CN104025280B - Method and apparatus for processing a substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for processing a substrate are provided. In some embodiments, a method of processing a substrate disposed in a processing chamber includes: performing a process on a substrate disposed in a process chamber having a substrate support ring configured to support the substrate and a reflective plate disposed proximate a backside of the substrate; providing a first gas to a backside of the substrate via one or more vias, the first gas comprising one of an oxygen-containing gas or a nitrogen-containing gas, the vias disposed in the reflector plate during the performing of the process on the substrate; and maintaining the process chamber at a first pressure and a second pressure, the first pressure being proximate a top surface of the substrate and the second pressure being proximate a bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the first pressure is greater than the second pressure sufficient to prevent the substrate from being dislodged from the substrate support ring during processing.

Description

Method and apparatus for processing a substrate

technical field

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to semiconductor processing.

Background technique

Some conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes, such as annealing processes, may require the processing chamber to be maintained at a higher temperature and lower pressure to perform processing. However, the inventors have observed that performing the process at such temperatures and pressures may give rise to undesired conditions: sublimation of material on the substrate or diffusion of dopants. For example, when annealing a silicon-containing substrate, oxygen (e.g., moisture, material left over from a previous process performed in the processing chamber, leakage from a first gas source, or the like) within the processing chamber may Attacks the surface of the substrate, forming silicon oxide. The silicon oxide may then condense on surfaces of the processing chamber, eg, sidewalls, reflective plates, pyrometers, or the like. To maintain consistent processing, processing chambers require regular maintenance to remove condensed material, reducing processing efficiency and throughput.

Typically, in processing chambers such as rapid thermal processing (RTP) chambers, a gas with a low concentration of oxygen may flow towards the front side of the substrate to prevent the aforementioned sublimation. However, such conventional processing chambers typically have a large difference in gas conductance between the front and back sides of the substrate. This difference in gas conductivity results in an insufficient amount of oxygen reaching the backside of the substrate to prevent sublimation of the material from the backside of the substrate.

Accordingly, the present invention provides improved methods and apparatus for processing substrates.

Contents of the invention

A method and apparatus for processing a substrate is provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of processing a substrate disposed in a processing chamber may include performing processing on a substrate disposed in the processing chamber having a substrate support ring and a reflective plate , the substrate support ring is configured to support the substrate, the reflective plate is disposed close to the backside of the substrate; during performing the process on the substrate, a first gas is provided via one or more through holes to the backside of the substrate, the first gas includes one of an oxygen-containing gas or a nitrogen-containing gas, the through hole is provided in the reflection plate; and maintaining the processing chamber at a first pressure and a second pressure wherein the first pressure is close to the top surface of the substrate and the second pressure is close to the bottom surface of the substrate, wherein the first pressure is greater than the second pressure sufficiently to prevent the substrate from The substrate support ring is displaced.

In some implementations, a computer readable medium has stored thereon instructions that, when executed, result in a method for processing a substrate to be performed in a processing chamber. The method may comprise any of the described embodiments.

In some embodiments, an apparatus for processing a substrate may include a processing chamber having a substrate support ring configured to support the substrate and a reflective plate set close to the back side of the substrate, the reflection plate has a plurality of through holes; wherein at least one of the through holes in the reflection plate is an entrance, and the entrance is used to provide a first Gas to the area near the back side of the substrate; wherein at least one of the through holes in the reflecting plate is an outlet, and the outlet is used to generate a gas flow of these gases, and the gas flow flows out of the the backside of the substrate.

Other and further embodiments of the invention are described below.

Description of drawings

Embodiments of the present invention, briefly summarized above and discussed in greater detail below, can be understood by reference to the illustrative embodiments of the invention depicted in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

Figure 1 illustrates a method for processing a substrate according to some embodiments of the invention.

2A-B (collectively FIG. 2 ) illustrate schematic side views of substrates according to some embodiments of the invention at various stages of the methods of the invention.

Figure 3 illustrates a schematic side view of a processing chamber suitable for carrying out the methods of the invention, according to some embodiments of the invention.

