JP2001220668A - Substrate treating apparatus, substrate treating method and thin film device produced by using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate treating apparatus and a method therefor in which gas is positively introduced into the space between a target and a substrate so as to prevent the change of the pressure and concentration of gas, and, moreover, exhaust ing is contrived so as to prevent the generation of the ununiformity in the distribution of film thickness on the substrate caused by a pressure loss in the exhausting direction of the gas. SOLUTION: In a sputtering system in which a target 2 composed of the material of a system same as that of a film to be deposited and a substrate 3 are oppositely arranged in a flat vacuum vessel 1, working gas is introduced therein from a feed port, the inside of the vacuum vessel is exhausted from an exhaust port to control the gas pressure to the prescribed one, and plasma is generated to deposit the substance in the target 2 on the substrate 3, the gas feed port 15 is arranged in the horizontal vicinity of the target 2, and gas is emitted in the direction reverse to the exhausting direction. In this way, sputter film deposition can be performed in a state in which the uniformity of the film deposition characteristics such as film thickness and film quality is high on the substrate, the improvement of the treating precision of the substrate is possible, and the effect of improving the productivity is given.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a sputter film forming apparatus utilizing plasma, a CVD apparatus, an etching apparatus, or a thermal CVD apparatus, a cleaning apparatus, a drying apparatus, and the like.
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method suitable for controlling a distribution of a processing speed in a substrate when processing a substrate sample such as a semiconductor element substrate or a liquid crystal substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sputtering apparatus will be described below as an example.
Plasma CVD equipment, etching equipment, or thermal CV
The same applies to the D device, the washing device, and the drying device. A sputtering apparatus flows a gas between a target and a substrate, generates plasma by high-frequency power or the like, collides ions in the plasma with a target at a high speed, and repels a substance used for film formation from the target (sputtering). Is a film forming apparatus for forming a film on a substrate. In the conventional sputtering apparatus, since the size of the substrate and the target was small, it was not necessary to give special consideration to the flow of gas between the target and the substrate.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 1 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-49637, "Bias Sputtering Method", a gas inlet and a gas outlet are simply connected to a part of a vacuum chamber, and the pressure in the vacuum chamber is reduced. It was good to keep it. Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-61401 "Sputtering method and apparatus" and the conventional example of FIG. 3 in this specification, a gas is introduced from one port of a space surrounded by a target and a substrate, and is passed between the target and the substrate. Exhaust was done through the mouth in the opposite direction.

[0004] In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-61401, "sputtering method and apparatus", a magnet behind a target is moved, and a gas flow rate is changed in accordance with the moving speed of the magnet, so that a large-sized substrate can be mounted on a large substrate. The thickness distribution of the resulting film is made uniform. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1486
In the No. 34 "sputtering apparatus", gas is introduced through two or more gas pipes, and they are supplied with gas from both sides of the target and a gas pipe surrounding the target near the target pole. It is a ring-shaped pipe, and by controlling the flow rate thereof, the concentration of the reaction gas that changes in the radial direction of the target is made uniform.

[0005]

Recently, the size of semiconductor and liquid crystal substrates has been increased, and the semiconductor substrate has a diameter of 300 mm.
The liquid crystal substrate is about to reach 1 m square. Further, even in the case of a functional thin film sputtering apparatus using a small substrate, the size of the target has increased since a large number of substrates are processed at once. Recently, a disk or rectangular target having a size of about 1 m or more is being used.

[0006] With such an increase in the size of the target, the distance between the target and the substrate does not change much. If the distance between the target and the substrate changes, the number of times that a substance emitted (sputtered) from the target collides with gas molecules before reaching the substrate changes, which causes a problem that the characteristics of the film change. . Therefore, as the size of the target increases, the aspect ratio of the space between the target and the substrate changes, and it is necessary to flow gas into a space between the parallel plates having a large area and a small space therebetween.

In such a case, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-4963 describes
Simply providing a gas inlet and a gas outlet in the chamber as in No. 7 “Bias Sputtering Method” has a problem that the gas does not sufficiently pass between the target and the substrate. Also, in the method in which gas flows from one side to the other between the target and the substrate, a pressure distribution occurs due to a pressure loss in a gas exhaust direction, and as a result, a problem occurs in that the film thickness distribution becomes non-uniform.

