Method and apparatus for improved coating of a semiconductor wafer

Disclosed is a spin coating apparatus and method for coating a semiconductor wafer of known diameter with a thin and substantially uniform coating of a solution. The apparatus comprises a containment bowl with a rotatable vacuum chuck, having a diameter less than hat of the wafer, rotatably mounted inside the bowl. The vacuum chuck captively holds a bottom surface of the wafer. Directly beneath the bottom surface of the wafer is a substantially frustroconical deflector ring. The deflector ring is concentrically attached about and stationary with respect to the rotatable vacuum chuck. The top surface of the ring is located just below and in close-spaced parallel relation to the bottom surface of the wafer. The top face of the deflector has a minimum diameter that is greater that the diameter of the semiconductor wafer. With the system of this invention the requirement of an organic solvent wash of the wafer backside after the coating of the wafer top surface is eliminated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Technical Field 
The invention relates to an apparatus and method for spin coating solutions 
onto the surface of a semiconductor wafer. 
2. Background 
The current practice in semiconductor manufacturing is to use thin film 
fabrication techniques. A large variety of materials can be deposited 
using thin films, including metals, semiconductors, insulators and the 
like. The composition and uniformity of these thin layers must be strictly 
controlled to facilitate etching of submicron features. Many of these 
materials are best suited to application of the substrate with a liquid 
which is then dried to form the solid thin film. The liquid materials are 
most often deposited using either spin or spray coating methods. 
In a conventional spin coating process the semiconductor wafer to be 
processed is placed on a rotatable chuck and held in place by vacuum. The 
chuck is referred to by a variety of names, including spin chuck and 
vacuum chuck. The spin chuck has a diameter slightly less than that of the 
semiconductor wafer. The wafer is positioned on the chuck such that it is 
resting in a level horizontal plane with the inactive surface, designated 
as the bottom, in contact with the chuck and the opposite top surface is 
coated with the desired solution. In standard systems the chuck is powered 
and rotated by a motor. 
In the spin coating process, the solution can be dispensed prior to 
spinning the wafer, which is referred to as static dispense or after the 
semiconductor wafer has been set in motion, which is termed dynamic 
dispense. In either case after the solution has been dispensed onto the 
top surface, the wafer is spun at a constant speed to establish a desired 
relatively uniform thickness of the solution across the wafer. Once the 
liquid layer acquires the relatively uniform and symmetrical profile, the 
remainder of the spin cycle allows the solvent in the solution to 
evaporate to produce a solid film on the wafer top surface. 
The supply of the solution is dispensed onto the wafer from a supply 
nozzle. The nozzle can either be configured to simply drop a specific 
quantity onto the semiconductor wafer surface in the form of a puddle or 
to spray the desired quantity onto the wafer surface in the form of a 
mist. 
After the solution is dispensed onto the wafer it is distributed uniformly 
over the surface largely as a result of the radial distribution of the 
liquid due to centrifugal and drag forces created by the spinning of the 
wafer. 
The solution deposited on the wafer goes through a number of stages during 
the spin process, primarily due to the fluid dynamics created by the 
spinning substrate. At the start of the spinning a wave of solution is 
created that moves towards the edge of the wafer. As the major portion of 
the solution in the wave reaches the edge of the wafer it forms a ridge, 
this is referred to as the corona stage. A bead subsequently forms along 
the edge of the wafer as the solvent evaporates from the ridge formed in 
the corona stage. As the corona disappears the remaining solution leaves 
the surface in the form of a fine spiral-like mist. This spiral stage 
results in thousands of droplets spinning off the wafer and splashing back 
onto the wafer off of the surrounding spinner bowl. Bowls and splashguards 
have been designed to prevent this splashing. Additionally, solvent 
washing of the bottom of the wafer can eliminate the edge bead that forms 
during the spin coating. 
Every layer deposited on the top surface of the wafer that possesses 
irregularities and variations in its uniformity has an adverse affect 
during all subsequent processing steps that the wafer undergoes. 