4-5 illustrate schematic side views of a portion of a processing chamber suitable for performing the methods of the invention, according to some embodiments of the invention.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used wherever possible to designate identical elements that are common to the various figures. The figures are not drawn to scale and may be simplified for clarity. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.

detailed description

Embodiments of the invention provide methods and apparatus for processing substrates. Embodiments of the present invention may advantageously facilitate the control of environmental conditions near the backside of the substrate to reduce sublimation of materials on the substrate or diffusion of dopants, thereby reducing or preventing deposition of materials on processing chamber surfaces, thereby increasing the Production time ahead of maintenance work required to clean process chambers and improve process efficiency. In some embodiments, the present invention may provide for depositing a capping layer on the backside of a substrate to further reduce sublimation of any material or diffusion of dopants on the backside of the substrate.

FIG. 1 illustrates a method 100 for processing a substrate according to some embodiments of the invention. 2A-B illustrate a substrate 200 through various stages of the method 100 of the invention, according to some embodiments of the invention. Method 100 may be performed in any processing chamber suitable for semiconductor substrate processing, such as, for example, a processing chamber similar to that described below with respect to FIG. 3 .

The method 100 generally begins at 102 where processing is performed on a substrate disposed in a processing chamber having a substrate support ring configured to support the substrate and a reflective plate placed close to the backside of the substrate.

Referring to FIG. 2, the substrate 200 may be any type of substrate suitable for manufacturing a semiconductor device. For example, the substrate 200 may be a doped or undoped silicon substrate, a III-V compound substrate, a silicon germanium (SiGe) substrate, an epitaxial substrate, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, a display substrate (such as liquid crystal displays (LCD), plasma displays, electroluminescent (EL) lamp displays), light emitting diode (LED) substrates, solar cell arrays, solar panels, or the like. In some embodiments, the substrate 200 may be a semiconductor wafer, such as a 200mm or 300mm semiconductor wafer.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, a substrate may include one or more components of a fully or partially fabricated semiconductor device. For example, in some embodiments, substrate 200 may include one or more layers, one or more features, one or more fully or partially fabricated structures, or the like. For example, in some embodiments, substrate 200 may include layers such as nitride layers, oxide layers, or the like (shown in dashed lines at 204 ).

The processing chamber may be any type of processing chamber having a substrate support ring configured to support the substrate and a reflective plate positioned proximate to the backside of the substrate. Examples of suitable processing chambers include any or processing chamber, or any other processing chamber capable of performing thermal processing such as rapid thermal processing (RTP), all of which are available from Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, California (California) ( Applied Materials Corporation). Other suitable processing chambers, including those available from other manufacturers, may also be used and/or modified in light of the teachings provided herein. In some embodiments, the processing chamber can be similar to the processing chamber described below with respect to FIG. 3 .

The processing performed on the substrate may be any processing required for manufacturing a semiconductor device, for example, deposition processing such as chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD) or the like, such as dry etching, wet etching, or Such an etching process, or an annealing process such as rapid thermal annealing (RTA), post nitridation anneal, post oxidation anneal, or the like. For example, methods according to embodiments of the present invention may advantageously be processed above about 500 degrees Celsius, where the backside of the substrate is not in direct contact with a support such as an edge ring. Furthermore, methods according to embodiments of the present invention may also advantageously facilitate measurements from the backside of the substrate, such as temperature measurements using optical techniques, while minimizing or eliminating any process variation over time.

