CN115692150A

CN115692150A - Etching device

Info

Publication number: CN115692150A
Application number: CN202110879432.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 戴成奇
Original assignee: Guangzhou Integrated Circuit Technology Research Institute Co ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Pengxin Microintegrated Circuit Manufacturing Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-07-30
Filing date: 2021-07-30
Publication date: 2023-02-03

Abstract

The invention discloses an etching device which comprises a reaction chamber, a lower component, an upper component, a lantern ring and a plasma generation component, wherein the reaction chamber is provided with a reaction cavity, the lower component is arranged in the reaction cavity, the lower component is provided with an object carrying platform, the object carrying platform is used for supporting a central area of a substrate, the upper component is arranged in the reaction cavity and is opposite to the object carrying platform, a first gap is formed between the upper component and the central area, the lantern ring is arranged around the upper component and/or the lower component and is opposite to a peripheral area, and the plasma generation component is connected with the reaction chamber and is used for providing plasma into the reaction cavity so as to etch the peripheral area. The invention aims to effectively remove the material layer in the peripheral area of the substrate without influencing the material layer in the central area of the substrate.

Description

Etching device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to semiconductor manufacturing processes, and more particularly, to an etching apparatus.

Background

In a semiconductor manufacturing process, generally, according to design requirements, a continuous material layer is deposited on a substrate surface, and then a patterned material layer is formed by a developing technique and dry/wet etching, so as to repeatedly process the material layer to form a final device.

As one of the commonly used technical means for etching, the working process of plasma etching can excite etching gas through various energy sources to form plasma with strong chemical activity, the formed plasma diffuses to the surface of an object to be etched and reacts with the object to form volatile products, and finally the volatile products are pumped out of a reaction chamber through an exhaust system. Alternatively, the etching gas is dissociated into ions by glow discharge, and the ions are accelerated by an electric field/magnetic field of the reaction chamber and sputtered onto the surface of the object to be etched, thereby striking the object to be etched.

However, during the etching process, it is often difficult to achieve a uniform standard pattern for the patterned material layer formed on the substrate. Under the influence of plasma distribution and energy, the plasma density in the peripheral area of the substrate is often lower than that in the central area of the substrate because the plasma easily overflows in the peripheral area of the substrate and cannot stay for a long time; alternatively, the sheath (sheath) of the plasma gas is likely to be distorted in the peripheral region of the substrate, resulting in uneven distribution.

In the related art, the etching process tends to make the etching rate non-uniform in different areas of the substrate surface, resulting in the peripheral area of the substrate being prone to leave a portion of the to-be-etched material or to accumulate various by-products. The contaminants on the peripheral region of the substrate are easy to fall off during the subsequent cleaning (such as acid cleaning) or transportation process, thereby increasing the contamination particles on the surface of the substrate and greatly increasing the risk of damage to the device.

Disclosure of Invention

The main object of the present invention is to provide an etching apparatus, which is capable of effectively removing a material layer in a peripheral region of a substrate without affecting the material layer in a central region of the substrate.

To achieve the above object, an etching apparatus according to the present invention is an etching apparatus for processing a substrate having a central area and a peripheral area disposed around the central area, the etching apparatus including:

the reaction chamber is provided with a reaction cavity;

the lower component is arranged in the reaction cavity and provided with a carrying platform used for supporting the central area of the substrate;

the upper component is arranged in the reaction cavity and is opposite to the carrying platform, and a first gap is formed between the upper component and the central area;

a collar disposed around the upper assembly and/or the lower assembly opposite the peripheral edge region; and

a plasma generating assembly coupled to the reaction chamber for providing a plasma into the reaction chamber to etch the peripheral region.

In one embodiment, the collar comprises:

the outer sleeve is arranged around the lower component and/or the upper component; and

a conductive member embedded within the outer sheath, the conductive member being connected to an external power source to form a magnetic field for causing plasma to concentrate toward a surface of the peripheral region.

In an embodiment, the collar further includes a protruding portion protruding from one side of the outer sleeve facing the peripheral edge region, and a second gap is formed between the protruding portion and the peripheral edge region;

defining a distance between the protrusion and the peripheral region as a height h1 of the second gap, and defining a distance between the upper assembly and the central region as a height h2 of the first gap;

h1 is more than h2; and/or h1 is more than 0.6mm and less than 0.8mm.

