US-12628605-B2 - Substrate processing apparatus

US12628605B2US 12628605 B2US12628605 B2US 12628605B2US-12628605-B2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly, the substrate processing apparatus includes a gas utility exhausting each of the reaction space and the protective space so that a pressure change process including a high-pressure process, which is in a state of a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, and a low-pressure process that is in a state of a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure, is performed on a plurality of substrates introduced into the reaction space.

Inventors

Seung Seob Lee
Jeong Lim SON
Joo Ho Kim
Kyung Park
Joo Suop KIM
Young Jun Kim
Byung Jo Kim

Assignees

WONIK IPS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20200909
Priority Date: 20200414

Claims (17)

1 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising: an outer tube that defines a protective space; an inner tube that defines a reaction space, wherein a portion of the inner tube is in the outer tube; an outer manifold configured to support the outer tube and define a first inner space connected to the protective space, the outer manifold including an outer gas supply port and an outer gas exhaust port on a circumference of a sidewall thereof; an inner manifold configured to support the inner tube and define a second inner space connected to the reaction space, the inner manifold including an inner gas supply port and an inner gas exhaust port on a circumference of a sidewall thereof; a first gas supply line coupled to the protective space and a second gas supply line coupled to the reaction space; a first gas exhaust line coupled to the protective space and a second gas exhaust line coupled to the reaction space; a vacuum pump; an inner vacuum pumping line disposed between the reaction space and the vacuum pump; an outer vacuum pumping line disposed between the protective space and the vacuum pump; a scrubber connected to an output of the vacuum pump; a first high pressure control part disposed between the first gas exhaust line and an output of the vacuum pump and disposed between the first gas exhaust line and the scrubber; and a second high pressure control part disposed between the second gas exhaust line and the output of the vacuum pump and disposed between the second gas exhaust line and the scrubber; wherein the vacuum pump, the first high-pressure control part, and the second high-pressure control part are configured to control a pressure of the reaction space and control a pressure of the protective space, such that a high-pressure process conducted at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure and a low-pressure process conducted at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure are performed in the reaction space as well as on a semiconductor substrate in the reaction space; wherein protective space pressure is maintained at a pressure higher than reaction space pressure when a high-pressure process is performed in the reaction space; wherein the first high-pressure control part comprises: a first high-pressure exhaust valve on the first gas exhaust line; and a first high-pressure control valve between the first high-pressure exhaust valve and the output of the vacuum pump, the first high-pressure control valve configured to control an amount of a gas exhausted from the protective space; wherein the second high-pressure control part comprises: a second high-pressure exhaust valve on the second gas exhaust line; and a second high-pressure control valve between the second high-pressure exhaust valve and the output of the vacuum pump, the second high-pressure control valve configured to control an amount of a gas exhausted from the reaction space.
2 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vacuum pump is operatively coupled to: a second low-pressure on/off valve on the inner vacuum pumping line; and a second main pumping valve between the second low-pressure on/off valve and the vacuum pump.
3 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an outer pumping part between the protective space and the vacuum pump.
4 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the outer pumping part comprises: a first low-pressure on/off valve operatively coupled to the outer vacuum pumping line; and a first main pumping valve between the first low-pressure on/off valve and the vacuum pump.
5 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the vacuum pump is configured to evacuate the protective space to a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure and higher than a pressure of the reaction space when a low-pressure process is performed in the reaction space by driving an inner pumping part.
6 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the outer manifold further comprises an outer pumping port disposed on a circumference of a sidewall of the outer manifold.
7 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising an outer pumping part comprising: the outer vacuum pumping line configured to connect the outer pumping port to the vacuum pump; a first low-pressure on/off valve operatively coupled to the outer vacuum pumping line to control a flow to the vacuum pump; and a first main pumping valve between the first low-pressure on/off valve and the vacuum pump.
8 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the vacuum pump is configured to evacuate the protective space such that a pressure of the protective space is maintained lower than atmospheric pressure and higher than a pressure of the reaction space when a low-pressure process is performed in the reaction space by driving an inner pumping part.
9 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vacuum pump is configured to control pressure of the reaction space to less than atmospheric pressure.
10 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising an inner pumping part comprising: a second low-pressure on/off valve coupled to the inner vacuum pumping line and configured to control flow to the vacuum pump; and a second main pumping valve between the second low-pressure on/off valve and the vacuum pump, the second main pumping valve configured to maintain reaction space pressure at a pressure less than atmospheric pressure.
11 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising an outer pumping part between the protective space and the vacuum pump.
12 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the outer pumping part comprises: a first low-pressure on/off valve operatively coupled to the outer vacuum pumping line to control flow to the vacuum pump; and a first main pumping valve between the first low-pressure on/off valve and the vacuum pump to control a pressure of the protective space such that the protective space is maintained at a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure and at a pressure higher than a pressure of the reaction space.