The inventors have observed that some processes, such as post-nitridation annealing or post-oxidation annealing in a rapid thermal processing (RTP) chamber, may require the processing chamber to be maintained at a relatively high temperature, such as about 1000 degrees Celsius or higher) and lower pressure (eg, less than about 100 Torr (Torr), or in some embodiments, less than about 50 Torr, or less than about 10 Torr) to perform the process. However, the inventors have observed that performing processing at such temperatures and pressures may cause undesirable conditions: sublimation of materials on the substrate 200 or diffusion of dopants. For example, during the annealing process of a silicon-containing substrate, small amounts of oxygen may be present in the process chamber, such as moisture, material left over from previous processes performed in the process chamber, leaks from the first gas source, or the like . For example, the inventors have observed that the presence of low concentrations of oxygen, high processing temperatures, and/or low oxygen partial pressures (resulting at least in part from low processing pressures) may result in the sublimation of silicon oxide from the substrate. The sublimated silicon oxide material may then condense on surfaces of the processing chamber, such as sidewalls, reflectors, pyrometers, or the like. The inventors have also observed that in processing chambers such as rapid thermal processing (RTP) chambers, an oxygen-containing gas can flow towards the front side of the substrate to prevent the aforementioned sublimation. For example, by providing an oxygen-containing gas to the front side of the substrate, the concentration of oxygen and/or the partial pressure of oxygen is increased, thereby reducing or eliminating sublimation of material (eg, silicon oxide) from the substrate. However, the inventors have observed that due to differences in fluid conductance in conventional processing chambers, the amount of oxygen that reaches the backside 206 of the substrate 200 to prevent sublimation of material from the backside 206 of the substrate 200 is insufficient. The conductivity difference relates to the difference between the fluid along the front side 208 of the substrate as compared to the fluid along the back side 206 of the substrate 200 .

Accordingly, next at 104 , a first gas comprising one of an oxygen-containing gas or a nitrogen-containing gas is provided to the backside 206 of the substrate 200 . In some embodiments, during the performance of the process, the first gas may be provided to the backside of the substrate via one or more through holes disposed in a reflective plate disposed behind the substrate. By providing the first gas to the backside 206 of the substrate 200, the inventors have observed that environmental conditions (e.g., pressure, oxygen partial pressure, oxygen concentration, or the like) near the backside of the substrate can be controlled to reduce or eliminate Sublimation of material or diffusion of dopants (eg, as described above). For example, in embodiments where the first gas is an oxygen-containing gas, the inventors have observed that providing an oxygen-containing gas increases the oxygen concentration near the backside 206 of the substrate 200, thereby preventing the sublimation of silicon from the substrate 200, thereby preventing the oxidation of silicon. Formation and subsequent deposition on the surfaces of the processing chamber.

The oxygen-containing gas or nitrogen-containing gas may include any gas or combination of gases suitable to prevent sublimation of materials on substrate 200 or diffusion of dopants while being non-reactive in the processing environment. For example, in embodiments where the first gas includes an oxygen-containing gas, the first gas may include one of the following: oxygen (O ₂ ), nitrogen oxides (NO _x ), or the like. In embodiments where the first gas includes a nitrogen-containing gas, the first gas may include one of nitrogen (N ₂ ), nitrogen oxides (NO _x ), ammonia (NH ₃ ), or the like. In some embodiments, the oxygen-containing gas or nitrogen-containing gas can be the same gas that is provided to the front side of the substrate (e.g., the oxygen-containing gas can flow to the front side of the substrate as described above), or in some embodiments, The oxygen-containing gas or the nitrogen-containing gas may be different from the gas supplied to the front side of the substrate.

The first gas may be provided at any flow rate suitable to provide a sufficient amount of oxygen-containing gas or nitrogen-containing gas without creating an excessive pressure differential that would cause the substrate 200 to depress during processing. Displaced from the support ring. For example, the differential pressure can be calculated using the following formula:

M _w *g＝(P _fs -P _fb )*A _w

where _Mw is the mass of the wafer (substrate), g is gravity, _Pfs and _Pfb are the pressure on the substrate front side 208 and backside 206, respectively, and _Aw is the area of the wafer. For example, in embodiments where the substrate is a 300 mm wafer, a pressure differential of less than about 2 Torr is suitable for providing the first gas without causing displacement of the substrate 200 from the support ring. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the first gas may be set at a flow rate of about 50 seem to about 500 seem. In some embodiments, the flow rate of the first gas may also be increased for a period of time to prevent an initial burst of the high pressure gas towards the substrate 200 . In such embodiments, the first gas may be provided at a first flow rate of about 10 seem to about 50 seem and increased to a second flow rate of about 300 seem to about 500 seem over a period of 1 second to about 5 seconds.

