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CN-122007084-A - Process chamber shell and cleaning method thereof

CN122007084ACN 122007084 ACN122007084 ACN 122007084ACN-122007084-A

Abstract

The application provides a process chamber shell and a cleaning method thereof. The process chamber shell comprises a shell body, an annular runner arranged in the wall of the shell body and an annular exudation structure communicated with the annular runner. The annular flow passage is connected with the solvent inlet to convey the cleaning solvent. The annular exudation structure is arranged at the upper part of the wall surface to be cleaned, and the outlet of the annular exudation structure is adjacent to the wall surface to be cleaned. When the cleaning device works, the cleaning solvent slowly and uniformly seeps out of the annular seepage structure through the annular flow channel and is closely attached to the wall surface to be cleaned, and a layer of uniform liquid film flowing downwards is formed under the action of gravity. According to the technical scheme, the flow channel and the exudation structure are arranged on the wall part of the shell, so that a uniform liquid film with wall attached flow is actively formed, the whole wall surface to be cleaned is subjected to full coverage and no dead angle mild flushing, and therefore, efficient and thorough online cleaning is realized, the dead area and secondary pollution risk of traditional splash cleaning are avoided, and the process cleanliness and stability of equipment are improved.

Inventors

  • DU SHUAI
  • MA JUNQING

Assignees

  • 宁波润华全芯微电子设备有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20251231

Claims (18)

  1. 1.A process chamber housing comprising a housing having a wall to be cleaned, further comprising: an annular flow passage provided in a wall portion of the housing and connected with at least one solvent inlet for conveying a cleaning solvent, and The annular seepage structure is communicated with the annular flow channel, the annular seepage structure is arranged on the upper portion of the wall surface to be cleaned, an outlet of the annular seepage structure is close to the wall surface to be cleaned, and the annular seepage structure is used for enabling the cleaning solvent to adhere to the wall surface to be cleaned and flow out, so that a liquid film flowing downwards is formed on the wall surface to be cleaned.
  2. 2. The process chamber housing of claim 1, wherein an annular buffer channel is further provided between said annular flow channel and said annular bleed structure, said annular buffer channel having a flow channel cross-sectional area greater than a flow channel cross-sectional area of said annular flow channel for pressure equalization prior to outflow of said cleaning solvent from said annular bleed structure.
  3. 3. The process chamber housing of claim 1 or 2, wherein the annular effusion structure is an annular slit continuously disposed along the circumference of the wall surface to be cleaned.
  4. 4. The process chamber housing of claim 3, wherein the annular slot has a width of 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm.
  5. 5. The process chamber housing of claim 1 or 2, wherein the annular bleed structure comprises a plurality of micro-holes uniformly distributed along the circumference of the wall to be cleaned.
  6. 6. The process chamber housing of claim 5, wherein the plurality of micro-holes have a pore size of 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm.
  7. 7. The process chamber housing of claim 1 or 2, wherein the outlet of the annular effusion structure has a predetermined circumferential inclination angle such that the cleaning solvent forms a liquid film having a circumferential flow component on the wall surface to be cleaned.
  8. 8. The process chamber housing of claim 1 or 2, wherein the outlet of the annular bleed structure has an angle of inclination directed below the wall to be cleaned to actively direct the flow of cleaning solvent against the wall to be cleaned.
  9. 9. The process chamber housing of claim 8, wherein the outlet of the annular bleed structure is disposed tangentially to the current location of the wall to be cleaned.
  10. 10. The process chamber housing of claim 1, wherein the housing is formed of a double wall, a housing body and a cover plate, and the annular flow passage is defined by an open groove machined in the housing body and the cover plate being co-closed.
  11. 11. The process chamber housing of claim 10, wherein the annular bleed structure is defined by mating surfaces of the housing body and the cover plate.
  12. 12. The process chamber housing of claim 11, wherein the annular bleed structure is an annular slit defined by a step machined in a mating surface of the housing body or the cover plate and a mating surface of another component; Preferably, a plurality of minute support columns are provided at the bottom of the step at intervals in the circumferential direction for maintaining the uniformity of the height of the annular slit after the cover plate is fastened with the housing body.
  13. 13. The process chamber housing of claim 11, wherein the annular bleed structure is formed by a series of circumferentially arranged microprotrusions or micro-grooves formed in the mating surface of the housing body or the cover plate, wherein the gaps between the microprotrusions or the micro-grooves form channels for solvent bleed when the cover plate is pressed against the housing body.
  14. 14. The process chamber housing according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the housing is an outer cup of a spin coating apparatus, and the wall surface to be cleaned is an inner wall surface of the outer cup.
  15. 15. The process chamber housing according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the housing is an inner cup of a spin coating apparatus and the wall to be cleaned is an outer wall surface of the inner cup.
  16. 16. The process chamber housing of claim 15, wherein the location of the annular bleed structure is disposed below a projected area of a semiconductor substrate in the spin coating apparatus.
  17. 17. A substrate processing apparatus comprising the process chamber housing of any one of claims 1-16.
  18. 18. A method of cleaning a process chamber housing using any one of claims 1-16, comprising the steps of: supplying a cleaning solvent to the annular flow passage through the solvent inlet; The cleaning solvent slowly and uniformly seeps out through the annular seepage structure and is closely attached to the wall surface to be cleaned, and a layer of uniform liquid film flowing downwards is formed under the action of gravity, so that the wall surface to be cleaned is cleaned.