In one embodiment, the outer sleeve is a ceramic material, and the ceramic material is silicon oxide or silicon carbide;

and/or the external power supply is alternating current or direct current;

and/or the conductive piece is a coil, and the coil is a single-ring coil or a multi-ring coil;

and/or the convex part is rectangular or chamfered or pointed conical;

and/or the collar is detachably arranged on the lower component and/or the upper component in a surrounding mode.

In an embodiment, the number of the collars is two, the two collars are a first collar and a second collar, the first collar is disposed around the lower component and abutted against the substrate, the second collar is disposed around the upper component and spaced from the substrate, the first collar is opposite to the second collar and forms a via hole, the via hole is located at an outer periphery of the first gap, and the peripheral area passes through the via hole and extends out of the first gap.

In one embodiment, the first collar includes a first conductive member disposed around the lower component and a first jacket surrounding the first conductive member, the first conductive member being connected to an external power source;

the second sleeve ring comprises a second conductive piece arranged around the upper component and a second sleeve coated on the second conductive piece, and the second conductive piece is connected with an external power supply;

the direction of current in the first conductive member is opposite to the direction of current in the first conductive member.

In one embodiment, the plasma generation assembly comprises:

the gas supply system is communicated with the reaction cavity and supplies etching gas into the reaction cavity;

the electrode is arranged in the reaction cavity and comprises a first electrode and a second electrode which are oppositely arranged, an electric field is formed between the first electrode and the second electrode, and the electric field is used for converting the etching gas into plasma; and

and the exhaust system is communicated with the reaction cavity and is used for exhausting the plasma or residual gas in the reaction cavity.

In one embodiment, the first electrode is disposed around the lower component, the first electrode being coupled to a power supply or ground;

and/or the second electrode is disposed around the upper assembly, the second electrode being coupled to a power supply or ground.

In an embodiment, the lower assembly is a support, an electrostatic chuck is disposed on a side of the support facing the upper assembly, and a side of the electrostatic chuck facing away from the lower assembly forms the carrier platform.

In one embodiment, the upper assembly is connected to the reaction chamber by a lifting assembly, the lifting assembly moves the upper assembly closer to or away from the stage, and the upper assembly is used for etching the central region;

and/or, the upper assembly is a ceramic plate.

According to the etching device, the upper assembly and the lower assembly which are oppositely arranged are arranged in the reaction cavity of the reaction chamber, the carrying platform of the lower assembly is used for supporting the central area of the substrate, so that the peripheral area of the substrate is exposed, the lantern ring is arranged on the upper assembly and/or the lower assembly in a surrounding mode, so that the lantern ring is opposite to the exposed peripheral area, when the plasma generating assembly provides plasma into the reaction cavity, the lantern ring is used for effectively preventing the plasma from entering the first gap, and therefore the fact that the plasma in the reaction cavity can effectively remove the material layer of the peripheral area of the substrate can be guaranteed, and meanwhile the material layer of the central area of the substrate is not affected.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an etching apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the current flow direction in the first and second collars according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a collar structure of an etching apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a collar structure of an etching apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a collar structure of an etching apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a collar structure of an etching apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a collar structure of an etching apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the collar in position on the upper and lower assemblies in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the collar and upper assembly in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a simulation graph of plasma formation at the peripheral region of the substrate when the upper and lower assemblies are not provided with collars and an etch rate ratio graph;

FIG. 13 is a simulation graph of plasma formation at the peripheral region of a substrate when collars are disposed on the upper and lower assemblies and a graph of etch rate ratio in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a simulation of the plasma formed in the peripheral region of the substrate when the upper and lower assemblies are fitted with collars and current is conducted through the conductors, and a graph of etch rate ratio in accordance with the present invention.

The reference numbers illustrate:

the implementation, functional features and advantages of the objects of the present invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that all the directional indicators (such as upper, lower, left, right, front, and rear … …) in the embodiment of the present invention are only used to explain the relative position relationship between the components, the motion situation, and the like in a specific posture (as shown in the drawing), and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indicator is changed accordingly.

Also, the expression "and/or" and/or "as used throughout is meant to encompass three alternatives, exemplified by" A and/or B "including alternative A, alternative B, or both alternative A and alternative B.

In addition, descriptions such as "first", "second", etc. in the present invention are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, technical solutions between the embodiments may be combined with each other, but must be based on the realization of the technical solutions by a person skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory to each other or cannot be realized, such a combination should not be considered to exist, and is not within the protection scope of the present invention.