In some embodiments, for example, where the required flow rate of the first gas will create a pressure differential that will cause the substrate 200 to displace, a vacuum may be applied to one or more of the one or more through holes provided in the reflector plate. Many, to counteract the pressure applied to the backside 206 of the substrate 200 .

Next at 106, a cover layer 202 may optionally be formed on the backside 206 of the substrate 200, as shown in FIG. 2B. The inventors have observed that by forming capping layer 202 on backside 206 of substrate 200, sublimation of materials on substrate 200 or diffusion of dopants (eg, as described above) can be further reduced or eliminated. Capping layer 202 may comprise any process compatible material suitable to prevent sublimation of materials on substrate 200 or diffusion of dopants (e.g., as described above) while not reacting with the materials of substrate 200, e.g., nitride layer, oxide layer or similar material. For example, in embodiments where the substrate 200 is a silicon-containing substrate 200, the capping layer 202 may comprise silicon nitride (SiN).

At 108, to form the capping layer 202, a plasma may be formed from the first gas. The plasma may be formed in the same processing chamber as used to process the substrate 200, or in some embodiments, the plasma may be formed in a different processing chamber than the processing chamber used to process the substrate, and This is then provided to a processing chamber (eg, remote plasma).

The plasma can be formed, for example, by igniting by coupling some energy to the first gas under suitable conditions within a processing chamber (e.g., a processing chamber used to process a substrate or a remote plasma chamber) The first gas to generate plasma. In some embodiments, the energy coupled to the first gas can include up to about 3000 watts (W) of direct current energy. Alternatively or in combination, in some embodiments, up to about 10,000 W of RF energy may be supplied at a frequency of about 2 megahertz (MHz) to about 3 gigahertz (GHz). For example, in some embodiments, the gas source 331 may be a remote plasma chamber to form a plasma from the first gas prior to providing the gas to the processing chamber.

In addition to the above, additional processing parameters may be used to ignite or maintain the plasma. For example, in some embodiments, the processing chamber can be maintained at a pressure of about 10 milliTorr (mTorr) to about 5000 mTorr. Additionally, in some embodiments, the processing chamber may be maintained at a temperature of about 500 degrees Celsius to about 1100 degrees Celsius.

Next, at 110 , the backside 206 of the substrate may be exposed to excited species formed in the plasma to form a capping layer 202 on the backside 206 of the substrate 200 . The backside 206 of the substrate 200 may be exposed to the excited state species for any desired amount of time to form the capping layer 202 to a desired thickness. For example, in some embodiments, the backside 206 of the substrate 200 may be exposed to the plasma for a period of time ranging from about 10 seconds to about 60 seconds. In some embodiments, capping layer 202 may be formed to a thickness of about 5 angstroms to about 30 angstroms.

In addition to the above, additional processing parameters may be utilized to form the capping layer. For example, in some embodiments, the processing chamber can be maintained at a pressure of from about 10 mTorr to about 5000 mTorr. Additionally, in some embodiments, the processing chamber may be maintained at a temperature of about 200 degrees Celsius to about 1100 degrees Celsius.

Next, providing the first gas at 104 (or optionally forming the capping layer 202 at 106), the method generally ends and the substrate 200 can be further processed as desired. For example, in some embodiments, additional processing such as additional layer deposition, etching, annealing, or the like may be performed on the substrate 200, for example, to form a semiconductor device on the substrate 200, or to prepare the substrate 200 for use in the following applications: Examples include, but are not limited to, photovoltaic cells (PV), light emitting diodes (LED), or displays (eg, liquid crystal displays (LCD), plasma displays, electroluminescent (EL) lamp displays, or the like).

