JPH05234882A - Surface treating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate deterioration by oxidation corrosion due to ozone by installing an ozone material gas flowrate control mechanism at an upstream of an ozone generating position of an ozone generator pipe system at each system. CONSTITUTION:Oxygen to become a material of ozone is supplied from a gas supply source 1 to an ozone generator 3 via a tube 2, and branched to two systems therein by a branch tube 4. Distributed oxygen is fed through flowrate control means 5a, pressure detecting means 6a to ozone generating means 7a and further through a variable throttle valve 8a, out of the generator 3, and fed to a switching valve 11a, a treating chamber 12a in a surface treating apparatus 20 via a tube 10a. Exhaust gas is guided through an exhaust tube 13 and an ozone decomposing unit 14 to an exhaust duct 15. Thus, since setting control of ozone flow rate is executed at a stage of oxygen of material gas, control of flowrate setting means is not deteriorated by oxidation corrosion due to the ozone.

Description

【発明の詳細な説明】Detailed Description of the Invention

【０００１】[0001]

【産業上の利用分野】本発明は、オゾンの反応性を利用
して各種の処理を行う表面処理装置に関わり、特に半導
体などの固体表面にオゾン系反応ガスを供給して表面反
応させ、アッシング、エッチング、皮膜形成、洗浄など
を行う表面処理装置に関するものである。BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface treatment apparatus which performs various treatments by utilizing the reactivity of ozone, and in particular, supplies an ozone-based reaction gas to a solid surface of a semiconductor or the like to cause a surface reaction and ashing. The present invention relates to a surface treatment device that performs etching, film formation, cleaning, and the like.

【０００２】[0002]

【従来の技術】従来、オゾンを含む反応ガスと紫外線を
用いる表面処理装置の一つであるＵＶ／オゾン方式のレ
ジストアッシング装置や、オゾンを含む反応ガスのみを
用いる表面処理装置の一つであるオゾン方式のレジスト
アッシング装置では、スループット向上のためや処理の
バリエーション拡大のために２系統以上の反応処理室を
設ける事例が多い。この場合、オゾン発生源から表面処
理装置へ供給されるオゾンは１系統のみであり、これを
表面処理装置の本体内部の配管で分岐し、かつ系統ごと
に設けた流量調整手段で供給流量を調整して必要流量を
各使用点へ分配供給している。この場合の流量調整手段
はニードル弁とフロート式流量計の組合せで構成してお
り、部品の材料はオゾン含有ガスに対して耐食性の高い
四フッ化エチレン系の有機材料やサファイア等の無機材
料が多く使用されている。2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is a UV / ozone type resist ashing apparatus which is one of surface treatment apparatuses which use a reaction gas containing ozone and ultraviolet rays, and one of a surface treatment apparatus which uses only a reaction gas containing ozone. In an ozone type resist ashing apparatus, there are many cases in which two or more reaction processing chambers are provided in order to improve throughput and expand processing variations. In this case, the ozone supplied from the ozone source to the surface treatment apparatus is only one system, and the ozone is branched by the pipe inside the main body of the surface treatment apparatus, and the supply flow rate is adjusted by the flow rate adjusting means provided for each system. The required flow rate is distributed and supplied to each point of use. The flow rate adjusting means in this case is composed of a combination of a needle valve and a float type flow meter, and the material of the parts is a tetrafluoroethylene-based organic material or an inorganic material such as sapphire having high corrosion resistance to ozone-containing gas. Many are used.

【０００３】[0003]

【発明が解決しようとする課題】上記従来技術では、次
のような問題がある。The above-mentioned prior art has the following problems.

【０００４】最近、半導体製造プロセスにおける超クリ
ーン化の一貫として、半導体製造装置のプロセスガスの
配管仕様のグレードが一段と高まり、ウルトラクリーン
仕様の採用が要求されるようになってきている。ウルト
ラクリーン仕様の配管部品は通常、内面が高精度に鏡面
研磨され、更に、ガス溜りの最小化、外部リークフリ
ー、パーティクルフリー等の工夫が施されている。尚、
現状ではウルトラクリーン仕様を満足した機器や部品の
品種が限られており、オゾン処理装置のオゾン配管にウ
ルトラクリーン仕様を適用する場合の、オゾンを系統別
に分配する際の流量計測手段はマスフローコントローラ
に限られている。しかし、酸化腐食性の強いオゾンをマ
スフローコントローラで流量計測制御すると、計測セン
サが数か月程度の短期間で腐食して機能しなくなるた
め、実用できないことを確認した。勿論、フロート式流
量計は異物が発生しやすいのでウルトラクリーン仕様を
満足できるものはない。Recently, as a part of ultra cleanliness in the semiconductor manufacturing process, the grade of process gas piping specifications of semiconductor manufacturing equipment has been further increased, and it has been required to adopt ultra clean specifications. Ultra clean specification piping components are usually mirror-polished on the inner surface with high precision, and are further devised to minimize gas accumulation, external leak-free, particle-free, etc. still,
At present, the types of equipment and parts that satisfy Ultra Clean specifications are limited, and when Ultra Clean specifications are applied to the ozone pipes of ozone treatment equipment, the mass flow controller is used as the flow rate measurement method when distributing ozone by system. limited. However, it was confirmed that if the flow rate measurement control of ozone, which has strong oxidative corrosion, was performed by a mass flow controller, the measurement sensor would corrode and would not function in a short period of about several months, and would not be able to be used. Of course, there are no float-type flowmeters that can satisfy ultra-clean specifications because foreign substances are easily generated.

