Abstract:
The present disclosure generally relate to a semiconductor processing apparatus. In one embodiment, a processing chamber is disclosed herein. The processing chamber includes a chamber body and lid defining an interior volume, the lid configured to support a housing having a cap, a substrate support disposed in the interior volume, a vaporizer coupled to the cap and having an outlet open to the interior volume of the processing chamber, wherein the vaporizer is configured to deliver a precursor gas to a processing region defined between the vaporizer and the substrate support, and a heater disposed adjacent to the vaporizer, wherein the heater is configured to heat the vaporizer.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/235,130, filed Sep. 30, 2015, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Field 
         [0003]    Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a semiconductor processing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for delivering precursors with high boiling temperatures. 
         [0004]    Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Reliably producing sub-half micron and smaller features is one of the key technology challenges for next generation very large scale integration (VLSI) and ultra large scale integration (ULSI) of semiconductor devices. However, as the limits of circuit technology are pushed, the shrinking dimensions of VLSI and ULSI technology have placed additional demands on processing capabilities. Reliable formation of gate structures on the substrate is important to VLSI and ULSI success and to the continued effort to increase circuit density. 
         [0006]    As circuit densities increase for next generation devices, the widths of interconnects, such as vias, trenches, contacts, gate structures and other features, as well as the dielectric materials therebetween, decrease to 45 nm and 32 nm dimensions and beyond. In order to enable the fabrication of next generation devices and structures, three dimensional (3D) stacking of features in semiconductor chips is often utilized. In particular, fin field effect transistors (FinFETs) are often utilized to form three dimensional (3D) structures in semiconductor chips. By arranging transistors in three dimensions instead of conventional two dimensions, multiple transistors may be placed in the integrated circuits (ICs) very close to each other. As circuit densities and stacking increase, the ability to selectively deposit subsequent materials on previously deposited materials gains importance. 
         [0007]    Thus, there is a need for improved apparatus for selective deposition suitable for three dimensional (3D) stacking of semiconductor chips or other semiconductor devices. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    In one embodiment, a processing chamber is disclosed herein. The processing chamber includes a chamber body and lid defining an interior volume, the lid configured to support a housing having a cap, a substrate support disposed in the interior volume, a vaporizer coupled to the cap of the processing chamber within the interior volume of the processing chamber, wherein the vaporizer is configured to deliver a precursor gas to a processing region defined between the vaporizer and the substrate support, and a heater disposed adjacent to the vaporizer, wherein the heater is configured to heat the vaporizer. 
         [0009]    In another embodiment, a processing chamber is disclosed herein. The processing chamber includes a chamber body and lid defining an interior volume, wherein the lid is configured to support a housing having a cap, and wherein the cap includes a water cooled base plate to control a temperature of the cap, a substrate support assembly disposed in the interior volume, a vaporizer coupled to the cap of the processing chamber within the interior volume by a thermal isolator, wherein the vaporizer is configured to deliver a precursor to a processing region defined between the vaporizer and the substrate support assembly, and a heater disposed adjacent to the vaporizer, wherein the heater is configured to heat the vaporizer to a temperature between 100° C. and 600° C. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, a substrate processing platform for processing a plurality of substrates is disclosed herein. The substrate processing platform includes a rotary track mechanism, a plurality of processing chambers, and a transfer robot. The plurality of processing chambers is disposed in an array about the rotary track mechanism. One processing chamber includes a chamber body and lid defining an interior volume, the lid configured to support a housing having a cap, a substrate support disposed in the interior volume, a vaporizer coupled to the cap of the processing chamber within the interior volume of the processing chamber, wherein the vaporizer is configured to deliver a precursor gas to a processing region defined between the vaporizer and the substrate support, and a heater disposed adjacent to the vaporizer, wherein the heater is configured to heat the vaporizer. The transfer robot is configured to carry a plurality of substrates and concurrently transfer the substrates into and out of the substrate processing platform. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments. 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates a processing chamber having heated sidewalls and a vaporizer mounted above a substrate, according to one embodiment. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates a processing chamber having a vaporizer and an internal heat shield, according to one embodiment. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  illustrates a processing chamber having heated side walls and a multi-nozzle vaporizer, according to one embodiment. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  illustrates a processing chamber with a cross-flow configuration, according to one embodiment. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  illustrates a multi-chamber processing system, according to one embodiment. 
       
    
    
       [0017]    To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation. 
