阅读说明：本技术 可变传导性气体分布装置和方法 (Variable conductance gas distribution apparatus and method ) 是由 J·K·舒格鲁 于 2015-09-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：公开了一种可变传导性气体分布系统、包括该可变传导性气体分布系统的反应器和系统、以及使用该可变传导性气体分布系统、反应器和系统的方法。该可变传导性气体分布系统允许对通过该气体分布系统的气流传导性的快速操控。(A variable conductance gas distribution system, a reactor and system including the variable conductance gas distribution system, and methods of using the variable conductance gas distribution system, reactor and system are disclosed. The variable conductance gas distribution system allows for rapid manipulation of the conductance of a gas flow through the gas distribution system.)

1. A gas phase reactor configured for forming a semiconductor device, the gas phase reactor comprising:

a reaction chamber;

a substrate support disposed within the reaction chamber and configured to hold a semiconductor substrate;

a vacuum source fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber; and

a variable conductance gas distribution system disposed above the substrate support, the variable conductance gas distribution system comprising:

a gas inlet;

a first component having one or more first features;

a second component having one or more second features; and

a mechanism to move at least one of the first member and the second member relative to the other to manipulate the amount of gas flow over the semiconductor substrate,

wherein when the gas distribution system is open, gas flows between the one or more first features and the one or more second features, and

when the gas distribution system is closed, a seal is formed between the one or more first features and the one or more second features.

2. The variable conductance gas distribution system of claim 1, wherein the one or more first features are tapered.

3. The variable conductance gas distribution system of claim 1, wherein the one or more first features are frustoconical.

4. The variable conductance gas distribution system of claim 1, wherein the one or more second features are tapered.

5. The variable conductance gas distribution system of claim 1, wherein the one or more second features are frustoconical.

6. The variable conductance gas distribution system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more first features and at least one of the one or more second features are concentric with respect to each other.

7. The variable conductance gas distribution system of claim 1, further comprising a reactant gas source coupled to the gas inlet.

8. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the first member and the second member are spaced apart a first distance for a first process to flow a purge gas through the variable conductance gas distribution system at a first conductivity and are spaced apart a second distance for a second process to flow one or more reactants through the variable conductance gas distribution system at a second conductivity, the first conductivity being different from the second conductivity.

9. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the mechanism moves the first member and the second member together before the gas inlet receives a reactant gas.

10. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the mechanism moves the first member and the second member apart before the gas inlet receives a purge gas.

11. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein one or more of the first feature and the second feature comprises holes that allow gas to flow through.

12. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the mechanism moves the first member a distance between about 0 and about 10 mm.

13. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, further comprising a coupling element coupled to the one or more first features.

14. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, further comprising a coupling element coupled to the one or more second features.

15. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the first member comprises a plurality of concentric first features.

16. The variable conductance gas distribution system of any one of claims 1-7, wherein the second member comprises a plurality of concentric second features.

17. A gas phase reactor comprising the variable conductance gas distribution system of claim 1.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to gas phase apparatuses and methods. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to gas distribution devices, reactors and systems including the devices, and methods of using the devices, reactors, and systems.

Background

Gas phase reactors such as Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), plasma enhanced CVD (pecvd), Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), and the like, may be used in a variety of applications, including depositing and etching materials on a substrate surface. For example, gas phase reactors may be used to deposit and/or etch layers on substrates to form semiconductor devices, flat panel display devices, photovoltaic devices, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and the like.

A typical gas phase reactor system includes a reactor including a reaction chamber, one or more precursor gas sources fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber, one or more carrier or purge gas sources fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber, a gas distribution system that delivers gases (e.g., precursor gases and/or carrier or purge gases) to a surface of a substrate, and an exhaust source fluidly coupled to the reaction chamber.

Many gas distribution systems include a showerhead assembly for distributing gas to a surface of a substrate. The showerhead assembly is typically positioned above the substrate and is designed to provide laminar flow to the substrate surface. The showerhead assembly is typically designed to couple with the reaction chamber to provide a desired residence time for the gas phase reactants.

During substrate processing, a purge gas is typically used to help remove one or more reactants and/or products from the reaction chamber. For example, during a typical ALD process, a first reactant (also referred to herein as a precursor) is introduced to the reaction chamber and allowed to react with the surface of the substrate for a first residence time, and the first reactant is exhausted from the reaction chamber using an exhaust system and a purge gas. A second reactant is then directed to the reaction chamber to react with the surface of the substrate for a second residence time, which may be the same or different than the first residence time. The second reactant is then exhausted from the reaction chamber using an exhaust system and a purge gas. These steps may be repeated until a desired amount of material is deposited on the substrate surface.

