公开(公告)号：US10777415B2

公开(公告)日：2020-09-15

申请号：US16232698

申请日：2018-12-26

Applicant: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Inventor： Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Hikaru Kawarazaki ,  Hideaki Tanimura ,  Shinichi Kato

IPC: H01L21/228 ,  H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/30 ,  H01L21/477 ,  H01L21/687

Abstract: Hydrogen annealing for heating a semiconductor wafer on which a thin film containing a dopant is deposited to an annealing temperature under an atmosphere containing hydrogen is performed. A native oxide film is inevitably formed between the thin film containing the dopant and the semiconductor wafer, however, by performing hydrogen annealing, the dopant atoms diffuse relatively easily in the native oxide film and accumulate at the interface between the front surface of the semiconductor wafer and the native oxide film. Subsequently, the semiconductor wafer is preheated to a preheating temperature under a nitrogen atmosphere, and then, flash heating treatment in which the front surface of the semiconductor wafer is heated to a peak temperature for less than one second is performed. The dopant atoms are diffused and activated in a shallow manner from the front surface of the semiconductor wafer, thus, the low-resistance and extremely shallow junction is obtained.

公开(公告)号：US10580667B2

公开(公告)日：2020-03-03

申请号：US15638068

申请日：2017-06-29

Applicant: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Inventor： Takayuki Aoyama ,  Yasuaki Kondo ,  Shinji Miyawaki ,  Shinichi Kato ,  Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Hideaki Tanimura ,  Akitsugu Ueda ,  Hikaru Kawarazaki ,  Masashi Furukawa

IPC: H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/762 ,  H01L21/677 ,  H01L21/02

Abstract: A heat treatment apparatus is provided with two cool chambers, that is, a first cool chamber and a second cool chamber. A semiconductor wafer before treatment is alternately carried into the first cool chamber or the second cool chamber and then transported to a heat treatment part by a transport robot after a nitrogen purge is performed. The semiconductor wafer after being heat-treated in the heat treatment part is alternately transported to the first cool chamber or the second cool chamber to be cooled. A sufficient cooling time is secured for the independent semiconductor wafer, and a reduction in throughput as the whole heat treatment apparatus can be suppressed.

公开(公告)号：US12219670B2

公开(公告)日：2025-02-04

申请号：US17325906

申请日：2021-05-20

Applicant: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

Inventor： Makoto Abe ,  Hikaru Kawarazaki ,  Hideaki Tanimura ,  Masashi Furukawa

IPC: H05B3/00 ,  F27B17/00 ,  F27D11/12 ,  H01L21/67

Abstract: A semiconductor wafer held by a holding part in a chamber is irradiated and heated with halogen light emitted from a plurality of halogen lamps. A cylindrical louver and an annular light-shielding member, both made of opaque quartz, are provided between the halogen lamps and the semiconductor wafer. The outer diameter of the light-shielding member is smaller than the inner diameter of the louver. Light emitted from the halogen lamps and passing through a clearance between the inner wall surface of the louver and the outer circumference of the light-shielding member is applied to a peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer where a temperature drop is likely to occur. On the other hand, light travelling toward an overheat region that has a higher temperature than the other region and appears in the surface of the semiconductor wafer when only a louver is installed is blocked off by the light-shielding member.

公开(公告)号：US20180166281A1

公开(公告)日：2018-06-14

申请号：US15819943

申请日：2017-11-21

Applicant: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Inventor： Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Hideaki Tanimura ,  Shinichi Kato

IPC: H01L21/225 ,  H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/02

CPC classification number: H01L21/2256 ,  F27D11/02 ,  H01L21/02 ,  H01L21/02129 ,  H01L21/22 ,  H01L21/225 ,  H01L21/26 ,  H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/67115 ,  H01L29/66575 ,  H01L29/78

Abstract: A thin film containing a dopant is deposited on a surface of a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer on which the thin film containing the dopant is deposited is rapidly heated to a first peak temperature by irradiation with light from halogen lamps, so that the dopant is diffused from the thin film into the surface of the semiconductor wafer. The thermal diffusion using the rapid heating achieves the introduction of the necessary and sufficient dopant into the semiconductor wafer without producing defects. The surface of the semiconductor wafer is heated to a second peak temperature by further irradiating the semiconductor wafer with flashes of light from flash lamps, so that the dopant is activated. The flash irradiation which is extremely short in irradiation time achieves a high activation rate without excessive diffusion of the dopant.

公开(公告)号：US09799517B2

公开(公告)日：2017-10-24

申请号：US15183893

申请日：2016-06-16

Applicant: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

Inventor： Hideaki Tanimura ,  Kaoru Matsuo ,  Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Shinichi Kato

IPC: H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/225 ,  H05B3/00 ,  H01L21/67

CPC classification number: H01L21/2253 ,  H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/67109 ,  H01L21/67115 ,  H05B3/0047

Abstract: Light is applied for preheating from a halogen lamp to a lower surface of a semiconductor wafer supported on a susceptor within a chamber. Thereafter, flash light is applied for flash heating from a flash lamp to an upper surface of the semiconductor wafer. Treatment gas supplied from a gas supply source is heated by a heater, and supplied into the chamber. A flow amount control valve is provided to increase a flow amount of the treatment gas supplied into the chamber. Contaminants discharged from a film of the semiconductor wafer during heat treatment are discharged to the outside of the chamber with a gas flow formed by a large amount of high-temperature treatment gas supplied into the chamber to reduce contamination inside the chamber.