         [0018]    It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only exemplary embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  illustrates a processing chamber  100 , according to one embodiment. For example, the processing chamber  100  may be a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber, or any processing chamber that delivers precursors with high boiling points and low vapor pressures. The processing chamber  100  includes a chamber body  102  having sidewalls  104 , a bottom  105 , and a lid  106 . The sidewalls  104  and lid  106  define an interior volume  108 . In one embodiment, the sidewalls  104  and lid  106  are heated. For example, the sidewalls  104  and lid  106  may be heated to a temperature of 250° Celsius (C), while a substrate support assembly  126  may be heated to 220° C. In one embodiment, the substrate support assembly  126  may be a heated substrate support assembly. For example, the substrate support assembly  126  may be heated to a temperature of about 190° C., or about 20°-30° C. lower than the sidewalls  104 . An external heat shield  140  may be positioned around the chamber body  102  to protect users from the heated sidewalls  104  and lid  106 . A substrate transfer port  110  is formed in the sidewall  104  for transferring substrates into and out of the interior volume  108 . 
         [0020]    A precursor delivery system  112  is coupled to the processing chamber  100  to supply a precursor material into the interior volume  108 . In one embodiment, the precursor may include octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA), tungsten hexachloride, dodecanethiol, and the like. An exhaust port  115  may be coupled to the processing chamber  100  in communication with the interior volume  108  to control the pressure in the interior volume  108 . The gas pressure within the processing chamber  100  may be monitored by a pressure sensor  119 . For example, in one embodiment, the pressure of the processing chamber  100  is maintained at a pressure between 1 mtorr to 200 torr. 
         [0021]    A substrate support assembly  126  is disposed within the interior volume  108  of the processing chamber  100 . The substrate support assembly  126  is configured to support a substrate (not shown) during processing. The substrate support assembly  126  includes a plurality of lift pins  128  movably disposed therethrough. The lift pins  128  may be actuated to project from a support surface  130  of the substrate support assembly  126 , thereby placing the substrate in a spaced-apart relation to the substrate support assembly  126  to facilitate transfer with a transfer robot (not shown). 
         [0022]    The lid  106  is configured to support a housing  134 . The housing  134  includes a cap  136  disposed opposite the lid  106 , and encloses the vaporizer  114 . The vaporizer may suspend from the cap  136  or be coupled to another portion of the housing  134 . The vaporizer  114  includes an outlet port  142  that is directly open to the interior volume  108 . The vaporizer  114  is configured to convert precursors supplied by the precursor delivery system  112  to a vapor to be supplied to a processing region  124  defined between the substrate support assembly  126  and the vaporizer  114 . The precursors may be solid or liquid at room temperature. A thermal isolator  113  may be placed between the cap  136  and the vaporizer  114  to protect the cap  136  from overheating. A heating element  122  is positioned within the housing  134  adjacent to the vaporizer  114 . In one embodiment, the heating element  122  is supported by the cap  136  or housing  134 . The heating element  122  is configured to heat the precursor inside the vaporizer  114 . The heating element  122  may be, for example, a lamp, a light emitting diode, a laser, a resistive heater, or any suitable heater. In one embodiment, the heating element  122  heats the vaporizer  114  such that the precursor reaches a temperature between 100° C. and 600° C. The cap  136  may include a water cooled base plate  144  configured to help control the temperature of the cap  136  and housing  134 . 
         [0023]    A controller  190  is coupled to the processing chamber  100 . The controller  190  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  192 , a memory  194 , and support circuits  196 . The controller  190  is utilized to control a rate of gas supplied by the vaporizer  114  to the processing region  124  and the temperatures of the sidewalls  104 , bottom  105 , and substrate support assembly  126 . Maintaining a substrate support assembly  126  temperature to be less than the vaporizer  114  temperature aids in reducing the deposition on the sidewalls  104  of the chamber body  102 . The CPU  192  may be of any form of a general purpose computer processor that can be used in an industrial setting. The software routines can be stored in the memory  194 , such as random access memory, read only memory, floppy or hard disk drive, or other form of digital storage. The support circuits  196  are conventionally coupled to the CPU  192  and may comprise cache, clock circuits, input/output subsystems, power supplies, and the like. The software routines, when executed by the CPU  192 , transform the CPU  192  into a specific purpose computer (controller)  190  that controls the processing chamber  100  such that the processes are performed in accordance with the present disclosure. The software routines may also be stored and/or executed by a second controller (not shown) that is located remotely from the chamber. 
