JP7632330B2 - Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and method for manufacturing semiconductor device - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a developing device. In this developing device, rollers hold the outer periphery of a semiconductor substrate so that the front surface is exposed, and rotate the semiconductor substrate. A developer drip nozzle and a photoresist spray nozzle are arranged on both sides of the semiconductor substrate. This allows the photoresist to be developed and the photoresist to be applied to the back surface.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-102027

The developing device of Patent Document 1 holds the outer periphery of a semiconductor substrate in order to apply photoresist to the back surface of the semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate is directly held by a roller that rotates the semiconductor substrate and a roller that rotates while applying a preload to the semiconductor substrate. Here, the semiconductor substrate, which is a wafer, is formed with a straight notch that indicates the direction of the crystal axis, generally called an orientation flat, or a V-shaped notch called a notch. For this reason, rotation while applying a preload places a load on the corners of the orientation flat or notch, which can cause chipping of the wafer.

In addition, SiC substrates generally have greater initial wafer warpage than Si substrates. Furthermore, as the manufacturing process progresses, the wafer warpage tends to increase. For this reason, depending on the initial thickness of the wafer and its thinning as the manufacturing process progresses, there is a risk that the wafer may crack when clamped while applying preload with the rollers.

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device that can suppress damage to the wafer.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a housing in which a cylindrical space is formed, an arm extending from a side wall of the housing that defines the space into the interior of the space, a wafer mounting section that is fixed to the arm and holds the wafer within the space so that the processing surface of the wafer faces the axial direction of the space, a rotating section that is provided on the side wall and rotates the arm about the axial direction as an axis of rotation to rotate the wafer, and a nozzle that ejects a chemical solution onto the processing surface.

The manufacturing method of a semiconductor device according to the present disclosure includes a housing in which a cylindrical space is formed, an arm extending from a side wall of the housing that forms the space into the interior of the space, and a wafer mounting part fixed to the arm. The wafer mounting part of the semiconductor manufacturing device holds the wafer within the space so that the processing surface of the wafer faces the axial direction of the space, and rotates the arm about the axial direction as a rotation axis to rotate the wafer, and while rotating the wafer, a chemical solution is discharged onto the processing surface.

In the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and semiconductor device manufacturing method disclosed herein, the rotating section rotates the wafer via the wafer mounting section and the arm. Therefore, damage to the wafer can be suppressed.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment. 2 is a plan view of an arm and a wafer mounting portion according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a wafer support part according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating the function of a rotating section according to the first embodiment. 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating the arrangement of a shower unit according to the first embodiment. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to a first embodiment.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding components are given the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions may be omitted.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 according to a first embodiment. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 includes a housing 10 in which a cylindrical space 11 is formed. An arm 12 extends from a side wall 10a of the housing 10 that forms the space 11 into the space 11. A wafer mounting portion 14 is fixed to the arm 12. The wafer mounting portion 14 holds a wafer such that a processing surface of the wafer, which is a semiconductor substrate, faces an axial direction A1 of the space 11 in the space 11. The arm 12 is extendable and retractable, and is capable of changing the position of the wafer mounted on the wafer mounting portion 14 as viewed from the axial direction A1. A plurality of wafer mounting portions 14 are provided at positions shifted in the axial direction A1. In this embodiment, five wafer mounting portions 14 are provided, but the number of wafer mounting portions 14 is not limited.

The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 is equipped with a nozzle 30 that ejects a chemical solution onto the processing surface of the wafer. This chemical solution is a developing solution for the development process. A plurality of nozzles 30 are provided to correspond to a plurality of wafer mounting sections 14. Furthermore, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 is equipped with a shower section 32 that ejects pure water. The shower section 32 is provided in the ceiling section of the space 11. The shower section 32 ejects pure water onto the wafer when cleaning after development.

The side wall 10a is provided with a rotating unit 20 that rotates the wafer mounting unit 14 and the wafer by rotating the arm 12 around the axial direction A1 as the rotation axis. The rotating unit 20 has a drive motor 22 and rotors 24 that are provided above and below the drive motor 22 and are rotated by the drive motor 22. The rotors 24 are formed, for example, from a rust-resistant alloy.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the arm 12 and wafer mounting portion 14 according to the first embodiment. The arm 12 has a first arm 12a extending from the side wall 10a, and a second arm 12b extending from the side wall 10a. The wafer mounting portion 14 has a first mounting portion 14a fixed to the first arm 12a, and a second mounting portion 14b fixed to the second arm 12b. The first mounting portion 14a and the second mounting portion 14b sandwich the wafer from both sides when viewed from the axial direction A1. The first mounting portion 14a and the second mounting portion 14b are combined to form a ring. The wafer is supported in a hollow state in the space 11 by the wafer mounting portion 14.

