KR100469527B1 - Method for increasing the yield in processes of deposition of thin layers onto a substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

By applying equipment and processes already present in the chamber to process and heat the produced substrate, the atmosphere and activated devices in the processing chamber when the pressure of the reactive gas in the chamber is below about 10 ⁻³ mbar and the substrate is not processed A method of increasing the productivity of a process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate by contacting is disclosed. The method is particularly useful when applied in a continuous operation (1, 2, 3, 4) included between the opening of the processing chamber and the start of the manufacturing process. Also disclosed are getter devices 50, 60, 70 suitable for use in the method.

Description

METHODS FOR INCREASING THE YIELD IN PROCESSES OF DEPOSITION OF THIN LAYERS ONTO A SUBSTRATE}

The process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate is widely applied in various industries. For example, such a process can be used for electronic integrated circuits (known in the art as ICs), for CDs (where a thin layer of aluminum is deposited on a substrate of transparent plastic) or for computers (usually magnetic materials are deposited on a medium of aluminum). Background of the Invention The manufacture of a flat display device, a medium for storing information such as a hard disk, and eventually a thin layer deposition process is applied to the field of micromechanical devices manufactured by a technology very similar to the technology used to manufacture ICs.

The main industrial processes for depositing thin layers are chemical vapor deposition from the vapor phase and physical vapor deposition from the vapor phase, which are referred to in the art as "chemical vapor deposition" and "physical vapor deposition" or abbreviation "CVD" and "PVD", respectively. Known.

In a CVD process, two or more gas species react in a vacuum chamber in which the substrate is located, which forms a solid product that is deposited on the substrate in the form of a thin layer. The pressure in the chamber to be vented differs significantly in various CVD processes, and some of these processes (defined in low pressure or ultra-high vacuum form) require initial venting at pressure values ranging from 10 ^-8 to 10 ^-9 mbar. CVD processes refer to processes in this pressure range.

In the short term PVD a set of possible alternative techniques is actually pointed out. However, all these techniques exhibit the following common features.

The target material to be deposited is used to obtain a thin layer, which is generally a low height cylinder which is located in the chamber parallel to the substrate in front of the substrate.

The chamber is first evacuated and filled with an atmosphere of rare gas, typically argon, at a pressure of 10 ^-2 to 10 ^-5 mbar, applying a potential difference of several thousand volts between the support of the substrate and the support of the target (with positive potential). This creates a plasma of electrons and Ar ⁺ ions in the space between the substrate and the target, which is accelerated toward the target by an electric field and eroded by the impact, resulting from species erosion (generally atoms or “cluster” atoms). ) Is deposited on the substrate (as well as other available surfaces) to form a thin layer.

Each process includes many steps for depositing a thin layer and there is also a mixing process that includes CVD and PVD steps.

In particular in the case of ICs, it is known that the characteristics of a thin film layer element are highly dependent on the presence of defects in the deposited layer. This defect is mainly due to the presence of atoms of chemical species different from the species forming the layer. Ultimately, the use of reactants of the highest possible purity (targets in the case of CVD and PVD in the case of CVD) and the highest possible cleanliness of all surfaces and process atmospheres in the treatment chamber are reduced to the lowest possible source of contamination at every stage of the process It is necessary to let.

It is also possible to perform deposition on various substrates simultaneously (in the case of CVD and PVD), but the industrial trend is a process performed by a single substrate that allows good control of the deposition microstructures.

In order to meet the requirements described above, the thin layer deposition process is performed in a system comprising one or more chambers, typically a plurality of chambers, designed for a particular operation, for example an actual processing chamber in which the deposition step is performed Or, for example, a control chamber used to clean or heat the substrate prior to deposition. Next, the processing and control chamber will be generally referred to as a processing chamber. In the case of various processing chambers, these chambers may be positioned in line to be directly connected to each other and alternatively such chambers may be located around a central delivery chamber. Each chamber is generally connected to an adjacent chamber by a valve that opens and closes to allow transfer of the substrate from one chamber to another during various stages of the process.