Uniformity of the layers is a critical factor in semiconductor wafer 
production. The film thickness uniformity obtained using the spin coating 
process is largely a function of size and shape of the wafer, because of 
the influence centrifugal force has in the spin coat process. The fluid 
dynamics described above become more pronounced as the diameter of the 
wafer used increases and the trend is towards using larger wafers. 
To compensate for these undesirable influences the standard practice is to 
use a large starting volume of solution in the spin coating process. A 
large starting volume of solution also translates into a large amount of 
wasted solution. The increased amount of solution used also means an 
increase in the cost of production for semiconductor wafers. Approximately 
30%-90% of the process solution used in the spin coating process is wasted 
in the form of excess solution that is thrown off of the wafer substrate. 
The excess solution is deposited to assure a thin uniform layer in the end 
product. 
There have been a number of inventions proposed to alleviate these 
problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,649 to Ikeda, employs a plate positioned 
above the wafer to change the air turbulence and fluid behavior on the 
wafer for improved layer uniformity. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,813 to Rodrigues, a plurality of rotational speeds 
are used to increase layer uniformity and decrease the amount of starting 
solution required. 
A number of patents use different types of nozzle mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 
5,405,443 to Akimoto et al., discloses a nozzle that dispenses a fixed 
quantity of solution without entrainment of bubbles and particles 
utilizing a negative pressure system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,212 to Shinichi, 
includes moving the conventional spin coat nozzle across the radius of the 
wafer during solution application while rotating the wafer at a first and 
second speed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,617 to Haaland, enlists a computer 
controlled droplet generator to select droplet size and velocity to cause 
impact with the wafer without splashing. There is still a demand in the 
semiconductor wafer manufacturing industry for more economical means of 
solution application to the wafer that improves the uniformity of the 
process layers on the wafers and uses less chemicals. 
The other major process used to deposit coatings on to wafer substrates is 
a spray coat process. The spray coating process permits much more 
efficient use of the process solution because the large starting excess 
needed for the spin coating process is not needed for the spray coating 
process. The problem with conventional spray coat processes are that they 
require thorough and comprehensive optimization of the process to obtain 
the quality of uniform layer thickness that is more easily obtained with 
the spin coat process. With the spray coat process the size and shape of 
the wafer have little effect on the end result. The uniformity of 
thickness of dielectric coating obtained using the spray process is 
determined by the sweeping motion of the spray nozzle. 
An alternative to using either the spin coat or spray coat processes and 
their inherent problems is to coat the wafers using chemical vapor 
deposition (CVD). The CVD process includes the following basic steps: a) a 
known composition of reactant and inert gases is introduced into a 
reaction chamber; b) the gas species move to the substrate; c) the 
reactants are decomposed and chemically reacted at a heated surface of the 
substrate; e) the gaseous by-products are desorbed and removed from the 
reaction chamber. With the CVD process high purity films can be formed and 
deposited and a greater variety of starting compounds can be used. There 
are certain compositions that cannot be adequately applied to the wafer by 
any other process. The CVD process also had certain disadvantages. It 
increases both the cost of wafer production and increases the complexity 
of manufacturing the wafer. There are also often defects in the uniformity 
of the layers deposited on the wafer using the CVD process. Because of the 
increased cost and complexity of the CVD process it is still used far less 
that either spin or spray coating of the dielectrics onto semiconductor 
wafers. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is a main object of this invention to provide an improved spin coating 
method and apparatus which coats a selected coating solution film on a 
substrate with superior film thickness uniformity. 
It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved spin coating 
method and apparatus which coats a selected coating solution film on a 
substrate with superior film thickness uniformity without the use of an 
organic solvent wash of the wafer backside. 
It is another object to provide a spin coating method and apparatus for 
coating the top surface of a semiconductor wafer with a desired film 
wherein the backside of the wafer does not have any selected coating 
solution film deposition at the end of the process. 
These objects, as well as others, are satisfied by a spin coating apparatus 
for coating a semiconductor wafer of known diameter with a thin and 
substantially uniform coating of a solution. The apparatus comprises a 
containment bowl with a rotatable vacuum chuck, having a diameter less 
than that of the wafer, rotatably mounted inside the bowl. The vacuum 
chuck captively holds a bottom surface of the wafer. Directly beneath the 
bottom surface of the wafer is a substantially frustroconical or frustum 
shaped deflector ring. The deflector ring is concentrically attached about 
and stationary with respect to the rotatable vacuum chuck. The top surface 
of the ring is located just below and in close-spaced parallel relation to 
the bottom surface of the wafer. The top face of the deflector has a 
minimum diameter that is greater that the diameter of the semiconductor 
wafer. 