13 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the vacuum pump is configured to evacuate the protective space such that a pressure of the protective space is maintained lower than atmospheric pressure and higher than a pressure of the reaction space when a low-pressure process is performed in the reaction space by driving an inner pumping part.
14 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the outer manifold further comprises an outer pumping port disposed on a circumference of a sidewall, and further comprising an outer pumping part configured to connect the outer pumping port to the vacuum pump, wherein the outer pumping part comprises: a first low-pressure on/off valve operatively coupled to an outer vacuum pumping line and configured to control flow to the vacuum pump; and a first main pumping valve between the first low-pressure on/off valve and the vacuum pump to control a pressure of the protective space such that the pressure in the protective space is maintained at a pressure less than atmospheric pressure and at a pressure higher than a pressure of the reaction space.
15 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the first gas exhaust line is configured to carry exhaust from the protective space such that a pressure of the protective space is maintained at atmospheric pressure or higher than atmospheric pressure when a low-pressure process is performed in the reaction space.
16 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first gas exhaust line and the second gas exhaust line is configured to exhaust the protective space such that a pressure of the protective space is maintained at a higher pressure than a pressure of the reaction space when a high-pressure process is performed in the reaction space by driving an inner exhaust part.
17 . The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first gas exhaust line and the second gas exhaust line is configured to exhaust the protective space such that a pressure of the protective space is maintained at atmospheric pressure or higher than atmospheric pressure when a low-pressure process is performed in the reaction space by driving an inner pumping part.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Korean Patent Application Nos. 10-2020-0045298, filed on Apr. 14, 2020, 10-2020-0045299, filed on Apr. 14, 2020, 10-2020-0045300, filed on Apr. 14, 2020, 10-2020-0045301, filed on Apr. 14, 2020, 10-2020-0045303, filed on Apr. 14, 2020, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus in which a substrate is processed at a high pressure and a low pressure. BACKGROUND ART A substrate processing apparatus may be understood as processing a semiconductor process for a substrate such as a wafer. As an example of the substrate processing apparatus, a reactor using a boat for heat processing of the substrate may be used. The reactor is configured to allow the boat loading substrates in a unit of predetermined sheets (for example, 180 sheets) to be elevated in a loading region so as to thermally process the substrates or allow the boat to descend to the loading region so as to unload the thermally processed substrates. The reactor is configured to be provided with a tube that accommodates the elevated boat, thereby forming a reaction space blocked from the outside. In general, in order to efficiently perform the thermal processing process, the tube is made of a quartz material having good heat transfer properties. The above-described tube may be damaged when an internal temperature and pressure are significantly different from an external temperature and pressure due to the material properties. The damage of the tube may deteriorate reliability of the substrate processing apparatus itself and also entire process yield. Therefore, the substrate processing apparatus needs to be designed to adopt a technology that is capable of ensuring the product reliability and improving the process yield. In addition, the substrate processing apparatus is used to supply a source gas, a reaction gas, a carrier gas, and the like and apply an appropriate temperature and pressure so as to form a thin film having a desired thickness on a substrate. Also, in the process of forming the thin film, there is a limitation of deteriorating the yield due to residues inside the thin film or on a surface of the thin film. Therefore, it is required to develop a technology for preprocessing, in-processing, and post-processing the residues, and development of a substrate processing apparatus for effectively applying the developed technology is also required. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve the above-mentioned limitations, the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus in which a pressure between an outer tube and an inner tube is maintained higher than that of a reaction space of the inner tube during a process of processing a substrate to limit an extent of damage to the inside of the outer tube even when the inner tube is damaged. To solve the above-mentioned limitations, the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus in which a gas is independently supplied into and exhausted from a space between an inner tube and an outer tube with respect to a reaction space of the inner tube. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a substrate processing apparatus includes: an outer tube which defines a protective space therein and has a lower portion in which a first inlet is provided; an inner tube which defines a reaction space therein and has a lower portion in which a second inlet is provided, wherein a portion of the inner tube is accommodated in the outer tube, and the portion, in which the second inlet is provided, protrudes outward from the outer tube; an outer manifold configured to support a lower portion of the outer tube and define a first inner space connected to the protective space, the outer manifold being provided with an outer gas supply port and an outer gas exhaust port on a circumference of a sidewall thereof: an inner manifold configured to support a lower portion of the inner tube and define a second inner space connected to the protective space, the inner manifold being provided with an inner gas supply port and an inner gas exhaust port on a circumference of a sidewall thereof; and a gas utility configured to control a pressure of each of the reaction space and the protective space so that a pressure change process including a high-pressure process, which is in a state of a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure, and a low-pressure process that is in a state of a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure, is performed on a plurality of substrates introduced into the reaction space. The gas utility may include: an outer exhaust part including an outer exhaust line configured to connect the outer gas exhaust port to the external exhaust device and a first high-pressure control part install