JPH06196390A - Control method of valve and system using it - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The purpose is to prevent accidents due to erroneous valve operation with a simple configuration in a device that handles high vacuum. [Structure] A synchrotron radiation source (1) for generating an exposure beam, and an exposure apparatus (11) containing a mask and a wafer.
0), a vacuum chamber (5) which is a beam port for connecting a radiation source and an exposure device and introducing an exposure beam into the exposure device (110), and a plurality of vacuum chambers (5) connected to various parts of the chamber (5). Valves (11 to 14, 51 to 54)
And a control device (120) for controlling opening and closing of each valve, and the control device (120) confirms that the front and rear gate valves (51 to 54) are closed when the valves (11 to 14) are opened. And then do it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to valve opening / closing control in a vacuum chamber to which a plurality of valves are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an exposure apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, an X-ray exposure system using a synchrotron radiation source (SOR) has been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-100311. In this system, a beam port is provided to guide the light emitted from the light source to the exposure apparatus, and the beam port is a vacuum chamber decompressed to a high vacuum to prevent the beam from being attenuated by the gas. A plurality of gate valves are connected to the beam port.

[0003]

This vacuum chamber needs to be able to release the decompression for maintenance or the like. However, if the valve opening / closing operation connected to the vacuum chamber is mistaken, an expensive synchrotron radiation source or beam is required. There is a risk of accidents such as damage to ports.

Conventionally, in order to prevent such an accident,
There is a method of opening the valve only when the pressure in the vacuum chamber becomes lower than a predetermined value. For example,
In the system described in the above publication, a high-vacuum main pump and a roughing pump are connected to the vacuum chamber, and the valve is opened and closed according to the pressure in the vacuum chamber to switch the main pump and the roughing pump. This prevents the erroneous operation of opening the main pump valve when the pressure is high. However, the configuration for achieving this was rather complicated.

The present invention has been made to further improve the above-mentioned conventional example, and an object thereof is to prevent an accident due to opening / closing of a valve with a simple structure.

[0006]

According to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, when opening each valve of a plurality of valves connected to a vacuum chamber, it is performed after confirming the open / closed state of other valves. A method of controlling a valve characterized by the above.

[0007]

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to an X-ray exposure system used for manufacturing a semiconductor device or the like. In the figure, 1 is a synchrotron radiation source (SOR), 110 is an exposure chamber in which a shutter mechanism for adjusting an exposure amount, a mask and a wafer are built in,
The radiation source 1 and the exposure chamber 110 are connected by a beam line 5 which is a vacuum chamber. 11 to 14 are gate valves, and 2 is an emergency high-speed shutoff valve for protecting the synchrotron radiation source 1. Reference numeral 3 is an acoustic delay line, 41 to 43 are main beam line pumps, and 51 to 54 are beam line roughing valves. Reference numeral 6 is a beam shutter, 7 is a radiation protection wall, and 8 is a mirror chamber having a built-in mirror for expanding the synchrotron radiation in the form of a sheet beam. 91 to 94
Is a vacuum gauge, 141 to 144 are rough pumps of the beam line, and 151 to 154 are leak valves. Again 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a vacuum partition wall made of beryllium or the like, which blocks gas and transmits radiation. Reference numeral 120 is a control device for controlling each valve and pump, and 130 is an operation panel for the operator to instruct opening and closing of the valve.

The procedure for creating a high vacuum in the beam line 5 in the above system will be described below. First, all the gate valves 11 to 14 are closed, and the roughing valves 51 to 5 are
With all 4 open, rough pumps 141 to 144
Activate all and roughly pull the beam line. The pressure in each of the four chambers partitioned by the gate valves 11 to 14 is detected by vacuum gauges 91 to 94. When the pressure reaches a predetermined value (for example, 1 × 10 ⁻⁴ Torr or less), the main pump 41 to 43, the roughing valves 51 to 54 are closed, and the roughing pumps 141 to 143 are stopped.

In this state, the gate valves 11 to 14 are opened. At that time, the pressures before and after each gate valve, that is, the pressures on the radiation source side and the exposure chamber side are both at predetermined values (
Make sure that it is 1 × 10 ⁻⁶ Torr) or less, and then perform. When all the gate valves 11 to 14 are opened, the beam shutter 6 is then opened to introduce the synchrotron radiation light from the radiation source 1 into the exposure chamber 110. In the exposure chamber 110, the circuit pattern of the mask is exposed and transferred onto the wafer while controlling the exposure amount of the introduced radiation beam.

For beamline maintenance, etc.,
When the operator issues a valve opening / closing command from the operation panel 130, the control device 120 causes the roughing valves 51, 52,
When opening 53 and 54, make sure that the closest gate valves on both the radiation source side and the exposure chamber side are both closed, and if either or both gate valves are open, Controls to close it and then open the coarse valve. For example, when opening the roughing valve 52, it is performed after confirming that both the gate valve 12 on the radiation source side and the gate valve 13 on the exposure chamber side are closed.