As one of the commonly used technical means for etching, the working process of plasma etching can excite etching gas through various energy sources to form plasma with strong chemical activity, the formed plasma diffuses to the surface of an object to be etched and reacts with the object to form volatile products, and finally the volatile products are pumped out of a reaction chamber through an exhaust system. Alternatively, the etching gas is dissociated into ions by glow discharge, and the ions are accelerated by an electric field/magnetic field of the reaction chamber and sputtered onto the surface of the object to be etched, thereby knocking out the object to be etched.

In the related art, the etching process tends to make the etching rate non-uniform in different areas of the substrate surface, resulting in the peripheral area of the substrate being prone to leave a portion to be etched or accumulate various byproducts. The contaminants on the peripheral region of the substrate are easy to fall off during the subsequent cleaning (such as acid cleaning) or transportation process, thereby increasing the contamination particles on the surface of the substrate and greatly increasing the risk of damage to the device.

Based on the above concept and problems, the present invention provides an etching apparatus 100, wherein the etching apparatus 100 is used for processing a substrate 6, i.e. completing an etching process of the substrate 6. It will be appreciated that, as shown in fig. 11, the base plate 6 includes a substrate 63 and a material layer 64, the substrate 63 having oppositely disposed upper and lower surfaces, the material layer 64 being disposed on the upper surface of the substrate 63 and extending from an end of the substrate 63 to a portion of the lower surface of the substrate 63. The whole of the substrate 6 can be divided into a central area 61 and a peripheral area 62, that is, the substrate 6 has the central area 61 and the peripheral area 62 arranged around the central area 61, the central area 61 is composed of a substrate 63 and a material layer 64 arranged on the upper surface of the substrate 63, the peripheral area 62 includes a top 621, a side 622 and a bottom 623, the top 621 of the peripheral area 62 is the upper surface of the substrate 63, the side 622 is the end side surface of the substrate 63, the bottom 623 is the lower surface of the substrate 63, and the top 621, the side 622 and the bottom 623 of the peripheral area 62 are all provided with the material layer 64.

In the present embodiment, the peripheral edge region 62 of the substrate 6 is a region within 10mm extending from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate 6 toward the center. It is understood that the central region 61 of the substrate 6 may be considered as an area available for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the peripheral region 62 may be considered as an area that cannot be effectively utilized, and the boundary between the central region 61 and the peripheral region 62 depends on the size of the substrate 6 and the size of the semiconductor device. With the trend of large size of wafers and the trend of miniaturization of devices, the peripheral edge region 62 of the substrate 6 is gradually shrinking in order to make the most of the silicon wafers.

It is understood that the material layer 64 of the substrate 6 may be a silicon layer, a dielectric layer (such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride), a metal layer (such as copper, tantalum, tungsten, etc.), various photoresist layers or byproducts generated by the etching process of the photoresist layers, etc., and is not limited herein.

The etching apparatus 100 of the present invention is mainly intended to remove the material layer 64 in the peripheral region 62 by etching without losing the effective material layer 64 in the central region 61 of the substrate 6.

Referring to fig. 1 to 10, in an embodiment of the invention, the etching apparatus 100 includes a reaction chamber 1, a lower assembly 2, an upper assembly 3, a collar 4 and a plasma generation assembly 5, wherein the reaction chamber 1 is provided with a reaction chamber 11, the lower assembly 2 is disposed in the reaction chamber 11, the lower assembly 2 is provided with a stage 21, the stage 21 is used for supporting a central region 61 of a substrate 6, the upper assembly 3 is disposed in the reaction chamber 11 and opposite to the stage 21, a first gap 31 is formed between the upper assembly 3 and the central region 61 of the substrate 6, the collar 4 is disposed around the upper assembly 3 and/or the lower assembly 2 and opposite to a peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6, and the plasma generation assembly 5 is connected to the reaction chamber 1 and is used for providing plasma into the reaction chamber 11 to etch the peripheral region 62.

In the present embodiment, the reaction chamber 1 is used for mounting, fixing and supporting the components such as the lower assembly 2, the upper assembly 3, the collar 4 and the plasma generating assembly 5, i.e. the reaction chamber 1 provides a mounting base for the components such as the lower assembly 2, the upper assembly 3, the collar 4 and the plasma generating assembly 5. It is understood that the reaction chamber 1 is a casing, a box, or a structure with a certain space enclosed by a plurality of plate-like structures, and is not limited herein.

It is understood that the reaction chamber 1 is provided with a reaction chamber 11, and the reaction chamber 11 not only provides an installation space for the lower assembly 2, the upper assembly 3, the collar 4 and the substrate 6, but also provides a reaction space for processing the substrate 6 and plasma generated by the plasma generation assembly 5.

