air holes may be formed at the portion where the upper surface of the airflow control ring 230 contacts the inner ring 241, so as to increase the exhaust flow, specifically, where to open the air holes, and the number and size of the air holes may be flexibly adjusted and set according to the actual needs, which is not limited herein.

It should be noted that, the "inner ring 241" may be a "portion of the exhaust duct 240", that is, the "inner ring 241" is integrally formed with the "other portion of the exhaust duct 240"; or may be a separate component from the other portion of the exhaust duct 240, i.e., the inner ring 241 may be manufactured separately and then combined with the other portion of the exhaust duct 240 into a single body.

In one embodiment, when the inner ring 241 is attached to the upper surface of the airflow control ring 230, the "inner ring 241" may be a "portion of the airflow control ring 230", i.e., the "inner ring 241" is integrally formed with "other portions of the airflow control ring 230"; or may be a separate component from the other portions of the airflow control ring 230, i.e., the inner ring 241 may be manufactured separately and then integrated with the other portions of the airflow control ring 230.

The reactor 200 may be a space in which the semiconductor substrate 400 is processed. Although only one reactor 200 is shown in fig. 5, a plurality of reactors 200 (as shown in fig. 7) may be implemented. The reactor 200 may provide space for heating, depositing, etching, polishing, ion implantation, and/or other processing of the semiconductor substrate 400.

For example, the reactor 200 may be configured to perform a moving function, a vacuum sealing function, a heating function, an exhausting function, and/or other functions on the semiconductor substrate 400, thereby processing objects in the reactor 200. For example, the reactor 200 may include a reaction chamber 250 for processing the semiconductor substrate 400 and an exhaust duct 240 for exhausting gas inside the reaction chamber 250.

In the above-mentioned semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, since the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 240 is abutted against or connected with the upper surface of the gas flow control ring 230, that is, the inner ring 241 of the conventional exhaust pipe 240 is extended to the upper surface of the gas flow control ring 230, and a plurality of exhaust holes 2411 are arranged at intervals on the inner ring 241, and are communicated with the reaction chamber 250 through the exhaust holes 2411. In addition, the opening ratio of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 tends to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310, that is, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 is improved, so that the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 is kept uniform or substantially uniform. In this way, the influence of different air flows at different positions on the semiconductor substrate 400 caused by the deviation of the position of the air outlet 310 from the center position of the reaction chamber 250 can be compensated, and the uniformity of the thickness of the film on the finally produced semiconductor substrate 400 is better, and the product quality is improved.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, the left end of the view shown in fig. 8 is relatively far from the exhaust port 310, and the right end of the view is relatively close to the exhaust port 310. In one embodiment, the aperture of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 increases in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 at different positions on the inner ring 241 is changed to adjust the aperture ratio of the exhaust hole 2411 at different regions on the inner ring 241, so that the aperture ratio of the exhaust hole 2411 at each region on the inner ring 241 tends to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the apertures of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 are gradually increased in an equal progression in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 can be well controlled, so that the exhaust speed of each region of the inner ring 241 is kept uniform or substantially uniform, which is beneficial to uniformity of film thickness.

In one embodiment, the tolerance of the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 is defined as t1, t1 being 0.01nm to 0.1nm. Specifically, t1 includes, but is not limited to, 0.01nm, 0.02nm, 0.03nm, 0.04nm, 0.05nm, 0.06nm, 0.08nm, 0.09nm, 0.1nm, t1 may also be a value set to be greater than 0.1nm, such as 0.12nm, 0.14nm, 0.16nm, 0.18nm, 0.2nm, 0.22nm, 0.24nm, 0.26nm, 0.28nm, 0.3nm, 0.32nm, 0.34nm, 0.36nm, 0.38nm, and the like, according to actual needs. As a specific example, t1 is 0.04nm, so that the thickness uniformity of the thin film on the semiconductor substrate 400 is found to be good by thermography, and the uniformity meets the criteria.

It should be noted that, as an alternative, the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 in the direction away from the exhaust port 310 is not limited to the gradual increase according to the equal difference sequence in the above embodiment, but may also be increased according to other manners, for example, increase in such a manner that the difference value gradually decreases, then increase in such a manner that the difference value is a constant value, then increase in such a manner that the difference value gradually increases, and then increase in such a manner that the difference value is a constant value; for another example, the difference is increased to a constant value, and then the difference is increased gradually; for another example, the difference is increased gradually and then the difference is increased gradually. In particular, how to set the device is also in various manners, and the device can be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual requirements, which is not limited herein.

