KR-102965084-B1 - Deposition apparatus and methods using staggered pumping locations

KR102965084B1KR 102965084 B1KR102965084 B1KR 102965084B1KR-102965084-B1

Abstract

Processing chambers and methods of use comprising a plurality of processing regions bounded around an outer peripheral edge by one or more vacuum channels. A first processing region has a first vacuum channel having a first outer diameter, and a second processing region has a second vacuum channel having a second outer diameter, wherein the first outer diameter is smaller than the second outer diameter.

Inventors

아우부촌, 조셉
발루자, 산지브
아가르왈, 아슈토쉬

Assignees

어플라이드 머티어리얼스, 인코포레이티드

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20211213
Priority Date: 20201213

Claims (20)

As a processing chamber, It includes a plurality of processing regions, each processing region independently having a height defined by the front of a gas distribution plate and the top surface of a substrate support, and each of the processing regions is bounded around an outer peripheral edge by one or more vacuum channels, The first processing area has a first vacuum channel formed on the lowest surface of the gas distribution plate, the first vacuum channel has a first outer diameter associated with a first reactant to form a first film, the first vacuum channel includes a first trench, and the first trench is connected to a first vacuum plenum through a first plurality of conduits, and The second processing region has a second vacuum channel formed on the lowest surface of the gas distribution plate, the second vacuum channel has a second outer diameter associated with a second reactant to form a second film, the second vacuum channel includes a second trench, the second trench is connected to a second vacuum plenum through a second plurality of conduits, and The first outer diameter is smaller than the second outer diameter, and the first outer diameter and the second outer diameter are configured to provide a deposition transition zone of reduced width defined by complete deposition on a wafer disposed on the substrate support and reduced deposition on the substrate support, and the processing chamber is configured to move the substrate between the first processing area and the second processing area to form a film by an atomic layer deposition process, and the second reactant has a reaction rate slower than the first reactant. Processing chamber.
In paragraph 1, The difference between the first outer diameter and the second outer diameter is within the range of 2 mm to 5 mm, Processing chamber.
In paragraph 1, The first outer diameter is smaller than the diameter of the substrate support, Processing chamber.
In paragraph 3, The first outer diameter is 2 mm or less smaller than the diameter of the wafer, Processing chamber.
In paragraph 4, The first processing area and the second processing area are concentric, Processing chamber.
In paragraph 5, A fuzzy region further including outside the second processing region above Processing chamber.
In paragraph 1, The first processing area and the second processing area are spatially separated by a fuzzy area. Processing chamber.
In paragraph 1, The opening of the first vacuum channel and the opening of the second vacuum channel are independently 8 mm or less, Processing chamber.
As a method of processing a substrate, The method includes the step of exposing a substrate to a first reactant in a first processing area of a processing chamber and a second reactant in a second processing area, and The first processing area has a first height defined by the front of the first gas distribution plate and the uppermost surface of the substrate support, and the first processing area has a first vacuum channel formed on the lowermost surface of the first gas distribution plate, the first vacuum channel has a first outer diameter associated with the first reactant to form a first film, the first vacuum channel includes a first trench, and the first trench is connected to a first vacuum plenum through a first plurality of conduits. The second processing area has a second height defined by the front of the second gas distribution plate and the uppermost surface of the substrate support, the second processing area has a second vacuum channel formed on the lowermost surface of the second gas distribution plate, the second vacuum channel has a second outer diameter associated with the second reactant to form a second film, the second vacuum channel includes a second trench, the second trench is connected to a second vacuum plenum through a second plurality of conduits, and The first outer diameter of the first vacuum channel is smaller than the second outer diameter of the second vacuum channel, and the first outer diameter and the second outer diameter are configured to provide a deposition transition zone of reduced width defined by complete deposition on a wafer disposed on the substrate support and reduced deposition on the substrate support, and the processing chamber is configured to move the substrate between the first processing area and the second processing area to form a film by an atomic layer deposition process, and the second reactant has a reaction rate slower than the first reactant. Method for processing a substrate.
In Paragraph 9, A vacuum channel with a larger outer diameter is associated with a reactant that is a rate-limiting reactant, Method for processing a substrate.
In Paragraph 10, A method further comprising the step of moving the substrate from the first processing area to the second processing area. Method for processing a substrate.
In Paragraph 11, The step of moving the substrate includes the step of rotating the substrate support by a predetermined distance around a central axis. Method for processing a substrate.
As a method of processing a substrate, The method includes the step of exposing a substrate to a first reactant in a first processing area of a processing chamber and a second reactant in a second processing area, and The first processing area has a first height defined by the front of the first gas distribution plate and the uppermost surface of the substrate support, and the first processing area has a first vacuum channel having a first outer diameter, The second processing area has a second height defined by the front of the second gas distribution plate and the uppermost surface of the substrate support, and the second processing area has a second vacuum channel having a second outer diameter. One of the first outer diameter of the first vacuum channel or the second outer diameter of the second vacuum channel is larger than the other of the first vacuum channel or the second vacuum channel, A deposition transition zone is formed from the ALD reaction between the first reactant and the second reactant. Method for processing a substrate.
In Paragraph 13, The deposition transition zone is smaller than the deposition transition zone formed on the substrate in a similar processing chamber where the first outer diameter and the second outer diameter are the same. Method for processing a substrate.
As a processing chamber, A substrate support having an upper surface configured to support a wafer during processing and to move said wafer between a plurality of processing regions; A first processing area comprising a first gas distribution plate having a first front facing the uppermost surface of the substrate support, wherein the first gas distribution plate is bounded by a first vacuum channel on the first front having a first outer diameter, the first vacuum channel being formed on the lowermost surface of the first gas distribution plate, the first vacuum channel comprising a first trench, and the first trench being connected to a first vacuum plenum through a first plurality of conduits. A second processing area comprising a second gas distribution plate having a second front facing the uppermost surface of the substrate support, and The second gas distribution plate is bounded by a second vacuum channel on the second front surface, the second vacuum channel is formed on the lowest surface of the second gas distribution plate, the second vacuum channel includes a second trench, the second trench is connected to a second vacuum plenum through a plurality of second conduits, and the second vacuum channel has a second outer diameter larger than the first outer diameter. The processing chamber is configured to move the substrate support between the first processing area, where a first reaction with the substrate surface occurs with the flow of a first process gas, and the second processing area, where a second reaction with the substrate surface occurs with the flow of a second process gas, wherein the second process gas has a reaction rate slower than the first process gas. Processing chamber.
In paragraph 15, The above substrate support is configured to support a plurality of wafers, Processing chamber.
In paragraph 15, The first outer diameter and the second outer diameter have a difference in the range of 2 mm to 5 mm. Processing chamber.
In paragraph 15, The first outer diameter is smaller than the diameter of the substrate support, Processing chamber.
In Paragraph 18, The first outer diameter is smaller than the wafer diameter by an amount of 2 mm or less, Processing chamber.
In paragraph 15, The openings of the first vacuum channel and the second vacuum channel are 8 mm or less, Processing chamber.