In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the lower assembly 2 is provided with a stage 21 for placing or supporting the substrate 6. It is understood that the stage 21 may be an electrostatic chuck or the like for supporting the substrate 6, and is not limited thereto, so that the substrate 6 is not easily moved or dropped when placed or supported on the stage 21. The upper assembly 3 is disposed above the stage 21 and spaced apart from and corresponds to a central region 61 of the substrate 6 on the stage 21. For facilitating the handling of the substrate 6, the upper assembly 3 may be arranged to be movable up and down in a direction away from the substrate 6 or in a direction close to the substrate 6.

It is understood that the upper assembly 3 may include structures such as gas inlet and outlet channels, gas flow distribution plates, upper electrodes, etc., which are configured to etch the material layer 64 in the central region 61 of the processing substrate 6, and are not shown in the drawings and will not be described herein. Of course, in other embodiments, the upper assembly 3 may also be a ceramic plate disposed above the lower assembly 2, and is not limited herein. In this embodiment, the upper assembly 3 functions such that when the substrate 6 is placed on the stage 21 of the lower assembly 2, the upper assembly 3 is as close as possible to the substrate 6 without contacting the substrate 6, so that there is only a small space above the front surface of the substrate 6.

In the present embodiment, the plasma generating assembly 5 may be disposed at the outer peripheries of the upper assembly 3 and the lower assembly 2 for supplying plasma to the peripheral edge region 62 of the substrate 6. It is understood that the plasma generation assembly 5 may be directly connected and disposed at the outer peripheries of the upper assembly 3 and the lower assembly 2, or the plasma generation assembly 5 may be provided as a separate structure such that the plasma generation assembly 5 can generate plasma and provide it to the peripheral edge region 62 of the substrate 6, which is not limited herein.

It will be appreciated that the collar 4 may be provided on the upper component 3 and/or the lower component 2, i.e. the collar 4 may be provided around the upper component 3; alternatively, the collar 4 may be circumferentially disposed on the lower assembly 2; alternatively, the collar 4 may be disposed around both the lower assembly 2 and the lower assembly 2, and is not limited herein. By providing the collar 4 on the upper assembly 3 and/or the lower assembly 2 such that the collar 4 is opposite the exposed peripheral region 62, the collar 4 is utilized to effectively block plasma from entering the first gap 31 when the plasma generating assembly 5 provides plasma into the reaction chamber 11, thereby ensuring that the plasma in the reaction chamber 11 can effectively remove the material layer 64 from the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 without affecting the material layer 64 from the central region 61 of the substrate 6.

In the present embodiment, the collar 4 may be fixedly disposed on the outer peripheral wall of the upper component 3 and/or the lower component 2, for example, by welding or integrally forming, so as to improve the installation stability of the collar 4. Of course, during the etching process, as the plasma diffuses in the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6, the side surfaces of the devices are easily eroded by various corrosive and polluting etching gases (process gases), radicals (radials), plasmas (plasmas), and the like, but the devices are difficult to replace and maintain, and the cost is high. Optionally, the collar 4 is detachably disposed on the outer peripheral wall of the upper component 3 and/or the lower component 2, for example, a snap connection, a plug fit, a screw connection, a pin connection, etc., as long as the structure can realize the detachable connection, which is not limited herein.

The etching apparatus 100 of the present invention is configured to dispose the upper module 3 and the lower module 2 in the reaction chamber 11 of the reaction chamber 1, support the central region 61 of the substrate 6 by the stage 21 of the lower module 2, so that the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 is exposed, and dispose the collar 4 on the upper module 3 and/or the lower module 2 in a surrounding manner so that the collar 4 is opposite to the exposed peripheral region 62, so that when the plasma generating module 5 provides plasma into the reaction chamber 11, the collar 4 can effectively block the plasma from entering the first gap 31, thereby ensuring that the plasma in the reaction chamber 11 can effectively remove the material layer 64 in the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 without affecting the material layer 64 in the central region 61 of the substrate 6.

In one embodiment, collar 4 includes an outer sleeve 41 and an electrically conductive member 42, wherein outer sleeve 41 is circumferentially disposed about lower component 2 and/or upper component 3, electrically conductive member 42 is embedded within outer sleeve 41, and electrically conductive member 42 is connected to an external power source 7 to form a magnetic field for promoting plasma concentration toward the surface of peripheral region 62.