         [0024]    The controller  190  may be representative of a control system that includes a plurality of controllers. For example, the controller  190  may include a heater controller, a multichannel heater controller, and a main controller. The heater controller is configured to power the heating elements of the vaporizer  114 . The multichannel heater controller is configured to heat the sidewalls  104 , the lid  106 , the substrate support assembly  126 , and internal heat shield (shown in  FIG. 2 ). The main controller is configured to regulate chamber  100  pressure by varying the temperature of the vaporizer  114  and the exhaust port  115  position. The main controller also provides set points to the multichannel heater controller based on user input and recipe parameters. 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  illustrates processing chamber  200 , according to another embodiment. The processing chamber  200  is substantially similar to the processing chamber  100 . The processing chamber  200  includes a chamber body  202  having sidewalls  204 , a bottom  205 , and a lid  206 . The sidewalls  204 , lid  206 , and bottom  205  define an interior volume  208 . In one embodiment, the sidewalls  204  and lid  206  are water cooled chamber walls. The water cooled chamber sidewalls  204  and lid  206  aid in controlling the temperature of the chamber body  202 . 
         [0026]    The lid  206  is configured to support a housing  234 . The housing  234  includes a cap  236  disposed opposite the lid  206 , and encloses the vaporizer  114 . The vaporizer  114  may suspend from the cap  236  or be coupled to another portion of the housing  234 . An internal heat shield  210  is mounted to the cap  236  or housing  234  within the interior volume  208 . Thermal isolators  211  are positioned between the internal heat shield  210  and the cap  236  or housing  234 . The internal heat shield  210  is spaced from the chamber body  202 . The internal heat shield  210  at least partially surrounds the vaporizer  114 . The internal heat shield  210  may be heated in lieu of heating the sidewalls  204  and lid  206  of the chamber body  202  to a high temperature. The internal heat shield  210  prevents unintended condensation on the chamber body  202  and eliminates the need for an external heat shield (such as external heat shield  140  in  FIG. 1 ), and also eliminates the need for heating chamber walls and lid, resulting in an energy efficient system. In one embodiment, the internal heat shield  210  includes an internal pressure sensor  231  that is configured to measure the gas pressure within the volume of the internal heat shield  210 , while the pressure sensor  119  monitors the pressure of the processing chamber  200  outside the internal heat shield  210 . 
         [0027]    The vaporizer  114  includes an outlet port  142  that extends through the internal heat shield  210 . The outlet port  142  is open to the space within of the processing region  124  between the heat shield  210  and substrate disposed on the support surface  130  of the substrate support assembly  126 . In another embodiment, a showerhead (not shown) may be integrated into the internal heat shield  210  for uniform vapor distribution. The outlet port  142  would open into a plenum (not shown) in the showerhead. The showerhead would be heated to the same temperature as the heat shield. 
         [0028]    In one embodiment, the processing chamber  200  further includes a first actuator  212  coupled to the cap  236 . The cap  236  is coupled to the housing  234  by a bellows  214 . The bellows  214  allow the actuator  212  to move the cap  236  in the z-direction while maintaining vacuum within the interior volume  208  of the processing chamber  200 . Moving the cap  236  in the z-direction raises and lowers the internal heat shield  210  and the vaporizer  114  coupled to the cap  236 . Lowering the internal heat shield  210  reduces the spacing within of the processing region  124  between the substrate and internal heat shield  210 , and confines the process gases directly above the substrate. This results in an efficient process material and energy utilization of the process gases. In one embodiment, the internal heat shield  210  may include an oring (not shown) at the base of the internal heat shield  210 . The oring allows for a cavity above the substrate to be pressurized to a higher pressure than the base pressure of the processing chamber  200 , resulting in an efficient process material utilization. This is measured by the internal pressure sensor  231  positioned within the internal heat shield  210 . 
         [0029]    In another embodiment, the processing chamber  200  may include a second actuator  216  coupled to the substrate support assembly  126 . The second actuator  216  is configured to move the substrate support assembly  126  in the z-direction. Moving the substrate support assembly  126  in the upwards z-direction positions the substrate support assembly  126  closer to the internal heat shield  210  such that the processing region  124  is confined, similar to having the actuator  212  lower the internal heat shield  210 . A bellows  250  is coupled to the bottom  205  of the chamber body  202  to maintain vacuum when the actuator  216  moves the substrate support assembly  126 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  illustrates another embodiment of a processing chamber  300 . The processing chamber  300  is substantially similar to processing chambers  200  and  100 . The processing chamber  300  includes a chamber body  302  having sidewalls  304 , a bottom  305 , and a lid  306 . The sidewalls  304 , lid  306 , and bottom  305  define an interior volume  308 . In one embodiment, the sidewalls  304  and lid  306  are heated. For example, the sidewalls  304  and lid  306  may be heated to a temperature of 250° C. An external heat shield  340  may be positioned around the chamber body  302  to protect users from the heated sidewalls  304  and lid  306 . In another embodiment, an internal heat shield, similar to internal heat shield  210 , may be used in lieu of heating the sidewalls  304  and lid  306 . 
