US-12620558-B2 - Apparatus for processing substrate and method of processing substrate

US12620558B2US 12620558 B2US12620558 B2US 12620558B2US-12620558-B2

Abstract

A method of processing a substrate using an apparatus for processing a substrate, which generates plasma in a processing space by applying microwaves is provided, the method including a plasma treatment operation of processing a substrate using plasma; a replacing operation of performing the plasma treatment operation a predetermined number of times and replacing a component included in the apparatus; and a backup operation of backing up the apparatus after the replacing operation, wherein the backup operation includes a preheating operation in which the temperature adjusting unit increases a temperature of the processing space by increasing a temperature of coolant supplied to the process chamber; and a bake purge operation performed after the preheating operation and including removing impurities from the component.

Inventors

Sang Lim KIM
Hyun Kyu CHOI
Do Hwan JUNG
Jin Kyu Choi

Assignees

SEMES CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231108
Priority Date: 20221216

Claims (16)

1 . A method of processing a substrate using an apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising: a plasma treatment operation of processing a substrate using plasma; a replacing operation of performing the plasma treatment operation a predetermined number of times and replacing a component included in the apparatus; and a backup operation of backing up the apparatus after the replacing operation, wherein the backup operation includes: a preheating operation in which a temperature adjusting unit increases a temperature of the processing space by increasing a temperature of coolant supplied to the process space; a bake purge operation performed after the preheating operation and including removing impurities from the component; at least one purging operation of purging the processing space; and a pre-cooling operation including lowering a temperature of the processing space by lowering a temperature of the coolant to a predetermined starting temperature.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the preheating operation includes gradually increasing a temperature of coolant over a predetermined time from a predetermined starting temperature.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the preheating operation is terminated when a temperature of the coolant reaches a predetermined target temperature, and wherein the bake purge operation is performed after the preheating operation is completed.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the bake purge operation includes forming an atmosphere of the processing space to be normal pressure and forming a temperature of the processing space to be 100 to 200 degrees Celsius.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the bake purge operation includes supplying purging gas to the processing space.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one purging operation further includes: a primary purging operation of purging the processing space; and a secondary purging operation of performing a secondary purge of the processing space after the primary purging operation.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the pre-cooling operation is performed after the secondary purging operation is performed.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the pre-cooling operation includes gradually lowering a temperature of the coolant to a starting temperature over a predetermined period of time.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the pre-heating operation and pre-cooling operation includes controlling temperature of the coolant in units of 5 to 10 degrees Celsius according to a predetermined time interval by the temperature adjusting unit.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the primary purging operation includes identifying leakage in the processing space by supplying purging gas to the processing space formed at room temperature, and primarily purging the processing space by exhausting the purging gas supplied to the processing space, and wherein the secondary purging operation includes identifying leakage in the processing space by increasing a temperature of the processing space and supplying purging gas to the processing space, and secondarily purging the processing space by exhausting the purging gas supplied to the processing space.
11 . A method of processing a substrate, including replacing components included in an apparatus for processing a substrate and backing up the apparatus, wherein the backing up the apparatus includes: a preheating operation in which a temperature adjusting unit increases a temperature of a processing space by increasing a temperature of coolant supplied to a process chamber; a bake purge operation performed after the preheating operation and including removing impurities including moisture contained in the components and/or particles attached to the components; at least one purging operation of purging the processing space; and a pre-cooling operation including lowering a temperature of the processing space to the starting temperature by lowering a temperature of the coolant.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the preheating operation includes gradually increasing a temperature of the coolant over a predetermined period of time from a predetermined starting temperature to a predetermined target temperature.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein, in the bake purge operation, pressure in the processing space is formed to be normal pressure, wherein, in the bake purge operation, a temperature of the processing space is determined to be 100 to 200 degrees Celsius, and wherein the bake purge operation includes purging the processing space by supplying purging gas to the processing space in which the substrate is processed.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the at least one purging operation includes a primary purging operation including identifying leakage in the processing space by supplying purging gas to the processing space formed at room temperature, and purging the processing space by exhausting the purging gas supplied to the processing space, and wherein the primary purging operation is performed after the bake purge operation.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least one purging operation further includes a secondary purging operation including identifying leakage in the processing space by increasing a temperature of the processing space and supplying purging gas to the processing space formed at a relatively high temperature, and secondarily purging the processing space by exhausting the purging gas supplied to the processing space, after the primary purging operation.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the pre-cooling operation is performed after the secondary purging operation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims benefit of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0177296 filed on Dec. 16, 2022 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Field Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus for processing a substrate and a method of processing a substrate which may process a substrate using plasma. Plasma may be generated by extremely high temperature, strong electric fields, or RF electromagnetic fields, and may refer to an ionized gaseous state of matter including ions, electrons, and radicals. In a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, various processes may be performed using plasma. For example, an etching process may be performed by radicals and ion particles contained in plasma colliding with a substrate. In the case of an apparatus for processing a substrate which generates plasma by generating microwaves, durability of components included in the apparatus may decrease during the process. Accordingly, a plasma treatment may be performed on the substrate a predetermined number of times, and a maintenance work such as replacing components may be performed periodically. When durability of the components reaches a threshold and the components are replaced, the replaced components, including inevitable impurities, may be disposed in the apparatus for processing a substrate. When plasma treatment is performed on a substrate while the surface of the replaced component contains impurities (e.g., moisture and/or particles), the degree of contamination in a processing space in which the processing of a substrate is performed may increase such that defects may occur. Also, impurities may be attached to the surface of the substrate, and may hinder efficient plasma treatment for the substrate. Also, when using a method of performing a purging operation to remove impurities contained in the surface of component, the time required for maintenance may increase. When the maintenance work is prolonged, efficiency in the processing of a substrate may decrease. Furthermore, it may be difficult to easily remove impurities attached to fine grooves on the surface of component by simply performing a purging operation. 2. Description of Related Art An embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a method of processing a substrate, which may efficiently perform maintenance of an apparatus for processing a substrate. Also, an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a method of processing a substrate, which may swiftly perform maintenance of an apparatus for processing of a substrate to be swiftly performed. Also, an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a method of processing a substrate, which may efficiently remove impurities on a surface of a component after components included in an apparatus for processing a substrate are replaced. Also, an embodiment of the present disclosure is to provide a method of processing a substrate which may prevent overloading of a chamber by preliminarily heating or cooling the apparatus for processing a substrate. SUMMARY According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of processing a substrate using an apparatus for processing a substrate, which generates plasma in a processing space by applying microwaves, includes a plasma treatment operation of processing a substrate using plasma; a replacing operation of performing the plasma treatment operation a predetermined number of times and replacing a component included in the apparatus; and a backup operation of backing up the apparatus after the replacing operation, wherein the backup operation includes a preheating operation in which the temperature adjusting unit increases a temperature of the processing space by increasing a temperature of coolant supplied to the process chamber; and a bake purge operation performed after the preheating operation and including removing impurities from the component. The preheating operation may include gradually increasing a temperature of coolant over a predetermined time from a predetermined starting temperature. The preheating operation may be terminated when a temperature of the coolant reaches a predetermined target temperature, and the bake purge operation is performed after the preheating operation is completed. The bake purge operation may include forming an atmosphere of the processing space to be normal pressure and forming a temperature of the processing space to be 100 to 200 degrees Celsius. The bake purge operation may include supplying purging gas to the processing space. The backup operation may further include a primary purging operation of purging the processing space; and a secondary purging operation of performing a secondary purge of the processing space after the primary purging operation. The backup operation may further include a pre-cooling operation performed aft