On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
In the issue "Sputtering Method and Apparatus", the thickness distribution on the large substrate is made uniform by moving the magnet behind the target and changing the gas flow rate according to the moving speed of the magnet. However, in this method, since the gas pressure does not change instantaneously due to the change in the gas flow rate, it is necessary to extremely slow down the moving speed of the magnet, and there has been a problem that the processing time of the substrate becomes long.

Further, in the above-mentioned JP-A-5-148634 "sputtering apparatus", gas is introduced through two or more gas pipes, and the gas is introduced from both sides of the target and a side pipe near the target electrode. A ring-shaped pipe for supplying gas surrounding the target, and controlling the flow rate thereof to make the concentration of the reaction gas changing in the radial direction of the target uniform. However, in this case, since the exhaust direction of the gas is not clear, there is a problem that the gas is not sufficiently supplied to the central portion between the target and the substrate.

An object of the present invention is to provide a film forming apparatus using a large-sized target and a substrate, in which a gas is positively introduced between the target and the substrate so that the pressure and concentration of the gas do not change between the target and the substrate. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method configured to prevent a pressure loss from occurring in a gas exhaust direction, thereby preventing a nonuniform film thickness distribution on a substrate.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is arranged such that a gas supply port is disposed at an end or near the side of a target, and discharges a working gas in a direction opposite to an exhaust direction. It was done.

That is, according to the present invention, in a flat vacuum vessel, a target made of the same system as the film to be formed and a substrate are arranged to face each other, and a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port. In a substrate processing apparatus that exhausts the inside of a vacuum vessel from an exhaust port to control a predetermined gas pressure, generates plasma, and deposits a substance in the target on a substrate, a gas supply port is connected to an exhaust port side of the target. And a substrate processing apparatus arranged to introduce a working gas in a direction opposite to the exhaust direction.

Further, according to the present invention, in a flat vacuum vessel, a target and a substrate, which are made of a material of the same system as a film to be formed, are arranged to face each other, and a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port. In a substrate processing apparatus that exhausts the inside of a vacuum vessel from an exhaust port to control a predetermined gas pressure, generates plasma, and deposits a substance in the target on a substrate, a plurality of gas supply ports are provided. Some gas supply ports are located on the opposite side of the exhaust port when viewed from the target and the substrate,
Another substrate processing apparatus is provided in which another supply port is disposed within a distance in the vicinity of the exhaust port side of the target.

Further, according to the present invention, a substrate is arranged in a flat container, a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port, and the inside of the container is exhausted from an exhaust port to control a predetermined gas pressure. In a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate, a gas supply port is arranged on an exhaust port side, and a working gas is introduced in a direction opposite to an exhaust direction.

Further, according to the present invention, a target formed of the same system material as the film to be formed and a substrate are arranged opposite to each other in a flat vacuum vessel, and a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port. Then, the inside of the vacuum vessel is evacuated from the exhaust port to control the gas pressure to a predetermined value, to generate plasma, in the substrate processing method for forming a film of the substance in the target on the substrate,
Provided is a substrate processing method in which a gas supply port is arranged within a distance close to a target, and a working gas is introduced in a direction opposite to an exhaust direction.

With the above configuration, a sufficient gas is supplied between the target and the substrate, and the gas does not pass in one direction between the target and the substrate, so that no pressure distribution occurs on the substrate. As a result, the plasma distribution becomes uniform on the substrate, and the thickness of the film formed on the substrate becomes uniform. Also,
As a result, the present invention provides a thin-film device manufactured using such a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above, and FIG.
It is A sectional drawing. A substrate holder 4 on which a substrate 3 is placed is placed in a flat vacuum vessel 1 so as to face a target 2 made of a material used for film formation. The size of the vacuum container 1 is, for example, 200 mm in width × 1200 mm in width × 1050 mm in length.
It is.

