Method and apparatus of fabricating semiconductor device
View Patent ↗An underlying film forming section forming an underlying film on a semiconductor substrate is provided to an apparatus of fabricating a semiconductor device. The apparatus is further provided with a cooling section cooling the semiconductor substrate and a plasma nitriding section introducing active nitrogen into the underlying film while keeping the temperature of the semiconductor substrate cooled by the cooling section at 100° C. or below. The semiconductor substrate is cooled by using liquid nitrogen or liquid helium, and by cooling a stage on which the semiconductor substrate is placed.
1. A method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:
forming a silicon oxide film on a semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation in a first insulating film forming unit;
after said forming a silicon oxide film, transferring said semiconductor substrate to a cooling unit using a transferring unit;
decreasing a temperature of said semiconductor substrate from a temperature of the thermal oxidation to 100° C. or below in non-oxidative atmosphere in said cooling unit;
after said decreasing a temperature, transferring said semiconductor substrate to a nitriding unit using said transferring unit; and
introducing active nitrogen into said silicon oxide film while maintaining temperature of said semiconductor substrate at 100° C. or below in said nitriding unit.
2. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein at least said forming and said decreasing are successively carried out in a chamber isolated from the atmospheric air.
3. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein radical nitrogen or plasma-derived nitrogen species is used as said active nitrogen.
4. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the thickness of said silicon oxide film is adjusted to 1.5 nm or smaller.
5. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
forming an insulating film, having a dielectric constant larger than that of said silicon oxide film, on said silicon oxide film in a second insulating film forming unit, after the introducing active nitrogen.
6. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 5 , where the thickness of said silicon oxide film and said insulating film is adjusted to 1.5 nm or smaller in total.
7. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
post-annealing said silicon oxide film in an annealing unit.
8. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
removing a native oxide film from said semiconductor substrate, before said forming the silicon oxide film in a removing unit.
9. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the silicon oxide film includes two types of films differing from each other in the thickness.
10. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein said decreasing includes using a liquid coolant.
11. A method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:
forming a silicon oxide film on a semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation in a first insulating film forming unit;
after the forming a silicon oxide film, transferring said semiconductor substrate to a cooling unit using a transferring unit;
decreasing a temperature of said semiconductor substrate from a temperature of the thermal oxidation to 100° C. or below in non-oxidative atmosphere in said cooling unit;
after the decreasing a temperature, transferring said semiconductor substrate to a nitriding unit using said transferring unit; and
introducing active nitrogen into said silicon oxide film while maintaining temperature of said semiconductor substrate at 100° C. or below in said nitriding unit.
12. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 11 , wherein the thickness of said silicon oxide film is adjusted to 1.5 nm or smaller.
13. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein said non-oxidative atmosphere is nitrogen atmosphere or hydrogen atmosphere.
14. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 11 , wherein said non-oxidative atmosphere is nitrogen atmosphere or hydrogen atmosphere.
15. The method of fabricating a semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the thermal oxidation is performed at 900° C. or around.
16. A method of fabricating a semiconductor device comprising:
forming a first silicon oxide film on a first semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation;
decreasing a temperature of said first semiconductor substrate from a temperature of the thermal oxidation to 100° C. or below in non-oxidative atmosphere;
after the decreasing the temperature of said first semiconductor substrate, introducing active nitrogen into said first silicon oxide film while maintaining temperature of said first semiconductor substrate at 100° C. or below;
forming a second silicon oxide film on a second semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation;
decreasing a temperature of said second semiconductor substrate from a temperature of the thermal oxidation to 100° C. or below in non-oxidative atmosphere;
after the decreasing the temperature of said second semiconductor substrate, introducing active nitrogen into said second silicon oxide film while maintaining temperature of said second semiconductor substrate at 100° C. or below;
forming a third silicon oxide film on a third semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation;
decreasing a temperature of said third semiconductor substrate from a temperature of the thermal oxidation to 100° C. or below in non-oxidative atmosphere; and
after the decreasing the temperature of said third semiconductor substrate, introducing active nitrogen into said third silicon oxide film while maintaining temperature of said third semiconductor substrate at 100° C. or below,
wherein said introducing active nitrogen into said first silicon oxide film, said decreasing a temperature of said second semiconductor substrate, and said forming a third silicon oxide film are carried out in parallel with one another.