Of course, as an alternative, the hole diameters of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 may also be kept constant in the direction away from the exhaust port 310, or may be reduced first and then increased, or may be arranged in other manners, so that the hole diameters of the exhaust holes 2411 in the respective areas on the inner ring 241 may be increased in the direction away from the exhaust port 310 by adjusting the hole distances and/or the arrangement numbers of the exhaust holes 2411.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the hole spacing of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 decreases in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the hole ratios of the exhaust holes 2411 in different regions on the inner ring 241 are adjusted by changing the hole pitch of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241, so that the hole ratios of the exhaust holes 2411 in the respective regions on the inner ring 241 tend to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. That is, the more dispersed the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 closer to the exhaust port 310, the denser the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 farther from the exhaust port 310 will be.

In one embodiment, the hole spacing of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 is progressively reduced in an equal progression in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region on the inner ring 241 can be well controlled, so that the exhaust speed in each region on the inner ring 241 is kept uniform or substantially uniform, which is beneficial to uniformity of film thickness.

As an alternative, the hole pitch of the exhaust hole 2411 is not limited to the decreasing in the equal difference series in the above embodiment in the direction away from the exhaust hole 310, but may be decreased in other manners, for example, decreased in such a manner that the difference value is gradually decreased, then decreased in such a manner that the difference value is a constant value, then decreased in such a manner that the difference value is gradually increased, and then decreased in such a manner that the difference value is a constant value; for another example, the difference is first decreased in a manner that the difference is a constant value, and then decreased in a manner that the difference is gradually increased; for another example, the difference is first reduced in such a way that the difference gradually increases and then reduced in such a way that the difference is a constant value. In particular, how to set the device is also in various modes, and the device can be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual requirements, and the device is not limited herein.

Of course, as an alternative, when the hole sizes of the exhaust holes 2411 at different positions are sufficiently changed so that the hole opening ratios of the exhaust holes 2411 at the respective regions on the inner ring 241 are increased in a direction away from the exhaust port 310, and so that the uniformity of the thin film after the semiconductor substrate 400 is manufactured is satisfactory, for example, the hole pitches of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 are kept uniform, or are increased in a direction away from the exhaust port 310, or are increased first and then decreased, or are otherwise arranged.

In one embodiment, the tolerance of the vent 2411 hole spacing is defined as t2, t2 being-5 mm to-0.5 mm. Specifically, t2 includes, but is not limited to, -5mm, -4mm, -3mm, -2.5mm, -2mm, -1.9mm, -1.8mm, -1.7mm, -1.6mm, -1.5mm, -1.4mm, -1.3mm, -1.2mm, -1.1mm, -1mm, -0.9mm, -0.8mm, -0.7mm, -0.5mm, t2 may also be a value set to less than-5 mm according to actual needs, for example, -10mm, -9mm, -8mm, -7mm, -6mm, and the like. As a specific example, t1 is-1 mm, so that the thickness uniformity of the thin film on the semiconductor substrate 400 is found to be good by thermography, and the uniformity meets the criteria.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 on the inner ring 241 closest to the exhaust port 310 is defined as d, the length of the inner ring 241 along the axial direction thereof is defined as h, and d and h satisfy the following relationship: d=20%h to 50%h. In this way, the hole diameter d of the exhaust hole 2411 is set reasonably, which can improve the exhaust speed of the exhaust hole 2411 in each area on the inner ring 241, so that the exhaust speed of the exhaust hole 2411 in each area on the inner ring 241 is kept consistent or substantially consistent. The thickness uniformity of the thin film on the semiconductor substrate 400 was found to be good by thermography, and the uniformity satisfied the criteria.

