JP2002324786A - Plasma treatment unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to easily change the conditions of feeding of gas to the interior of a vacuum treating chamber and to enable the uniform treatment speed of the gas in a plasma treatment unit. SOLUTION: A plasma treatment unit is constituted in a structure that a dielectric ceiling plate 2 and a multiple coil 3 used as a high-frequency electrode are provided on the top cover 8 of a vacuum treating chamber 1, which is provided with an exhaust path 6 and has a substrate stage 4 for placing a substrate 5 to be treated; a component 13 for gas introduction communicating with a gas introducing path 7 provided in the cover 8; and a component 19 for gas diffusion are detachably mounted on the side, which faces the chamber 1, of the cover 8 as components different from the cover 8 of the chamber 1. When gas blow-off conditions optimum to the conditions of treatment of the substrate 5 are set, the components 13 and 19 have only to be exchanged. As process gas is radially diffused by the component 19, an increase in the uniformity of the gas concentration of the process gas, that is, an increase in the uniformity of the treatment speed of the process gas becomes possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus such as a dry etching apparatus used for manufacturing an electronic device such as a liquid crystal, and more specifically, to generate a plasma by exciting a gas in a vacuum processing chamber using an electromagnetic wave. And a plasma processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a plasma processing apparatus that excites a gas in a vacuum processing chamber by using an electromagnetic wave and processes a substrate by using generated plasma, a top surface of the vacuum processing chamber in contact with a dielectric top plate is applied to a surface of the substrate. On the other hand, it is configured to blow out a shower-like gas uniformly. A conventional plasma processing apparatus of this type will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum processing chamber, 6 denotes an exhaust path, 8 denotes an upper cover, and a gas introduction path 7 is provided.
4 is a substrate stage arranged in the vacuum processing chamber 1,
The substrate 5 to be processed is placed. The top plate 2 made of a dielectric is provided on the upper lid 8, and 12 is a heater for heating the dielectric top plate 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a multiplex coil as an electrode disposed on the dielectric top plate 2, and high frequency power is supplied from a high frequency power supply 9 via an application shaft 10.

After the gas is exhausted from the vacuum processing chamber 1 through the exhaust path 6, gas is introduced from a gas introduction path 7 provided in the upper lid 8. The gas is blown into the vacuum processing chamber 1 in a uniform state. Is configured. High frequency power is applied from a high frequency power supply 9 to the multiplex coil 3 provided on the dielectric top plate 2 to radiate an electromagnetic wave, and the electromagnetic wave excites a gas in the vacuum processing chamber 1, and generated plasma 11 The substrate 5 placed on the substrate stage 4 is processed.

[0005]

In general, when performing plasma processing, a thin film on a substrate can be processed uniformly by generating plasma uniformly at a target location in a vacuum processing chamber. As a means for generating uniform plasma, it is effective to supply a process gas uniformly to the substrate surface.

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, since the gas introduction path 7 is directly formed on the upper lid 8 to which the dielectric top plate 2 and the multiple coils 3 are attached, the gas flow is determined in order to obtain the optimum processing conditions. When the supply conditions were changed, it was necessary to replace the entire top lid 8.

[0007] Therefore, the structure is not advantageous in shortening the time required for changing members for improving the optimum processing conditions required for the plasma processing apparatus, improving maintainability, and reducing the cost of parts. Also, when a gas is blown straight to the substrate, the gas concentration is high and the gas is actively excited in the substrate portion immediately below the outlet, and the processing is performed at a high speed. Since the processing is slow, there has been a problem that the processing speed is not uniform over the entire substrate.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-85409 discloses that a gas supply section is provided so that a processing gas can be uniformly supplied to the entire surface even when processing a substrate having a large area, so that a tip portion from above a central point of the substrate. A gas supply pipe which is constituted by a plurality of gas supply pipes extending radially toward an outer peripheral portion, and the gas supply pipe is provided with a gas blowing hole is disclosed.

[0009] However, the gas supply section is fixed to the vacuum chamber by a bracket or the like, and there are some problems when the gas supply conditions need to be changed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a plasma processing apparatus capable of easily changing gas supply conditions and realizing a uniform processing speed.

[0011]

In order to achieve this object, a plasma processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an exhaust means for exhausting a vacuum processing chamber; and a gas supply means provided on an upper lid of the vacuum processing chamber. And a coil-shaped electrode disposed on the upper lid, and a gas that communicates with a gas introduction path provided in the upper lid on the vacuum processing chamber side of the upper lid as a separate component from the upper lid of the vacuum processing chamber. And a component for introduction, which excites a gas introduced into the vacuum processing chamber by electromagnetic waves radiated from the coil-shaped electrode to generate plasma, and a substrate mounted on a substrate stage in the vacuum processing chamber. A plasma processing apparatus for performing processing, wherein a gas diffusion component is detachably attached to a gas blowing hole of the gas introduction component.