In order to ensure the best possible cleaning, generally all chambers are kept under vacuum having an optimum vacuum value in the deposition chamber. The substrate is processed from the chamber to the subsequent chamber via automation means, generally a mechanical arm. In a simple operation of the processing system (in the form of a chamber comprising a chamber located around the delivery chamber), the substrates are introduced inside a box of a suitable shape within the first chamber, and the inner walls are connected to each other to simplify the automatic processing operation. Tangs are provided to keep them separate. The first chamber is maintained in a vacuum of about 10 ⁻⁵ to 10 ⁻⁶ mbar and the first valve is opened to communicate the chamber with the delivery chamber, the mechanical arm takes the substrate from the box and transports it to the delivery chamber, The pressure in the chamber is less than the first chamber, typically about 10 ⁻⁷ mbar, the first valve is closed, the second valve is opened to communicate the transfer chamber with the processing chamber, and the substrate is positioned where deposition takes place. The processing chamber is closed by closing the second valve. Upon completion of the deposition of the thin layer, the substrate is transported through the transfer chamber back to the exterior or other chamber of the system by a mechanical arm.

Ideally, the system for depositing thin layers should be kept isolated from the atmosphere. However, the process chamber must be opened periodically to replace the target when the target is exhausted or other material must be deposited, in the case of maintenance associated with the automatic installation, cleaning of the inner side, or in the case of PVD. At each opening the chamber is at ambient pressure and the surface of the installation, the inner wall and the surface of the target, absorb atmospheric gases, in particular water vapor. This gas is released into the chamber during the manufacturing step. During the manufacturing step, continuous pumping is maintained in the chamber to remove impurities and, in particular, atmospheric gases released by the aforementioned surfaces. The balance between the exhaust gas flow from the surface and the rate of gas degassing of the pump during the manufacturing process is determined by the base pressure of the system, the lower the base pressure the smaller the amount of possible contaminants for the layer during deposition. In general, in order to improve the base pressure, after each opening the chamber undergoes pumping while being heated to a temperature of about 100-300 ° C. (This step is known as “baking” in the art). This treatment aims at removing as much of the gas exhaust of all surfaces in the chamber and as much of the gas initially absorbed on these surfaces, the higher the pumping rate during the baking step, the more effective this removal. The residual amount of gas absorbed in this way is reduced and consequently the exhaust gas flow is reduced during the manufacturing stage, the pumping speed is the same during manufacturing, the lower base pressure of the chamber is obtained and as a result the lower amount of impurities in the process atmosphere Is obtained. Vacuum is continued after baking, and the cleanliness of the chamber is determined to be suitable for initiating a new cleaning cycle when the pressure generally reaches a predetermined value in the range of about 10 ⁻⁷ to 10 ⁻⁹ mbar. The surface of the target used in the PVD process is cleaned by a process performed on a virtual substrate on which the same deposition step as in the manufacturing process is discharged, and the control step of this target is " burn-in " ) ".

In the state of the art, the pumping step of bringing the chamber pressure from about 1000 to 10 ⁻⁸ mbar requires a time in the range of about 4 to 12 hours, and the burn-in step requires a time in the range of half to 4 hours. . These two preliminary steps are necessary to obtain high quality devices, but are related to the latency associated with productivity.

Another possible source of contamination of the deposition chamber is the repeated opening of the chamber in the delivery of the substrate. As mentioned above, the transfer chamber is generally maintained at a higher pressure than the process chamber, and a chamber with a box that alternately holds the substrate is maintained at a higher pressure than the transfer chamber. Each time the valve communicating with the chamber is opened, gas is transferred from the high pressure chamber to the low pressure chamber, whereby contaminant gas is continuously transferred from the substrate box chamber to the processing chamber. Moreover, the surface of the substrate itself is generally "contaminated" and has an atmospheric gas absorbed on the surface, which gas is released in the low pressure environment of the processing chamber.