Figure 3 illustrates a processing chamber suitable for carrying out the method of the present invention, according to some embodiments of the present invention. The processing chamber 300 may be any suitable processing chamber, eg, configured for thermal processing, such as rapid thermal processing (RTP), or any of the processing chambers described above.

The substrate 200 is mounted in the processing chamber 300 on the substrate support 308 and heated by a lamphead 301 disposed opposite to the substrate support 308 . The radiation generated by the burner 301 is directed to the front side 208 of the substrate 200 . Alternatively (not shown), lamp head 301 may be configured to heat backside 206 of substrate 200 , such as by being disposed below substrate 200 , or by directing radiation onto the backside of substrate 200 , for example. Radiation enters the processing chamber 300 through a water-cooled quartz window assembly 314 . Below the substrate 200 is a reflector 302 mounted on a water-cooled, stainless steel base 316 . Base 316 includes a circulation loop 346 through which coolant circulates to cool reflector 302 . In some embodiments, the reflective plate 302 is made of aluminum and has a high reflectivity surface coating 320 . Water can be circulated through the base 316 to keep the reflective plate 302 at a temperature well below the temperature of the heated substrate 200 . Alternatively other coolants may be provided at the same or different temperature. For example, antifreeze (eg, ethylene glycol propylene glycol or the like) or other heat transfer fluid may be circulated through base 316 and/or base 316 may be coupled to a chiller (not shown). The bottom or backside of the substrate 200 and the top of the reflective plate 302 form a reflective cavity 318 . Reflective cavity 318 increases the effective emissivity of substrate 200 .

The temperature of local regions of the substrate 200 is measured by a plurality of temperature probes, such as 352a, 352b, and 352c. Each temperature probe includes a light pipe 324 that passes through a through hole 327 that extends from the backside of the base 316 through the top of the reflective plate 302 . The light pipe 324 is located in the through hole 327 , so its uppermost end is flush with or slightly lower than the upper surface of the reflective plate 302 . The other end of the light pipe 324 is coupled to a flexible optical fiber 325 that sends sampled light from the reflective cavity 318 to the pyrometer 328 . The pyrometer 328 is connected to a temperature controller 350 which controls the power supplied to the lamp head 301 in response to the measured temperature. The lamp can be divided into multiple zones. The zones can be individually adjusted by the controller to allow controllable radiative heating of different zones of the substrate 200 .

In addition to the through-holes 327 configured to accommodate each light pipe as described above, the base 316 and reflector plate 302 may include one or more additional through-holes (an additional through-hole 351 is shown), so The additional through-holes are configured to accommodate other mechanisms (eg, lift pins or the like) to facilitate handling.

During processing, a first gas may flow from a gas panel (eg, gas source 229 ) and enter processing chamber 300 at inlet 330 (eg, first inlet). The inlet 330 is provided at one side of the processing chamber 300 and facilitates the flow of the first gas across the surface of the substrate 200 . The inventors have observed that providing the first gas from the inlet 330 may result in a difference in gas conductance from the front side 208 to the back side 206 of the substrate 200 . For example, when a first gas is provided to the front side 208 of the substrate 200 via the inlet 330, the first gas flows in a first flow path directly across the front side 208 of the substrate 200 and the first gas flows in an indirect second flow path. to the backside 206 of the substrate 200 . The difference in fluid conductivity between the first flow path and the second flow path results in a lower concentration of the first gas reaching the backside 206 of the substrate than a concentration of the first gas reaching the front side 208 of the substrate 200 . The inventors have observed that such low concentrations of the first gas may result in insufficient processing, eg, sublimation of materials or diffusion of dopants such as described above on the backside 206 of the substrate 200 .

Thus, in some embodiments, the first gas may be provided to the backside of the substrate 200 through a second inlet proximate to the backside of the substrate. For example, in some embodiments, the first gas may be provided to the backside of the substrate through one or more through holes (eg, through holes 327 , 351 ) of the reflective plate 302 .