The invention eliminates the need for a post-coating solvent washing of the 
backside of the wafer. The utility of this novel manufacturing apparatus 
and process includes improved environmental health and safety when 
applying selected solution coatings to the surface of semiconductor 
wafers. By being able to use less solvent, there is a decreased risk from 
the flammability associated with solvent contained in the solution. 
Additionally, there is increasing concern and regulatory requirements with 
regard to the indoor air quality of working areas where organic solvents 
are used, both as to the comfort of the users and their health. With 
decreased use of process solution as a result of this novel apparatus and 
process, there can be increased indoor air quality. 
An advantage of the invention is that the amount of coating solution liquid 
that is wasted as excess is reduced. Another advantage of the present 
invention is that less organic solvent is used because of the elimination 
of the wafer backside wash. Decreased use of organic solvent improves 
workplace safety and overall quality of the environment, both of which are 
receiving increased scrutiny and stricter regulation. The decrease in 
organic solvents also decreases the risk of flammability and the problems 
associated with proper disposal of organic solvents. 
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be 
set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become 
apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or 
may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of 
the invention may be realized and attained by means of the 
instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the 
appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of the invention 
will be described in detail. A spin chuck 12 holds wafer 20 by vacuum 
allowing the rotation of wafer 20 in the known manner. Spin chuck 12 
holding wafer 20 is enclosed by containment bowl 26 inside a housing. Bowl 
26 can be moved up or down to surround wafer 20. Exhaust means, here vent 
28 and drain means, here vent 30 are connected through bottom 27 of bowl 
26. 
Spin chuck 12 has a diameter that is less than the diameter of wafer 20, so 
that wafer top surface 22 and wafer bottom surface 24 extend beyond the 
edge of spin chuck 12. Directly beneath wafer 20 is deflector ring 32. 
Deflector ring 32 is substantially frustroconical or frustum in shape. Top 
surface 34 of ring 32 has a minimum diameter greater than the diameter of 
wafer 20, such that ring top surface 34 extends past the edge of wafer 20. 
Deflector ring top surface 34 is located just below and in close spaced 
parallel relation to wafer bottom surface 24. In the preferred embodiment 
ring top surface 34 is 2.5 mm from wafer bottom 24. 
Ring top surface 34 has a smooth sloping and aerodynamic transition into 
conical wall 36. Ring 32 is attached in a stationary manner concentrically 
around spin chuck 12. Deflector ring bottom surface 38 is parallel to ring 
top surface 34. In the preferred embodiment ring bottom 38 includes 
annular recess 40. 
In use, bowl 26 is raised to surround spin chuck 12 and wafer 20. Spin 
chuck 12 is rotated and captively holds wafer 20 in the known manner. The 
selected solution is applied to wafer top surface 22 either prior to or 
after the initiation of rotation. Exhaust vent 28 and drain vent 30 are 
also activated in the known manner. With the system of this invention the 
requirement of an organic solvent wash of wafer bottom surface or backside 
24 after the coating of wafer top surface 22 is eliminated. 
While not intended to be a limitation to this invention, a possible 
explanation for this unexpected result is that the design of ring 32 
changes the airflow around wafer 20 during the coating process. It is 
likely that a pressure differential is created at the edge of wafer 20. 
Accordingly, a relative high pressure zone H exists between wafer bottom 
surface 24 and ring top surface 34 and a relatively lower pressure L is 
resident across wafer top surface 22 and around deflector wall 36 most 
likely created by the faster moving air around deflector ring 32. 
This process works well for polymer dielectrics, but can also be used 
equally well for coating any solution onto the surface of semiconductor 
wafers including polysiloxanes, photo resists, developers, adhesives, 
protective coatings and the like. 
It will therefore be understood that modifications and variations are 
possible without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in 
the following claims.