In one embodiment, d=30% h to 40% h. Thus, the applicant researches find that when d is set in the range, the d is set reasonably, so that the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each area on the inner ring 241 can be improved, the improvement effect is obvious, and the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each area on the inner ring 241 can be kept consistent or basically consistent. The thickness uniformity of the thin film on the semiconductor substrate 400 was found to be good by thermography, and the uniformity satisfied the criteria.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, a plane passing through the central axis of the reaction chamber 250 and the central axis of the exhaust port 310 is defined as a reference plane (a plane passing through the dotted line L and perpendicular to the paper surface as shown in fig. 7), and the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 are symmetrically arranged with respect to the reference plane. In this way, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each area of the inner ring 241 is kept consistent or substantially consistent, so that the influence of different airflows at different positions on the semiconductor substrate 400 caused by the deviation of the position of the exhaust port 310 from the center position of the reaction chamber 250 can be compensated, and the uniformity of the thickness of the film on the finally produced semiconductor substrate 400 is better, and the product quality is improved.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the number of the exhaust holes 2411 is 60 to 200. Specifically, the number of exhaust holes 2411 includes, but is not limited to, 60, 65, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 85, 90, 100, 110, 130, 150, 200. It should be noted that the number of the exhaust holes 2411 may be less than 60 and greater than 200, and specifically may be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual requirements, which is not limited herein.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the axial cross section of the inner ring 241 is, for example, circular, elliptical, square, triangular, hexagonal, octagonal, etc., and may be either regular or irregular, and specifically may be flexibly set and adjusted according to actual requirements, which is not limited herein. As one example, the axial cross-section of the inner ring 241 is circular, and the diameter of the circular shape is defined as D, which is 450mm-650mm. More specifically, diameter D is 450mm, 500mm, 510mm, 520mm, 530mm, 540mm, 545mm, 548mm, 549mm, 549.5mm, 550mm, 550.5mm, 551mm, 553mm, 570mm, 590mm, 630mm, 650mm, and the like. It should be noted that the diameter D may also be a numerical value smaller than 450mm and larger than 650mm, and specifically how to set the diameter D may be flexibly adjusted according to actual requirements, which is not limited herein.

Referring to fig. 9 to 11, fig. 9 is a schematic top view illustrating another simplified embodiment of the reaction chamber 250 and the exhaust port 310 of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus shown in fig. 5, fig. 10 is a schematic top view illustrating another simplified embodiment of the reaction chamber 250 and the exhaust port 310 of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus shown in fig. 5, and fig. 11 is a schematic top view illustrating another simplified embodiment of the reaction chamber 250 and the exhaust port 310 of the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus shown in fig. 5. In one embodiment, when the reactors 200 are at least three, the at least three reactors 200 are spaced around the exhaust port 310.

Specifically, at least three reactors 200 are equally spaced around the exhaust port 310. In this way, the exhaust effect of the reaction chambers 250 of each reactor 200 is better, the interaction of the adjacent reaction chambers 250 during exhaust is reduced, and the uniformity of the thickness of the film on the semiconductor substrate 400 produced in each reaction chamber 250 is better, so that the product quality is improved.

In one embodiment, the number of the reactors 200 is, for example, three (as shown in fig. 9), four (as shown in fig. 10), five (as shown in fig. 11), six, seven, eight, etc., but may also be other numbers, which are not limited herein, and may be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual needs.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the number of reactors 200 is two, and a plane passing through the central axis of the reaction chamber 250 and the central axis of the exhaust port 310 is defined as a reference plane, and the two reference planes are disposed at an included angle. In this way, the exhaust effect of the reaction chambers 250 of each reactor 200 is better, the interaction of the adjacent reaction chambers 250 during exhaust is reduced, the uniformity of the thickness of the film on the semiconductor substrate 400 produced in each reaction chamber 250 is better, and the product quality is improved. In addition, the arrangement is reasonable, the product size can be reduced to a certain extent, and the occupation of a larger space is avoided.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the angle between two reference surfaces is defined as a, which is 45 ° to 135 °. a is specifically, for example, 45 °, 60 °, 75 °, 80 °, 90 °, 95 °, 100 °, 105 °, 108 °, 110 °, 112 °, 115 °, 118 °, 120 °, 125 °, 130 ° and 135 °, but a may also be less than 45 ° and greater than 135 °, which is not limited herein, and may be flexibly adjusted and set according to actual needs.