公开(公告)号：US11574824B2

公开(公告)日：2023-02-07

申请号：US16312872

申请日：2017-04-04

Applicant: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Inventor： Takayuki Aoyama ,  Shinichi Kato ,  Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Hikaru Kawarazaki ,  Masashi Furukawa ,  Hideaki Tanimura ,  Akitsugu Ueda

IPC: H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/02 ,  H01L29/78 ,  H01L21/265 ,  C23C16/44 ,  C23C16/455 ,  C23C16/48 ,  H01L21/263

Abstract: A semiconductor wafer to be treated is heated at a first preheating temperature ranging from 100 to 200° C. while a pressure in a chamber housing the semiconductor wafer is reduced to a pressure lower than an atmospheric pressure. After the semiconductor wafer is preheated to increase the temperature into a second preheating temperature ranging from 500 to 700° C. while the pressure in the chamber is restored to a pressure higher than the reduced pressure, a flash lamp emits a flashlight to a surface of the semiconductor wafer. Heating the semiconductor wafer at the first preheating temperature that is a relatively low temperature enables, for example, the moisture absorbed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer in trace amounts to be desorbed from the surface, and also enables the flash heating treatment to be performed with oxygen derived from such absorption removed as much as possible.

公开(公告)号：US10699906B2

公开(公告)日：2020-06-30

申请号：US15653929

申请日：2017-07-19

Applicant: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Inventor： Hideaki Tanimura

IPC: H01L21/263 ,  H01L21/268 ,  H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/687 ,  H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/02 ,  H01L33/34 ,  H01L21/265

Abstract: A germanium semiconductor layer doped with a dopant such as boron becomes a p-type semiconductor. The semiconductor layer is preheated at a preheating temperature ranging from 200° C. to 300° C., and then heated at a treatment temperature ranging from 500° C. to 900° C., by extremely short-time irradiation of flash light. While oxygen is unavoidably mixed in germanium and becomes a thermal donor at 300° C. to 500° C., the semiconductor layer stays in a temperature range of 300° C. to 500° C. for a negligibly short period of time due to an extremely short irradiation time of 0.1 milliseconds to 100 milliseconds by the flash light. Therefore, the thermal donor can be prevented from being generated in the germanium semiconductor layer.

公开(公告)号：US10121664B2

公开(公告)日：2018-11-06

申请号：US15819943

申请日：2017-11-21

Applicant: SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

Inventor： Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Hideaki Tanimura ,  Shinichi Kato

IPC: H01L21/225 ,  H01L21/02 ,  H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/67

Abstract: A thin film containing a dopant is deposited on a surface of a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer on which the thin film containing the dopant is deposited is rapidly heated to a first peak temperature by irradiation with light from halogen lamps, so that the dopant is diffused from the thin film into the surface of the semiconductor wafer. The thermal diffusion using the rapid heating achieves the introduction of the necessary and sufficient dopant into the semiconductor wafer without producing defects. The surface of the semiconductor wafer is heated to a second peak temperature by further irradiating the semiconductor wafer with flashes of light from flash lamps, so that the dopant is activated. The flash irradiation which is extremely short in irradiation time achieves a high activation rate without excessive diffusion of the dopant.

公开(公告)号：US10790171B2

公开(公告)日：2020-09-29

申请号：US16452360

申请日：2019-06-25

Applicant: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

Inventor： Takayuki Aoyama ,  Hikaru Kawarazaki ,  Masashi Furukawa ,  Shinichi Kato ,  Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Hideaki Tanimura

IPC: H01L21/28 ,  H01L21/02 ,  H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/324 ,  H01L21/263 ,  C23C16/44 ,  C23C16/48 ,  C23C16/455

Abstract: Over a front surface of a silicon semiconductor wafer is deposited a high dielectric constant film with a silicon oxide film, serving as an interface layer, provided between the semiconductor wafer and the high dielectric constant film. After a chamber houses the semiconductor wafer, a chamber's pressure is reduced to be lower than atmospheric pressure. Subsequently, a gaseous mixture of ammonia and nitrogen gas is supplied into the chamber to return the pressure to ordinary pressure, and the front surface is irradiated with a flash light, thereby performing post deposition annealing (PDA) on the high dielectric constant film. Since the pressure is reduced once to be lower than atmospheric pressure and then returned to ordinary pressure, a chamber's oxygen concentration is lowered remarkably during the PDA. This restricts an increase in thickness of the silicon oxide film underlying the high dielectric constant film by oxygen taken in during the PDA.

公开(公告)号：US10424483B2

公开(公告)日：2019-09-24

申请号：US16208138

申请日：2018-12-03

Applicant: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

Inventor： Takayuki Aoyama ,  Hikaru Kawarazaki ,  Masashi Furukawa ,  Kazuhiko Fuse ,  Hideaki Tanimura ,  Shinichi Kato

IPC: H01L21/285 ,  H01L21/67 ,  H01L21/268 ,  H01L21/265 ,  H01L21/687

Abstract: A metal film is deposited on a front surface of a semiconductor wafer of silicon. After the semiconductor wafer is received in a chamber, the pressure in the chamber is reduced to a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, nitrogen gas is supplied into the chamber to return the pressure in the chamber to ordinary pressure, and the front surface of the semiconductor wafer is irradiated with a flash of light, so that a silicide that is a compound of the metal film and silicon is formed. The oxygen concentration in the chamber is significantly lowered during the formation of the silicide because the pressure in the chamber is reduced once to the pressure lower than atmospheric pressure and then returned to the ordinary pressure. This suppresses the increase in resistance of the silicide resulting from the entry of oxygen in the atmosphere in the chamber into defects near the interface between the metal film and a base material.