CN107910257B - Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment - Google Patents

Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CN107910257B
CN107910257B CN201711127897.4A CN201711127897A CN107910257B CN 107910257 B CN107910257 B CN 107910257B CN 201711127897 A CN201711127897 A CN 201711127897A CN 107910257 B CN107910257 B CN 107910257B
Authority
CN
China
Prior art keywords
distance
target
wafer
ring
process chamber
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Active
Application number
CN201711127897.4A
Other languages
Chinese (zh)
Other versions
CN107910257A (en
Inventor
胡彬彬
陆文杰
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corp
Original Assignee
Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corp filed Critical Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corp
Priority to CN201711127897.4A priority Critical patent/CN107910257B/en
Publication of CN107910257A publication Critical patent/CN107910257A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CN107910257B publication Critical patent/CN107910257B/en
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Images

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/26—Bombardment with radiation
    • H01L21/263—Bombardment with radiation with high-energy radiation
    • H01L21/2633—Bombardment with radiation with high-energy radiation for etching, e.g. sputteretching
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
    • H01L21/302—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to change their surface-physical characteristics or shape, e.g. etching, polishing, cutting
    • H01L21/306—Chemical or electrical treatment, e.g. electrolytic etching
    • H01L21/3063—Electrolytic etching
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
    • H01L21/67063—Apparatus for fluid treatment for etching
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67155—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations
    • H01L21/67207—Apparatus for manufacturing or treating in a plurality of work-stations comprising a chamber adapted to a particular process

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • High Energy & Nuclear Physics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Toxicology (AREA)
  • Physical Vapour Deposition (AREA)

Abstract

The invention discloses a process adjusting structure of a process chamber of PVD equipment, wherein a target is arranged on a second mounting device positioned at the top of the side wall of the process chamber through a ceramic ring of a first mounting device, a target ring is arranged on the side wall of the process chamber, and a wafer is arranged at the bottom of the process chamber; the distance between the bottom surface of the target and the surface of the wafer is a first distance; the process adjusting structure comprises: a plurality of said ceramic rings of different thicknesses; the thickness of each ceramic ring is designed according to the consumed thickness of the target, before the thickness consumption of the target enables the first distance to be increased from the initial value to exceed the range of the process window, one ceramic ring with a thinner thickness is selected to replace the ceramic ring in use, and the first distance is reduced and approaches to the initial value due to the reduction of the thickness of the ceramic ring. The invention also discloses a process adjusting method of the process chamber of the PVD equipment. The invention can prolong the service life of the target material and can also keep the process stable.