Description

Process chamber shell and cleaning method thereof Technical Field The application relates to the technical field of substrate processing equipment, in particular to a process chamber shell and a cleaning method thereof. Background In the semiconductor manufacturing process, spin coating is a step of uniformly coating a liquid material such as photoresist on a substrate surface. In the spin coating process, the substrate rotates at a high speed, and the liquid material spreads into a film under the action of centrifugal force. In order to control the process environment and collect the thrown-off excess material, the rotating substrate is typically surrounded by a process chamber, which is typically formed by housing parts, such as inner and outer cups. Under high-speed rotation, the redundant photoresist at the edge of the substrate can be thrown out and sputtered onto the wall surface of the process cavity. These sputtered photoresists on the walls will gradually dry and solidify if not removed in time, forming residues. In subsequent production, these residues may fall off to form tiny particles, which once they fall to the surface of the substrate being processed, cause defects, affecting yield. At present, two main ways for cleaning the wall surface of the process cavity in the industry exist. One is off-line cleaning, i.e. when the machine is stopped for maintenance, the parts such as the process cup are detached for cleaning. This approach requires interruption of production, reducing the effective utilization of the equipment. The other is on-line cleaning. The common online cleaning is to use a special cleaning disc, drop cleaning solvent into the center of the cleaning disc through a liquid supply arm, then rotate the cleaning disc at a high speed, and throw the solvent onto the wall surface of the process cavity by utilizing centrifugal force for flushing. However, the process of this splash cleaning is random, the drop points and distribution of solvent droplets are difficult to uniformly cover, and cleaning dead zones are often formed in some areas. Meanwhile, the solvent thrown out at high speed is easy to generate secondary splashing after striking the wall surface, and tiny liquid drops carrying pollutants can also cause secondary pollution. The uniformity and the thoroughness of the existing online cleaning mode are still to be improved. Disclosure of Invention The application provides a process chamber shell which comprises a shell, an annular flow passage and an annular exudation structure, wherein the shell is provided with a wall surface to be cleaned, the annular flow passage is arranged in the wall part of the shell and is connected with at least one solvent inlet for conveying cleaning solvent, the annular exudation structure is communicated with the annular flow passage, the annular exudation structure is arranged at the upper part of the wall surface to be cleaned, and an outlet of the annular exudation structure is adjacent to the wall surface to be cleaned and is used for enabling the cleaning solvent to adhere to the wall surface to be cleaned to flow out so as to form a liquid film flowing downwards on the wall surface to be cleaned. Preferably, an annular buffer groove is further arranged between the annular flow passage and the annular exudation structure, and the flow passage sectional area of the annular buffer groove is larger than that of the annular flow passage and is used for pressure homogenization before the cleaning solvent flows out of the annular exudation structure. Preferably, the annular exudation structure is an annular slit continuously arranged along the circumferential direction of the wall surface to be cleaned. Preferably, the width of the annular slit is 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm. Preferably, the annular exudation structure comprises a plurality of micropores uniformly distributed along the circumferential direction of the wall surface to be cleaned. Preferably, the pores of the plurality of micropores have a pore size of 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm. Preferably, the outlet of the annular exudation structure has a predetermined circumferential inclination angle, so that the cleaning solvent forms a liquid film with a circumferential flow component on the wall surface to be cleaned. Preferably, the outlet of the annular exudation structure has an inclination angle facing to the lower part of the wall surface to be cleaned so as to actively guide the cleaning solvent to adhere to the wall surface to be cleaned. Preferably, the outlet of the annular exudation structure is arranged tangentially to the current position of the wall to be cleaned. Preferably, the shell adopts double-layer walls and is composed of a shell body and a cover plate, and the annular flow channel is formed by jointly closing an open groove machined on the shell body and the cover plate. Preferably, the annular exudation structure is defined by the mating surfaces of the housing body and the cover plate.