CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0020083, filed on Feb. 20, 2018 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

One or more embodiments relate to a substrate processing method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate processing method and apparatus capable of improving characteristics of a thin film layer.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, circuit line widths required in processes for manufacturing semiconductor devices are being reduced. In order to form circuit patterns having small widths, a technique of forming a thin film in an atomic layer unit is used along with a double-patterning technique or a quadruple-patterning technique. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,252,691, 8,901,016, and 9,171,716 disclose a spacer defined double patterning (SDDP) technique used to form a thin film on a mask through an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, and application of a double-patterning technique by using the thin film as a spacer.

Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,399, and U.S. Publication Nos. 2004/0018742, 2015/0079311, and 2015/0118846 disclose a trimming technique executed before forming a thin film on a pattern structure such as a mask. The above trimming technique is essential for precise controlling of critical dimensions (CD) of a circuit pattern, but has to be accompanied with an additional etching process for performing the trimming. Moreover, according to the trimming technique of the related art, the trimming may not be achieved evenly throughout the entire substrate, and accordingly, uniformity in the critical dimensions (CD) may not be guaranteed.

SUMMARY

One or more embodiments include a substrate processing method and apparatus.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to one or more embodiments, a substrate processing method includes: applying plasma on a substrate including a pattern structure; trimming the pattern structure by independently supplying a first trimming gas and a second trimming gas, under a plasma atmosphere; and forming a thin film layer on a side surface and an upper surface of the pattern structure after the pattern structure is trimmed, wherein, during the trimming of the pattern structure, the first trimming gas is supplied through a center gas inlet of a gas supply unit, and the second trimming gas is supplied through an additional gas inlet that is spaced apart from the center gas inlet of the gas supply unit.

In the trimming of the pattern structure, a trimming amount of the pattern structure at a peripheral portion may be adjusted using the second trimming gas.

The forming of the thin film layer may include: supplying a source gas; and supplying a reaction gas, wherein at least one of the source gas and the reaction gas may be supplied through the center gas inlet and the additional gas inlet.

A thickness of a portion of the thin film layer located on a peripheral portion of the substrate may be adjusted by using at least one of the source gas and the reaction gas supplied through the additional gas inlet.

Each of the first trimming gas and the second trimming gas may include at least one of a diluted gas and an oxidant gas.

In the trimming of the pattern structure, a trimming amount of a peripheral portion of the pattern structure may depend upon at least one of elements including kinds, concentrations, and flow rates of the diluted gas or the oxidant gas.

In the trimming of the pattern structure, a trimming amount of a peripheral portion of the pattern structure may depend upon a flow rate ratio between the oxidant gas and the diluted gas.

A portion of the pattern structure at an edge portion of the substrate may be trimmed by an oxidant gas flowing through the additional gas inlet arranged around the center gas inlet.

A portion of the thin film layer on an edge portion of the substrate may be formed by a gas flowing through the additional gas inlet arranged around the center gas inlet.

The additional gas inlet may include a first additional gas inlet and a second additional gas inlet.

An oxidant gas is supplied through the first additional gas inlet and a diluted gas may be supplied through the second additional gas inlet.

According to one or more embodiments, a substrate processing method includes: applying plasma on a substrate on which a first pattern structure and a second pattern structure surrounding the first pattern structure are formed; trimming the first pattern structure and the second pattern structure by supplying a first trimming gas, under a plasma atmosphere; forming a thin film layer on the first and second pattern structures in-situ with the trimming of the first and second pattern structures; exposing upper surfaces of the first and second pattern structures by etching the thin film layer; and performing a patterning process by using the thin film layer as a mask, wherein, in the trimming of the first and second pattern structures, a trimming amount of the second pattern structure is controlled by independently supplying a second trimming gas in addition to the first trimming gas.

In the trimming of the first and second pattern structures, a ratio between a trimming amount of the second pattern structure and a trimming amount of the first pattern structure may be 0.5 to 1.5.

According to one or more embodiments, a substrate processing apparatus includes: a gas channel including a center gas inlet and an additional gas inlet that is spaced apart from the center gas inlet; and a shower plate including a plurality of holes connected to the center gas inlet and the additional gas inlet, wherein a gas flow channel is formed having a clearance defined by a lower surface of the gas channel and an upper surface of the shower plate, the lower surface and the upper surface being substantially parallel.

Processing of a substrate in a reaction may be locally controlled using an oxidant gas or a diluted gas supplied to the gas flow channel through the additional gas inlet.

The gas channel and the shower plate may face each other with respect to the clearance, and a surface of the shower plate facing the gas channel may have a conical shape.

The additional gas inlet may include at least two of a pair of a middle gas inlet and an edge gas inlet, wherein a pair of the middle gas inlet and the edge gas inlet and another pair of the middle gas inlet and the edge gas inlet may be symmetrically arranged with respect to the center gas inlet.

The at least two of the pair of the middle gas inlet and the edge gas inlet may be arranged to be spaced apart from each other by an angle of 180° or 120°.

The substrate processing apparatus may further include a sealing member between each pair of the middle gas inlet and the edge gas inlet.

An annular groove may be formed in a lower surface of the gas channel, and, at least one of the middle gas inlet and the edge gas inlet is linked with the gas flow channel via the annular groove.

