Substrate processing apparatus

Abstract

Provided is a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device capable of forming a nitride layer having high resistance to hydrogen fluoride at low temperatures. The method includes forming a nitride film on a substrate by performing a cycle a predetermined number of times, the cycle including supplying a source gas to the substrate, supplying a plasma-excited hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate, supplying a plasma-excited or thermally excited nitriding gas to the substrate, and supplying at least one of a plasma-excited nitrogen gas and a plasma-excited rare gas to the substrate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 a process chamber configured to accommodate a substrate;   a first gas supply system configured to supply a source gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a second gas supply system configured to supply a nitriding gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a third gas supply system configured to supply a hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a fourth gas supply system configured to supply at least one of nitrogen gas and a rare gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   an excitation unit configured to plasma-excite or thermally excite a gas; and   a control unit configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit so as to form a nitride film on the substrate by performing a cycle a plurality of times, the cycle including:
 (a) supplying the source gas to the substrate in the process chamber; 
 (b) supplying a plasma-excited hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the process chamber; 
 (c) supplying a plasma-excited or thermally excited nitriding gas to the substrate in the process chamber; and 
 (d) supplying at least one of a plasma-excited nitrogen gas and a plasma-excited rare gas to the substrate in the process chamber, 
 wherein the process (b) is performed during a time period after the process (a) or a time period after the process (c), and the process (d) is performed during the time period after the process (a) or the time period after the process (c) other than the time period where the process (b) is performed. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit to perform the process (b) during a time period after the process (a) where a supply of the plasma-excited or thermally excited nitriding gas is suspended or a time period after the process (c) where a supply of the source gas is suspended, and to perform the process (d) during the time period after the process (a) where the supply of the plasma-excited or thermally excited nitriding gas is suspended or the time period after the process (c) where the supply of the source gas is suspended other than the time period where the process (b) is performed. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit to perform the cycle the plurality of times in a manner that the process (a), the process (b), the process (c) and the process (d) in each cycle are performed in order. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit to: form a layer on the substrate in the process (a); perform a first modifying process to the layer in the process (b); change the layer to which the first modifying process is performed into a nitride layer in the process (c); and perform a second modifying process to the nitride layer in the process (d). 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a pressure adjustment unit configured to regulate an inner pressure of the process chamber,
 and the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems, the excitation unit and the pressure adjustment unit to consecutively perform the process (b), the process (c) and the process (d) without performing a vacuum exhaust of the process chamber while gas supply is suspended.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a pressure adjustment unit configured to regulate an inner pressure of the process chamber,
 and the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems, the excitation unit and the pressure adjustment unit to consecutively perform the process (b), the process (c) and the process (d) without performing a gas replacement in the process chamber.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the second gas supply system and the excitation unit to supply the plasma-excited nitriding gas to the substrate in the process (c). 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the excitation unit comprises a plurality of excitation units, and the control unit is configured to control the third gas supply system and the plurality of the excitation units to supply the plasma-excited hydrogen-containing gas excited by the plurality of the excitation units to the substrate through each of the plurality of the excitation units in the process (b). 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the excitation unit comprises a plurality of excitation units, and the control unit is configured to control the fourth gas supply system and the plurality of the excitation units to supply at least one of the plasma-excited nitrogen gas and the plasma-excited rare gas excited by the plurality of the excitation units to the substrate through each of the plurality of the excitation units in the process (d). 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the excitation unit comprises a plurality of excitation units, and the control unit is configured to control the second gas supply system and the plurality of the excitation units to supply the plasma-excited or thermally excited nitriding gas excited by the plurality of the excitation units to the substrate through each of the plurality of the excitation units in the process (c). 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit to further perform: (e) purging the process chamber after performing the process (a); and (f) purging the process chamber after performing the process (c). 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the control unit configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit in a manner that a purging time of the process (e) is longer than that of the process (f). 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit to: replace a gas in a process chamber after the process (a), and continuously perform at least one of the processes (b) and (d) after performing the process (c) without replacing the gas in the process chamber. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the fourth gas supply system and the excitation unit to supply the plasma-excited rare gas to the substrate in the process (d). 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the fourth gas supply system and the excitation unit to supply at least one selected from the group consisting of plasma-excited Ar gas, plasma-excited He gas, plasma-excited Ne gas and plasma-excited Xe gas in the process (d). 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the fourth gas supply system and the excitation unit to supply at least one selected from the group consisting of plasma-excited Ar gas and plasma-excited He gas in the process (d). 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit to: perform the processes (b), (c) and (d) consecutively; perform the process (c) immediately after the process (b) is completed; and perform the process (d) immediately after the process (c) is completed. 
     
     
         18 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 a process chamber configured to accommodate a substrate;   a first gas supply system configured to supply a source gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a second gas supply system configured to supply a nitriding gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a third gas supply system configured to supply a hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a fourth gas supply system configured to supply at least one of nitrogen gas and a rare gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   an excitation unit configured to plasma-excite or thermally excite a gas; and   a control unit configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit so as to form a nitride film on the substrate by performing a cycle a plurality of times, the cycle including:
 (a) supplying the source gas to the substrate in the process chamber; 
 (b) supplying a plasma-excited hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the process chamber; 
 (c) supplying a plasma-excited or thermally excited nitriding gas to the substrate in the process chamber; and 
 (d) supplying at least one of a plasma-excited nitrogen gas and a plasma-excited rare gas to the substrate in the process chamber, 
 wherein the process (a), the process (b), the process (c) and the process (d) in the cycle are performed in order. 
   
     
     
         19 . A substrate processing apparatus comprising:
 a process chamber configured to accommodate a substrate;   a first gas supply system configured to supply a source gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a second gas supply system configured to supply a nitriding gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a third gas supply system configured to supply a hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   a fourth gas supply system configured to supply at least one of nitrogen gas and a rare gas to the substrate in the process chamber;   an excitation unit configured to plasma-excite or thermally excite a gas; and   a control unit configured to control the first through fourth gas supply systems and the excitation unit so as to form a nitride film on the substrate by performing a cycle a plurality of times, the cycle including:
 (a) supplying the source gas to the substrate in the process chamber; 
 (b) supplying a plasma-excited hydrogen-containing gas to the substrate in the process chamber; 
 (c) supplying a plasma-excited or thermally excited nitriding gas to the substrate in the process chamber; and 
 (d) supplying at least one of a plasma-excited nitrogen gas and a plasma-excited rare gas to the substrate in the process chamber, 
 wherein the process (a), the process (d), the process (c) and the process (b) in the cycle are performed in order.