In one embodiment, the shape of the exhaust hole 2411 includes, but is not limited to, circular, oval, square, triangle, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, and can be flexibly adjusted to be regular or irregular according to actual requirements, which is not limited herein; the shape of the exhaust port 310 includes, but is not limited to, circular, oval, square, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal, and octagonal, and can be flexibly adjusted to a regular shape or an irregular shape according to practical requirements, which is not limited herein.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 7 and 8, the exhaust holes 2411 are circular holes. The vent 310 is also a circular port.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, in one embodiment, the length h of the inner ring 241 is, for example, 5mm, and the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 closest to the exhaust port 310 is, for example, 2mm. Of course, the length h of the inner ring 241 is not limited to 5mm, and may be flexibly set to other values according to actual requirements. Similarly, the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 is not limited to 2mm, and may be flexibly set to other values according to actual needs.

In one embodiment, the showerhead 220 of the reaction chamber 250 is uniformly provided with a plurality of gas inlets, thereby ensuring that the process gas is uniformly delivered to the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 400 and ensuring good uniformity of the film thickness. The process gas enters the reaction chamber 250 through the showerhead 220 and then undergoes a chemical reaction, and the gas generated during the reaction and the excessive process gas are discharged to the exhaust port 120 through the exhaust holes 2411 formed in the inner ring 241 of the exhaust pipe 240, and finally pumped to the factory by the pumping device.

Referring to fig. 5 to 8, in one embodiment, a method for improving film thickness of a semiconductor substrate employs a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus including a reactor 200 and a common exhaust mechanism 300; the reactor 200 includes at least two reactors 200, wherein the reactor 200 includes a susceptor 210 for carrying a semiconductor substrate 400, a showerhead 220 disposed opposite to the susceptor 210 at a distance, an air flow control ring 230 circumferentially disposed around the susceptor 210, and an exhaust duct 240 circumferentially disposed around the susceptor 210, the exhaust duct 240, the susceptor 210, the air flow control ring 230, and the showerhead 220 enclosing to form a reaction chamber 250; the common exhaust mechanism 300 is provided with an exhaust port 310 communicating with the reaction chamber 250;

The film thickness improvement method of the semiconductor substrate 400 includes the steps of: the amount of the air flow at the different positions of the semiconductor substrate 400 is adjusted to reduce the deviation of the air flow at the different positions of the semiconductor substrate 400.

The method for improving the film thickness of the semiconductor substrate 400 can compensate the influence of different air flows at different positions on the semiconductor substrate 400 caused by the deviation of the position of the exhaust port 310 from the center position of the reaction chamber 250, and the uniformity of the film thickness on the finally produced semiconductor substrate 400 is better, so that the product quality is improved.

In one embodiment, the method for improving the film thickness of a semiconductor substrate may be the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to any of the embodiments.

Referring to fig. 5 to 8, in one embodiment, a method for adjusting the air flow rate at different positions of the semiconductor substrate 400 to reduce the air flow rate deviation at different positions of the semiconductor substrate 400 includes: the exhaust gas duct 240 is modified such that the deviation in the magnitude of the exhaust gas outwardly through the exhaust gas duct 240 at various positions in the circumferential direction of the reaction chamber 250 is reduced.

In one embodiment, retrofitting the exhaust conduit 240 includes the steps of:

Such that the bottom end of the exhaust duct 240 abuts or is connected to the upper surface of the airflow control ring 230;

in other words, the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 240 is extended to be abutted or connected with the upper surface of the gas flow control ring 230, so that a gap for passing the gas flow around the reaction chamber 250 is avoided from being formed between the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 240 and the upper surface of the gas flow control ring 230. Of course, as an alternative, during actual adjustment of the air flow rate, it is also permissible to provide the bottom end of the air discharge duct 240 and/or a portion or portions of the upper surface of the air flow control ring 230 in the form of notches to allow the air flow to pass therethrough in order to maintain the outward discharge velocity of the air discharge holes 2411 in the respective areas of the inner ring 241 at a uniform or substantially uniform velocity.

In one embodiment, retrofitting the exhaust conduit 240 further includes the steps of:

the bottom end of the exhaust pipe 240 is provided with an inner ring 241, a plurality of exhaust holes 2411 are arranged on the inner ring 241 at intervals, the exhaust holes 2411 are communicated with the reaction chamber 250, the reaction chamber 250 is communicated with the exhaust port 310 through the exhaust holes 2411, and the opening ratio of the exhaust holes 2411 in each area on the inner ring 241 is in an increasing trend in a direction away from the exhaust port 310.