Description

Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment
Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of semiconductor integrated circuits, in particular to a process adjusting structure of a process chamber of PVD equipment; the invention also relates to a process adjusting method of the process chamber of the PVD equipment.
Background
In 12-inch semiconductor manufacturing production, the back end uses copper wire to achieve metal interconnection. Between the copper line and the lower dielectric layer, a TaN film is used as a passivation layer to protect the copper from penetrating into the lower layer. The tantalum nitride film is produced by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). Unlike the conventional PVD process, in the process chamber for producing tantalum nitride, in addition to using direct current (DC Source Power) to bombard the target, in order to enhance the filling property of the trench sidewall (the interconnect copper wire needs to be filled into the trench later), a tantalum ring is further installed on the process kit, and the tantalum ring (Ta Coil) is bombarded by alternating current plus direct current (RF Coil Power + DC Coil Power) to coat the sidewall with a film (Re-sputter) (see fig. 1). In the process, the distances between the tantalum target and the wafer, between the tantalum target and the tantalum ring, and between the tantalum ring and the wafer have important influences on the process stability and the product performance.
Because the tantalum target is used many times in the back-end metal interconnection process, the raw material cost is high, in order to reduce the cost, the industry tries to use the long-life tantalum target (5000 kw hour) to replace the normal tantalum target (2000 kw hour), but due to the etching of the sputtering process, the distance between the target surface and the wafer is increased (as shown in fig. 1) at the back end of the long-life tantalum target, so that the process parameters are unstable, and the normal use of the target is affected. At present, etching on the target surface is mainly compensated by raising the wafer position (as shown in fig. 2), but the process instability can still be caused by the change of the distance between the tantalum ring and the target in the tantalum chamber and the distance between the wafer and the tantalum ring.
Disclosure of Invention
The technical problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a process adjusting structure of a process chamber of PVD equipment, which can prolong the service life of a target material and keep the process stable. Therefore, the invention also discloses a process adjusting method of the process chamber of the PVD equipment.
In order to solve the above technical problem, the process chamber of the PVD apparatus of the present invention comprises:
the target is arranged at the top of the process chamber.
And the target ring is arranged on the side wall of the process chamber.
The wafer is arranged at the bottom of the process chamber.
And sputtering a film from the top of the wafer to the surface of the wafer by the target.
The target ring sputters a thin film from the circumferential side of the wafer toward the surface of the wafer.
And enabling the distance between the bottom surface of the target and the surface of the wafer to be a first distance, the distance between the center position of the surface of the wafer and the target ring to be a second distance, and the distance between the center position of the bottom surface of the target and the target ring to be a third distance.
And when the first distance, the second distance and the third distance are within the range of a process window, the process of sputtering the film on the surface of the wafer is stable.
As the number of times of sputtering increases, the target may be consumed so that the first distance increases.
The top of the target is provided with a first mounting device, the top of the process chamber is provided with a second mounting device, and the first mounting device is placed on the second mounting device through a ceramic ring.
The process adjustment structure comprises: a plurality of said ceramic rings of different thickness.
The thickness of each ceramic ring is designed according to the consumed thickness of the target, before the thickness consumption of the target enables the first distance to be increased from an initial value to exceed a process window range, one ceramic ring with a thinner thickness is selected to replace the ceramic ring in use, and the reduction of the thickness of the ceramic ring enables the first distance to be reduced and approach the initial value, and enables the first distance to be kept within the process window range before the ceramic ring or the target is replaced next time.
In a further improvement, the process adjustment structure comprises 2 ceramic rings with different thicknesses, the thicker ceramic ring is installed at the same time when the target is initially installed, and the thinner ceramic ring is replaced by the thicker ceramic ring in the middle of the service life of the target.
The further improvement is that the thickness difference between the thinner ceramic ring and the thicker ceramic ring is 3 mm to 10 mm.
In a further improvement, the process adjustment structure further comprises: and the wafer height adjusting device is used for adjusting the height of the wafer.
At an initial value of the height of the wafer, the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance are all at respective initial values.
When the first distance is increased, the height of the wafer is increased to reduce the first distance, but the second distance is reduced at the same time, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device to the first distance is to ensure that the reduced second distance is within a process window range.
In a further improvement, when the first distance is increased, the third distance is also increased, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device for the first distance is to ensure that the increased third distance is within the process window.
In a further improvement, after the ceramic rings corresponding to various thicknesses are replaced, the wafer height adjusting device enables the height of the wafer to return to an initial value; and in the use process of the ceramic rings with various thicknesses, the wafer height adjusting device adjusts the height of the wafer according to the consumption of the target material, so that the first distance is recovered.
The further improvement is that the target is a tantalum target, the target ring is a tantalum ring, and the film sputtered on the surface of the wafer is a tantalum nitride film.