During the purging step, it may be desirable to allow significantly more gas (relative to the reactants) to flow through the reaction chamber. Unfortunately, ALD and other gas phase reactors and systems are typically designed to restrict gas flow to optimize reactant flow rates and residence times for desired film deposition rates and uniformity. Thus, the time required to adequately purge the reactant or other gas from the reaction chamber is undesirably long. Whereby substrate productivity is undesirably too slow and the costs associated with processing the substrate are undesirably too high. Accordingly, an improved gas phase process and apparatus that allows for rapid purging and has desirable reactant flow rates is desired.

Disclosure of Invention

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide variable conductance (conductance) gas distribution systems and methods. The variable conductance gas distribution system is suitable for use in a variety of gas phase processes, such as chemical vapor deposition processes (including plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processes), gas phase etch processes (including plasma enhanced gas phase etch processes), gas phase cleans (including plasma enhanced clean processes), and gas phase processing processes (including plasma enhanced process processes). As described in more detail below, the example systems and methods are particularly well suited for processes that use multiple reactants (e.g., in multiple orders), such as atomic layer deposition processes.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a variable conductance gas distribution system includes a gas inlet, a first member in fluid communication with the gas inlet, and a second member in fluid communication with the gas inlet. The first and second components include one or more features that interact or intermesh to control the amount of gas flowing through the variable conductance gas distribution system. In accordance with aspects of these embodiments, the variable conductance gas distribution system further comprises a mechanism to move at least one of the first member and the second member relative to the other to manipulate the gas flow. For example, the first and second components may be spaced apart to provide greater fluid conductivity (e.g., for cleaning a reaction chamber of a reactor), and may be moved closer together or engaged to provide lesser fluid conductivity (e.g., for providing reactants to the reaction chamber). One or more gases may flow from the gas inlet to the reaction chamber between one or more features on the first component and one or more features on the second component.

According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a reactor comprises a gas distribution system as described herein.

According to another additional exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a reactor system includes a gas distribution system as described herein.

Also, according to yet another additional exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a gas phase method includes using a variable conductance gas distribution system. An exemplary method comprises the steps of: directing a first gas (e.g., a reactant gas) to a reaction chamber of a reactor using a variable conductance gas distribution system; moving a first component of the variable conductance gas distribution system relative to a second component of the variable conductance gas distribution system to increase the fluid conductance of the variable conductance gas distribution system; and directing a second gas (e.g., a purge gas) to a reaction chamber of the reactor using a variable conductance gas distribution system. A mechanism such as a servo motor, pneumatic actuator, electromagnetic solenoid, or piezoelectric actuator may be used to move the first component relative to the second component and thereby manipulate the gas flow.

The foregoing summary of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as disclosed or claimed.

Drawings

A more complete understanding of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be derived by referring to the detailed description and claims when considered in connection with the appended drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a gas phase reactor system with a variable conductance gas distribution system in an open position according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a gas phase reactor system with a variable conductance gas distribution system in a closed position according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of a portion of a variable conductance gas distribution system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom view of a portion of a variable conductance gas distribution system according to further exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a variable conductance gas distribution system in a closed position, according to additional exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates features of a variable conductance gas distribution system in an open position according to another additional exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a variable conductance gas distribution system in a further open position according to another additional exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 illustrates a method according to another further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

It will be appreciated that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of the illustrated embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The description of the exemplary embodiments provided below is merely exemplary and is intended for illustrative purposes only; the following description is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure or claims. Moreover, recitation of multiple embodiments having stated features is not intended to exclude other embodiments having additional features, or other embodiments incorporating different combinations of the stated features.

As described in more detail below, various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to variable conductance gas distribution systems, reactors and reactor systems including the variable conductance gas distribution systems, and methods of using the variable conductance gas distribution systems and reactors. The variable conductance gas distribution system, reactor, and method may be used in a variety of vapor phase processes, such as deposition, etching, cleaning, and/or treatment processes.

Fig. 1 illustrates a gas phase reactor system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The system 100 includes a reactor 102, the reactor 102 including a reaction chamber 104, a substrate support 106, and a variable conductance gas distribution system 108, a vacuum source 110, a first reactant gas source 112, a second reactant gas source 114, a purge gas source 116, one or more flow control units 118 and 122, a gas inlet 124, and an optional remote plasma unit 128. Although not shown, the system 100 may additionally include a direct and/or additional remote plasma and/or thermal excitation device for one or more reactants within the reaction chamber 104.

The reactor 102 may be used to deposit material on the surface of the substrate 126, etch material from the surface of the substrate 126, clean the surface of the substrate 126, process the surface of the substrate 126, deposit material on the surface within the reaction chamber 104, clean the surface within the reaction chamber 104, etch the surface within the reaction chamber 104, and/or process the surface within the reaction chamber 104. The reactor 102 may be a stand-alone reactor or part of a cluster tool. Further, the reactor 102 may be dedicated to deposition, etching, cleaning, or processing, or the reactor 102 may be used for a variety of processes (e.g., for any combination of deposition, etching, cleaning, and processing). As an example, the reactor 102 may include a reactor typically used for Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) processes, such as Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) processes.

