Method for manufacturing semiconductor device and substrate processing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9856560-B2
Application number	US-37947109-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2009
Priority date	Dec 5, 2007
Publication date	Jan 2, 2018
Grant date	Jan 2, 2018

Abstract

The method according to the invention includes the steps of: purging an inside of the processing chamber with gas while applying a thermal impact onto the thin film deposited on the inside of the processing chamber by decreasing the temperature in the processing chamber, so as to forcibly generate a crack in the thin film and forcibly peel the adhered material with a weak adhesive force, in a state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber; removing the thin film deposited on the inside of the processing chamber by supplying a fluorine-based gas to the inside of the processing chamber heated to a first temperature, in the state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber; and removing an adhered material remaining on the inside of the processing chamber after removing the thin film by supplying a fluorine-based gas to the inside of the processing chamber heated to a second temperature, in the state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device comprising:
loading a substrate into a processing chamber in which a quartz member and a metal member are contained;
performing a processing of forming a silicon nitride film on the substrate by supplying a processing gas into the processing chamber heated to a processing temperature by a heater provided outside of the processing chamber;
unloading the processed substrate out of the processing chamber;
after the forming of the silicon nitride film, purging an inside of the processing chamber with a gas while applying a thermal impact to the silicon nitride film deposited on a surface of the quartz member in the processing chamber by decreasing a temperature in the processing chamber to a temperature lower than the processing temperature, so as to forcibly generate a crack in the silicon nitride film, in a state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber,
wherein the decreasing of the temperature in the processing chamber to the temperature lower than the processing temperature is performed by a forced-cooling mechanism outside of the processing chamber, the forced-cooling mechanism being oriented to cover the processing chamber and the heater by means of a heat insulation cover;

at a time point when a thickness of the silicon nitride film accumulated on the surface of the quartz member in the processing chamber reaches a predetermined thickness before the silicon nitride film starts peeling off or dropping,
removing the silicon nitride film deposited on the surface of the quartz member in the processing chamber by thermo-chemical reaction, by supplying a fluorine gas solely or a fluorine gas diluted by an inert gas solely without supplying a hydrogen-containing gas to the inside of the processing chamber heated to a first temperature, in the state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber; and
after the removing of the silicon nitride film, smoothening the surface of the quartz member by etching the surface of the quartz member by supplying the fluorine gas solely or the fluorine gas diluted by the inert gas solely without supplying the hydrogen-containing gas to the inside of the processing chamber heated to a second temperature, by the heater, in the state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber,
wherein the second temperature is set to not less than 450° C. and not more than 500° C., and
wherein corrosion of the metal member and breakage of the quartz member are suppressed.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the inside of the processing chamber is forcibly cooled by causing a cooling medium to flow outside of the processing chamber in the purging with the gas.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the inside of the processing chamber is forcibly cooled by causing a cooling medium to flow outside of the processing chamber, while exhausting atmospheric gas outside the processing chamber in the purging with the gas.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the inside of the processing chamber is rapidly cooled in the purging with the gas.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the quartz member in the processing chamber includes a quartz member constituting the processing chamber.

6. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising:
a processing chamber in which a quartz member and a metal member are contained and a process of forming a silicon nitride film on a substrate is performed;
a processing gas supply system that supplies a processing gas for forming the silicon nitride film to an inside of the processing chamber;
a purge-gas supply system that supplies a purge gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
a cleaning gas supply system that supplies a fluorine gas solely or a fluorine gas diluted by an inert gas solely, without supplying a hydrogen-containing gas, to the inside of the processing chamber;
an exhaust system that exhausts the inside of the processing chamber;
a heater, provided outside of the processing chamber, that heats the inside of the processing chamber; and
a controller:
configured to control the heater, the purge-gas supply system, and the exhaust system so that after the forming of the silicon nitride film, the inside of the processing chamber is purged with the purge gas while applying a thermal impact to the silicon nitride film deposited on a surface of the quartz member in the processing chamber by decreasing a temperature in the processing chamber to a temperature lower than the processing temperature, so as to forcibly generate a crack in the silicon nitride film, in the state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber,
wherein the decreasing of the temperature in the processing chamber to the temperature lower than the processing temperature is performed by a forced-cooling mechanism outside of the processing chamber, the forced-cooling mechanism being oriented to cover the processing chamber and the heater by means of a heat insulation cover; and

configured to control the heater, the cleaning gas supply system, and the exhaust system so that at a time point when a thickness of the silicon nitride film accumulated on the surface of the quartz member in the processing chamber reaches a predetermined thickness before the silicon nitride film starts peeling off or dropping, the silicon nitride film deposited on the surface of the quartz member in the processing chamber is removed by thermo-chemical reaction, by supplying the fluorine gas solely or the fluorine gas diluted by the inert gas solely without supplying the hydrogen-containing gas, to the inside of the processing chamber heated to a first temperature, in the state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber; and after the removing of the silicon nitride film, the surface of the quartz member is smoothed by etching the surface of the quartz member by supplying the fluorine gas solely or the fluorine gas diluted by the inert gas solely without supplying the hydrogen-containing gas, to the inside of the processing chamber heated to a second temperature, by the heater, in the state where the substrate is not present in the processing chamber,
wherein the second temperature is set to not less than 450° C. and not more than 500° C., and
wherein corrosion of the metal member and breakage of the quartz member are suppressed.

7. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising:
a processing chamber in which a quartz member and a metal member are contained and a process of forming a silicon nitride film on a substrate is performed;
a processing gas supply system that supplies a processing gas for forming the silicon nitride film to an inside of the processing chamber;
a purge-gas supply system that supplies a purge gas to the inside of the processing chamber;
a cleaning gas supply system that supplies a fluorine gas solely or a fluorine gas diluted by an inert gas solely without supplying a hydrogen-containing gas, to the inside of the processing chamber;
an exhaust system that exhausts the inside of the processing chamber;
a heater that heats the inside of the processing chamber;
a forced-cooling mechanism which is provided outside of the processing chamber and the heater so as to cover the processing chamber and the heater, for forcibly cooling the inside of the processing chamber; and
a controller:
configured to control the forced-cooling mechanism, the heater, the purge-gas supply system and the exhaust system so that after the forming process of the silicon nitride film, the inside of the processing chamber is purged with the purge gas while applying a thermal impact to the silicon nitride film deposited on a surface of the quartz member in the processing chamber by forcibly coolin

Assignees

• Kameda Kenji
• Wang Jie
• Urano Yuji
• Hitachi Int Electric Inc

Inventors

• Kameda Kenji
• Wang Jie
• Urano Yuji

Classifications

• C23C16/4405 Primary

  Cleaning of reactor or parts inside the reactor by using reactive gases · CPC title