Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
  • H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
  • H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
  • H01J37/32009—Arrangements for generation of plasma specially adapted for examination or treatment of objects, e.g. plasma sources
  • H01J37/32082—Radio frequency generated discharge
  • H01J37/321—Radio frequency generated discharge the radio frequency energy being inductively coupled to the plasma
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
  • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
  • C23C16/46—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating characterised by the method used for heating the substrate
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
  • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
  • C23C16/50—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating using electric discharges
  • C23C16/505—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating using electric discharges using radio frequency discharges
  • C23C16/507—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating using electric discharges using radio frequency discharges using external electrodes, e.g. in tunnel type reactors
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
  • H01J2237/00—Discharge tubes exposing object to beam, e.g. for analysis treatment, etching, imaging
  • H01J2237/20—Positioning, supporting, modifying or maintaining the physical state of objects being observed or treated
  • H01J2237/2001—Maintaining constant desired temperature

Definitions

• Chemical Vapour Deposition is used on a large scale in industry for depositing layers of a certain material onto a substrate as general term, at typical temperatures of 800°C or more. By lower temperatures. Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) can be used. However this has the disadvantage that defects in uniformity can occur when depositing layers onto three dimensional objects. PECVD is thus mainly used for depositing layers onto flat surfaces. For applying thin films at low temperatures a so called Distributed Electronic Cyclotronic Resonnance Reactor (DECR) is also used for uniformity on 3- di ensions substrates. However DECR apparatus is complex and expensive for industrial applications, w " r .-1st at the same time the deposition rate is too low for most of the industrial applications.
• DECR Distributed Electronic Cyclotronic Resonnance Reactor
• the purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus wherein at relatively low temperatures, substantially under 800°C for the substrate, layers can be applied whilst achieving a high deposition rate, an excellent three dimensional uniformity and wherein the microstructure of the deposited layers can be accurately controlled and/or electrically conducting layers can be deposited.
• the present invention provides a method for the processing of a substrate of a certain material, wherein the material is heated by induction at relatively low frequency and wherein a relatively high frequency electrical current is used for further processing of said material.
• the word substrate comprises any object of any shape of a certain material and also a certain quantity of bulk material.
• the present invention provides an apparatus for processing a substrate, wherein the apparatus comprises:
• reactor chamber with an outer wall, which is at least partially made from non-electrically conducting material; .
• an electric conductor for generating an alternating electric field in the reactor, which is provided adjacent to the wall of the reactor.
• a preferred embodiment 10 of the apparatus according to the present invention for the carrying out of a preferred embodiment of the method according to the present invention comprises a substantially cylindrical or tubelike reaction chamber 1, around which an electromagnetic winding 2 is arranged.
• An object O for instance made of metal, is suspended or otherwise arranged in the chamber.
• the object 0 can be made of conducting material.
• the wall 1 is built from electrically insulating material, for example alumina. Electrically conducting strips 5 are provided on or in the wall 1, the strips being preferably connected to ground. The electrically conducting strips 5 provide an uniform inductive electric field in the reaction chamber compensating for the limited length thereof.
• a reaction gas entry pipe 3, shown with an arrow, is disposed to a first side whilst on the opposite side a reaction gas exit pipe 4 is disposed.
• a low frequency power generator 6 is provided between two filters 7 and 8 respectively in order to make possible inductive heating of the object O by the winding 2, low frequency here meaning a frequency smaller or equal to 10 kHz. Furthermore, a high frequency power generator 9 is arranged inbetween two filters 11 and 12 and connected to the electromagnetic winding 2 for the generation of electromagnetic power, for. example at a frequency of 13,56 MHz or more, which frequencies are used for plasma generation as is necessary for PECVD processing of the 5 object 0.
• the low frequency power generator 6 can, for example, supply a power of around 20 k atts, whilst the high frequency power generator can supply, for instance, an operating power of around 5 kWatts.
• the object O is connected to a high frequency power bias generator 13, so
• the bias generator 13 can be phase locked with the high frequency generator 9.
• present invention concerns the deposition of a cubic boron nitride film onto a conducting object.
• a gas mixture of N 2 with a flow of 90 seem (standard cubic centimeters per minute) , H 2 with a flow of 10 seem and F 6 with a flow of 5 seem are supplied in the process chamber at a pressure of
• a plasma is inductively gererated with a radiofrequency adjustable power, at 13,56 MHz of roughly 100 Watt which is supplied by the generator 9, whereby a power density of 500 mW/cm 2 is realized near the object by the power generator 13.
• the power generator 13 is required to
• the object O can be kept accurately within a temperature range of 200-500°C with the aid of the low frequency power generator.
• a temperature sensor not shown, is disposed within the reaction chamber and is
• the low frequency induction is not, or at any rate only in a small amount, influenced by the plasma present.
• the generated high frequency energy is virtually completely absorbed by the resulting plasma, and does not directly interact with the substrate.
• the plasma density can be very high, for example up to 10 12 per cm 2 ;
• the pressure range can be very wide, for instance from 10 "4 to 1 Torr; - a high level of three dimensional homogenity is achieved in the plasma;
• the substrate can be provided with an independant bias voltage which makes possible the control of the microstructure of the deposited layer; - by adjusting the frequencies, an easy scale-up or scale-down of the process chamber can be achieved;
• the heating can occur quickly due to the fact that the object is directly heated by so called eddy currents without entailing a large amount of thermal inertia;
• the temperature regulation of the object or the substrate can take place easily and accurately; - the fact that the wall remains cold, prevents wall deposition and avoid thus electrical screening of the applied inductive fields allowing metal deposition processes; - the apparatus can be kept compact, whilst at the same time many bias parameters, such as differing frequencies and temperatures, are possible; the production costs are expected to be low, the maintenance easy, and the operation is expected to be exceptional due to the simplicity and low break-down susceptibility.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• Chemical Vapour Deposition (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

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• 1994
  • 1994-04-26 BE BE9400433A patent/BE1008338A5/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1995
  • 1995-04-20 WO PCT/EP1995/001522 patent/WO1995029273A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1995-04-20 EP EP95918586A patent/EP0758409A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1995-04-20 AU AU24474/95A patent/AU2447495A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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