In a further improvement, the tantalum target has a service life of greater than 5000 kilowatt-hours.
In a further improvement, the ceramic ring of the process adjustment structure is a structure that requires opening of the process chamber for replacement.
In a further improvement, the wafer height adjusting device of the process adjusting structure is a structure for adjusting the height of the wafer in a sealed state of the process chamber.
In a further improvement, a first sealing rubber ring is arranged between the first mounting device and the ceramic ring, and a second sealing rubber ring is arranged between the ceramic ring and the second mounting device.
In order to solve the technical problem, the process adjusting method of the process chamber of the PVD apparatus provided by the present invention comprises the following steps:
step one, opening the process cavity, installing a new target, and selecting the ceramic ring with the thickest thickness from the ceramic rings of the process adjusting structure for installing the target.
And step two, putting the process cavity into the production of the sputtered film, gradually consuming the target material along with the increase of the sputtering accumulated time to reduce the thickness of the target material, and increasing the first distance after the thickness of the target material is reduced.
And step three, stopping the production of the process chamber before the first distance is increased to exceed the range of the process window, opening the process chamber, selecting the ceramic ring with thinner thickness to replace the ceramic ring in use, and reducing the thickness of the ceramic ring to reduce the first distance and approach the initial value.
And step four, repeating the step two and the step three until the service life of the target material is exhausted, and replacing the target material in the step one after the service life of the target material is exhausted.
In a further improvement, the process adjustment structure further comprises: and the wafer height adjusting device is used for adjusting the height of the wafer.
At an initial value of the height of the wafer, the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance are all at respective initial values.
Before the ceramic ring is replaced in the third step, the method further comprises a step of adjusting the height of the wafer by using the wafer height adjusting device, wherein the step comprises the following steps: when the first distance is increased, the height of the wafer is increased to reduce the first distance, but the second distance is reduced at the same time, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device to the first distance is to ensure that the reduced second distance is within a process window range.
In a further improvement, when the first distance is increased, the third distance is also increased, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device for the first distance is to ensure that the increased third distance is within the process window.
The further improvement is that the target is a tantalum target, the target ring is a tantalum ring, and the film sputtered on the surface of the wafer is a tantalum nitride film.
The service life of the tantalum target is more than 5000 kilowatt-hour.
The invention designs a structure for carrying out process adjustment on a process cavity of PVD equipment, namely a process adjustment structure, the process adjustment structure is realized by adopting ceramic rings with different thicknesses, the characteristic that a target positioned at the top of the process cavity needs to be installed through the ceramic rings is utilized, and through the design of a series of different ceramic rings, the change of the distance between the target and a wafer, namely the change of a first distance, caused by the consumption of the target can be compensated through the change of the thickness of the ceramic rings; the first distance resetting structure does not influence the position of the wafer, so that the wafer can be kept at the optimal initial position, and the second distance which is the distance between the wafer and the target ring can be kept unchanged and the third distance which is the distance between the target and the target ring can be kept unchanged correspondingly to the structure that the target ring is arranged on the side wall of the process chamber; in the PVD sputtering process, the three distances, i.e., the first distance, the second distance and the third distance, are three important parameters of the PVD sputtering process, and the three parameters relate to the stability of the PVD sputtering process, and the first distance and the third distance inevitably change with the consumption of the target material, and influence is exerted on the second distance when the first distance is compensated by adjusting the height of the wafer, so that the first distance, the second distance and the third distance can change at last, when the changes of the first distance, the second distance and the third distance do not exceed the corresponding process window ranges, the PVD sputtering process can maintain the stability, and when the changes of the first distance, the second distance and the third distance do not exceed the corresponding process window ranges, the PVD sputtering process cannot maintain the stability; the first distance, the second distance and the third distance can be reset simultaneously through the change of the thickness of the ceramic ring, and the target material consumes a certain thickness and is within the change limit of the first distance, the second distance and the third distance, so that the target material can be continuously used under the condition of not being restricted by the change of the first distance, the second distance and the third distance, the service life of the target material can be prolonged, and the process can be kept stable. In the prior art, the target cannot be used any more when the consumption of the target causes the change of the first distance, the second distance and the third distance to exceed the limit, so that the service life of the target is limited by the change range of the first distance, the second distance and the third distance compared with the service life of the conventional target, and the service life of the target is prolonged.
The improvement of the service life of the target material also means that the cost of the target material can be saved, so the invention can finally bring the effect of saving the cost.