Description

Deposition apparatus and methods using staggered pumping locations [0001] The embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to apparatuses and methods for reducing the transition deposition zone. In particular, some embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a batch processing chamber having staggered pumping channels. [0002] In atomic layer deposition (ALD) chambers, deposition may occur on parts of the chamber other than the wafers being processed. In this case, the chambers are generally configured so that the parts where deposition occurs can be cleaned in-situ or removed for ex-situ cleaning. A set of parts that are periodically swapped out may be referred to as a process kit. [0003] In some cases, deposition on process kits can build up to a point where it causes defect problems on wafers that are peeled off and processed. Unwanted deposition can also lead to process drifts, such as variations in film thickness, film uniformity, or film properties. Some deposited films do not have good options for in-situ cleaning, and therefore process kits accumulate deposition until they need to be removed and potentially replaced. This can result in machine downtime and increased operating costs. [0004] In some batch processing chambers where substrates are moved between different processing stations (also referred to as processing areas) on the same electrostatic chuck, it is possible to prevent deposition on most parts of the chamber due to the separation of reactants between the different processing stations. However, the electrostatic chuck supporting the wafer moves with the wafer between the different stations. Parts of the electrostatic chuck are exposed to the process conditions at the processing stations and will also accumulate unwanted film deposition. [0005] In these cases, deposition at the edges of the electrostatic chucks can be restricted so as not to extend beyond the pumping channels due to back purge flow in the chamber. At the edges of the wafer/electrostatic chuck, there is a transition region where deposition decreases from being comparable to deposition on the wafer to no deposition. [0006] Therefore, there is a need for apparatus and methods that provide reduced deposition on process chamber surfaces. [0007] One or more embodiments of the present disclosure relate to processing chambers comprising a plurality of processing regions. Each of the processing regions has a height defined independently by the front of a gas distribution plate and the top surface of a substrate support. Each of the processing regions is bounded by one or more vacuum channels around an outer peripheral edge. A first processing region has a first vacuum channel having a first outer diameter, and a second processing region has a second vacuum channel having a second outer diameter. The first outer diameter is smaller than the second outer diameter. [0008] Further embodiments of the present disclosure relate to methods for processing a substrate. A substrate is exposed to a first reactant in a first processing area of a processing chamber and a second reactant in a second processing area. The first processing area has a first height defined by the front of a first gas distribution plate and the top surface of a substrate support. The first processing area has a first vacuum channel having a first outer diameter. The second processing area has a second height defined by the front of a second gas distribution plate and the top surface of a substrate support. The second processing area has a second vacuum channel having a second outer diameter. One of the first outer diameter of the first vacuum channel or the second outer diameter of the second vacuum channel is larger than the other of the first vacuum channel or the second vacuum channel. [0009] Further embodiments of the present disclosure relate to processing chambers comprising a substrate support, a first processing area, and a second processing area. The substrate support has a top surface configured to support a wafer during processing and to move the wafer between a plurality of processing areas. The first processing area comprises a first gas distribution plate having a first face facing the top surface of the substrate support. The first gas distribution plate is bounded by a first vacuum channel on the first face having a first outer diameter. The second processing area comprises a second gas distribution plate having a second face facing the top surface of the substrate support. The second gas distribution plate is bounded by a second vacuum channel on the second face. The second vacuum channel has a second outer diameter larger than the first outer diameter. [0010] In order to make the features of the present disclosure mentioned above more detailed, a more detailed description of the present disclosure, which is briefly summarized above, may be made with reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Ho