As shown in fig. 1, 5 to 9, by arranging the collar 4 as the outer casing 41 and the conductive member 42 such that the outer casing 41 surrounds the outer circumferential wall of the lower component 2 and/or the upper component 3 and embedding the conductive member 42 in the outer casing 41, i.e., the conductive member 42 is not exposed to the air or outside the outer casing 41, and connecting the conductive member 42 to the external power source 7, the conductive member 42 can form a magnetic field when being energized, so that the magnetic field can be used to promote the plasma to be concentrated to the surface of the peripheral edge region 62, thereby effectively and rapidly etching the material layer 64 of the peripheral edge region 62 of the substrate 6.

As can be appreciated, the sheath 41 serves to protect the conductive member 42 from erosion of the side surfaces of the component due to various corrosive and contaminating etching gases (processes), radicals (radics), plasmas (plasmas), etc., which tend to damage the surface structure of the conductive member 42 as the plasma diffuses through the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 during the etching process of the conductive member 42. Optionally, the outer casing 41 is a ceramic material, and the ceramic material is silicon oxide or silicon carbide, that is, the outer casing 41 may be selected from a ceramic material such as silicon oxide, silicon carbide, and the like, which is not limited herein.

In the present embodiment, the conductive member 42 is embedded in the outer casing 41, that is, the outer casing 41 covers the conductive member 42, or a mounting cavity is provided in the outer casing 41, and the conductive member 42 is provided in the mounting cavity of the outer casing 41, and the like, which is not limited herein. It will be appreciated that the external power source 7 may be either ac or dc. Alternatively, the conductive member 42 may be a coil that surrounds the outer peripheral wall of the lower module 2 and/or the upper module 3, i.e., the conductive member 42 has a coil shape. Alternatively, the conductive member 42 is a single-loop coil or a multi-loop coil so as to generate a longitudinal magnetic field when energized, such as directed from the upper assembly 3 toward the substrate 6.

It will be appreciated that by providing conductive elements 42 within collar 4, conductive elements 42 may be used to adjust the distribution and energy of the plasma in wafer peripheral region 62 during etching of substrate 6. After the conductive member 42 is energized, a magnetic field is generated, and the magnetic field is gradually increased in the direction toward the conductive member 42 (i.e., the magnetic strength at the outer wall of the collar 4 is the maximum) to promote the plasma to gather near the outer wall of the collar 4 and the exposed peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6, so that the plasma is accelerated in the magnetic field, the effective collision frequency of the plasma is increased, the ion density is greatly increased, and the etching speed of the material layer 64 in the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 can be increased.

In one embodiment, the collar 4 further includes a protruding portion 43 protruding from the outer casing 41 on a side facing the peripheral edge region 62, and a second gap 44 is formed between the protruding portion 43 and the peripheral edge region 62; defining the distance between the projection 43 and the peripheral region 62 as the height h1 of the second gap 44, and the distance between the upper member 3 and the central region 61 as the height h2 of the first gap 31; h1 is more than h2; and/or h1 is more than 0.6mm and less than 0.8mm.

As shown in fig. 1 to 9, the protruding portion 43 is protruded from the side of the outer casing 41 facing the peripheral edge region 62, so that the protruding portion 43 protrudes from the surface of the upper member 3 facing the central region 61 of the substrate 6, and a second gap 44 is formed between the protruding portion 43 and the peripheral edge region 62, where the height h1 of the second gap 44 is smaller than the height h2 of the first gap 31. It will be appreciated that the height h1 of the second gap 44 is the distance between the projection 43 and the peripheral region 62, and the height h2 of the first gap 31 is the distance between the upper component 3 and the central region 61, i.e. the distance between the surface of the upper component 3 facing the central region 61 and the central region 61. Optionally, the height h1 of the second gap 44 is less than 0.8mm and greater than 0.6mm.

In the embodiment, by providing the protruding portion 43, the protruding portion 43 can be used to reduce the space between the periphery of the first gap 31 and the external space, that is, the height h1 of the second gap 44 formed between the protruding portion 43 and the peripheral region 62 is smaller than the height h2 of the first gap 31, so that the height of the slit (that is, the first gap 31) between the upper assembly 3 and the central region 61 of the substrate 6 can be increased, thereby effectively reducing the surface contamination of the central region 61 of the substrate 6 caused by the upper assembly 3, and simultaneously preventing the plasma from entering the first gap 31 through the second gap 44 and diffusing toward the central region 61, thereby preventing the effective material layer 64 of the central region 61 of the substrate 6 from being bombarded. Alternatively, the convex portion 43 is rectangular or chamfered or tapered, etc.