In addition, the ceramic ring is designed completely according to the consumption condition of the target, and can well compensate the change of the first distance, the second distance and the third distance generated by the consumption of the target, so that the first distance, the second distance and the third distance can be reset simultaneously after the target is consumed for a period of time. Therefore, although the existing PVD equipment has a ceramic ring in the process chamber, the design of a series of ceramic rings of the present invention and the structure of compensating the first distance, the second distance and the third distance variation caused by the consumption of the target material by using the thickness variation of the ceramic rings are not disclosed; the invention is a good improvement of the existing structure.
Drawings
The invention will be described in further detail with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings:
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the target and wafer spacing increase caused by the post-etching of the target surface;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an etch of a raised wafer position compensated target surface;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a different ceramic ring;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the initial stage of the target;
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a target at a later stage;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the target surface being etched and the ceramic ring having a new thickness being replaced at a later stage of the target.
Detailed Description
Since the structure of the embodiment of the present invention is obtained based on detailed analysis of the problems in the prior art, in order to better understand the structure of the embodiment of the present invention, a method for adjusting the process of the PVD apparatus with respect to the consumption of the target in the process chamber will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 and 2, as shown in fig. 1, the structure of the process chamber of the PVD apparatus is shown, including:
a sidewall 8 of the process chamber, a process kit 7 disposed on the sidewall 8, and a target ring disposed on the process kit 7, which is a tantalum ring 9, wherein the target ring 9 is connected to an rf bias source 10.
The wafer 104 is placed on a susceptor 105, and the susceptor 105 may be provided with a device for heating the wafer 104 and a device for taking and placing the wafer 104 as required. It should be noted here that since the wafer 104 can be height-adjusted by the susceptor 105, the susceptor 5 serves as a wafer height adjusting device.
The target material, namely the tantalum material 3 is arranged at the top of the process chamber, a first mounting device 103 is arranged at the top of the tantalum material 3, a second mounting device 6 is arranged at the top of the process chamber, and the first mounting device 103 is placed on the second mounting device 6 through a ceramic ring 5. A first sealing rubber ring 4a is arranged between the first mounting device 103 and the ceramic ring 5, and a second sealing rubber ring 4b is arranged between the second mounting device 6 and the ceramic ring 5.
Since the tantalum material 3 is continuously consumed in the using process, the position of the bottom surface of the tantalum material 3 is different at different times, and in order to show this dynamic process, the current position of the bottom surface of the tantalum material 3 is indicated by a mark 101 in fig. 1, and the dashed line corresponding to the mark 102 indicates the position of the bottom surface of the tantalum material 3 after being used for a period of time, it can be seen that the bottom surface of the tantalum material 3 is continuously raised along with the increase of the using time, which mainly makes the distance between the bottom surface 101 of the tantalum material 3 and the surface of the wafer 104, i.e. the first distance, continuously increased. However, the variation of the first distance has a dimension, i.e. a process window range, when the first distance is changed to exceed the process window range, the process is not stabilized, so that the yield of the product is affected, and the first distance must be adjusted, otherwise, the production cannot be performed any more.
As shown in fig. 2, the height of the wafer 104 is adjusted mainly by raising and lowering the susceptor 105 in the prior art, and fig. 2 shows that the first distance is reduced by raising the surface of the wafer 104 to the position shown by the dotted line 106, that is, the distance between the dotted line 106 and the dotted line 102 is consistent with the distance between the surface of the wafer 104 and the bottom surface 101 of the tantalum material 3 after adjustment, so that the first distance is recovered, and the production can be continued.
However, referring to fig. 4, the first distance is denoted by a in fig. 4, and the consumption of the tantalum material 3 affects the first distance a. A second distance b between the center of the surface of the wafer 104 and the target ring 9 and a third distance c between the center of the bottom surface of the target 3 and the target ring 9 are also affected. The method specifically comprises the following steps: the consumption of the tantalum material 3 increases the first distance a and the third distance c, and the adjustment of the height of the wafer 104 compensates for the change of the first distance a but affects the second distance b, so although the adjustment of the height of the wafer 104 can compensate for the change of the first distance a, the change is limited by the change ranges of the second distance b and the third distance c, so that when one of the second distance b and the third distance c is first changed to exceed the corresponding process window range, the production cannot be performed any more, and at this time, the corresponding distance compensation cannot be realized by adjusting the height of the wafer 104, and only the target 3 is replaced.
The embodiment of the invention has the structure that:
referring now to fig. 3-6, a process adjustment structure of a process chamber of a PVD apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention will be described, where the process chamber according to an embodiment of the invention has the same structure as that shown in fig. 1, and as shown in fig. 4, the process chamber includes:
and the target 3 is arranged at the top of the process chamber.
A target ring 9 arranged on a sidewall 8 of the process chamber.
The wafer 104 is disposed at the bottom of the process chamber.
The target 3 sputters a thin film from directly above the top of the wafer 104 toward the surface of the wafer 104.
The target ring 9 sputters a thin film from the peripheral side of the wafer 104 toward the surface of the wafer 104.
