Apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device

Abstract

An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, including a process chamber which holds a substrate to be subjected to a prescribed process, a gas inlet pipe which introduces a process gas into the process chamber, a gas outlet pipe which discharges the gas from the process chamber to outside the process chamber, component-measuring devices which measure components of the gas in the process chamber or at least two different gases, concentration-measuring devices which measure concentration of each component of the gas in the process chamber, or the concentration of each component of at least two different gases, and a control device which adjusts the components of the process gas, the concentration of each component of the process gas and an atmosphere in the process chamber, on the basis of values measured by the component-measuring device and concentration-measuring device.

1 . An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: a process chamber which holds a substrate to be subjected to a prescribed process; a gas inlet pipe which is connected and communicates with an interior of the process chamber and which introduces a process gas for use in the process, into the process chamber; a gas outlet pipe which is connected and communicates with the interior of the process chamber and which discharges the gas from the process chamber to outside the process chamber; component-measuring devices which are provided at two or more positions selected from the group comprising of a position in the process chamber, a position in the gas inlet pipe and a position in the gas outlet pipe, and which measure components of the gas in the process chamber or at least two different gases selected from the group comprising of gas in the process chamber, gas to be introduced into the process chamber and gas discharged from the process chamber; concentration-measuring devices which are provided at two or more positions selected from the group comprising of a position in the process chamber, a position in the gas inlet pipe and a position in the gas outlet pipe, and which measure concentration of each component of the gas in the process chamber, or the concentration of each component of at least two different gases selected from the group comprising of the gas in the process chamber, the gas to be introduced into the process chamber and the gas discharged from the process chamber; and a control device which adjusts the components of the process gas, the concentration of each component of the process gas and an atmosphere in the process chamber, on the basis of values measured by the component-measuring device and concentration-measuring device, such that an appropriate process is performed on the substrate.  
   
   
       2 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one component-measuring device and at least one concentration-measuring device are provided on either side of the substrate held in the process chamber, two sides of the substrate being at upstream and downstream of the gas flowing from the gas inlet pipe to the gas outlet pipe through the process chamber and of the gas flowing in the process chamber.  
   
   
       3 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , further comprising: a component-calculating unit which calculates the components the gas has at a predetermined position in the process chamber, on the basis of values the component-measuring devices obtain and at almost the same time the component-measuring devices obtain the values; and a concentration-calculating unit which calculates the concentration each gas component has at the predetermined position in the process chamber, on the basis of the values the concentration-measuring devices obtain and at almost the same time the concentration-measuring devices obtain the values.  
   
   
       4 . An apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein at least one component-measuring device and at least one concentration-measuring device are provided at the gas inlet pipe, and at least one component-measuring device and at least one concentration-measuring device are provided at the gas outlet pipe.  
   
   
       5 . An apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein at least one component-measuring device and at least one concentration-measuring device are provided in the process chamber and on the upstream side of the substrate, and at least one component-measuring device and at least one concentration-measuring device are provided in the process chamber and on the downstream side of the substrate.  
   
   
       6 . An apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein a plurality of substrates to be processed are held in the process chamber, at least one component-measuring device is provided in the process chamber and at an upstream side of the substrate which is held upstream of any other substrate, and at least one component-measuring device is provided in the process chamber and at a downstream side of the substrate which is held downstream of any other substrate.  
   
   
       7 . An apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein at least one component-measuring device and at least one concentration-measuring device are provided near a gas inlet port which is open and provided at that end of the gas inlet pipe which communicates with the interior of the process chamber, and at least one component-measuring device and at least one concentration-measuring device are provided near a gas outlet port which is open and provided at that end of the gas outlet pipe which communicates with the interior of the process chamber.  
   
   
       8 . The apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the control device updates a plurality of process parameters for setting the components of the process gas, the concentration of each component thereof, the atmosphere in the process chamber and a progress of the process, each at a prescribed condition, on the basis of the values calculated by the component-calculating unit and concentration-calculating unit; and the control device adjusts the components of the process gas, the concentration of each component thereof, the atmosphere in the process chamber and the progress of the process, on the basis of the process parameters thus updated, in order to perform the process on the substrate in appropriate conditions.  
   
   
       9 . An apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the control device has a plurality of process sequences, each comprising of prescribed steps of the process to be performed on the substrate; and the control device selects one of the process sequences, which meets the condition of the next process step to be carried out immediately after the component-calculating unit and the concentration-calculating unit perform calculations, on the basis of the values calculated by the component-calculating unit and concentration-calculating unit, in order to process the substrate in appropriate conditions.