【０００５】[0005]

【課題を解決するための手段】上記目的を達成するため
に次の手段を用いる。To achieve the above object, the following means are used.

【０００６】オゾン発生においては、通常、原料として
酸素（もしくは空気）が使用されている。そこで酸素の
段階で、供給の必要な系統へ配管を分岐し、次いで、各
系統毎にオゾンの流量等の調整を行い、その後にオゾン
発生手段でオゾンを生成し、発生したオゾンを使用箇所
へ配管を経由して供給する。In the generation of ozone, oxygen (or air) is usually used as a raw material. Therefore, at the oxygen stage, branch the pipe to the system that needs to be supplied, then adjust the flow rate of ozone for each system, and then generate ozone by the ozone generating means, and then use the generated ozone to use it. Supply via piping.

【０００７】[0007]

【作用】上記の構成にすると、オゾンの流量設定制御
は、原料である酸素の段階で済ませてしまうので、オゾ
ンによる酸化腐食劣化を全く受けることがない。従って
信頼性の高い装置を実現できる。With the above arrangement, the ozone flow rate setting control is completed at the stage of oxygen, which is a raw material, so that there is no oxidative corrosion deterioration due to ozone. Therefore, a highly reliable device can be realized.

【０００８】[0008]

【実施例】以下、本発明の一実施例を図１により説明す
る。DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

【０００９】先ず、本実施例の装置構成を説明する。オ
ゾンの原料となる酸素を、ガス供給源１より配管２でオ
ゾン発生機３に供給し、内部で分岐配管４で２系統に分
岐する。尚、以降の下流側配管路では、１系統の構成用
件番号にはａを、別の１系統のそれにはｂを付して区別
する。分配された酸素は、流量制御手段５ａ、圧力検出
手段６ａを経てオゾン発生手段７ａ、更に可変絞り弁８
ａを経てオゾン発生機３を出て、配管１０ａで表面処理
装置２０内部の切替弁１１ａ、処理室１２ａへ至る。排
気は排気管１３、オゾン分解器１４、排気ダクト１５へ
と導く。ｂを付した系統もａを付した系統と同様につき
説明を省く。被処理物２１は、搬送手段２２でキャリア
２３、２４から処理室１２ａ、１２ｂへ供給される。
尚、ガス供給源１から処理室１２ａ、１２ｂまでの配管
系にはウルトラクリーン仕様を満足した部品類を採用し
ている。First, the device configuration of this embodiment will be described. Oxygen, which is a raw material of ozone, is supplied from a gas supply source 1 to an ozone generator 3 through a pipe 2 and internally branched into two systems through a branch pipe 4. In the following downstream side pipelines, "a" is attached to the configuration requirement number of one system and "b" is attached to that of another system to distinguish them. The distributed oxygen passes through the flow rate control means 5a, the pressure detection means 6a, the ozone generation means 7a, and the variable throttle valve 8 as well.
The ozone generator 3 is exited via a, and the pipe 10a reaches the switching valve 11a and the processing chamber 12a inside the surface treatment apparatus 20. The exhaust gas is guided to the exhaust pipe 13, the ozone decomposer 14, and the exhaust duct 15. The system with b is the same as the system with a and the description is omitted. The object to be processed 21 is supplied from the carriers 23 and 24 to the processing chambers 12a and 12b by the transfer means 22.
It should be noted that parts satisfying the ultra clean specifications are adopted for the piping system from the gas supply source 1 to the processing chambers 12a and 12b.