Let the distance between the target 3 and the surface of the wafer 104 be a first distance a, the distance between the center position of the wafer 104 and the target ring 9 be a second distance b, and the distance between the center position of the target 3 and the target ring 9 be a third distance c.
When the first distance a, the second distance b and the third distance c are within the process window range, the process of sputtering the thin film on the surface of the wafer 104 is stable.
As the number of times of sputtering increases, the target 3 is consumed so that the first distance a increases, as indicated by marks 101 and 102, and mark 102 corresponds to the bottom surface of the target 3 after consumption.
The top of the target 3 is provided with a first mounting device 103, the top of the process chamber is provided with a second mounting device 6, and the first mounting device 103 is placed on the second mounting device 6 through a ceramic ring 1. The ceramic ring in fig. 4 is denoted by 1, where one of a plurality of said ceramic rings of different thickness is indicated.
As shown in fig. 3, the process tuning structure includes: a plurality of said ceramic rings of different thickness, a series of said ceramic rings in the process conditioning structure being indicated in fig. 3 by dashed circles 201, two ceramic rings being shown in fig. 3, indicated with 1 and 2 respectively, the thickness of ceramic ring 1 being greater than the thickness of ceramic ring 2. In fig. 4, a thicker ceramic ring 1 is used first, in fig. 6, the ceramic ring 1 is replaced by a ceramic ring 2, and in fig. 5, the ceramic ring 1 is still used.
The thickness of each ceramic ring is designed according to the consumed thickness of the target 3, before the thickness consumption of the target 3 increases the first distance a from an initial value to exceed the process window range, one ceramic ring with a thinner thickness is selected to replace the ceramic ring in use, and the reduction of the thickness of the ceramic ring reduces the first distance a to approach the initial value and enables the first distance a to be kept within the process window range before the ceramic ring or the target 3 is replaced next time.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the process adjusting structure includes 2 ceramic rings with different thicknesses, the thicker ceramic ring 1 is installed at the same time when the target 3 is initially installed, and the thicker ceramic ring 1 is replaced by the thinner ceramic ring 2 in the middle of the service life of the target 3.
The thickness difference between the thinner ceramic ring 2 and the thicker ceramic ring 1 is 3 mm to 10 mm.
Preferably, the process adjusting structure further includes: a wafer height adjusting device for adjusting the height of the wafer 104. In the embodiment of the present invention, the wafer height adjusting device is directly implemented by the base 105. The adjusting principle of the wafer height adjusting device is as follows:
as shown in fig. 4, at the initial value of the height of the wafer 104, the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c are all at the corresponding initial values.
As shown in fig. 5, as the first distance a increases, the first distance a is decreased by increasing the height of the wafer 104, but at the same time the second distance b, which is denoted by b' in fig. 5, is decreased. The adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device to the first distance a is to ensure that the reduced second distance b' is within the process window range.
When said first distance a increases, said third distance c also increases, which third distance is denoted c' in fig. 5. The adjustment amount of the first distance a by the wafer height adjusting device is simultaneously required to ensure that the increased third distance c' is within the range of a process window.
As can be seen from fig. 5, the adjustment of the first distance a by the wafer height adjustment device, i.e. the consumption compensation of the target 3, is limited by the second distance b 'and the third distance c'. In order to further increase the service life of the target 3, the ceramic ring 1 needs to be replaced.
As shown in fig. 6, after the ceramic rings 1 corresponding to various thicknesses are replaced, the ceramic rings after replacement are shown by ceramic rings 2 in fig. 6. The wafer height adjustment device returns the height of the wafer 104 to the initial value, and then the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance are all recovered, that is, the distances a, b, and c in fig. 6 are the same as those in fig. 4; this distance is then consumed at the bottom surface of the target 3 to the position indicated by the mark 102. Therefore, under the condition that the first distance, the second distance and the third distance are all recovered to the recovery distances a, b and c, the process chamber starts to produce new products, and the wafer height adjusting device can be continuously adopted to adjust the position to compensate the consumption of the target 3; namely: during the use of the ceramic rings with various thicknesses, the wafer height adjusting device adjusts the height of the wafer 104 according to the consumption of the target 3, so that the first distance a is recovered.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the target 3 is a tantalum target, the target ring 9 is a tantalum ring, and the film sputtered on the surface of the wafer 104 is a tantalum nitride film. The service life of the tantalum target is more than 5000 kilowatt-hour.
The ceramic ring of the process adjusting structure is a structure which needs to be replaced by opening the process chamber. The wafer height adjusting device of the process adjusting structure is a structure for adjusting the height of the wafer 104 in the process chamber sealing state. Therefore, the structure of the embodiment of the invention is additionally provided with a process adjusting structure on the basis of the conventional wafer height adjusting device.
Preferably, a first sealing rubber ring 4a is arranged between the first mounting device 103 and the ceramic ring 1, and a second sealing rubber ring 4b is arranged between the ceramic ring 1 and the second mounting device 6.
The process adjusting method for the process cavity of the PVD equipment comprises the following steps:
step one, opening the process chamber, installing a new target 3, and selecting the ceramic ring 1 with the thickest thickness from the ceramic rings of the process adjusting structure, namely all the ceramic rings shown by the dotted line ring 201, for installing the target 3.
The virtual coil 201 in the embodiment of the present invention includes two thicknesses of the ceramic rings, i.e., a thicker ceramic ring 1 and a thinner ceramic ring 2. The target 3 is a tantalum target, the target ring 9 is a tantalum ring, and the film sputtered on the surface of the wafer 104 is a tantalum nitride film. The service life of the tantalum target is more than 5000 kilowatt-hour.