Thus, by providing the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241, communication with the reaction chamber 250 is provided through the exhaust holes 2411. In addition, the opening ratio of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 tends to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310, that is, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 is improved, so that the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 is kept uniform or substantially uniform. In this way, the influence of different air flows at different positions on the semiconductor substrate 400 caused by the deviation of the position of the air outlet 310 from the center position of the reaction chamber 250 can be compensated, and the uniformity of the thickness of the film on the finally produced semiconductor substrate 400 is better, and the product quality is improved.

In one embodiment, when the film thickness at a certain region position on the semiconductor substrate 400 is higher than the average film thickness on the semiconductor substrate 400, the opening ratio of the portion of the inner ring 241 corresponding to the certain region position is increased; when the film thickness at a certain region position on the semiconductor substrate 400 is lower than the average film thickness on the semiconductor substrate 400, the aperture ratio of the portion of the inner ring 241 corresponding to the certain region position is reduced.

In one embodiment, increasing the opening ratio of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 in a direction away from the exhaust port 310 includes: the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 on the inner ring 241 is made to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 at different positions on the inner ring 241 is changed to adjust the aperture ratio of the exhaust hole 2411 at different regions on the inner ring 241, so that the aperture ratio of the exhaust hole 2411 at each region on the inner ring 241 tends to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310.

Specifically, the hole diameters of the exhaust holes 2411 in the inner ring 241 are gradually increased in an arithmetic progression in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 can be well controlled, so that the exhaust speed of each region of the inner ring 241 is kept uniform or substantially uniform, which is beneficial to uniformity of film thickness.

In one embodiment, increasing the opening ratio of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 in a direction away from the exhaust port 310 includes: the hole pitch of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 is made to decrease in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the hole ratios of the exhaust holes 2411 in different regions on the inner ring 241 are adjusted by changing the hole pitch of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241, so that the hole ratios of the exhaust holes 2411 in the respective regions on the inner ring 241 tend to increase in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. That is, the more dispersed the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 closer to the exhaust port 310, the denser the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 farther from the exhaust port 310 will be.

Specifically, the hole pitch of the exhaust holes 2411 in the inner ring 241 is gradually reduced in an arithmetic progression in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 can be well controlled, so that the exhaust speed in each region of the inner ring 241 is kept uniform or substantially uniform, which is beneficial to uniformity of film thickness.

In one embodiment, increasing the opening ratio of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 in a direction away from the exhaust port 310 includes: the aperture of the exhaust hole 2411 on the inner ring 241 is made to increase in the direction away from the exhaust port 310; and, the hole pitch of the exhaust holes 2411 on the inner ring 241 is made to decrease in a direction away from the exhaust port 310. In this way, the exhaust speed of the exhaust holes 2411 in each region of the inner ring 241 can be well controlled, so that the exhaust speed of each region of the inner ring 241 is kept uniform or substantially uniform, which is beneficial to uniformity of film thickness.

The technical features of the above embodiments may be arbitrarily combined, and all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described for brevity of description, however, as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features, they should be considered as the scope of the description.

The foregoing examples illustrate only a few embodiments of the application, which are described in detail and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. It should be noted that it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit of the application, which are all within the scope of the application. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present application is to be determined by the appended claims.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential", etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings are merely for convenience in describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element being referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as limiting the present application.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or an implicit indication of the number of technical features being indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present application, the meaning of "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise.

In the present application, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; can be mechanically or electrically connected; either directly or indirectly, through intermediaries, or both, may be in communication with each other or in interaction with each other, unless expressly defined otherwise. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood by those skilled in the art according to specific circumstances.

In the present application, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, a first feature "up" or "down" a second feature may be the first and second features in direct contact, or the first and second features in indirect contact via an intervening medium. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature may be that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is level higher than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature may be the first feature being directly under or obliquely under the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is level less than the second feature.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "fixed" or "disposed" on another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," and the like are used herein for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be the only embodiment.