In one embodiment, the collar 4 includes two collars 4, the two collars 4 are a first collar 45 and a second collar 46, the first collar 45 is disposed around the lower assembly 2 and abuts the substrate 6, the second collar 46 is disposed around the upper assembly 3 and is spaced apart from the substrate 6, the first collar 45 is opposite to the second collar 46 and defines a through hole 47, the through hole 47 is located at an outer periphery of the first gap 31, and the peripheral region 62 extends out of the first gap 31 through the through hole 47.

As shown in fig. 1 to 9, in the present embodiment, the etching apparatus 100 includes two collars 4, the two collars 4 are respectively disposed around the outer peripheral walls of the upper module 3 and the lower module 2 and are oppositely disposed, so that the via hole 47 formed between the ends of the two collars 4 is located at the outer periphery of the first gap 31, so that the first gap 31 is communicated with the external space through the via hole 47, and the peripheral edge region 62 of the substrate 6 extends out of the first gap 31 through the via hole 47, so as to be exposed in the reaction chamber 11.

It will be appreciated that the two collars 4 are a first collar 45 and a second collar 46, the first collar 45 being disposed around the lower assembly 2 and abutting the base plate 6, and the second collar 46 being disposed around the upper assembly 3 and spaced from the base plate 6. In the present embodiment, one end of the second collar 46 facing the substrate 6 protrudes from the surface of the upper assembly 3 facing the substrate 6.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, 5 to 9, the first collar 45 comprises a first conductive member 451 disposed around the lower assembly 2 and a first outer sleeve 452 covering the first conductive member 451, the first conductive member 451 being connected to the external power source 7; second collar 46 includes a second conductive member 461 disposed around upper assembly 3 and a second jacket 462 encasing second conductive member 461, second conductive member 461 being connected to an external power source 7.

In the present embodiment, by providing the collars 4 (i.e., the first collar 45 and the second collar 46) at the same time in the lower assembly 2 and the upper assembly 3, and providing the conductive members 42 (i.e., the first conductive member 451 and the second conductive member 461) in the collars 4, it is possible to adjust the magnetic field distribution of the front surface peripheral region 62 and the rear surface peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 at the same time and individually, respectively, to improve the uniformity of the plasma distribution.

It will be appreciated that the application of different electrical signals to the first conductive member 451 and the second conductive member 461 may be designed based on the amount of etching required on the top 621, the side 622 and the bottom 623 of the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6. During the manufacturing process, it is easy to deposit a large amount of material to be etched on the side portions 622, and only a small amount of contamination is deposited on the bottom portion 623 during the manufacturing process, so that the material layer 64 can be flexibly removed from each portion by different electrical signals.

It will be appreciated that by reversing the direction of current flow in first conductive member 451 from the direction of current flow in second conductive member 461, i.e., the direction of current flow in second conductive member 461 is in a counter-clockwise direction around the centerline of upper assembly 3, the direction of current flow in first conductive member 451 is in a clockwise direction around the centerline of lower assembly 2, thereby creating a magnetic field on the outside of second conductive member 461 directed toward substrate 6, causing plasma to concentrate on the top of peripheral region 62 of substrate 6; a magnetic field directed toward substrate 6 is generated outside first conductive member 451, which also causes plasma to collect at the bottom of peripheral edge region 62 of substrate 6.

Controlling the plasma density by the amount of current flowing through the first conductive member 451 and the second conductive member 461, thereby determining the etching rate; the direction of movement of the ions is controlled by the direction of current flow in first conductive member 451 and second conductive member 461. Accordingly, the first and second

conductive members

451, 461 generate magnetic fields in different directions at the bottom and top of the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 to promote the plasma distribution to be concentrated toward the surface of the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6.

In one embodiment, the plasma generating assembly 5 includes a gas supply system 51, an electrode 52 and an exhaust system 53, wherein the gas supply system 51 is in communication with the reaction chamber 11 and supplies the etching gas into the reaction chamber 11, the electrode 52 is disposed in the reaction chamber 11, the electrode 52 includes a first electrode 521 and a second electrode 522 which are oppositely disposed, an electric field is formed between the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522, the electric field is used for converting the etching gas into plasma, and the exhaust system 53 is in communication with the reaction chamber 11 and is used for exhausting the plasma or residual gas in the reaction chamber 11.

As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522 are oppositely disposed, so that an electric field is formed between the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522, and the etching gas provided by the gas supply system 51 is converted into plasma by the electric field, so that the material layer 64 in the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 can be etched by the plasma.