And step two, putting the process chamber into the production of the sputtered film, wherein the target 3 is gradually consumed along with the increase of the accumulated sputtering time, so that the thickness of the target 3 is reduced, and the first distance a is increased after the thickness of the target 3 is reduced.
And step three, stopping the production of the process chamber before the first distance a is increased to exceed the range of the process window, opening the process chamber, selecting the ceramic ring 2 with thinner thickness to replace the ceramic ring 1 in use, and reducing the thickness of the ceramic ring 1 to reduce the first distance a and approach the initial value.
Preferably, the process adjusting structure further includes: a wafer height adjusting device for adjusting the height of the wafer 104.
At an initial value of the height of the wafer 104, the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c are all at respective initial values.
Before the ceramic ring 1 is replaced in the third step, the method further comprises a step of adjusting the height of the wafer 104 by using the wafer height adjusting device, wherein the step comprises the following steps: when the first distance a is increased, the first distance a is decreased by increasing the height of the wafer 104, but the second distance b is decreased at the same time, and the amount of adjustment of the first distance a by the wafer height adjusting device is to ensure that the decreased second distance b' is within the process window.
When the first distance a is increased, the third distance c is also increased at the same time, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device for the first distance a is to ensure that the increased third distance c' is within the range of the process window at the same time.
And step four, repeating the step two and the step three until the service life of the target 3 is exhausted, and replacing the target 3 in the step one after the service life of the target 3 is exhausted.
The embodiment of the invention designs a structure for carrying out process adjustment on a process cavity of PVD equipment, namely a process adjustment structure, wherein the process adjustment structure is realized by adopting ceramic rings with different thicknesses, the characteristic that a target 3 positioned at the top of the process cavity needs to be installed through the ceramic rings is utilized, and through the design of a series of different ceramic rings, the change of the distance between the target 3 and a wafer 104, namely the change of a first distance a, caused by the consumption of the target 3 can be compensated through the change of the thicknesses of the ceramic rings; moreover, the structure that the first distance a is reset does not affect the position of the wafer 104, so that the wafer 104 can be kept at the optimal initial position, which corresponds to the structure that the target ring 9 is installed on the side wall 8 of the process chamber, so that the distance between the wafer 104 and the target ring 9, namely the second distance b, can be kept unchanged, and the distance between the target 3 and the target ring 9, namely the third distance c, can be kept unchanged; in the PVD sputtering process, the three distances, i.e., the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c, are three important parameters of the PVD sputtering process, and relate to the stability of the PVD sputtering process, and since the first distance a and the third distance c inevitably change with the consumption of the target 3, and the first distance a is compensated by adjusting the height of the wafer 104, the second distance b is affected, so that the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c are changed at last, when the changes of the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c do not exceed the corresponding process window ranges, the PVD sputtering process can maintain the stability, and when the changes of the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c do not exceed the corresponding process window ranges, the PVD sputtering process can not maintain the stability; in the embodiment of the present invention, the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c can be simultaneously reset by changing the thickness of the ceramic ring 1, and the target 3 is used up to a certain thickness and within the limit of the change of the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c, so that the target 3 can be continuously used without being constrained by the change of the first distance a, the second distance b, and the third distance c, thereby prolonging the service life of the target 3 and maintaining the process stability. In the prior art, the target 3 cannot be used any more when the target 3 is consumed and the variation of the first distance a, the second distance b and the third distance c exceeds the limit, so that the service life of the target 3 is limited by the variation range of the first distance a, the second distance b and the third distance c compared with the service life of the conventional target 3, and the service life of the target 3 is prolonged.
The improvement of the service life of the target 3 also means that the cost of the target 3 can be saved, so the embodiment of the invention can finally bring the effect of saving the cost.
In addition, the ceramic ring of the embodiment of the invention is completely designed according to the consumption condition of the target 3, and can well compensate the changes of the first distance a, the second distance b and the third distance c generated by the consumption of the target 3, so that the first distance a, the second distance b and the third distance c are reset at the same time after the target 3 is consumed for a period of time. Therefore, although the existing PVD apparatus also has a ceramic ring disposed in the process chamber, there is no disclosure of a series of ceramic ring designs according to the embodiments of the present invention and a structure for compensating the consumption of the target 3 by the variation of the first distance a, the second distance b and the third distance c by using the variation of the thickness of the ceramic ring; the embodiment of the invention is a good improvement of the existing structure.
The present invention has been described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments, but these are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the principles of the present invention, which should also be considered as within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (14)