As noted above, there are a number of potential sources of contamination for the thin layers being formed, which can lead to reduced productivity. The productivity of devices produced by using thin layer deposition techniques can be increased by reducing the pump-down time of the chamber or by reducing the overall contamination of the operating atmosphere, and better, by applying all these process features.

The present invention relates to a method of increasing productivity in a process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate.

1 to 4 show a possible alternative embodiment of the method according to the invention in a flow chart.

5 to 7 show possible embodiments of the getter device according to the invention.

Figure 8 shows two curves representing the pressure in the PVD chamber during the exhaust, respectively recorded according to the known process and the method of the present invention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate.

This object is achieved in accordance with the present invention, in which one aspect of the present invention employs an automated substrate processing facility and process used in the manufacturing stage, wherein the sum of the partial pressures of the reactive gases in the processing chamber is about 10 ⁻³ mbar or less and the processing chamber It deals with a method of increasing productivity in a thin layer deposition process that includes contacting an active type getter device with an operating atmosphere in the processing chamber when the substrate is not actually processed therein.

The above-mentioned reactive gas is a gas known in the getter field and the getter material is very reactive gas, which mainly includes oxygen, water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and in some cases nitrogen. As is known, getter materials require active heat treatment for temperatures ranging from about 250 to 900 ° C. and for a few minutes to about 1 hour for their operation, depending on the chemical composition of the particular material. When the activated getter device is exposed to an atmosphere where the sum of the partial pressures of the reactive gases is at least about 10 ⁻³ mbar, potentially threatening the equipment present in the chamber, a violent reaction occurs. On the other hand, getter materials are generally inert to the rare gases used as the operating atmosphere in thin layer deposition processes. Therefore, if the maximum pressure obtained combining the partial pressure of the process of the present invention is a reactive gas, as described above 10 ^-3 mbar is to be described later, the getter device into the treatment chamber to an activated form when the total pressure in the processing chamber more than 10 ^-3 mbar Expect the possibility to exist.

The invention will be described below in certain embodiments with reference to the drawings.

The use of getter materials and devices in thin layer deposition chambers is already disclosed in patent applications EP-A-693626, WO 96/13620 and WO 97/17542 and US Pat. No. 5,778,682. . However, all of this discloses a getter system that remains in the chamber during the manufacturing process. For example, WO 96/13620 describes a semiconductor processing chamber in which a getter pump made of a plurality of getter disks stacked on a central support having a heating action on the getter disk is arranged therein. The pump is permanently fixed in the chamber at a location away from where the semiconductor wafer is processed, such as a corner on the bottom wall of the chamber. The method according to the invention differs from the use of the getter system according to the above, because the foregoing requires substantial modifications in the configuration of the processing chamber, in particular to provide suitable heating means for activating and operating the getter material. European Patent Application No. EP-A-926258 in Applicant's name also discloses the use of a getter system in a PVD process, but in this case too the getter system remains in the chamber during the process.

The presence of the getter device activated in the processing chamber in accordance with the present invention increases the exhaust rate and reduces the overall contamination and contributes to productivity in different ways.

This result can be achieved by using a getter device in many ways.

In a first possible embodiment of the method according to the invention, the deactivated getter device is introduced onto the substrate holder in an open chamber, the chamber is sealed and the evacuation is initiated. When the pressure reaches about 10 ⁻³ mbar, the getter device pre-introduced into the chamber is thermally activated, for example using heating means in the substrate holder. At the same time, the filling and possibly baking process of the chamber with a rare gas such as argon is initiated and the pump connected to the chamber is always running during this operation. Filling with argon continues until the degree of contamination is below a predetermined value, as can be checked with a sensor or analyzer such as a mass spectrometer connected to the chamber. Alternatively, the filling with argon in the calibration of the exhaust chamber parameters can continue for a predetermined time. When the degree of contamination is appropriate to enable production, the getter device is removed from the chamber and a new production run is initiated. At this point, the chamber is already filled with argon, the processing medium. According to this process, the pressure in the chamber does not drop below 10 ⁻⁷ mbar, and the removal of contaminants from the chamber atmosphere is carried out by washing of the packed rare gas with an activated getter device.