The substrate support 106 is designed to hold a substrate or workpiece 126 in place during processing. According to some exemplary embodiments, the reactor 102 includes a direct plasma device; in this case, the substrate support 106 may be formed as part of a direct plasma loop. Additionally or alternatively, the substrate support 106 may be heated, cooled, or at ambient process temperatures during processing. As an example, the substrate support 106 may be heated during processing of the substrate 126 such that the reactor 102 operates in a cold-wall, hot substrate configuration.

Although the gas inlet 124 is shown in block form, the gas inlet 124 may be relatively complex and designed to mix gases (e.g., vapors) from the reactant sources 112, 114 and/or to mix carrier/purge gases from one or more sources 116 prior to distributing the gas mixture to the reaction chamber 104. Further, the gas inlet 124 may be configured to provide a vertical (as shown) or horizontal gas flow to the chamber 104. An exemplary Gas distribution system is described in U.S. patent No.8,152,922 entitled "Gas Mixer and modified Assembly for ALD Reactor" filed by Schmidt et al, 4/10/2012, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference to the extent that they do not conflict with the present disclosure. The gas inlet may optionally include an integrated manifold (manifold) module designed to receive and distribute one or more gases to the reaction chamber 104. An exemplary integrated inlet Manifold module is disclosed in U.S. patent No.7,918,938 entitled "High Temperature ALD inlet Manifold," filed 5/4/2011 by Provencher et al, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, to the extent that their contents do not conflict with the present disclosure.

The remote plasma unit 128 may be an inductively coupled plasma unit or a microwave remote plasma unit. In the example shown, the remote plasma unit 128 may be used to create reactive or excited species for use in the reaction chamber 104. Although system 100 is shown with remote plasma unit 128, systems according to other exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure do not include a remote plasma unit. In addition to or in lieu of using the remote plasma unit 128 to form the excited species, the system 100 may include additional excitation sources, such as thermal or hot filament sources, microwave sources, and the like.

The vacuum source 110 may include any suitable vacuum source capable of providing a desired pressure in the reaction chamber 104. For example, the vacuum source 110 may include a dry vacuum pump alone or in combination with a turbomolecular pump.

The reactant gas sources or precursors 112 and 114 may each include one or more gases, or materials that become gaseous, for deposition, etching, cleaning, or processing. Exemplary gas sources include noble gas liquid vapors and vaporized solid sources. Although two reactant gas sources 112, 114 are shown, systems according to the present disclosure may include any suitable number of reactant sources.

The purge gas source 116 comprises one or more gases, or materials that become gaseous, that are relatively unreactive in the reactor 102. Exemplary purge gases include nitrogen, argon, helium, and any combination thereof. Although one purge gas source is shown, a system according to the present disclosure may include any suitable number of purge gas sources. Further, one or more purge gas sources may provide one or more carrier gases and/or the system 100 may include additional carrier gas sources to provide carrier gases to be mixed with one or more gases from the reactant sources (such as sources 112, 114).

Flow controllers 118 and 122 may comprise any suitable device for controlling the flow of gases. For example, the flow controllers 118 and 122 may be mass flow controllers. Additionally, the system 100 may include a valve 130 and 134 to further control or shut off the gas source.

The variable conductance gas distribution system 108 is configured to manipulate the gas flow rate of the gas flowing between the gas inlet 124 and the vacuum source 110 toward the substrate 126. In the example shown, the variable conductance gas distribution system 108 includes a first component 136 and a second component 138. The first component 136 includes one or more features 140 and 142 and a coupling element 158. The second component 138 includes one or more second features 148 and 158 and a coupling element 160. The mechanism 162 may cause the first and second members 136, 138 to move relative to one another to increase or decrease the conductance of the gas flowing between the features 140, 142, and 148, 152. As an example, the mechanism 162 may cause the first and second components 136, 138 to move from the closed or "0" position to a distance of about 10mm, or from about 0 to about 6 mm.

The materials used to form the first and second members 136, 138 and their components may vary depending on the application. By way of example, the first and second components 136, 138 are formed from a nickel, nickel-plated aluminum, high nickel stainless steel material, such as hastelloy (e.g., c22), or the like.