A high-frequency power supply 5 of 13.56 MHz is connected to the target 2 and a high-frequency power supply 6 of 13.56 MHz is connected to the substrate holder 4. However, a DC power supply may be used as these power supplies. The space sandwiched between the target 2 and the substrate holder 4 is the film forming chamber 7. In this embodiment, the target 2 and the substrate holder 4 have a disk shape with a diameter of 1 m, but may have any shape. Target 2
The distance between the substrate and the substrate 3 can be arbitrarily adjusted.
Is often used.

A target holder 8 is provided around the target 2.
However, a holder holder 9 is provided around the substrate holder 4. The space 10 outside the target holder 8 and the holder holder 9 is connected to an exhaust chamber 12 via a gas flow adjusting plate 11. The exhaust chamber 12 has a shutter 13 for covering the substrate 3 until film forming conditions are ready.
A vacuum pump 14 is connected to the exhaust chamber 12.

A plurality of gas supply ports 15 are provided on the exhaust chamber 12 side of the target holder 8. These gas supply ports 15 open toward the center of the film forming chamber 7.
As described above, the gas supply port 15 is provided at a distance in the vicinity of the end of the target 2, and the distance in the vicinity is the target 2.
Is set to be 10% or less of the diameter (or length) of the light emitting element. Further, the gas supply port 15 may be provided at one place, but may be set at one place or a plurality of places depending on the gas diffusion characteristics. In this embodiment, the gas supply port 15 is divided into five places on the arc, but the average of the total flow rate is set so that the gas is discharged from the exhaust port side of the film forming chamber 7 in the direction opposite to the exhaust direction. ing.
The gas supply port 15 is connected to a cylinder 17 via a pipe 16. As the gas, argon or nitrogen is often used, but other gases may be used or mixed to change the film quality.

In such a configuration, when a gas is guided from the cylinder 17 to the gas supply port 15 via the pipe 16, the gas is supplied into the film forming chamber 7 as shown by the arrow B, and as shown by the arrow C. The gas is exhausted into the space 10 and the exhaust chamber 12 is
And exhausted by the vacuum pump 14 as shown by the arrow E. The pressure in the film forming chamber 7 is set based on the condition specification of the film forming process. Typical pressures are, for example, 1.4 Pa before the vacuum pump and 2.6 Pa at the gas supply port outlet 15.

As described above, the direction in which the gas is introduced from the gas supply port 15 is set to be opposite to the direction from the film forming chamber 7 to the exhaust chamber 12. In such a state, first, the shutter 13 is moved so as to cover the entire surface of the substrate 3, and the target 2 is moved in the film forming chamber 7 by the high frequency power supply 5.
When plasma is generated just below and the temperature is stable enough,
A bias voltage is applied to the substrate holder 4 by the high-frequency power source 6, the shutter 13 is moved to the exhaust chamber 12 and removed from the substrate 3, and a film is formed on the substrate 3 to a predetermined thickness.

The above structure is a single-wafer type in which one substrate is inserted, but may be a batch type in which a plurality of substrates 3 are arranged in a substrate holder. Further, the gas supply port 15 is provided at the end of the target 2, but the gas outlet end of the gas supply port 15 may be configured to slightly enter the space between the target and the substrate.

With the above configuration, the pressure distribution on the substrate 3 in the film forming chamber 7 becomes uniform in the radial direction, the plasma density becomes uniform, and the distribution of the film thickness formed on the substrate 3 becomes smaller. It has the effect of becoming uniform.

This effect is quantitatively shown below in comparison with the conventional example. FIG. 3 shows a configuration of a conventional sputtering apparatus.
The gas supply port 15 ′ is connected to the space 10 on the side opposite to the exhaust chamber 12 when viewed from the film forming chamber 7. Therefore, the gas is supplied from the gas supply port 15 ′ as shown by the arrow B, passes through the film forming chamber 7 as shown by the arrow C, is exhausted to the exhaust chamber 12 as shown by the arrow D, and is exhausted as shown by the arrow E. It is evacuated by the vacuum pump 14.