Alternatively, the same process described above can be performed by closing the chamber and initiating evacuation without the getter device. In this case, the pre-activated getter device is introduced into the chamber (not necessarily on the substrate holder) by the mechanical arm.

The getter device according to the invention can be reintroduced to help reduce contaminants introduced by, for example, repeated opening of the chamber valves or outgassing of the substrate surface and their operation at a certain time during process operation. Perform. According to a possible application of the method according to the invention, the getter device is introduced into the chamber at a certain time. In this case a cleaning step of the processing chamber atmosphere may be provided after a predetermined number of substrates have been processed, for example this may be done after all the substrates in the box have been processed and before using the new box substrate. For this purpose, it is sufficient to transport the getter device of the invention (preactivated or to be activated) into the processing chamber between the processing of two substrates instead of the production substrate.

As mentioned above, new production operations can be initiated after opening of the chamber without having previously reached a chamber pressure of 10 ⁻⁷ mbar or less. However, reaching a very low pressure inside the chamber before a new production run is the most common process in the industry. In such a case, the method according to the invention is particularly useful for reducing the time required to return the chamber to operating conditions after a certain opening, and the getter device contributes to the removal of atmospheric gases. In the following description, a pressure of 10 ⁻⁷ mbar or less is defined as “the pressure required to start production”.

According to a preferred embodiment, the method of the invention

After opening of the processing chamber, the getter device is introduced into the processing chamber before or during the evacuation of the processing chamber to operate so that the getter device is present in the chamber in an activated form when the pressure in the processing chamber reaches 10 ⁻³ mbar or less. step,

Continuing the chamber evacuation while the getter device remains activated until the pressure required to initiate the manufacturing process is reached, and

Removing the getter device from the chamber by using the same automated substrate processing equipment and process used in the manufacturing step.

With the above process changes, it is possible to keep the getter device in the chamber when the required pressure to start production is reached when a predetermined operation is performed preliminarily in the actual manufacturing step.

1-4 in flow chart form illustrate some possible alternative embodiment of a preferred method of carrying out the method according to the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, after each of the processing chambers is opened, the processing chamber is again closed and venting begins (step 1), where a low vacuum mechanical pump (e.g. a rotary pump) in the exhaust is generally present at startup. And subsequently medium and high vacuum pumps such as turbomolar or cryogenic pumps are used when the pressure in the chamber is about 1 to 10 ⁻² mbar. When the pressure reaches 10 ⁻³ mbar or less under pumping, the getter device exits the box and enters the processing chamber by the same automatic substrate processing equipment and process used in the manufacturing step (step 2), and the getter device is produced during the manufacture of the thin layer. It is located in the same area defined as the deposition area occupied by the substrate. It is generally formed of a substrate retainer supported by a movable pedestal that positions the substrate almost in the center of the chamber. The possibility of heating the deposition area is generally provided in the thin deposition chamber, in fact the substrate heating during the manufacturing step requires a more uniform thin layer, and it is also necessary that the pedestal can be heated to allow gas evacuation during the initial phase of the evacuation. . For this purpose a pedestal is provided with an electrical resistor, or an infrared lamp, which heats the deposition region from the inside or outside of the chamber through the quartz window.

The getter device located in the deposition region is subjected to a thermal activation process (step 3) at a temperature in the range of about 300 to 700 ° C. for about 10 minutes to 1 hour by means provided for heating the substrate depending on the getter material used.

The activated getter device therefore increases the subsequent pumping rate of the chamber to the pressure required to initiate the manufacturing process, generally about 10 ⁻⁸ mbar, thereby improving the base pressure of the system due to the exhaust of residual gas in the wall.

The getter device is removed from the chamber by using processing means and processes adapted to be manufactured for transport of the substrate (step 4), and the manufacturing process is initiated by introducing the manufactured substrate into the chamber.