【００１０】次に、その作用を説明する。原料酸素は流
量制御手段５ａで設定流量に制御される。オゾン発生手
段７ａの内圧は、圧力検出手段６ａ、可変絞り弁８ａ及
び図示を省略した制御系により、一定値に制御されるの
で、安定してオゾンを生成できる。発生したオゾンは、
既に処理に必要な流量に調整済であるため、単に配管１
０ａで処理室１２ａへ供給するのみでよい。処理室１２
ａで処理に使用したガスは排気管１３からオゾン分解器
１４へ送り、無害化した後排気ダクト１５へと導く。切
替弁１１ａは、処理室１２ａでの処理を中断する場合に
バイパス配管へガスの流路を切り替える場合に使用す
る。Next, the operation will be described. The raw material oxygen is controlled to a set flow rate by the flow rate control means 5a. The internal pressure of the ozone generating means 7a is controlled to a constant value by the pressure detecting means 6a, the variable throttle valve 8a and a control system (not shown), so that ozone can be stably generated. The generated ozone is
Since the flow rate required for processing has already been adjusted, simply use the piping 1
It is only necessary to supply it to the processing chamber 12a at 0a. Processing room 12
The gas used for the treatment in a is sent from the exhaust pipe 13 to the ozone decomposer 14, is detoxified, and then guided to the exhaust duct 15. The switching valve 11a is used when switching the gas flow path to the bypass pipe when the processing in the processing chamber 12a is interrupted.

【００１１】尚、本実施例は供給系統数が２系統の場合
を示しているが、更に系統数が増えた場合でも同様であ
ることは言うまでもない。Although the present embodiment shows the case where the number of supply systems is two, it goes without saying that the same applies when the number of systems further increases.

【００１２】上記の通り、本実施例によれば、オゾン流
量制御手段はオゾンに触れることがないので腐食の恐れ
は解消でき、ウルトラクリーン仕様の配管系を実現し
た、信頼性の高いシステムを提供できる。これに加え
て、オゾン発生機３のオゾン発生制御が系統毎に独立し
て実施できるので、処理室毎に適切なオゾン供給条件、
例えばオゾン流量、オゾン濃度、オゾン圧力等を個別に
設定し処理することも併せ実現できるので、更に多様な
プロセスを構築できる効果も有する。As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the ozone flow rate control means does not touch ozone, the fear of corrosion can be eliminated, and a highly reliable system which realizes an ultra clean piping system is provided. it can. In addition to this, since the ozone generation control of the ozone generator 3 can be independently performed for each system, an appropriate ozone supply condition for each processing chamber,
For example, ozone flow rate, ozone concentration, ozone pressure, etc. can be individually set and processed, and therefore, there is an effect that more various processes can be constructed.

【００１３】[0013]

【発明の効果】本発明によれば、オゾン流量の設定制御
は、原料ガスである酸素の段階で実施する。従って、流
量設定制御手段はオゾンによる酸化腐食劣化を全く受け
ることがないので、配管系には現状のウルトラクリーン
仕様の市販部品をそのまま使用できる。その結果、信頼
性の高いオゾン表面処理装置を実現できる効果が得られ
る。また、処理室毎に適切なオゾン供給条件を個別に設
定し処理できるので、更に多様なプロセスを構築できる
使い勝手の良い装置を提供できる効果も有する。According to the present invention, the setting control of the ozone flow rate is carried out at the stage of oxygen as the raw material gas. Therefore, the flow rate setting control means is not subject to oxidative corrosion deterioration due to ozone at all, and the current commercially available parts of ultra clean specifications can be used as they are for the piping system. As a result, the effect that a highly reliable ozone surface treatment apparatus can be realized can be obtained. Further, since appropriate ozone supply conditions can be individually set and processed for each processing chamber, there is also an effect that it is possible to provide an easy-to-use device capable of constructing more various processes.

【図面の簡単な説明】[Brief description of drawings]

【図１】本発明の一実施例の表面処理装置の配管構成図
である。FIG. 1 is a piping configuration diagram of a surface treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

【符号の説明】[Explanation of symbols]

１…ガス供給源， ２…オゾン発生機， ５ａ，５ｂ…流量制御手段， ６ａ，６ｂ…圧力検出手段， ７ａ，７ｂ…オゾン発生手段， ８ａ，８ｂ…可変絞り弁， １２ａ，１２ｂ…処理室 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Gas supply source, 2 ... Ozone generator, 5a, 5b ... Flow rate control means, 6a, 6b ... Pressure detection means, 7a, 7b ... Ozone generation means, 8a, 8b ... Variable throttle valve, 12a, 12b ... Processing chamber

Claims (1)

【特許請求の範囲】[Claims] 【請求項１】オゾンを含有するガスを接触反応させて処
理を行う表面処理装置において、 ２系統以上のオゾン使用部位へ供給するオゾンを、系統
毎にオゾン原料ガスの流量制御機構をオゾン発生装置配
管系のオゾン発生位置の上流に設置したことを特徴とす
る表面処理装置。1. A surface treatment apparatus for performing a treatment by contact-reacting a gas containing ozone, wherein ozone is supplied to two or more systems using ozone, and an ozone source gas flow control mechanism is provided for each system. A surface treatment device which is installed upstream of an ozone generation position in a piping system.