1. A process adjustment structure of a process chamber of a PVD apparatus, the process chamber comprising:
the target is arranged at the top of the process chamber;
the target ring is arranged on the side wall of the process chamber;
the wafer is arranged at the bottom of the process cavity;
the target sputters a film to the surface of the wafer from the top of the wafer;
the target ring sputters a film from the peripheral side of the wafer to the surface of the wafer;
setting the distance between the bottom surface of the target and the surface of the wafer as a first distance, the distance between the center position of the surface of the wafer and the target ring as a second distance, and the distance between the center position of the bottom surface of the target and the target ring as a third distance;
when the first distance, the second distance and the third distance are within the range of a process window, the process of sputtering the film on the surface of the wafer is stable;
as the number of times of sputtering increases, the target is consumed so that the first distance increases;
a first mounting device is arranged at the top of the target material, a second mounting device is arranged at the top of the process chamber, and the first mounting device is placed on the second mounting device through a ceramic ring;
the process adjustment structure comprises: a plurality of said ceramic rings of different thicknesses;
the thickness of each ceramic ring is designed according to the consumed thickness of the target, before the thickness consumption of the target enables the first distance to be increased from an initial value to exceed a process window range, one ceramic ring with a thinner thickness is selected to replace the ceramic ring in use, and the reduction of the thickness of the ceramic ring enables the first distance to be reduced and approach the initial value, and enables the first distance to be kept within the process window range before the ceramic ring or the target is replaced next time;
the process adjustment structure further comprises: the wafer height adjusting device is used for adjusting the height of the wafer;
at an initial value of the height of the wafer, the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance are all at respective initial values;
when the first distance is increased, the height of the wafer is increased to reduce the first distance, but the second distance is reduced at the same time, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device to the first distance is to ensure that the reduced second distance is within a process window range.
2. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the process adjusting structure comprises 2 ceramic rings with different thicknesses, the thicker ceramic ring is simultaneously installed when the target is initially installed, and the thinner ceramic ring is replaced by the thicker ceramic ring in the middle stage of the service life of the target.
3. A process tuning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus as recited in claim 2, further comprising: the thickness difference between the thinner ceramic ring and the thicker ceramic ring is 3 mm to 10 mm.
4. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 1, wherein: and when the first distance is increased, the third distance is also increased at the same time, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device for the first distance is to ensure that the increased third distance is within the range of a process window at the same time.
5. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 4, wherein: after the ceramic rings corresponding to various thicknesses are replaced, the wafer height adjusting device enables the height of the wafer to return to an initial value; and in the use process of the ceramic rings with various thicknesses, the wafer height adjusting device adjusts the height of the wafer according to the consumption of the target material, so that the first distance is recovered.
6. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein: the target is a tantalum target, the target ring is a tantalum ring, and the film sputtered on the surface of the wafer is a tantalum nitride film.
7. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 6, wherein: the service life of the tantalum target is more than 5000 kilowatt-hour.
8. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the ceramic ring of the process adjusting structure is a structure which needs to be replaced by opening the process chamber.
9. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the wafer height adjusting device of the process adjusting structure is a structure for adjusting the height of the wafer in the process cavity sealing state.
10. The process conditioning structure for a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 1, wherein: and a first sealing rubber ring is arranged between the first mounting device and the ceramic ring, and a second sealing rubber ring is arranged between the ceramic ring and the second mounting device.
11. A method of process conditioning using a process conditioning structure of a process chamber of a PVD apparatus as recited in claim 1, comprising the steps of:
step one, opening the process cavity, installing a new target, and selecting the ceramic ring with the thickest thickness from the ceramic rings of the process adjusting structure for installing the target;
step two, putting the process cavity into the production of a sputtered film, gradually consuming the target material along with the increase of the sputtering accumulated time to reduce the thickness of the target material, and increasing the first distance after the thickness of the target material is reduced;
step three, stopping the production of the process chamber before the first distance is increased to exceed the range of the process window, opening the process chamber, selecting a ceramic ring with thinner thickness to replace the ceramic ring in use, and reducing the thickness of the ceramic ring to reduce the first distance and approach the initial value;
and step four, repeating the step two and the step three until the service life of the target material is exhausted, and replacing the target material in the step one after the service life of the target material is exhausted.
12. The method of process conditioning by a process conditioning structure of a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 11, comprising: the process adjustment structure further comprises: the wafer height adjusting device is used for adjusting the height of the wafer;
at an initial value of the height of the wafer, the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance are all at respective initial values;
before the ceramic ring is replaced in the third step, the method further comprises a step of adjusting the height of the wafer by using the wafer height adjusting device, wherein the step comprises the following steps: when the first distance is increased, the height of the wafer is increased to reduce the first distance, but the second distance is reduced at the same time, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device to the first distance is to ensure that the reduced second distance is within a process window range.
13. The method of process conditioning by a process conditioning structure of a process chamber of a PVD apparatus of claim 12, wherein: and when the first distance is increased, the third distance is also increased at the same time, and the adjustment amount of the wafer height adjusting device for the first distance is to ensure that the increased third distance is within the range of a process window at the same time.
14. A method of process conditioning by a process conditioning structure of a process chamber of a PVD apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein: the target is a tantalum target, the target ring is a tantalum ring, and a film sputtered on the surface of the wafer is a tantalum nitride film;
the service life of the tantalum target is more than 5000 kilowatt-hour.
CN201711127897.4A 2017-11-15 2017-11-15 Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment Active CN107910257B (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201711127897.4A CN107910257B (en) 2017-11-15 2017-11-15 Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CN201711127897.4A CN107910257B (en) 2017-11-15 2017-11-15 Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
CN107910257A CN107910257A (en) 2018-04-13
CN107910257B true CN107910257B (en) 2021-01-29