FIG. 4 shows the result of the pressure distribution in the apparatus obtained by performing a lean gas flow analysis by the direct simulation Monte Carlo method for the conventional example and the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the horizontal axis corresponds to between the target holder 8-the target 2-the target 8-(gas flow adjusting plate)-the exhaust chamber 12 shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and the vertical axis represents the pressure (Pa ). The gas is argon gas and the flow rate is 1
This is the case of 00 cm ³ / min. As is clear from this figure, in the conventional example, the pressure distribution is non-uniform over the length of the target, whereas in the present invention, the effect of making the pressure distribution uniform is large.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The target 2, the target holder 8, and the substrate holder 4 and the holder holder 9, although not shown in the figure, are rectangular. This embodiment is applied to a sputtering apparatus for a large liquid crystal substrate. With such a configuration, a large rectangular substrate can be processed in a small space, and the size of the apparatus can be reduced compared to the size of the substrate.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. This is a configuration often used for a large-sized sputter film forming apparatus using magnetron plasma. Since electrons are held by a magnetic field, a high plasma density can be held. The structure is
Move the magnet 18 on the rod 19 to the back of the target 2,
The plasma is moved right and left in the film forming chamber 7 to make the film thickness uniform. Also in this case, since the gas supply port 15 is used, and the pressure distribution of the gas becomes uniform in the film forming chamber 7, there is an effect that a film forming speed is high and a process with a uniform film thickness can be obtained.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5, and 6 is that the gap between the outside of the target holder 8 and the holder holder 9 and the vacuum vessel 1 is small, and the space 10 is It is only slightly present in the foreground. In this case, the gas circulates in the film forming chamber 7 and goes to the exhaust chamber 12. With this configuration, there is an effect that the entire device can be reduced in size.

FIG. 9 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. Gas is supplied from a plurality of systems.
The first gas is supplied from a cylinder 17 via a pipe 16
As in the above embodiment, the gas is introduced from the gas supply port 15 of the target holder 8 in the direction opposite to the exhaust direction as shown by the arrow B. The second gas supply is performed such that the gas flows from the second gas supply port 20 provided in the vacuum vessel 1 to the entire apparatus as shown by the arrow F on the side opposite to the exhaust chamber 12 when viewed from the film forming chamber 7. It is intended to be supplied. The second gas supply port 20 is connected to a cylinder 17 'via a pipe 16'. The gas of the cylinder 17 and the gas of the cylinder 17 'may be the same gas, but may be different from each other in order to obtain the functional characteristics of the film.

In this case, the gas flow of the first supply and the gas flow of the second supply collide on the substrate and are exhausted from the side as shown by arrow G. With such a configuration, the concentration of the mixed gas can be controlled by controlling the flow rates of the gas supply ports 15 and 20, and there is an effect that the properties of the functional film can be changed.

FIG. 10 shows a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
In a configuration in which the gas supply is performed from a plurality of systems, the first gas supply has a structure in which the direction of the gas supply port 15 is provided perpendicular to the target surface and the gas is released perpendicular to the substrate surface. You can also. In this case, while the gas supplied from the second gas supply port 20 passes through the film forming chamber 7 sandwiched between the target 2 and the substrate 3, the pressure decreases due to pressure loss. The pressure is recovered, and a portion having a flow rate flows from the middle of the film forming chamber 7 to the space 10 in the lateral direction, thereby forming the entire flow.

In such a configuration, the gas from the first gas supply does not reach the entire surface of the substrate as compared with the embodiment of FIG. 9, but the pressure loss on the substrate due to the second gas supply, In particular, there is an effect that the pressure reduction on the side close to the exhaust chamber 12 is prevented and the pressure distribution is made uniform.

The above is an example of a parallel plate capacitively coupled plasma type sputtering apparatus and a parallel plate magnetron capacitively coupled plasma type sputtering apparatus. However, the present invention relates to the use of another plasma source such as an inductive coupling type or an ECR type. The present invention can be commonly applied to the used apparatus, and can also be applied to a plasma CVD apparatus, an etching apparatus, a thermal CVD apparatus, a cleaning apparatus, and a drying apparatus.

