JP2003073838A - Apparatus for plasma treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize an apparatus for plasma treatment, which facilitates designing on high-frequency power feeding. SOLUTION: An interconnection 4a for high-frequency power feeding penetrates through a variable valve 70 for adjusting exhaust of a vacuum chamber 2. The valve 70 has a structure of accommodating an inner cylinder 72 both ends of which are opened, so as to be rotatable in an outer cylinder 71 only one end of which is opened, and is penetrated by the interconnection 4a at a part of a closed end 71b of the outer cylinder 71. Thereby, the apparatus for easy designing on the high-frequency power feeding can be realized, because it facilitates detour around an electrode support part of the interconnection.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus having a vacuum chamber for plasma processing. More specifically, the vacuum pressure in the vacuum chamber is adjusted by a variable valve for plasma processing. The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus that also supplies high-frequency power to a plasma processing apparatus. As the plasma processing apparatus, a plasma etcher, plasma CVD, a plasma asher, etc. are typical, but other plasma reactors, etc. are also applicable. A typical object of the plasma processing is a silicon wafer or a substrate such as a plastic film, but other objects to be processed are also applicable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plasma processing apparatus whose symbolic view is shown in FIG. 2 is for processing a substrate 1 by exposing it to plasma.
To this end, the vacuum chamber 2 is configured so that plasma can be generated or plasma can be introduced (see JP-A-10-294307, etc.). The vacuum chamber 2 is provided with a susceptor 3 for holding the substrate 1 to be processed. When the susceptor 3 also serves as an electrode, the susceptor 3 is provided with a wire 4a passing through the support 3a, and A high frequency power of 56 MHz or the like is supplied from a high frequency power source 4 outside the vacuum chamber 2 to the susceptor 3 inside the vacuum chamber 2. The lifter drive mechanism 5 that moves the substrate 1 up and down when loading and unloading the substrate 1, the cooling gas such as helium, or the flow path 6 that transmits a negative pressure suction force for a vacuum chuck is provided to the susceptor 3 and the support 3a.
Etc. are also incorporated (see JP-A-11-149995, JP-A-2000-3953, etc.).

Further, in order to secure a vacuum state necessary for plasma formation and the like, a large opening 2a for exhaust is formed through the vacuum chamber 2, and a vacuum pump 8 with a large valve 7 interposed therein. Are connected so that they can be vacuumed.
A variable valve whose opening can be changed is adopted as the valve 7, and the exhaust amount from the vacuum chamber 2 to the vacuum pump 8 can be adjusted. Further, when the adjustment is automatically controlled based on a process recipe or the like, a controller 9 including a microprocessor or the like is additionally provided, and the vacuum pressure designated by the recipe or the like is used as a control target and the vacuum manometer 9 is used.
The controller 9 controls the opening of the valve 7 to an appropriate state by using the output of a as a feedback signal.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional plasma processing apparatus, many things are accommodated in the supporting portion (support 3a) of the electrode (susceptor 3) which also holds the substrate. In addition, since it is necessary to avoid the mutual interference, the design around the electrodes is troublesome and burdensome, and the manufacturing and assembling are complicated and troublesome. Therefore, when it is possible to supply high-frequency power to the substrate holding portion so that it also serves as an electrode, the wiring 4a for high-frequency power supply can be easily mounted without increasing the troublesome storage in the electrode supporting portion. Is a technical issue. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to realize a plasma processing apparatus that is easy to design and the like related to high-frequency power supply.

[0005]

The first and second solving means invented to solve the above problems are as follows:
The configuration and action and effect will be described below.

[First Solving Means] A plasma processing apparatus according to the first solving means has a vacuum chamber for plasma processing and an exhaust port (a through opening for vacuum suction) as described in claim 1 at the beginning of the application. In a plasma processing apparatus including a variable valve for adjusting exhaust gas, which is connected to or connected to an exhaust passage (vacuum suction passage) communicating with the exhaust valve, and a wiring for supplying high-frequency power from the outside to the inside. The wiring is provided so as to penetrate the bulb.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the first solving means as described above, the wiring for supplying the high frequency penetrates the variable valve for adjusting the exhaust gas.
At the wall of the vacuum chamber, it only needs to pass through the exhaust port. Moreover, since the exhaust port to which such a valve is connected is generally formed in a place different from the electrode supporting portion, the wiring is bypassed to the electrode supporting portion which is heavy in designing and manufacturing. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a plasma processing apparatus that is easy to design for high-frequency power supply.

[Second Solving Means] The plasma processing apparatus of the second solving means is the plasma processing apparatus of the first solving means as described in claim 2 at the beginning of the application, wherein the valve is It is as follows. That is, the valve includes an outer cylinder whose one end is open and the other end is closed, and an inner cylinder whose both ends are open, and the inner cylinder is rotatably housed in the outer cylinder, and The penetration portion of the wiring is located at the closed end surface of the outer cylinder.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the second solving means as described above, since the high frequency supply wiring passes through the inner cavity of the inner cylinder of the valve, it does not interfere with the movable member at all. As a result, the wiring that penetrates the valve can be easily and reliably embodied. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and surely realize a plasma processing apparatus which is easy to design for high-frequency power supply.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With regard to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention achieved by such a solution means, some modes for carrying out this will be described.