It is understood that the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522 may be ring-shaped structures surrounding the lower member 2 and the upper member 3, respectively. In the present embodiment, one of the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522 is coupled to a power source for generating a radio frequency power bias, and the other electrode is grounded; alternatively, the first electrode 521 may be coupled to the same power/ground as the electrostatic chuck in the lower assembly 2; alternatively, the second electrode 522 may be coupled to the same power/ground as the electrode provided in the upper assembly. Thus, the dissociation concentration and bombardment energy of the formed plasma can be controlled by controlling the electric field generated by the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522.

Optionally, a first electrode 521 is arranged around the lower assembly 2, the first electrode 521 being coupled to a power supply or ground. A second electrode 522 is disposed around the upper assembly 3, the second electrode 522 being coupled to a power supply or ground.

In the present embodiment, the gas supply system 51 is connected to a gas source and supplies an etching gas into the reaction chamber 11, so that the etching gas is converted into plasma by an electric field formed by the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522, and further the plasma is concentrated on the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 by the collar 4, thereby etching the material layer 64 of the peripheral region 62. It will be appreciated that the exhaust system 53 is used as an exhaust system for exhausting plasma or residual gases.

In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the lower assembly 2 is a support having an electrostatic chuck on a side facing the upper assembly 3, and a carrier platform 21 is formed on a side of the electrostatic chuck facing away from the lower assembly 2. It can be understood that through setting up electrostatic chuck on the support for can firmly adsorb base plate 6 through electrostatic chuck, avoid base plate 6 to take place to remove or rock in the etching process, thereby influence the etching effect.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the upper assembly 3 is coupled to the chamber 1 via a lift assembly 8, the lift assembly 8 moves the upper assembly 3 toward or away from the stage 21, and the upper assembly 3 is used to etch the central region 61.

As can be understood, by providing the lifting assembly 8, the lifting assembly 8 drives the upper assembly 3 to be close to or far away from the loading platform 21, so as to conveniently pick and place the substrate 6 on the loading platform 21. Alternatively, the lifting assembly 8 may be a lifting cylinder, a telescopic rod, a motor, a screw rod driving structure, or other structures capable of achieving a lifting function, and is not limited herein. Optionally, the upper assembly 3 is a ceramic plate.

The etching apparatus 100 of the present invention operates as follows: the substrate 6 is transferred into the reaction chamber 1 by the robot and is adjusted to be placed over a suitable area of the stage 21 to ensure that the peripheral edge region 62 of the subsequent substrate 6 is exposed between the upper assembly 3 and the lower assembly 2. Meanwhile, the temperature of the substrate 6 above the stage 21 can be controlled by the temperature control system, and the pressure in the reaction chamber 11 can be adjusted by the evacuation system 53 and the pressure control valve.

The position of the upper assembly 3 is controlled by the lifting assembly 8, and the upper assembly 3 is adjusted to be close to the front surface of the substrate 6 but not contacted with the front surface of the substrate 6; similarly, the collar 4, which is disposed outside the upper assembly 6, is moved down to the front surface of the substrate 6 without contacting the substrate 6, thereby preventing contamination of the material layer 64 of the substrate 6. This leaves only a narrow region of space above the front surface of the substrate 6, reducing the likelihood of subsequent plasma penetration into the central region 61 of the substrate 6.

Subsequently, conductive element 42 in collar 4 is connected to external power source 7, and external power source 7 connected to conductive element 42 is activated and adjusted to deliver the appropriate electrical signal to conductive element 42. Next, the plasma generation assembly 5 is started, and etching gas is introduced into the reaction chamber 11 of the reaction chamber 1 or the periphery of the peripheral area 62 of the substrate 6 through the gas supply system 51; further, the rf power supply introduces power required for generating plasma to the first electrode 521/the second electrode 522 of the electrode 52 through the matching circuit, thereby generating a high-frequency first electric field between the first electrode 521 and the second electrode 522 to convert the introduced etching gas into plasma; further, the plasma is distributed in energy and density by the second electric field generated by the current-carrying conducting member 42 to accomplish the etching requirements at different locations.

Finally, the plasma physically and/or chemically etches the material layer 64 around the periphery 62 of the substrate 6.

It will be appreciated that by providing the collar 4 and adjusting the distance between the collar 4 and the substrate 6 around the upper assembly 3, the penetration of the plasma from the central region 61 of the outer facing substrate 6 surface is determined. By providing conductive element 42 in collar 4 and passing current, the etching characteristics of peripheral region 62 of substrate 6 are improved, which are mainly characterized by: the plasma distribution to the top 621, side 622 and bottom 623 of the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 is adjusted to meet the etching requirements at different locations; so that the etching rate of the peripheral edge region 62 of the substrate 6 can be controlled, for example, increased.