2 shows a possible alternative method of carrying out the method of the invention. After initiating evacuation (step 5), when a pressure of 10 ⁻³ mbar is reached, the preactivated getter device enters the processing chamber (step 6), for example the device is used to preheat the substrate being manufactured. It can be activated in another processing chamber, such as a provided chamber. Subsequently, when the predetermined pressure to initiate the manufacturing step is reached, the getter device is removed from the chamber (step 7).

3 shows another possible alternative embodiment of the method according to the invention. In this case the getter device is introduced into the processing chamber prior to the commencement of the evacuation step (step 9) (step 8), in which case the getter device is introduced into the chamber immediately after closure, either manually or by using the system's automatic processing means. It may be introduced. When the pressure in the processing chamber reaches 10 ⁻³ mbar or lower, the getter device is activated by heating to a temperature in the range of about 300 to 700 ° C. by using means and processes adapted to be manufactured to heat the substrate (step 10). The evacuation then continues in the activated getter device in the chamber until it reaches a predetermined pressure for initiation of the manufacturing process, at which pressure the getter device is removed from the chamber (step 11) and the manufacturing process begins.

As a result, when the process provides a preliminary step to the actual manufacturing step, it is possible to keep the getter device inside the chamber during the first step. This possibility is shown in FIG. 4 according to an embodiment of the method according to the invention, and the initial steps of the method disclosed with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 are repeated, but when a certain degree of vacuum is reached, the preparation step is prepared. Exemplary step 12 is performed before the getter device is removed from the chamber (step 13). This type of process is characterized in that when the chamber is evacuated at a pressure of about 10 ⁻⁷ to 10 ⁻⁸ mbar or less, the burn-in step described above introduces argon at a pressure of 10 ⁻³ mbar into the chamber and simulates the manufacturing process. It is provided by a PVD process that is generally performed. Under these conditions the getter device is coated with the target material and rapidly loses the gas sorption efficiency, while the gas sorption action still exists in the first processing step, contributing to keeping the process atmosphere clean, and in any case the presence of the getter device. Saves the transfer step of the virtual substrate from the box to the chamber.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the invention relates to a getter device for performing the above-described method.

As mentioned above, the getter device of the present invention is loaded into the same box of substrates used for manufacture and is processed by the same automatic equipment that processes the substrates. For this purpose, the getter device must basically have the same size as the substrate being manufactured, and in fact a larger size getter device cannot be placed in a container and cannot pass through a valve that seals the delivery chamber and is smaller than the substrate. Getter devices cannot be captured by an automatic processing facility. Another reason for using a getter device of the same size as the substrate is that the gas sorption properties of the device and the surface available in the getter material are maximized. The getter device of the present invention may eventually have a thickness in the range of about 0.5 to 5 mm and a lateral dimension in the range of about 10 to 100 cm, and in order to provide certain embodiments, the device is basically rounded in the case of an IC. Is used, and has a thickness in the range of about 0.5 to 1 mm and a diameter in the range of about 150 to 300 mm, and when manufacturing a flat panel display device, the device is generally in the range of about 1 to 5 mm and in the range of 10 cm to 1 m. It is a rectangle having a side size.

The getter device of the present invention may be made of a getter material, for example sintered powder. However, given the special structure with lateral dimensions larger than the thickness, sintered bodies made only of powder have a low mechanical resistance which results in possible fractures and debris or powder present in the processing chamber and parts which cannot be formed to be processed by the automatic installation. Can be represented.

As a result, it is desirable to use a getter device formed of a layer of getter material deposited on a support that ensures the required mechanical resistance. As the support, any material can be used that shows good adhesion of the getter material and exhibits good mechanical resistance and good properties of the conditions the apparatus must undergo in the chamber, in particular resistance to the activation treatment of the getter material. The support material preferably does not release a large amount of gas under vacuum at the temperature reached during activation in order to make no appreciable contribution to the amount of gas in the chamber. The best materials to meet these conditions are metals and metal alloys, such as steel, titanium, nickel-chromium alloys, or silicon, ceramics or glass.