By performing such control, the beam line is evacuated by the main vacuum pump, the roughing valve is closed, and the roughing pump is stopped.
Even if the operator mistakenly presses the opening switch of the roughing valve of the valve opening / closing operation panel 130, the control is performed unless both the gate valves closest to the radiation source side and the exposure chamber side of the roughing valve are closed. The device 120 does not open the roughing valve. In addition, when the roughing valve opens in the same state, the front and rear gate valves are always closed, so the pressure rise is only in the part sandwiched between those gate valves, which is an expensive synchrotron ring. It is possible to prevent serious damage to the vacuum barrier.

In the above example, the valve is controlled by the logic of the electric circuit of the controller 120, but the controller 1
A valve connected to the computer 20 may be controlled by the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when any one of the roughing valves 51 to 54 of the roughing port is to be opened, the control device 120
Confirm that both the closest gate valves on the radiation source side and the exposure chamber side of the valve are both closed. if,
If either or both gate valves are open, the gate valve is closed before the roughing valve is opened. By such control, it is possible to prevent the roughing valve from opening while the beam line is in a high vacuum state, the main pump is operating, and the roughing pump is stopped, and the pressure increase of the synchrotron ring and the vacuum partition wall are prevented. There is no accident such as the destruction of.

The control of the roughing valve may be performed on the leak valves 151 to 154.

<Embodiment 2> FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to a thin film manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a semiconductor device or the like. 311 to 3 in the figure
14 are reaction gas introduction valves, 321 to 324, respectively.
Are reaction gas introduction bypass valves 331 to 3 respectively.
Reference numeral 34 is a mass flow controller, and gas supply sources of different types are connected to the respective mass flow controllers. Further, 340 is a reaction gas introduction main valve, 351
Is a reaction chamber, 352 is a load lock chamber, 361 and 362.
Is a vacuum gauge and 370 is a gate valve. 381 and 3
Reference numeral 82 is a high vacuum pump valve, 391 and 392 are low vacuum pump valves, 3100 is a pressure adjusting main valve,
Reference numeral 3110 is a pressure adjusting valve, and 3121 and 3122 are introducing valves. 3130 is a mechanical booster pump,
3140 is a high vacuum pump, 3151 to 3153 are low vacuum pumps, 3160 is a mist filter, and 3170 is an outflow gas purification system. Reference numeral 3180 is a gate valve for introducing a sample, 3190 is a control device, and 3200 is an operation panel.

The procedure for forming a thin film on a sample (for example, a semiconductor wafer) contained in the reaction chamber 351 will be described below. First, the low vacuum pump valve 391 is opened. At this time, the control device 3190 confirms that both the gate valve 370 and the reaction gas introduction valve 340 are closed, and if at least one or both of them are open, they are closed before opening the valve 391. .
When the reaction chamber 351 is decompressed and the detection value of the vacuum gauge 361 becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the low vacuum pump valve 391 is closed and the high vacuum pump valve 381 is opened. Then, the sample supply gate valve 3180 is opened to put the sample in the load lock chamber 352. When opening the gate valve 3180, the controller 3190 confirms that all of the gate valve 370 and the valves 382 and 392 are closed, and if there are any open valves, closes them before opening the gate valve 3180.

After the sample is introduced into the load lock chamber 3190, the sample supply gate valve 3180 is closed and the low vacuum pump valve 392 is opened. At this time, similarly to the above, the control device 3190 opens the valve 392 after confirming that the valves 3180 and 370 are both closed. When the load lock chamber 352 is decompressed and the value of the vacuum gauge 362 becomes a predetermined value or less, the valve 392 is closed and the valve 382 is opened.
When both the vacuum gauges 361 and 362 are below a predetermined value,
After confirming that the reaction gas introduction main valve 340 is closed, the gate valve 370 is opened, and the sample in the load lock chamber 352 is moved to the reaction chamber 35 by a transfer mechanism (not shown).
1 and the gate valve 370 is closed when the transfer is completed. The reaction chamber 351 is further depressurized, and when the vacuum gauge 361 is below a predetermined value, the valve 381 is closed and the valve 39
1, gate valve 370, reaction gas introduction bypass valves 322 to 324, reaction gas introduction valves 311 to 31
After confirming by the control device 3190 that all 4 are closed, the reaction gas introduction bypass valve 321 is opened. When the pressure in the reaction chamber 351 detected by the vacuum gauge 351 reaches a predetermined value, the valve 321 is closed and the pressure adjusting main valve 31
00 and the reaction gas introduction valve 311 are opened. At this time, the control device 3190 also controls the valves 381 and 391 and the gate valve 3
70, the reaction gas introduction valves 312 to 314, and the reaction gas introduction bypass valves 321 to 314 are all confirmed to be closed before the operation. The valve operation of the other reaction gas introduction valves 312 to 314 and the reaction gas introduction bypass valves 322 to 314 when introducing the other reaction gas is similar to the above. As described above, the reaction gas having a constant pressure and a constant flow rate is introduced into the reaction chamber 351, and a thin film is formed on the sample.