According to this configuration, the gas introduction part and the gas diffusion part can be replaced easily and in a short time so that good processing conditions can be obtained, and good plasma processing can be performed with high productivity.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a vacuum processing chamber, 6 denotes an exhaust path, 8 denotes an upper cover, and a gas introduction path 7 is provided. Reference numeral 4 denotes a substrate stage installed in the vacuum processing chamber 1, on which a substrate 5 to be processed is placed. The dielectric top plate 2 is mounted on the upper lid 8, and 12 is a heater for heating the dielectric top plate 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a multiplex coil as an electrode disposed on the dielectric top plate 2, and an application shaft 10
, High-frequency power is applied from a high-frequency power supply 9.

In the present invention, a gas introduction component 13 communicating with the gas introduction passage 7 is detachably attached to the vacuum processing chamber side of the upper cover as a member separate from the upper cover 8. The gas diffusion component 19 is provided in the section.

FIG. 2 shows the gas introducing component 13. In order to reduce the electrical influence on the plasma generated by the gas excitation, the projected area on the substrate 5 and the dielectric top plate 2 is minimized. It has a cross-shaped shape. A plurality of gas blowing holes are arranged in the cross direction of the gas introduction component 13.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a gas diffusion component 19 attached to the center of the gas introduction component 13 of FIG. 2, and includes a nozzle connecting component 14, a gas diffusion nozzle 15 and a nozzle holder 16. It is configured.

Next, the operation of the plasma processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. The substrate 5 is placed on the substrate stage 4 in the vacuum processing chamber 1, and the inside of the vacuum processing chamber 1 is exhausted through the exhaust path 6. After the exhaust, the process gas is introduced through the gas introduction path 7 in the upper lid 8, and the gas diffusion hole attached to the gas outlet hole of the gas introduction part 13 communicating with the gas introduction path 7 and the center of the gas introduction part 13. It is blown out from the component 19 and is evenly distributed on the substrate. After the inside of the vacuum processing chamber 1 is controlled to a pressure suitable for processing, high-frequency power is applied from the high-frequency power source 9 to the multiplex coil 3 on the dielectric top plate 2, and the process gas is generated by the electromagnetic waves generated by the multiplex coil 3. The substrate 5 placed on the substrate stage 4 in the vacuum processing chamber 1 is processed by the excited and generated plasma. After the processing, the vacuum processing chamber 1
The residual gas inside is exhausted, the substrate 5 is taken out, and the next substrate is carried in.

According to the plasma processing apparatus configured as described above, the gas introduction component is detachably attached to the vacuum processing chamber 1 side of the upper lid 8 as a separate component from the upper lid 8 to which the electrode components are attached. Accordingly, when changing the gas supply conditions, for example, parameters such as the number and position of the blowout holes and the blowout hole diameter, according to the processing conditions, it is possible to reduce the number of replacement parts and shorten the replacement time accompanying the change.

A gas diffusion component 19 for diffusing gas is attached to the center of the gas introduction component 13, and the gas coming out of the center hole of the gas introduction component 13 passes through the inside of the nozzle connection component 14. It passes through and is emitted from the cylindrical surface of the nozzle 15. Since the nozzle 15 radially diffuses the gas, the problem that the processing speed immediately below the outlet is high is conventionally improved, and the processing speed is uniform over the entire substrate 5.

The gas diffusion nozzle 15 is made of a sintered metal formed by molding and sintering a metal powder having corrosion resistance to gas. The gas permeability can be changed by changing the particle size of the powder metal. It is possible, and more detailed condition setting can be performed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, by changing the shape of the nozzle retainer 16, it is possible to adjust the direction and amount of gas to be blown out.

[0022]

As described above, according to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, when the optimal gas blowing conditions are set for the processing conditions, the gas components can be introduced without disassembling the electrode parts attached to the upper lid. Changes can be made by replacing only the parts and the gas diffusion parts. Further, since the process gas is radially diffused by the gas diffusion component, variation in the processing speed due to local gas concentration bias is reduced, and therefore, the processing speed can be made uniform.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a gas supply component according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a gas diffusion component according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a gas diffusion component according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional plasma processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum processing chamber 2 Dielectric top plate 3 Multiple coil 4 Substrate stage 5 Substrate 6 Exhaust path 7 Gas introduction path 8 Top lid 9 High frequency power supply 10 Application shaft 12 Dielectric top plate heating heater 13 Gas introduction part 14 Nozzle connection part 15 Gas diffusion nozzles 16, 17, 18 Nozzle holder 19 Gas diffusion parts

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4K030 EA05 FA04 FA14 KA12 LA18 5F004 AA02 BA20 BB11 BB28 BB32 BC03

Claims (3)

[Claims] An evacuation unit for evacuating the vacuum processing chamber; a gas supply unit provided on an upper lid of the vacuum processing chamber; a coiled electrode disposed on the upper lid; As a separate part from the upper lid, the upper lid is configured on the vacuum processing chamber side, and a gas introduction component communicating with a gas introduction path provided in the upper lid, and the vacuum is generated by electromagnetic waves radiated from the coiled electrode. A plasma processing apparatus that excites a gas introduced into a processing chamber to generate plasma, and processes a substrate mounted on a substrate stage in the vacuum processing chamber, wherein a gas is diffused into a gas blowing hole of the gas introduction component. Plasma processing apparatus characterized in that parts for mounting are detachably mounted. 2. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas introduction part and the gas diffusion part are replaceable. 3. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas diffusion component is attached to a central portion of the gas introduction component.