FIG. 1 shows the variable conductance gas distribution system 108 in an "open," relatively high conductance position. In this case, a gas, such as a purge gas, may flow between the inlet 124 and the vacuum source 110 with a relatively low restriction. FIG. 2 shows variable conductance gas distribution system 108 in a "closed," relatively restrictive/low conductance position, which may be used when one or more reactant gases (such as one or more gases from sources 112 and/or 114) are directed to reaction chamber 104.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108 in a closed position. In the example shown, the coupling element 158 of the first member 136 retains the feature 140 and 142 and may be used to simultaneously move the feature 140 and 142 or to retain the feature 140 and 142 in the rest position. Similarly, referring to FIG. 4, which illustrates a bottom view of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108, the coupling element 160 of the second member 138 retains the feature 148-152 and may be used to simultaneously move the feature 148-152 or retain the feature 148-152 in a stationary position. Coupling element 158 and/or coupling element 160 may optionally include structures 144, 146 that couple the features with the respective coupling elements. Variable conductance gas distribution system 108 may include apertures 302 to allow gas to flow through variable conductance gas distribution system 108 even when variable conductance gas distribution system 108 is in a closed position. However, other example variable conductance gas distribution systems according to the present disclosure do not include holes. In this case, the features of the first and second components 136, 138 may form a sealing structure.

Referring again to fig. 1 and 2, operation of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108 is shown with the mechanism 162 to move the first member 136 while maintaining the second member 138 in a stationary position. However, other variable conductance gas distribution systems 108 according to the present disclosure may move both the first member 136 and the second member 138, or only the second member 138, to manipulate the conductance of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108. Further, while the features 140 and 148 and 152 are shown as moving in relative unison (or remaining stationary), other embodiments of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108 include moving one or more features individually or moving one or more components individually or moving them together.

The features 140, 142, 148, 152 are shown as tapered, generally having a frustoconical shape (e.g., a shape with a truncated triangle in cross-section). However, the features 140 and 152 may have any suitable shape. However, to help control gas conductance, the features 140 and 152 may desirably include sloped surfaces. For example, the angle θ of the sidewall between the bottom of the feature and the top of the feature may range from about 10 degrees to 80 degrees or from about 30 degrees to about 60 degrees.

The variable conductance gas distribution system 108 may include any suitable number of features. By way of example, the first component 136 may include 1-10 or more features and the second component 138 may include 1-10 or more features, with the features associated (e.g., attached) with the first component 136 generally alternating with the features of the second component 138. Further, although the features 140, 142, 148, 152 are shown in cross-section as concentric or hollow circles (fig. 3 and 4) as viewed from the top or bottom of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108, the features may comprise other suitable cross-sections, such as squares or rectangles.

Fig. 5-7 illustrate other variable conductance gas distribution systems 500 including a first feature 502 and 506 and a second feature 508 and 510 coupled to a coupling element 512. The variable conductance gas distribution system 500 is similar to the variable conductance gas distribution system 108, except that the variable conductance gas distribution system 500 includes three first features 502-506 (as compared to the two features 140-142 of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108) and two second features 508-510 (as compared to the three features 148-152 of the variable conductance gas distribution system 108).

FIG. 5 illustrates the variable conductance gas distribution system 500 in a closed position. In this position, similar to the variable conductance gas distribution system 108, the variable conductance gas distribution system 500 may allow no (if the variable conductance gas distribution system 500 does not include holes) or relatively little gas flow. As shown in fig. 6, the first and second members 601, 604 may be moved apart (e.g., from about 0mm to about 0.3mm or from about 0.3mm to about 20mm) to allow gas to flow between the first feature 502 and the second feature 508 and 510 (e.g., to direct one or more reactants to the reaction chamber). As shown in FIG. 7, the first member 602 and the second member 604 may be further moved apart to increase the conductance of the variable conductance gas distribution system 500 (e.g., for a cleaning process).

Turning now to FIG. 8, a gas phase process 800 is illustrated. The method 800 includes the steps of: directing a reactant gas to a reaction chamber of a reactor using a variable conductance gas distribution system (step 802); moving a first component of the variable conductance gas distribution system relative to a second component of the variable conductance gas distribution system to increase a fluid conductance of the variable conductance gas distribution system (step 804); and directing a purge gas to a reaction chamber of the reactor using the variable conductance gas distribution system (step 806). Step 800 may also include the steps of: the first component is moved relative to the second component to reduce the conductance of the variable conductance gas distribution system (step 808). Steps 802-806 or 802-808 may be repeated as many times as desired, for example, until a desired amount of material is deposited, removed, cleaned, or otherwise processed. Further, although shown as directing the reactant gas first, the method 800 may suitably begin by moving the first and/or second components to a desired location and/or by directing a purge gas to the reaction chamber.

While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited. For example, although the susceptor assembly, reactor system, and method are described in connection with a number of specific configurations, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these examples. Various modifications, changes, and enhancements may be made to the example base assemblies, reactors, systems, and methods described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel and nonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the various systems, assemblies, reactors, components, and configurations, other features, functions, manifestations, and/or properties disclosed herein, and any and all equivalents thereof.