As shown in fig. 12, when the collar 4 is not provided on the outer periphery of the upper module 3/lower module 2 in the prior art, it is found that the plasma easily penetrates into the central region 61 of the surface of the substrate 6 from the slit between the upper module 3 and the substrate 6, and the plasma penetrates into the central region 61 by a distance D1 from the peripheral region 62, which easily causes the substrate 6 to be excessively etched.

As shown in fig. 13, in an embodiment of the present invention, the collar 4 is disposed on the outer periphery of the upper assembly 3/the lower assembly 2, and the protrusion 43 of the collar 4 of the upper assembly 3 protrudes from the surface of the upper assembly 3 facing the substrate 6, but when the conductive member 42 is not embedded in the collar 4 or no current is conducted to the conductive member 42, it can be found that the protrusion 43 of the collar 4 can limit the penetration of plasma from the slit, the penetration distance of plasma from the peripheral region 62 to the central region 61 is reduced to D2, and the upper assembly 3 is prevented from touching the wafer surface too low.

As shown in fig. 14, in an embodiment of the present invention, when the collar 4 is disposed on the periphery of the upper assembly 3/the lower assembly 2, and the protrusion 43 of the collar 4 of the upper assembly 3 protrudes from the surface of the upper assembly 3 facing the substrate 6, and the conductive member 42 is embedded in the collar 4, and current is introduced into the conductive member 42, it can be found that the collar 4 can effectively control different etching rates of the top 621 and the bottom 622 of the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6, and greatly increase the etching rate of the top 621 of the substrate 6.

It will be appreciated that the top 621 of the peripheral region 62 of the substrate 6 tends to accumulate more material layer 64 than the bottom 623 thereof, so that adjusting the etching rates of the top 621 and the bottom 623 is more effective and efficient than ER _ F/ER _ B in removing the etched object according to embodiments of the present invention.

The invention also provides a processing device, which comprises a device body and the etching device 100, wherein the etching device 100 is arranged on the device body. The specific structure of the etching apparatus 100 refers to the foregoing embodiments, and since the processing device adopts all the technical solutions of all the foregoing embodiments, at least all the beneficial effects brought by the technical solutions of the foregoing embodiments are achieved, and no further description is given here.

The above description is only an alternative embodiment of the present invention, and not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications and equivalents of the present invention, which are made by the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly/indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An etching apparatus for processing a substrate having a central region and a peripheral region disposed around the central region, the etching apparatus comprising:

the reaction chamber is provided with a reaction cavity;

2. The etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collar comprises:

a conductive member embedded within the outer sleeve, the conductive member being connected to an external power source to form a magnetic field for causing plasma to concentrate toward a surface of the peripheral region.

3. The etching apparatus of claim 2, wherein the collar further comprises a protrusion protruding from the outer sleeve on a side facing the peripheral edge region, a second gap being formed between the protrusion and the peripheral edge region;

h1 is more than h2; and/or h1 is more than 0.6mm and less than 0.8mm.

4. The etching apparatus of claim 3, wherein the outer jacket is a ceramic material, the ceramic material being silicon oxide or silicon carbide;

and/or, the external power supply is alternating current or direct current;

and/or the convex part is rectangular or chamfered or pointed conical;

5. The etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the collar includes two collars, two of the collars being a first collar disposed around the lower assembly and abutting the substrate and a second collar disposed around the upper assembly and spaced from the substrate, the first collar being opposite the second collar and forming a via at an outer periphery of the first gap, the peripheral region extending through the via beyond the first gap.

6. The etching apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first collar comprises a first electrically conductive member disposed around the lower assembly and a first jacket encasing the first electrically conductive member, the first electrically conductive member being connected to an external power source;

7. The etching apparatus of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the plasma generation assembly comprises:

8. The etching apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first electrode is disposed around the lower assembly, the first electrode being coupled to a power supply or ground;

9. The etching apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the lower assembly is a pedestal, a side of the pedestal facing the upper assembly is provided with an electrostatic chuck, and a side of the electrostatic chuck facing away from the lower assembly forms the carrier platform.

10. The etching apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the upper assembly is coupled to the reaction chamber via a lift assembly that moves the upper assembly toward or away from the stage, the upper assembly being configured to etch the central region;

and/or, the upper assembly is a ceramic plate.