Devices formed of getter material on the support may have deposits on both sides or on a single side. In certain thin layer deposition processes, the substrate is processed in a vertical position in the system, the substrate is in contact with a guide supported through the tip and has essentially free sides, an example of which is coated with a magnetic material that stores information on both sides. Manufacture of computer hard disks. In such a case, it is preferable to use a device having a getter material deposited on both sides, which makes the surface of the active material the best. If the substrate is instead intended to be used in a chamber that has a stationary face on the sample holder and is treated in a horizontal position, the device to be used preferably has a getter material deposit on a single face, in fact in this configuration Possible deposits of getter material on the contacting face are related to the possibility of particle loss without contributing to gas removal. Examples of processes for applying such substrate configurations are the manufacture of ICs and CDs.

In all cases it is desirable that the support surface not be completely coated with the getter material, but it is desired that at least a portion of the support end be left without deposits. This results in loss of particles by rubbing when the getter device is in a substrate box held in a vertical position by a suitable tang, or when processed by automatic means provided in a processing chamber that includes a clamp to hold the substrate at the tip. Avoid the possibility of doing so.

5-7 illustrate some embodiments of possible getter devices according to the present invention.

5 is a cutaway view of a getter device 50 suitable for use in a system for manufacturing a hard disk of a computer. The apparatus includes a circular support 51 coated on both sides with deposits 52, 52 'of getter material, which deposits 52, 52' do not completely coat the support surface, but support ends on both sides. Leave two free regions 53, 53 'corresponding to. This type of device is treated in a vertical position within the process system by an automatic system that terminates with a clamp that holds the device at the tip.

6 shows a getter device 60 suitable for use in a system for manufacturing integrated circuits. As the support 61, a case where a manufactured substrate is used and formed as a “slice” of single crystal silicon is illustrated, which substrate is basically circular except for the subtended portion, Recognize and keep the direction constant. A deposit 63 of getter material is present on one side 62 of the support 61, and the deposit cleans the tip 64 of the face 62 for the purposes described above.

Finally, FIG. 7 shows a getter device 70 used in a system for manufacturing a flat panel display. The apparatus includes a support 71 coated on one side 72 with a deposit 73 of getter material leaving the tip 74 of the support uncoated.

The getter materials that can be used for the production of the device according to the invention are various and include, for example, metals such as Zr, Ti, Nb, Ta, V, alloys of these metals or Ti-V, Zr-V, Zr-Fe and One or more other components selected from Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Al, Y, La and rare earths, such as a two-phase alloy of Zr-Ni or a three-phase alloy of Zr-Mn-Fe or Zr-V-Fe Alloys with metals, and mixtures of alloys and metals described above. Suitable getter materials for this purpose have a composition of 80.8% by weight of Zr-14.2% by weight of Co-5% by weight of A, where A means any element selected from yttrium, lanthanum, rare earths or mixtures thereof. Alloy manufactured and marketed by Applicant under the name St787, St101 (registered trademark), Alloy having a compositional composition of 84% by weight Zr-16% by weight of Al, manufactured by Applicant under the name St707 An alloy having a compositional composition of 70 wt% Zr-24.6 wt% V-5.4 wt% Fe, or a mechanical mixture of the last two alloys of the above alloy with metal Zr or Ti, manufactured and sold by the applicant Mixtures are particularly preferred due to their good mechanical properties with regard to particle loss. Particularly suitable for the purposes of the present invention are devices obtained through a mixture made and marketed by the applicant under the name St121 formed from 30% by weight of alloy St101® powder and 70% by weight of titanium powder.