         [0031]    The lid  306  is configured to support a housing  334 . The housing  334  includes a cap  336  disposed opposite the lid  306 , and encloses the vaporizer  314 . The vaporizer  314  may suspend from the cap  336  or be coupled to another portion of the housing  334 . The vaporizer  314  includes a plurality of outlet ports  316  that is directly open to the interior volume  308 . The vaporizer  314  is configured to convert the precursor supplied by the precursor delivery system  112  to a vapor to be supplied to a processing region  324  defined between the substrate support assembly  126  and the vaporizer  114 . The plurality of outlets  316  allow for a uniform flow of vapor to be distributed to the substrate. A plurality of heating elements  322  are positioned adjacent to the vaporizer  314 . In one embodiment, the heating elements  322  are mounted to the cap  336 , between the cap  336  and the vaporizer  314 . The heating elements  322  are configured to heat the precursor inside the vaporizer  314 . The heating elements  322  may be, for example, a lamp, a light emitting diode, a laser, a resistive heater, or any suitable heating elements. In one embodiment, the heating elements  322  heat the vaporizer  314  such that the precursor reaches a temperature between 100° C. and 600° C. The plurality of heating elements  322  and the plurality of outlets  316  allow for different processing zones across a surface of the substrate. 
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates a processing chamber  400 , according to another embodiment. The processing chamber  400  is substantially similar to processing chamber  100 . The processing chamber  400  includes a chamber body  402  having sidewalls  404 , a bottom  405 , and a lid  406 . The sidewalls  404 , lid  406 , and bottom  405  define an interior volume  408 . In one embodiment, the sidewalls  404  and lid  406  are heated. For example, the sidewalls  404  and lid  406  may be heated to a temperature of 250° C. An external heat shield  440  may be positioned around the chamber body  402  to protect users from the heated sidewalls  404  and lid  406 . A substrate transfer port  110  is formed in the sidewall  404  for transferring substrates into and out of the interior volume  408 . 
         [0033]    The lid  406  is configured to support a housing  434 . The housing  434  includes a cap  436  disposed opposite the lid  406 , and encloses the vaporizer  114 . The vaporizer  114  may suspend from the cap  436  or be coupled to another portion of the housing  434 . The vaporizer  114  includes an outlet port  142  that is directly open to the interior volume  408 . The lid  406  supports the housing at a first side  420  of a centerline  422  of the substrate support assembly  126 . Thus, the vaporizer  114  is coupled to the cap  436  at the first side  420  of the centerline  422  of the substrate support assembly  126 . The exhaust port  115  is positioned at a second side  426  of the centerline  422 , opposite the first side  420 . The positioning of the vaporizer  114  and the exhaust port  115  at opposite sides of the centerline  422  allows for a cross-flow of vapor across the surface of the substrate (not shown) in a processing region  424 . 
         [0034]    Alternatively, in another embodiment, the housing  434  may be supported horizontally by the sidewall  404  to provide a cross-flow of vapor across the surface of the substrate. The vaporizer  114  is positioned on the sidewall  404  at a first side  420  of a centerline  422  of the substrate support assembly  126 . 
         [0035]    In another embodiment, the chamber  400  may include a vertical chamber configuration, wherein the substrate is mounted vertically on a vertical substrate support assembly, and gas flows from the top to the bottom across the surface of the substrate. 
         [0036]      FIG. 5  illustrates a schematic view of a substrate processing system  500 , according to one embodiment. The processing system  500  includes a processing platform  502  having a plurality of processing chambers  506 . The processing platform  502  is coupled to a transfer chamber  504 . The transfer chamber  504  includes a dual blade robot  505  disposed therein, configured to transfer two substrates (not shown) in and out of the processing platform  502 . Optionally, multiple buffer stations  508  are disposed in-between the processing chambers  506  for spatially separating each processing chamber  506  and/or conducting substrate heating or curing. 
         [0037]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , a plurality of substrates can be rotationally disposed in the processing chambers  506 . During substrate processing, a rotary track mechanism  510  is configured to rotate in a horizontal direction  512  (e.g., clockwise or counterclockwise) at a first rotating speed such that the plurality of substrates are rotated under and passed through each of the processing chambers  506  and the buffer stations  508 . 
         [0038]    The processing chambers  506  may be any one of the processing chambers  100 ,  200 ,  300 , or  400  configured to deposit a precursor to the substrates. The processing chamber  506  may also include a pre-clean processing chamber to remove native oxides, contaminants, or both from exposed surfaces of the substrate, a post-deposition treatment chamber, and a deposition chamber to form a structure on the surface of the substrate. 
         [0039]    While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.