For example, FIG. 11 shows a seventh embodiment of the present invention. This is an application example of the present invention to a thermal CVD apparatus. In place of the target 2 in the above-described embodiments, a wall 21 is provided, a heater 22 is provided in place of the high-frequency power sources 5 and 6, the substrate 3 is heated to a predetermined temperature, and the surface of the substrate 3 is subjected to CVD. A film is generated.
As the gas from the gas supply port 15, a compound gas containing silicon or an organic gas containing a metal such as copper or aluminum is used. With such a configuration, there is an effect that a film of the reactant can be uniformly formed on the substrate.

[0036]

According to the present invention, a target composed of a material of the same system as a film to be formed and a substrate are arranged in a vacuum vessel so as to face each other, a working gas is introduced from a supply port, and an exhaust port is provided. Evacuates the vacuum vessel from and controls it to a predetermined gas pressure,
In a sputtering apparatus that generates plasma and deposits a substance in a target on a substrate, the gas supply port is arranged near the target, and gas is released in a direction opposite to the exhaust direction, thereby achieving uniformity. Sputter film formation can be performed in a high state, and processing accuracy can be improved.
Productivity is improved. Further, the effect can be expected by applying to not only the sputtering apparatus but also a thermal CVD apparatus and the like. Furthermore, the effect can be expected when applied to the manufacture of thin film devices and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional plan view illustrating a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a comparison of effects between the embodiment of the present invention and a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan sectional view showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan sectional view showing a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vacuum container, 2 ... Target, 3 ... Substrate, 4 ... Substrate holder, 5 ... High frequency power supply, 6 ... High frequency power supply, 7 ... Film formation chamber, 8 ... Target press, 9 ... Holder press, 10 ... Space, 11 ... Gas flow adjusting plate, 12 ... exhaust chamber, 13 ... shutter, 14 ... vacuum pump, 15, 15 '... gas supply port, 16, 16' ... piping, 17, 17 '... cylinder, 18 ...
Magnet, 19 rod, 20 second gas supply port, 21
Wall, 22 ... heater.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4K029 CA05 DA02 DA06 5F045 AA19 BB02 BB08 DP04 EE20 EF02 EF04 EF08 EF18 EF20 5F103 AA08 BB06 BB16 NN10 RR01 RR04

Claims (7)

[Claims] In a flat vacuum vessel, a target and a substrate, which are made of a material of the same system as a film to be formed, are arranged to face each other, a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port, and the vacuum is supplied from an exhaust port. In a substrate processing apparatus that exhausts the inside of the container to control a predetermined gas pressure, generates plasma, and deposits a substance in the target on the substrate, the gas supply port is connected to the exhaust port side of the target. A substrate processing apparatus disposed within a close distance and configured to introduce the working gas in a direction opposite to an exhaust direction. 2. A flat vacuum container having a target and a substrate made of a material of the same system as the film to be formed facing each other, disposed in a flat vacuum vessel, and a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port. In the substrate processing apparatus that exhausts the inside of the container and controls the gas pressure to a predetermined gas pressure, generates plasma, and forms a film of the substance in the target on the substrate, the plurality of gas supply ports are provided,
Some of the gas supply ports are disposed on the opposite side of the exhaust port when viewed from the target and the substrate, and the other supply ports are disposed within a vicinity distance of the target on the exhaust port side. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: 3. The distance between the target and the exhaust port side is 10% of the target length from the target end.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is configured to have the following distance. 4. A substrate processing method in which a substrate is placed in a flat container, a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port, the inside of the container is exhausted from an exhaust port, the pressure is controlled to a predetermined gas pressure, and the substrate is processed. In the apparatus, the gas supply port is disposed on the exhaust port side, and the working gas is introduced in a direction opposite to an exhaust direction. 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said substrate processing is performed by using plasma sputtering. 6. A flat vacuum vessel is provided with a target and a substrate made of the same system material as the film to be formed facing each other, and a working gas is introduced from a gas supply port, and the vacuum is introduced from an exhaust port. In the substrate processing method of evacuating the container and controlling the gas pressure to a predetermined value, generating plasma, and forming a substance in the target on the substrate, the gas supply port is disposed within a distance close to the target. And a step of introducing the working gas in a direction opposite to the exhaust direction. 7. A thin-film device manufactured by using the substrate processing method according to claim 6.