Claims

1. A semiconductor substrate processing apparatus, characterized by comprising:

the reactor comprises at least two bearing tables for bearing semiconductor substrates, spray heads, an airflow control ring and an exhaust pipeline, wherein the spray heads are arranged opposite to the bearing tables at intervals, the airflow control ring is circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables, the exhaust pipeline, the bearing tables, the airflow control ring and the spray heads are circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables to form a reaction chamber, the bottom ends of the exhaust pipeline are abutted against or connected with the upper surface of the airflow control ring, an inner ring is arranged at the bottom end of the exhaust pipeline, a plurality of exhaust holes are formed in the inner ring at intervals, and the exhaust holes are communicated with the reaction chamber; and

And the common exhaust mechanism is provided with an exhaust port, the reaction chamber is communicated with the exhaust port through the exhaust hole, and the opening ratio of the exhaust hole in each region on the inner ring is in an increasing trend in the direction away from the exhaust port.

2. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vent hole diameter on the inner ring is increased in a direction away from the exhaust port.

3. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vent hole diameter on the inner ring gradually increases in an arithmetic progression in a direction away from the exhaust port.

4. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a tolerance of the vent hole aperture is defined as t1, and t1 is 0.01nm to 0.1nm.

5. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust hole pitch on the inner ring is in a decreasing trend in a direction away from the exhaust port.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the hole pitch of the exhaust holes in the inner ring is gradually decreased in an equal progression in a direction away from the exhaust port.

7. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the tolerance of the vent hole pitch is defined as t2, t2 being-5 mm to-0.5 mm.

8. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an aperture of the exhaust hole on the inner ring closest to the exhaust port is defined as d, a length of the inner ring along an axial direction thereof is defined as h, and d and h satisfy the following relationship: d=20%h to 50%h.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein d=30%h to 40%h.

10. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plane passing through a central axis of the reaction chamber and a central axis of the exhaust port is defined as a reference plane, and the exhaust holes on the inner ring are symmetrically arranged with respect to the reference plane.

11. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of the exhaust holes is 60 to 200.

12. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the number of the reactors is at least three, at least three of the reactors are spaced around the exhaust port.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of the reactors is two, a plane passing through the central axis of the reaction chamber and the central axis of the exhaust port is defined as a reference plane, and the connection lines of the two reference planes are arranged at an included angle.

14. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein an included angle of two of the reference surfaces is defined as a, a being 45 ° to 135 °.

15. The semiconductor substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vent hole has a shape of a circle, an ellipse, a square, a triangle, a pentagon, a hexagon, or an octagon; the shape of the exhaust port is round, elliptic, square, triangular, pentagonal, hexagonal and octagonal.

16. A method for improving film thickness of a semiconductor substrate is characterized in that a semiconductor substrate processing apparatus is employed, the semiconductor substrate processing apparatus including a reactor and a common exhaust mechanism; the reactor comprises at least two bearing tables for bearing semiconductor substrates, spray heads, an airflow control ring and an exhaust pipeline, wherein the spray heads are arranged opposite to the bearing tables at intervals, the airflow control ring is circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables, the exhaust pipeline is circumferentially arranged around the bearing tables, and the exhaust pipeline, the bearing tables, the airflow control ring and the spray heads are enclosed to form a reaction chamber; the common exhaust mechanism is provided with an exhaust port communicated with the reaction chamber;

17. The method for improving film thickness of a semiconductor substrate according to claim 16, wherein said method for adjusting the amount of air flow at different positions of said semiconductor substrate to reduce the deviation of the amount of air flow at different positions of said semiconductor substrate comprises:

18. The method for improving a film thickness of a semiconductor substrate according to claim 17, wherein,

the modification of the exhaust pipeline comprises the following steps:

the bottom of exhaust duct is equipped with the inner ring be equipped with a plurality of exhaust holes of interval on the inner ring, the exhaust hole with the reaction chamber is linked together, the reaction chamber passes through the exhaust hole with the gas vent is linked together, makes each regional on the inner ring the hole opening ratio of exhaust hole is the increase trend in the direction of keeping away from the gas vent.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein when the thickness of the film at a certain region on the semiconductor substrate is higher than the average thickness of the film on the semiconductor substrate, the opening ratio of the portion of the inner ring corresponding to the certain region is increased; when the film thickness of a certain area position on the semiconductor substrate is lower than the average value of the film thickness on the semiconductor substrate, the opening ratio of a part corresponding to the certain area position on the inner ring is reduced.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the increasing the opening ratio of the exhaust hole in each region of the inner ring in a direction away from the exhaust port comprises:

the aperture of the exhaust hole on the inner ring is increased in the direction away from the exhaust port; and/or the number of the groups of groups,