Semiconductor wafer processing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11769673-B2
Application number	US-202117176156-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 15, 2021
Priority date	Feb 15, 2021
Publication date	Sep 26, 2023
Grant date	Sep 26, 2023

Abstract

The embodiments herein relate to methods for processing a wafer through a semiconductor wafer processing system and an apparatus. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a system for processing a semiconductor wafer is provided. The system includes a heating system, a pressure control system, and a gas flow system. The heating system is configured for heating a chuck. The pressure control system is configured for setting an internal chamber pressure. The gas flow system is configured for inflowing a gas in the process chamber to increase the internal chamber pressure to at least a base pressure. The heating system heats the chuck after the internal chamber pressure reaches the base pressure set by the pressure control system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for processing a semiconductor wafer, the system comprising:
a heating system for heating a chuck;
a pressure control system for setting an internal chamber pressure of a process chamber to a pressure level higher than an ambient pressure; and
a gas flow system for inflowing a gas in the process chamber to increase the internal chamber pressure, wherein the heating system heats the chuck after the internal chamber pressure reaches at least a base pressure set by the pressure control system.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the pressure control system controls the amount of gas inflowing to the process chamber from the gas flow system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the internal chamber pressure is set to a pressure level lower than a process pressure of a wafer processing operation.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the internal chamber pressure is set to a process pressure of a wafer processing operation.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the heating system comprises a heating element in the chuck.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises a process gas for a wafer processing operation.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises an inert gas.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the gas comprises deuterium.

9. A method for processing a semiconductor wafer, the method comprising:
providing a process chamber having a chuck therein;
setting an internal chamber pressure to at least a base pressure higher than an ambient pressure; and
heating the chuck after the process chamber reaches the base pressure.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein setting the internal chamber pressure comprises inflowing a gas into the process chamber.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein internal chamber pressure is set to a pressure level lower than a process pressure for a wafer processing operation.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the internal chamber pressure is set to a process pressure of a wafer processing operation.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein heating the chuck comprises activating a heating element in the chuck.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising performing a high-pressure wafer processing operation on the wafer.

15. A semiconductor processing tool, the tool comprising:
a process chamber for a high-pressure wafer processing operation, wherein an internal chamber pressure can be set to at least a base pressure higher than an ambient pressure; and
a chuck in the process chamber, the chuck having grooves in the chuck surface that terminate in the chuck, wherein when a wafer is placed on the chuck, air pockets are formed in the grooves having an air pressure lower than the base pressure.

16. The tool of claim 15 , wherein the chuck further comprises a heating element, the heating element is activated after the internal chamber pressure reaches the base pressure.

17. The tool of claim 15 , wherein the high-pressure wafer processing operation comprises a diffusion process.

18. The tool of claim 15 , wherein the high-pressure wafer processing operation comprises an annealing process.

Assignees

• Globalfoundries Us Inc

Inventors

• Pethe Wieland
• Noack Dirk

Classifications

• H10P72/7624

  characterised by the mechanical construction of the susceptor, stage or support · CPC title

• H10P72/0432

  mainly by conduction · CPC title

• H10P95/90 Primary

  Thermal treatments, e.g. annealing or sintering · CPC title

• H10P72/7611

  characterised by edge profile or support profile · CPC title

• H10P72/7614 Primary

  characterised by a plurality of individual support members, e.g. support posts or protrusions · CPC title