Getter devices formed as getter materials on the support can be obtained according to a variety of different techniques. The first possibility is a method of depositing a layer on a support by PVD technology. The preparation of the getter device with PVD technology is disclosed, for example, in International Patent Application Publication No. WO 97/49109. This technique offers the advantage of allowing deposition of getter material on many types of supports, including glass and ceramics, and deposits obtained through PVD techniques do not exhibit the disadvantages of particle loss. Another technique is to deposit getter material in powder form onto a support. The deposition of the powder can be carried out by cold rolling, and this technique is widely known in the powder metallurgy field, but can only be applied to metal supports. Another possibility is to spray a suspension of getter particles on a support maintained at high temperature in a suitable solvent, which is disclosed in patent application WO 95/23425, which is described in detail above. The support may also be coated with particles of getter material by electrophoretic technique. In this case the support is required to be electrically conductive, the description of which is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,242,559. Finally, powder deposition of the getter material on the support can be carried out by a serigraphic technique, as disclosed in WO 98/03987. The serigraph technique can deposit getter material on a support of different properties (metal, silicon, glass, ...) and obtain a shaped deposit, for example, where parts of the support surface are free of deposits. This is particularly convenient because it facilitates the manufacture of the getter device illustrated in FIG. 6.

The invention will be illustrated by the following examples. These non-limiting embodiments represent certain embodiments that are designed to disclose to those skilled in the art how to practice the invention and to indicate the best mode of practicing the invention.

Example 1 (comparative)

This embodiment is a known exhaust process of a representative process chamber. A standard PVD chamber exhaust operation is performed, through which the pressure change is monitored. The chamber includes a pedestal for supporting a sample holder which alternately includes heating means in the form of internal electrical resistance. The chamber comprises two quartz lamps located on two opposite sidewalls as another internal heating means. During exhaust, the chamber is ported to a pump-down group that includes a rotary pump and a cryogenic pump. At pressures below 10 ⁻⁵ mbar, the pressure in the chamber is measured by a Bayyard-Alpert meter.

At the beginning of the test, the chamber is sealed and pumping begins. When the pressure in the chamber reaches about 10 ⁻⁶ mbar, the baking process begins and heats the interior of the chamber by turning on a heater provided inside the quartz lamp and the sample holder to bring the interior of the chamber to 500 ° C., as described above. This process acts to release the gas, mainly H ₂ O absorbed on all surfaces inside the chamber, to remove gases to the maximum extent possible during the down phase and to prevent the same gas from subsequently being released into the chamber atmosphere during manufacture. Has Baking lasts for 2 hours. At the end of the baking process, the heating is turned off and the chamber is always cooled under pumping. The pressure value measured in the chamber during the test is indicated as curve 1 in FIG. 8.

Example 2

This example is a representative method of carrying out a method according to the present invention. In particular, the embodiment is an embodiment of the method disclosed with reference to FIG. 3. An inert getter device is provided that includes a silicon wafer of about 200 mm diameter on one surface on which a layer of St121, the aforementioned getter material (150 μm thick), is deposited by screen printing. The getter device is located on the sample holder of the chamber. Then the evacuation process described in Example 1 is repeated. During the baking process, the sample holder raises the temperature of the getter device to about 500 ° C. to activate the getter material. The pressure value measured in the chamber during the test is indicated by curve 2 in FIG. 8.

As can be readily seen by comparing curves 1 and 2 of FIG. 8, the use of the getter device according to the method of the present invention is based on all surfaces present inside the chamber (chamber walls and surfaces of certain components and devices present within the chamber). Helps to remove the amount of gas released by In particular, the curve of FIG. 8 shows an increase in pressure in test 1 due to the balance of the rate of gas release from the surface and the rate of gas removal from the pumping group, in which case the getter device contributes to the overall gas sorption, as shown in FIG. No similar pressure increase can be observed. At the end of the baking, the pressure in the chamber is lower in the test according to the invention than in the test according to the prior art, and similarly the method according to the invention reaches a lower final pressure value than the test according to the prior art. From another point of view, it is more interesting to the semiconductor industry, and the present invention provides a related advantage of reaching a certain base pressure (eg, a predetermined pressure value at which a new production operation is initiated) within a shorter time. to provide. This is shown by the dashed line (indicated by the preliminary setting P) in FIG. 8, where a pressure value of about 2 × 10 ⁻⁸ mbar is reached within 4 hours by the method according to the invention, in the normal course more than 5 hours.