In some embodiments, the first gas may be provided to the one or more through holes 327 , 351 via a gas source 331 . Although shown as separate gas sources, gas source 229 and gas source 331 may be the same gas source with separate flow controllers to provide the first gas to the front or back side of the substrate as desired. In some embodiments, a valve 329 may be coupled to one or more of the through holes, for example, the valve 329 is disposed between the gas source 331 and the through holes 327, 351 in order to direct the first gas to the through holes 327, 351. 351 or one of the exhaust. By providing a valve 329 disposed between the gas source 331 and the through holes 327, 351, the gas source 331 can be kept in a constant "on" state, providing the first gas to the through holes 327, 351 or exhaust means , thereby maintaining a more uniform pressure and reducing the occurrence of high pressure bursts generated by the gas source when the first gas flow is initiated towards the through-holes 327,351.

By providing the first gas through the one or more through holes 327 , 351 , in addition to the flow path 404 above the substrate 200 , as shown in FIG. 4 , a flow path 402 is created below the substrate 200 . The inventors have observed that providing the flow path 402 can reduce or eliminate the difference in gas flow conductance from the front side 208 to the back side 206 of the substrate 200, thereby facilitating the provision of a higher concentration of the first gas to the back side 206 of the substrate 200, The processing-level deficiencies discussed above are thereby reduced or eliminated.

In some embodiments, a vacuum may be provided to an area near the backside of the substrate 200 . In some embodiments, a vacuum may be provided to one or more vias (e.g., via 327) while the first gas is provided to another one of the one or more vias (e.g., via 351), thereby creating a first via (eg, via 327) of the one or more vias to a second via (eg, via 351 ) of the one or more vias ) flow path, for example, the flow path 502 shown in FIG. 5 . By providing a vacuum to the one or more vias, the amount of pressure applied to the backside 206 of the substrate 200 can be reduced, thereby reducing the pressure differential between the frontside 208 and the backside 206 of the substrate 200, thereby reducing the amount of pressure that the substrate 200 experiences from the backside 206. Risk of displacement of the substrate support (as described above). In such embodiments, a pump 333 (eg, such as a roughing pump or vacuum pump) may be coupled to the one or more through holes. In some embodiments, the vias to which the vacuum is applied may have a larger diameter than the other vias to prevent restriction of airflow to the pump 333 . The pump 333 and the conduits coupling the pump to the one or more through holes are of sufficient conductivity and power to provide the pressure differential discussed above.

Referring back to FIG. 3 , the substrate support 308 may be configured to be stationary or to allow the substrate 200 to rotate. The substrate support 308 includes a support ring 334 or edge ring that contacts the substrate 200 and surrounds the outer perimeter of the substrate such that the entire bottom surface of the substrate 200 is exposed except for a small annular area around the outer perimeter. . The support ring 334 is also referred to as an edge ring, and the two terms are used interchangeably within this specification. To minimize thermal discontinuities that may occur at the edge of the substrate 200 during processing, the support ring 334 may be made of the same or similar material as the substrate 200, such as silicon.

In some embodiments, the support ring 334 may be disposed on a rotatable tubular cylinder 336 coated with silicon to be opaque in the frequency range of the pyrometer 328 . The coating on the cylinder 336 acts as a baffle to block radiation from external sources that could contaminate the intensity measurements. The bottom of the cylinder 336 is held by an annular upper bearing 341 which rests on a plurality of ball bearings 337 which in turn are held in a fixed, annular lower bearing race 339 Inside. In some embodiments, ball bearings 337 are made of steel and coated with silicon nitride to reduce particle formation during operation. During thermal processing, the upper bearing 341 is magnetically coupled to an actuator (not shown in the figure), which rotates the cylinder 336, the support ring 334, and the base plate 200.

A purge ring 345 is fitted into the chamber body around cylinder 336 . In some embodiments, the wash ring 345 has an inner annular cavity 347 that opens towards an area above the bearing 341 . The inner annular cavity 347 is connected to a gas source (not shown in the figure) through a channel 349 . During processing, purge gas flows into the chamber through purge ring 345 .