A wafer support 16 for placing a wafer is provided on the inner periphery of the doughnut-shaped wafer mounting portion 14. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the wafer support 16 according to the first embodiment. The wafer support 16 is L-shaped in cross-section, with the base portion supporting the back surface of the wafer. To stably support the outer periphery of the back surface of the wafer, it is preferable that at least eight wafer support portions 16 are evenly arranged on the inner periphery of the wafer mounting portion 14. The number of wafer support portions 16 is not limited as long as they can stably support the wafer.

The wafer support 16 is exposed to liquids such as the developer during the development process. For this reason, a rust-resistant alloy may be used for a portion of the wafer support 16. The portion of the wafer mounting portion 14 that comes into contact with the wafer, such as the wafer support 16, may be made of rubber or resin material that has a high friction coefficient and is rust-resistant. This makes it possible to suppress inertia when the wafer rotates. It also makes it possible to suppress chipping of the outer periphery of the wafer due to vibration during rotation. The wafer support 16 may also be U-shaped in cross section, opening toward the center of the wafer.

The first arm 12a and the second arm 12b are extendable in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction A1. This allows the horizontal position of the wafer mounting part 14 to be adjusted as desired while the wafer is sandwiched between them. The arm 12 may be driven by a motor or a hydraulic cylinder. The arm 12 may also have a nested structure.

Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the function of the rotating unit 20 according to the first embodiment. For convenience, only one side of the arm 12 and the wafer mounting unit 14 is shown in Figure 4. The rotating bodies 24 attached above and below the drive motor 22 are formed inside the side wall 10a and fitted into the recesses 10c. The rotating bodies 24 support the drive motor 22. The space 11 is cylindrical so that the rotating unit 20 can rotate. The recesses 10c are annular. The rotating body 24 moves within the recesses 10c as the rotating body 24 is rotated in the direction indicated by D1 by the drive motor 22. The arm 12 is fixed to the drive motor 22. The movement of the rotating body 24 rotates the arm 12 and the wafer mounting unit 14 in the direction indicated by D2.

The program for rotating the rotating unit 20 is prepared in advance at the start of processing. The rotating unit 20 performs a predetermined rotation during wafer processing based on the program. Here, the movement of one side of the arm 12 and the wafer mounting unit 14 has been described, but the other side of the arm 12 and the wafer mounting unit 14 also performs a similar movement. This allows the wafer to rotate in the same way when the wafer mounting unit 14 rotates.

Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of the shower units 32 according to the first embodiment. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 100 includes multiple shower units 32. The multiple wafer mounting units 14 can be moved to positions corresponding to the multiple shower units 32 by extending and retracting the arm 12. This increases the number of wafers that can be processed at one time. For example, by arranging the multiple wafer mounting units 14 under the corresponding shower units 32, the wafers can be processed efficiently. In addition, missed cleaning of wafers can be suppressed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 10 is provided with a drain port 40 that connects to the bottom of the space 11. The bottom 10b of the space 11 is inclined toward the drain port 40. This allows the developer and pure water to be efficiently collected and flowed through the drain port 40 to a waste liquid tank (not shown). The bottom 10b may be provided by inclining the bottom surface of the housing 10. Also, an inclined portion that provides a slope may be attached as a separate part to the bottom surface of the housing 10.

Next, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device will be described. FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the first embodiment. First, in a preparation step S1, the arm 12 is moved to place a wafer. At this time, the wafer is held by the wafer mounting section 14 in the space 11 so that the processing surface of the wafer faces the axial direction A1 of the space 11. Next, in a development processing step S2, the arm 12 is rotated around the axial direction A1 as the rotation axis to rotate the wafer, and a chemical solution is discharged onto the processing surface while the wafer is being rotated. Next, in a cleaning step S3, after the chemical solution is discharged, pure water is discharged onto the wafer to clean the wafer.

In the preparation step S1, the diameter of the wafer mounting portion 14 may be changed to match the diameter of the wafer. In this case, the wafer mounting portion 14 does not have to be a perfect circle. In other words, a gap may be provided between the first mounting portion 14a and the second mounting portion 14b. Also, the wafer may be moved from a wafer cassette for moving the wafer between processes to a temporary storage location such as a waiting room by a transport arm, and after adjustment of the arm 12 is completed, the wafer may be placed on the wafer mounting portion 14 from the temporary storage location by the transport arm. Also, the wafer may be placed on the wafer mounting portion 14 directly from the wafer cassette. In this embodiment, the arm 12 is extendable, so that the transported wafer can be received by the wafer mounting portion 14 with high accuracy.

Next, in the development process S2, the developer is discharged from the nozzle 30 onto the wafer. At this time, the development process is performed while the wafer is rotated by the rotating unit 20. This allows the developer to be supplied evenly to the wafer, suppressing uneven development. This makes it possible to perform fine processing on the wafer. The nozzle 30 may also be extendable. This allows uneven development of wafers that require fine processing to be suppressed by moving the nozzle 30 in the horizontal direction.