The method according to the invention can be easily carried out in a known deposition process since it uses the same processing means used to move the manufactured substrate into and out of the processing chamber for transporting the getter device, the above method for activating the getter device Using the same substrate heating means already present in the chamber, the method does not require additional suitable equipment to be made available. In addition, the performance of the method according to the invention is carried out in the general preparation stage of the manufacturing process, which does not require substantial modification and in particular delay of this stage.

Claims (25)

As a method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate, When the sum of the partial pressures of the reaction gases inside the processing chamber is about 10 ⁻³ mbar or less and the actual manufacturing substrate is not processed, it is activated in the operating atmosphere within the processing chamber using the automatic substrate processing equipment and process used in the manufacturing step. Contacting the getter device of the form; The automated substrate processing equipment and process may also be used to remove the getter device from the processing chamber, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 1, Wherein the getter device is exposed to an atmosphere of the processing chamber when the total pressure inside the chamber is greater than or equal to 10 ⁻³ mbar, the operating atmosphere comprising rare gas, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 2, Initiating evacuation of the processing chamber; When the pressure reaches about 10 ⁻³ mbar or less, introducing a preactivated getter device into the chamber or thermally activating a getter device already introduced into the chamber; Filling the chamber with the same rare gas to be used as the operating atmosphere, and Initiating the deposition process when the degree of contamination of the chamber atmosphere is less than or equal to a predetermined value, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 1, A getter device is reintroduced into the processing chamber and performs a getter operation at a certain time during processing operation, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 4, wherein The getter device is reintroduced into the processing chamber after all the substrates in the box have been processed and before processing the substrates in the new box, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 1, The getter device operates in an activated form in the chamber only when the pressure within the chamber reaches 10 ⁻³ mbar or less, after opening of the processing chamber, before evacuation of the processing chamber, or Introducing (2, 6, 8) a getter device into the processing chamber during exhaust (1, 5, 9); Continuing to evacuate within the chamber while maintaining the activated getter device in the chamber; and Removing the getter device from the chamber (4, 7, 11) using the automated substrate processing equipment and process used in the manufacturing step when the pressure inside the chamber reaches 10 ⁻⁷ mbar or less. Included, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 6, Initiating evacuation of the processing chamber; When the pressure inside the chamber reaches 10 ⁻³ mbar or lower, introducing a getter device in an inactive form by the automatic substrate processing equipment and process used during the manufacturing step (2); (3) activating the getter device in the chamber by the equipment and process used to heat the substrate during the manufacturing step, and Removing (4) the getter device from the chamber by an automatic substrate processing facility and process used to move the substrate during the manufacturing step when the pressure inside the chamber reaches 10 ⁻⁷ mbar or less. doing, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 6, Initiating evacuation of the processing chamber (5); When the pressure inside the chamber reaches 10 ⁻³ mbar or less, the chamber is pre-activated with a pre-activated getter device in a different chamber of the system by the automated substrate processing equipment and process used to move the substrate during the manufacturing step. Inflow (6), and Removing the getter device from the chamber (7) by the automated substrate processing equipment and process used to move the substrate during the manufacturing step when the pressure inside the chamber reaches 10 ⁻⁷ mbar or less. Included, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 6, Introducing (8) a getter device of an inactivated form into the processing chamber; Initiating evacuation of the chamber (9), Thermally activating (10) the getter device by the means and processes used during manufacture to heat the substrate when the pressure within the chamber reaches 10 ⁻³ mbar or less; and Removing (11) the getter device from the chamber by the automated substrate processing equipment and process used to move the substrate during the manufacturing step when the pressure inside the chamber reaches 10 ⁻⁷ mbar or less. doing, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 6, If the pressure reaches 10 ⁻⁷ mbar or less, the getter device is removed from the chamber only after step 12 of performing steps prior to deposition of a thin layer, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. The method of claim 10, Wherein the deposition process for the thin layer is in PVD form and the step prior to the deposition includes cleaning the target, A method for increasing productivity in the process of depositing a thin layer on a substrate. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete