EP-4737609-A1 - PROCESS MODULE, SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESS DEVICE AND THIN FILM DEPOSITION METHOD

EP4737609A1EP 4737609 A1EP4737609 A1EP 4737609A1EP-4737609-A1

Abstract

A process chamber, a semiconductor processing apparatus, and a thin film deposition method are provided. This process chamber comprises a reaction chamber, a heating chamber, and a transmission device. A base for supporting a wafer is provided in the reaction chamber. The heating chamber is in communication with the reaction chamber, and a thermal radiation device is provided at a top of the heating chamber and is used for radiating heat toward an interior of the heating chamber. The transmission device is provided in the reaction chamber and is used for supporting the wafer and transmitting the wafer between the reaction chamber and the heating chamber. The presently disclosed process chamber, semiconductor processing apparatus, and thin film deposition method can improve heating efficiency and heating uniformity of the wafer.

Inventors

ZHANG, SHIHAO
SHE, Qing
LI, BING

Assignees

Beijing NAURA Microelectronics Equipment Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240627

Claims (17)

A process chamber, comprising: a reaction chamber, comprising a base for carrying a wafer horizontally; a heating chamber, which is in communication with the reaction chamber, wherein a thermal radiation device is provided at a top of the heating chamber and is configured for radiating heat toward an interior of the heating chamber; and a transmission device, disposed in the reaction chamber, wherein the transmission device is configured to transmit the wafer between the reaction chamber and the heating chamber.
The process chamber according to claim 1, wherein a shutter disk is stored in the heating chamber, and wherein the transmission device is further configured to carry the shutter disk and transmit the shutter disk between the reaction chamber and the heating chamber.
The process chamber according to claim 2, wherein the transmission device is further configured to transmit the shutter disk above the base before a semiconductor process is performed on the wafer in the reaction chamber, and to transmit the shutter disk back to store in the heating chamber when the wafer begins to undergo the semiconductor process; or wherein the transmission device is further configured to transmit the wafer below the thermal radiation device after the wafer completes the semiconductor process to enable the thermal radiation device to heat the wafer, and to transmit the wafer back onto the base after the thermal radiation device finishes heating the wafer.
The process chamber according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a top wall of the heating chamber is provided with a reflective surface, and the reflective surface is configured to reflect heat radiated by the thermal radiation device to a surface of the wafer located in the heating chamber.
The process chamber according to claim 4, wherein a cooling flow channel is arranged on the top wall of the heating chamber, wherein the cooling flow channel is configured to transmit a cooling fluid.
The process chamber according to claim 4, wherein a concave portion is formed on the top wall of the heating chamber, an inner surface of the concave portion forms the reflective surface, and wherein a shape of the inner surface of the concave portion is configured to enable reflected light to converge toward the surface of the wafer located in the heating chamber, such that the reflected light covers the entire surface of the wafer.
The process chamber according to claim 6, wherein the reflective surface comprises a planarized surface and an annular surface surrounding the planarized surface, wherein the planarized surface is parallel to a horizontal plane, and wherein a height of the annular surface decreases from an edge of the planarized surface toward a peripheral edge of the top wall of the heating chamber.
The process chamber according to claim 7, wherein the thermal radiation device comprises at least one annular light tube, and the annular light tube is disposed around an inner side of the annular surface and located outside the edge of the planarized surface.
The process chamber according to claim 4, wherein the heating chamber comprises a chamber body having an opening at its top, and a reflective plate disposed at the top of the chamber body, wherein the reflective plate is seamlessly connected to the chamber body for sealing the opening, wherein the reflective plate has the reflective surface, and the reflective surface is exposed from the opening into the heating chamber.
The process chamber according to claim 9, wherein a first annular convex portion is provided at the opening at the top of the chamber body, a second annular convex portion is provided at an outer peripheral edge of the reflective plate, the second annular convex portion is stacked on the first annular convex portion, and the first annular convex portion is fixedly connected to the second annular convex portion; wherein a sealing member is further disposed between the first annular convex portion and the second annular convex portion for sealing the opening.
The process chamber according to claim 2, further comprising a first lifting apparatus disposed in the heating chamber, wherein the first lifting apparatus is configured to carry the shutter disk in the heating chamber; wherein at least one of the first lifting apparatus and the transmission device is configured to drive the shutter disk disposed thereon to ascend or descend, to transmit the shutter disk between the first lifting apparatus and the transmission device.
The process chamber according to claim 11, wherein when the transmission device is to transmit the wafer to the heating chamber, the first lifting apparatus is configured to drive the shutter disk disposed thereon to descend below a location where the wafer is to be carried to by the transmission device within the heating chamber.
The process chamber according to claim 11, further comprising a second lifting apparatus disposed in the reaction chamber, wherein the second lifting apparatus is configured to ascend and descend the wafer in the reaction chamber; wherein at least one of the second lifting apparatus and the base is configured to drive the wafer disposed thereon to transmit the wafer between the second lifting apparatus and the base.