Next, in the cleaning process S3, pure water is sprayed onto the wafer from the shower section 32. At this time, while cleaning the wafer, the developer that has splashed inside the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 100 due to the rotation during the development process can be washed away. Note that the semiconductor manufacturing equipment 100 does not have a stage that adsorbs the wafer, and holds the wafer in a hollow state. This prevents the stage from being contaminated by developer leaking from the wafer, and prevents contamination of the next wafer to be processed by the stage.

Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, the rotating unit 20 does not rotate the wafer directly, but rotates it via the wafer mounting unit 14 and the arm 12. Therefore, damage to the wafer can be suppressed compared to, for example, a case where the wafer is rotated directly while a preload is applied to the wafer. In particular, cracks and chips originating from the orientation flat or notch can be suppressed.

The wafer may be formed of a wide band gap semiconductor. The wide band gap semiconductor may be, for example, silicon carbide, a gallium nitride-based material, or diamond. In particular, when the wafer is formed of silicon carbide, it is more likely to warp than a Si substrate. In this embodiment, the wafer, which has a large warp, is not directly rotated, so that the stress applied to the wafer can be suppressed. Therefore, damage to the wafer can be suppressed.

Furthermore, in developing devices that use a vacuum stage, there is a risk that developer will leak from through holes that occur in the SiC substrate, contaminating the stage and the next wafer to be processed. In this embodiment, the wafer is processed in a hollow state, which prevents contamination of the stage and the next wafer to be processed. In this way, this embodiment is particularly effective when the wafer is a SiC substrate.

In addition, after performing sputtering or ion implantation on the front or back surface of the wafer, the wafer may be held by the wafer mounting section 14 and rotated. In particular, when the wafer is made of silicon carbide, warping often becomes significant after ion implantation. In this way, this embodiment is even more effective if the wafer has undergone an ion implantation process.

As a variation of this embodiment, the wafer mounting portion 14 does not have to be divided into the first mounting portion 14a and the second mounting portion 14b. In other words, the wafer mounting portion 14 may be annular as a single component. The wafer mounting portion 14 may also be divided into three or more portions.

The technical features described in this embodiment may be used in any suitable combination.

10 housing, 10a side wall, 10b bottom, 10c recess, 11 space, 12 arm, 12a first arm, 12b second arm, 14 wafer mounting part, 14a first mounting part, 14b second mounting part, 16 wafer support part, 20 rotating part, 22 drive motor, 24 rotating body, 30 nozzle, 32 shower part, 40 drain, 100 semiconductor manufacturing device

Claims (17)

A housing having a cylindrical space formed therein;
an arm extending from a side wall of the housing that defines the space into the space;
a wafer loading section fixed to the arm and holding the wafer within the space such that a processing surface of the wafer faces an axial direction of the space;
a rotating unit provided on the side wall and configured to rotate the arm about a rotation axis in the axial direction to rotate the wafer;
A nozzle that ejects a chemical solution onto the treatment surface;
A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising: The semiconductor manufacturing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the arm is extendable and retractable, and the position of the wafer as viewed from the axial direction can be changed. The semiconductor manufacturing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the wafer mounting portion is annular. The arm includes a first arm extending from the side wall and a second arm extending from the side wall,
the wafer mounting portion has a first mounting portion fixed to the first arm and a second mounting portion fixed to the second arm,
4. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion sandwich the wafer from both sides when viewed in the axial direction. The semiconductor manufacturing device according to claim 4, characterized in that the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion are combined to form a ring shape. The semiconductor manufacturing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the wafer mounting section is provided in a plurality of positions offset in the axial direction. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that a plurality of the nozzles are provided to correspond to the plurality of wafer mounting sections. The semiconductor manufacturing device according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that it is provided with a shower unit that ejects pure water. A plurality of the shower units are provided,
9. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of wafer mounting parts are movable to positions corresponding to the plurality of shower parts. The semiconductor manufacturing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the portion of the wafer mounting part that comes into contact with the wafer is made of rubber. The housing is provided with a drain port connected to a bottom of the space,
11. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a bottom of the space is inclined toward the drain outlet. The semiconductor manufacturing device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the wafer is formed of a wide band gap semiconductor. The semiconductor manufacturing device according to claim 12, characterized in that the wide band gap semiconductor is silicon carbide, a gallium nitride-based material, or diamond. a wafer mounting portion of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a housing having a cylindrical space formed therein, an arm extending from a side wall of the housing that defines the space into the interior of the space, and a wafer mounting portion fixed to the arm, the wafer mounting portion holding the wafer within the space such that a processing surface of the wafer faces an axial direction of the space;
Rotating the arm about the axial direction as a rotation axis to rotate the wafer;
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the steps of: discharging a chemical solution onto the processing surface while rotating the wafer. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 14, characterized in that after the chemical solution is discharged, pure water is discharged onto the wafer. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the wafer is held by the wafer mounting section after ion implantation into the wafer. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 16, characterized in that the wafer is made of silicon carbide.

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