Family

ID=61844155

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CN201711127897.4A Active CN107910257B (en) 2017-11-15 2017-11-15 Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CN (1) CN107910257B (en)

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060191876A1 (en) * 2005-02-03 2006-08-31 Applied Materials, Inc. Method of performing physical vapor deposition with RF plasma source power applied to the target using a magnetron
CN102049568A (en) * 2010-10-29 2011-05-11 宁波江丰电子材料有限公司 Machining device for tantalum ring fixing component
CN201922266U (en) * 2010-12-30 2011-08-10 宁波江丰电子材料有限公司 Fixture for annular workpiece
CN102517556A (en) * 2012-01-13 2012-06-27 广东志成冠军集团有限公司 Target-substrate distance adjusting device for magnetron sputtering plane target coating equipment
CN102990234A (en) * 2012-08-16 2013-03-27 宁夏东方钽业股份有限公司 Method for welding lug bosses and ring piece of sputtering tantalum ring
CN204111859U (en) * 2014-09-30 2015-01-21 宁波江丰电子材料股份有限公司 Magnetron sputtering loop device and magnetron sputter reactor
CN104746021A (en) * 2013-12-31 2015-07-01 宁波江丰电子材料股份有限公司 Ring piece structure and manufacturing method thereof
CN104928635A (en) * 2014-03-21 2015-09-23 北京北方微电子基地设备工艺研究中心有限责任公司 Magnetron sputtering chamber and magnetron sputtering equipment
CN107043917A (en) * 2017-04-27 2017-08-15 昆山国显光电有限公司 Magnetron sputtering apparatus and system

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20060191876A1 (en) * 2005-02-03 2006-08-31 Applied Materials, Inc. Method of performing physical vapor deposition with RF plasma source power applied to the target using a magnetron
CN102049568A (en) * 2010-10-29 2011-05-11 宁波江丰电子材料有限公司 Machining device for tantalum ring fixing component
CN201922266U (en) * 2010-12-30 2011-08-10 宁波江丰电子材料有限公司 Fixture for annular workpiece
CN102517556A (en) * 2012-01-13 2012-06-27 广东志成冠军集团有限公司 Target-substrate distance adjusting device for magnetron sputtering plane target coating equipment
CN102990234A (en) * 2012-08-16 2013-03-27 宁夏东方钽业股份有限公司 Method for welding lug bosses and ring piece of sputtering tantalum ring
CN104746021A (en) * 2013-12-31 2015-07-01 宁波江丰电子材料股份有限公司 Ring piece structure and manufacturing method thereof
CN104928635A (en) * 2014-03-21 2015-09-23 北京北方微电子基地设备工艺研究中心有限责任公司 Magnetron sputtering chamber and magnetron sputtering equipment
CN204111859U (en) * 2014-09-30 2015-01-21 宁波江丰电子材料股份有限公司 Magnetron sputtering loop device and magnetron sputter reactor
CN107043917A (en) * 2017-04-27 2017-08-15 昆山国显光电有限公司 Magnetron sputtering apparatus and system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
CN107910257A (en) 2018-04-13

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US10748747B2 (en) Edge exclusion control with adjustable plasma exclusion zone ring
US7244336B2 (en) Temperature controlled hot edge ring assembly for reducing plasma reactor etch rate drift
KR101472158B1 (en) Variable volume plasma processing chamber and associated methods
JP5597456B2 (en) Dielectric thickness setting method and substrate processing apparatus provided with dielectric provided on electrode
KR101075048B1 (en) A method and apparatus for the compensation of edge ring wear in a plasma processing chamber
JP6412498B2 (en) Method and apparatus for synchronization of deposition processes
US20180025895A1 (en) Physical vapor deposition (pvd) plasma energy control per dynamic magnetron control
JP2011506759A (en) Reactive sputtering by HIPIMS
US20190088457A1 (en) Sync controller for high impulse magnetron sputtering
TWI667501B (en) Light wave separation structures and methods of forming light wave separation structures
US11923228B2 (en) Stage and plasma processing apparatus
CN107910257B (en) Process adjusting structure and method of process chamber of PVD equipment
US20060196765A1 (en) Metallization target optimization method providing enhanced metallization layer uniformity
US20030116432A1 (en) Adjustable throw reactor
US11162170B2 (en) Methods for reducing material overhang in a feature of a substrate
US8163571B2 (en) Multi-step deposition control
CN108118300B (en) Cavity external member structure for improving later-stage use of long-life tantalum target material
US10566177B2 (en) Pulse shape controller for sputter sources
CN117597465A (en) Method and apparatus for processing substrate
TWI582996B (en) Metal gate and manufacturing method thereof
US20150114827A1 (en) Methods of forming a metal dielectric etching stop layer on a substrate with high etching selectivity
CN112259452A (en) Control method of plasma dry etching process

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PB01 Publication
PB01 Publication
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
SE01 Entry into force of request for substantive examination
GR01 Patent grant
GR01 Patent grant