The process chamber according to claim 13, wherein the transmission device comprises a transmission arm, a second driving source, and a lifting driving source, wherein the transmission arm is configured to carry the shutter disk or the wafer, and the second driving source is configured to drive the transmission arm to move between the reaction chamber and the heating chamber; wherein the lifting driving source is configured to drive the transmission arm vertically; wherein the transmission arm comprises a rotating shaft disposed along a vertical direction and a connecting arm and a bearing portion perpendicular to the rotating shaft, wherein a lower end of the rotating shaft is connected to the second driving source, an upper end of the rotating shaft is connected to a first end of the connecting arm, and a second end of the connecting arm is connected to the bearing portion; wherein the second lifting apparatus comprises pins arranged at intervals along a circumferential direction of the base, and when the bearing portion carries the shutter disk or the wafer to move into the reaction chamber, at least a part of the bearing portion moves into a space enclosed by the pins from an interval between adjacent pins of the second lifting apparatus, such that the shutter disk or the wafer is located above the base; or wherein the first lifting apparatus comprises pins arranged at intervals along a circumferential line, and when the bearing portion carries the shutter disk or the wafer to move into the heating chamber, at least a part of the bearing portion moves into a space enclosed by the pins from an interval between adjacent pins of the first lifting apparatus, such that the shutter disk or the wafer is located below the thermal radiation device.
A semiconductor processing apparatus, comprising a process chamber according to any one of claims 1 to 14.
The semiconductor processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the semiconductor processing apparatus comprises a physical vapor deposition device.
A thin film deposition method, comprising: after a wafer in a reaction chamber completes a semiconductor process, lowering a shutter disk in a heating chamber to a first bearing location, wherein the heating chamber is in communication with the reaction chamber; transmitting the wafer to a second bearing location in the heating chamber, wherein the second bearing location is above the first bearing location; and radiating heat from a top of the heating chamber to the wafer to perform heating.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure relates to the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and in particular, to a process chamber, a semiconductor processing apparatus, and a thin film deposition method. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Magnetron sputtering is a widely used Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) technique in the semiconductor industry, especially for thin-film fabrication. As integrated circuits continue to evolve, copper has become the preferred material for back-end-of-line (BEOL) interconnects due to its lower resistivity, which helps reduce power loss and resistance-capacitance (RC) caused delay, ultimately boosting chip performance. In today's copper interconnect process, copper's resistance to etching makes the process for dual-damascene structure widely used. This approach involves etching vias and trenches into the inter-metal dielectric layer, followed by PVD deposition of a barrier layer (such as TiN) into the vias and trenches and a copper seed layer on the barrier layer. Bulk copper is then deposited into the vias and trenches through an electrochemical plating process. However, as device dimensions shrink and trench depth-to-width ratio increase, when depositing copper, copper atoms do not all deposit layer by layer strictly perpendicular to the trench bottom. Instead, they tend to accumulate more rapidly near the upper opening, leading to overhangs or even blockages. This can trap voids at the bottom of the trench, degrading the chip's electrical performance. To address this problem, typically a copper reflow process is introduced after depositing the barrier layer and the seed layer. At the nanoscale, copper's melting point decreases with copper particle size, while the copper particle surface energy and tension increase. By heating the copper to 300°C or higher, the molten copper atoms are driven by surface tension and capillary forces to migrate into the trench bottom, improving fill quality. Current PVD systems often use a thermal radiation source inside the chamber to heat the wafer during the copper reflow. The thermal radiation source is commonly set around the chamber perimeter, which is relatively far from where the wafer is located, resulting in uneven temperature distribution and poor heating efficiency. In another approach the heat source is mounted on the shield disk transfer mechanism, but in this setup, it is a struggle to focus heat on the wafer surface. Much of the thermal energy ends up going toward outside the target area, leading to significant heat loss and suboptimal wafer heating. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure provides a process chamber, a semiconductor processing apparatus, and a thin film deposition method. A first embodiment of the present disclosure provides a process chamber, and the process chamber comprises a reaction chamber, a heating chamber, and a transmission device. A base for carrying a wafer is disposed in the reaction chamber. The heating chamber is in communication with the reaction chamber. A thermal radiation device is provided at a top of the heating chamber and is configured for radiating heat toward an interior of the heating chamber. The transmission device is disposed in the reaction chamber for carrying the wafer and is configured to transmit the wafer between the reaction chamber and the heating chamber. In some embodiments, a shutter disk is further stored in the heating chamber, and the transmission device is further configured to carry the shutter disk and transmit the shutter disk between the reaction chamber and the heating chamber. In some embodiments, the transmission device is configured to transmit the shutter disk stored in the heating chamber above the base, before a semiconductor process is performed on the wafer in the reaction chamber, and to transmit the shutter disk back to store in the heating chamber when the wafer begins to undergo the semiconductor process; or the transmission device is configured to transmit the wafer below the thermal radiation device after the wafer completes the semiconductor process to enable the thermal radiation device to heat the wafer, and to transmit the wafer back onto the base after the thermal radiation device finishes heating the wafer. In some embodiments, a top wall of the heating chamber is provided with a reflective surface, and the reflective surface is configured to reflect heat radiated by the thermal radiation device to a surface of the wafer located in the heating chamber. In some embodiments, a cooling flow channel is arranged on the top wall of the heating chamber, and the cooling flow channel is configured to transmit a cooling fluid. In some embodiments, a concave portion is formed on the top wall of the heating chamber, an inner surface of the concave portion forms the reflective surface, and a shape of the inner surface of the concave portion is configured to enable reflected light to converge toward the surface of the wafer located in the heating c