JP2002212730A - Film forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To strip a formed film stuck on the surface of an electrode to easily remove out of a chamber. SOLUTION: This film forming apparatus is provided for forming the film on a substrate by providing the RF electrode 13 in a vacuum chamber 11 housing the substrate, on which the film is to be formed, and utilizing the discharge action between the substrate and the RF electrode 13, and the formed film stuck on the RF electrode 13 is stripped by supplying a purge gas from a gas supply structure 16 provided in the vacuum chamber 11 and sucked and removed together with the purge gas by a gas suction structure 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus having electrodes such as a plasma CVD apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows a plate heater 52 also serving as a substrate holder in a vacuum chamber 51, and an RF heater provided on an opposing surface thereof.
This is a parallel plate type plasma CVD apparatus provided with electrodes 53. In such a plasma CVD apparatus, the inside of the vacuum chamber 51 is evacuated to a vacuum atmosphere via a valve 55 by a vacuum pump, and then heated by a plate heater 52 while a thin film material is formed through a valve 54. Alternatively, several kinds of compound gases are introduced, and the RF electrode 53 is driven to generate glow discharge to generate plasma, thereby forming a thin film on the substrate disposed on the plate heater 52.

[0003] In such a plasma CVD apparatus, a generated film is also formed on the RF electrode 53, which hinders the discharge operation. Therefore, in order to remove such a generated film, for example, a method of introducing an etching gas to perform plasma etching (dry etching method) or a method of disassembling an electrode portion and performing wet etching by an acid bath, blast, or the like. (Wet etching method)
Is being done.

[0004]

However, in the case of the dry etching method, since the etching rate is low, it takes time to remove the formed film. In addition, the cost of gas is high, and the maintenance cost increases. In the case of the wet etching method, it is necessary to open the chamber to the atmosphere.
Unless the temperature of the heater is lowered in a chamber with a built-in heater, heat is transferred to other members in the chamber, and the heat adversely affects the temperature.
Since the electrode portion needs to be disassembled, the operation is newly performed, and the maintenance cost is increased.

The present invention provides a film forming apparatus which solves the above-mentioned problems, suppresses maintenance costs for removing the generated film, and can easily and quickly remove the generated film attached to the electrode. The purpose is to.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a film forming apparatus including an electrode in a chamber for accommodating a substrate on which a film is to be formed.
A film forming apparatus for forming a film on a substrate by using a discharge action between a substrate and an electrode, in which a purge gas is supplied by gas supply means provided in a chamber to remove a generated film attached to the electrode, It is characterized in that the generated film is sucked and removed together with the purge gas by the suction means.

[0007] By introducing the purge gas into the chamber in this way, the electrode heated to a high temperature during the film forming process is cooled. In addition to the separation from the electrode, the flow of the purge gas promotes the separation of the generated film from the electrode.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a plasma CVD apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a source gas is introduced into a vacuum chamber 11 through a valve 14, and a vacuum pump is formed through a valve 15.
The installation of the RF electrode 13 and the plate heater 12 on which the substrate is arranged is the same as in a conventional plasma CVD apparatus.

Further, in this embodiment, the gas supply mechanism 1 is provided so that the purge gas is supplied along the surface of the RF electrode 13.
6 is provided in the vacuum chamber 11, and a gas suction mechanism 17 for sucking such a purge gas along the surface of the RF electrode 13 is provided. In this embodiment,
The gas supply mechanism 16 and the gas suction mechanism 17 are installed so that the purge gas flows along the surface of the RF electrode 13. However, the installation method is not limited to this, and the purge gas may be R.
The gas supply mechanism 16 may be installed so as to be supplied obliquely or vertically to the F electrode 13, and the gas suction mechanism 17 may also be installed obliquely or vertically to the RF electrode 13. Then, the purge gas or the like may be sucked from this direction.

Next, the operation of the plasma CVD apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The film forming process itself is the same as the conventional one, and the description is omitted. After performing the film forming process for a certain period of time, when performing maintenance of the apparatus, the gas supply mechanism 17 is operated in a state where the substrate on which the film is to be formed is not accommodated and the valves 14 and 15 are closed, For example, N2 gas is blown along the RF electrode 13 as a purge gas. During the film formation, the RF electrode 13 which has been heated by the radiant heat or discharge from the plate heater 12 to have a high temperature is cooled by the purge gas. With this cooling, the RF electrode 13
Due to the difference in thermal shrinkage between the film and the product film attached to the surface,
Stress is generated in the generated film, and a phenomenon of peeling of the generated film from the surface of the RF electrode 13 occurs.

Further, the generated film peeled as described above is sucked together with the purge gas by the gas suction mechanism 17 disposed opposite to the gas supply mechanism 16 with the RF electrode 13 interposed therebetween.
The separation of the generated film from the RF electrode 13 can be promoted by the flow of the purge gas, and the cause of dust in the vacuum chamber 11 can be eliminated. Further, since the generated film can be removed in a vacuum atmosphere, it is not necessary to wait for the heater to be cooled, and the time required for maintenance can be reduced.

In this embodiment, an example of application to a plasma CVD apparatus has been described. However, application to a film forming apparatus using electrodes such as a sputtering apparatus is also possible.

Since the operation of removing the generated film in the film forming apparatus of the present invention is performed while the film forming process is stopped,
The inside of the vacuum chamber may be an atmospheric pressure atmosphere instead of a vacuum atmosphere. Therefore, at the time of maintenance of the RF electrode 13, with the chamber door opened, a hood 18 covering the opening and having an air suction hole 19 is installed, and a gas supply mechanism 16 and a gas suction mechanism are provided near the hood 18. Mechanism 17
May be provided. For example, FIG. 2 shows a film forming apparatus as one of modified examples of the present invention, in which a hood 18 having an air suction port 19 is installed on the gas supply mechanism 16 side of the vacuum chamber 11 and installed outside. The purge gas supplied from the gas supply mechanism 16 is supplied to the air suction port 19.
And is supplied into the vacuum chamber 11. And
The purge gas introduced into the vacuum chamber 11 together with the generated film separated from the surface of the RF electrode 13 and the gas suction mechanism 1
7 is discharged from the vacuum chamber 11 to the outside.

Further, on the side of the gas suction mechanism 17 of the vacuum chamber 11, a hood 18 having an air suction hole 19 is provided.
The same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained even with the structure in which is installed.

[0015]

As described above, in the film forming apparatus according to the present invention, the purge gas supplied by the gas supply means peels off the product film adhered to the electrode surface and sucks the film by the gas suction means. As a result, the generated film adhered to the electrode surface can be removed, and the discharge action required for film formation can be easily maintained. In addition, since no special work is required, no maintenance cost is required.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a plasma CVD apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a plasma CVD apparatus according to a modified embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional plasma CVD apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 vacuum chamber 13 RF electrode 16 gas supply mechanism 17 gas suction mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a film forming apparatus, an electrode is provided in a chamber accommodating a substrate on which a film is to be formed, and a film is formed on the substrate by using a discharge action between the substrate and the electrode. And a gas suction means for sucking the purge gas supplied from the gas supply means together with the generated film adhered to the electrode.