The sample is taken out after the formation of the thin film is completed after the reaction gas introduction valve 311 is closed, the high vacuum pump valve 381 is opened, and the reaction chamber is evacuated to a predetermined pressure. First, the reaction gas introduction main valve 340 and the sample introduction gate valve 3180 are both closed,
After confirming that the vacuum gauges 361 and 362 are both below a predetermined pressure, the gate valve 370 is opened, and the sample is loaded into the load lock 352 by a transfer device (not shown).
And the gate valve 370 is closed. Next, after confirming that the gate valves 370 and 3180 and the valves 382 and 392 are closed, the introduction valve 3122 is opened,
The load lock chamber 352 is released to atmospheric pressure. After that, similarly to the case of introducing the sample, after confirming the states of other valves, the sample introducing gate valve 3180 is opened, and the sample is taken out from the load lock chamber 352.

According to the present embodiment described above, it is possible to prevent accidental release of the reaction chamber to the atmosphere. Further, it is possible to prevent the reaction gas from leaking into the atmosphere. Furthermore, different kinds of reaction gases can be prevented from being simultaneously introduced into the reaction chamber.

<Embodiment 3> Next, an embodiment of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device using the above-described exposure apparatus and thin film forming apparatus will be described. Figure 4 shows semiconductor devices (IC and LSI
2 shows a flow of manufacturing a semiconductor chip such as a liquid crystal panel, a liquid crystal panel, a CCD, or the like. In step 1 (circuit design), a semiconductor device circuit is designed. In step 2 (mask manufacturing), a mask having the designed circuit pattern is manufactured. On the other hand, in step 3 (wafer manufacturing), a wafer is manufactured using a material such as silicon. Step 4 (wafer process) is called a pre-process, and an actual circuit is formed on the wafer by the lithography technique using the mask and the wafer prepared above. The next step 5 (assembly) is called a post-process, and is a process of forming a semiconductor chip by using the wafer manufactured in step 4, such as an assembly process (dicing, bonding), a packaging process (chip encapsulation), and the like. including. In step 6 (inspection), the semiconductor device manufactured in step 5 undergoes inspections such as an operation confirmation test and a durability test. Through these steps, the semiconductor device is completed and shipped (step 7).

FIG. 5 shows a detailed flow of the wafer process. In step 11 (oxidation), the surface of the wafer is oxidized. In step 12 (CVD), an insulating film is formed on the wafer surface by the thin film forming apparatus described above. In step 13 (electrode formation), electrodes are formed on the wafer by vapor deposition. In step 14 (ion implantation), ions are implanted in the wafer. In step 15 (resist processing), a photosensitive agent is applied to the wafer. In step 16 (exposure), the circuit pattern of the mask is printed and exposed on the wafer by the exposure apparatus described above. In step 17 (development), the exposed wafer is developed. Step 18 (Etching)
Then, parts other than the developed resist image are scraped off. In step 19 (resist stripping), the resist that is no longer needed after etching is removed. By repeating these steps, multiple circuit patterns are formed on the wafer.

[0021]

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent damage due to erroneous operation of a valve with a simple structure in a device that handles high vacuum.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an X-ray exposure system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a valve control method.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a thin film manufacturing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of a wafer process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 synchrotron radiation source 2 high-speed shutoff valve 3 acoustic delay line 6 beam shutter 7 radiation protection wall 8 mirror chamber 10 vacuum partition 11 to 14 gate valve 41 to 43 main pump 51 to 54 roughing vacuum valve 91 to 94 vacuum gauge 110 exposure Chamber 120 Control device 130 Operation panel 141 to 144 Coarse grinding pump 151 to 154 Leak valve

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location 8831-4M H01L 21/30 341 Z

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method of controlling a valve, wherein when opening each valve of a plurality of valves connected to a vacuum chamber, it is performed after confirming an open / closed state of another valve. 2. A radiation source for generating an exposure beam, an exposure apparatus, a vacuum chamber for connecting the radiation source and the exposure apparatus to introduce the exposure beam into the exposure apparatus, and the chamber. Exposure having a plurality of valves connected to each other and control means for controlling the opening and closing of each valve, and the control means confirms the opening and closing states of other valves before opening the exposure. system. 3. A reaction chamber for forming a thin film on a sample housed therein, a plurality of valves provided in the reaction chamber, and control means for controlling opening and closing of each valve, the control means. Is a thin film forming system, which is performed after confirming the open / closed state of another valve when opening the valve.