In some embodiments, the support ring 334 has an outer radius that is larger than the radius of the cylinder 336 such that the outer radius extends outward beyond the cylinder 336 . The annular extension of the support ring 334 beyond the cylinder 336 together with the cleaning ring 345 below the extension acts as a baffle that prevents stray light from entering the reflective cavity 318 on the backside of the substrate 200 . To further reduce the possibility of stray light entering reflective cavity 318, support ring 334 and cleaning ring 345 may also be coated with a material (eg, a black or gray material) that absorbs radiation generated by lamp head 301 .

The substrate support 308 may be coupled to a lift mechanism 355 capable of raising and lowering the substrate relative to the lamp head 301 . For example, the substrate support 308 may be coupled to the lift mechanism 355 such that the distance between the substrate 200 and the reflective plate 302 is constant during the lift motion.

In some embodiments, the substrate support 308 may be adapted to be magnetically levitated and rotated within the processing chamber 300 (not shown). The substrate support 308 can be rotated while being vertically raised and lowered during processing, and can also be raised or lowered without rotation before, during, or after processing. Raising/lowering and/or rotating the substrate support typically requires moving parts, so such magnetic levitation and/or rotation of the magnetic field may prevent or reduce particle generation due to the absence or reduction of moving parts.

Accordingly, the present invention has provided methods and apparatus for processing substrates. Embodiments of the invention provide methods for processing substrates. In some embodiments, the present invention can facilitate sufficient flow of the first gas to the backside of the substrate to reduce sublimation of material on the substrate or diffusion of dopants, thereby preventing deposition of material on surfaces of the processing chamber, Thereby improving processing efficiency. In some embodiments, the present invention may provide for depositing a capping layer on the backside of the substrate to further reduce sublimation of material on the substrate or diffusion of dopants.

While the foregoing relates to embodiments of the invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may also be devised without departing from the essential scope of the invention.

Claims (9)

1. the method that process is arranged at the substrate processed in chamber, described method includes:

Performing process on substrate, described substrate is arranged in process chamber, and described process chamber has substrate Support ring and reflecting plate, described substrate support ring is configured to support described substrate, and described reflecting plate is arranged to connect The dorsal part of nearly described substrate；

During performing described process on the substrate, provide the first gas extremely via one or more through hole The dorsal part of described substrate, described first gas includes one of oxygen-containing gas or nitrogenous gas, and described through hole is arranged In described reflecting plate；

The front side of described first gas extremely described substrate is provided, and provides described first gas extremely in the same time The described dorsal part of described substrate；And

Being maintained by described process chamber under the first pressure and the second pressure, described first pressure is close to described base The top surface of plate and described second pressure are close to the dorsal part of described substrate, and wherein said first pressure is more than described Second pressure and be enough to during processing prevent described substrate from shifting from described substrate support ring.

2. the method for claim 1, farther includes:

Apply the vacuum to the one or more persons of one or more through hole to produce the first gas stream, described First gas stream flows out from the dorsal part of described substrate, to reduce the amount of pressure applying the dorsal part to described substrate.

3. the method for claim 1, the second pressure described in wherein said first pressure ratio big at least 2 Torr.

4. method as claimed any one in claims 1 to 3, one or more through hole quilt wherein said It is configured to accommodate at least one lifter pin or temperature sensor.

5. method as claimed any one in claims 1 to 3, wherein said process is annealing.

6. method as claimed any one in claims 1 to 3, wherein provides described first gas to include:

Described first gas is provided with first flow；And

Described first flow is increased to second flow within a period of time.

7. method as claimed any one in claims 1 to 3, farther includes:

Plasma is formed by described first gas；And

By by the described dorsal part of the described substrate exposure excited state species that extremely described plasma is formed The described dorsal part of described substrate is formed cover layer.

8. method as claimed in claim 7, is wherein formed described plasma bag by described first gas Include:

Described plasma is formed in remote plasma chamber；And

There is provided described plasma to described process chamber.

9. method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said cover layer be nitride layer or oxide skin(coating) it One.