The first embodiment of the present invention is the plasma processing apparatus of the above-mentioned solving means, wherein the opening formed through the side peripheral wall of the outer cylinder and the opening formed through the side peripheral wall of the inner cylinder. The valve is formed in such a manner that the degree of overlap with and changes depending on the rotating state of the inner cylinder. Accordingly, the opening degree of the valve and thus the exhaust state can be easily adjusted by rotationally driving the inner cylinder.

A second embodiment of the present invention is the plasma processing apparatus according to the above-mentioned solving means and embodiment, wherein the inner cylinder is rotatably driven by a rotation transmission member having a diameter smaller than that of the inner cylinder. That is. This allows
The rotation speed is decelerated along with the rotation transmission.

With regard to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention achieved by the solving means and the embodiments as described above, a concrete mode for carrying out the apparatus will be described by the following examples.
Note that, in the drawing, the same components as those of the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and therefore the duplicated description will be omitted, and hereinafter, the differences from the related art will be mainly described.

[0014]

Embodiments of the plasma processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 (a) is a symbolic view of a part of a vertical cross-sectional view showing the entire structure thereof, and corresponds to FIG. 2 of a conventional example. Also, FIG.
(B) is a perspective view showing the detailed structure of the exhaust control variable valve.

This plasma processing apparatus is different from the above-mentioned conventional apparatus in that a new valve 70 is introduced in place of the valve 7 as a variable valve for adjusting the exhaust gas, and that the high frequency power source 4 to the susceptor 3 are used. The point is that the wiring 4a for supplying high-frequency electric power to the valve 70 penetrates the valve 70 instead of the support 3a.

The valve 70 has a double ring structure including an outer cylinder 71 and an inner cylinder 72, and the inner cylinder 72 is concentrically and rotatably housed in the inner cavity of the outer cylinder 71. Outer cylinder 71
Has an upper end opened to serve as an inflow port 7a and a lower end serving as a closed end surface 71b. The closed end surface 71b
Includes an electric motor 7c controlled by the controller 9
And the wiring 4a moved from the support 3a are attached without impairing the airtightness. Further, a large opening 71a is formed through the side peripheral wall of the outer cylinder 71,
The tip of the branch pipe 74 protruding therefrom serves as the outflow port 7b.

The inner cylinder 72 is composed of a cylinder body whose both ends are opened, and an opening 72a is formed through the side peripheral wall thereof.
The position and size of the opening 72a correspond to that of the outer cylinder 71, and the degree of overlap between the openings 71a and 72a is the outer cylinder 7.
The inner tube 72 expands, narrows or changes in accordance with the rotating state of the inner cylinder 72. In addition, the inner cylinder 72,
A tooth profile is engraved in a portion that comes into contact with the small gear 73 connected to the output shaft of the electric motor 7c, and the inner cylinder 72 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 7c and the small gear 73. Small gear 7
An inner cylinder 72 having a diameter smaller than that of the inner cylinder 72 is adopted so that the rotation can be decelerated at the time of transmission. However, if the rotation cannot be fully reduced by the transmission, an appropriate reduction gear or the like is also attached.

Of the closed end surface 71b of the outer cylinder 71 of the variable valve 70, the wiring 4a extends vertically, for example, through the center of the closed cylinder 71 where there is no risk of interference with the inner cylinder 72. The upper side is the inflow port 7a and the opening 2.
It reaches the susceptor 3 via a, and the lower side reaches the high frequency power source 4 via a blocking capacitor or the like. The wiring 4a
For this, a coaxial cable or the like with an appropriate shield is used.

The use mode and operation of the plasma processing apparatus having such a configuration will be described.

In order to use the valve 70 instead of the valve 7, it is only necessary to reconnect the compatible inflow port 7a and outflow port 7b, so that it can be easily performed. Also,
The wiring 4a is in a state where the upper lid of the vacuum chamber 2 is opened,
The inner cylinder 72 is pulled up from the opening 2a and connected to the susceptor 3.
It is only necessary to remove extra slack so as not to hinder the rotation of the.

Then, the opening of the valve 70 is adjusted depending on the rotation of the inner cylinder 72, but since the rotation is driven by the electric motor 7c, the wiring 4a penetrating the valve 70 is also connected. Although high-frequency power is supplied from the high-frequency power source 4 to the susceptor 3 via the wiring 4, the wiring 4a does not interfere with the operation of the valve 70 and the like, and therefore the conventional usage and operation result can be obtained as a whole device.

Therefore, in this plasma processing apparatus, the introduction of the new valve 70 does not impair the usability and the function, and the wiring portion of the wiring 4a is indispensable for exhausting the existing opening from the support 3a. It has been moved to 2a. As a result, the burden of designing and manufacturing the member arrangement around the susceptor 3 is reduced.

[0023]

[Others] In each of the above embodiments, a parallel plate type counter electrode suitable for processing a substrate is shown.
The electrode structure and the like are not limited thereto, and the present invention can be applied to various forms of vacuum chambers and the like. For example,
The object to be processed may be held laterally or obliquely by a clamp or a vacuum chuck. The rotation transmission from the electric motor 7c to the inner cylinder 72 is not limited to the gear transmission described above, and may be another transmission method such as friction transmission.

[0024]

As is apparent from the above description, in the plasma processing apparatus according to the first solution of the present invention, the electrode support portion is bypassed by wiring the variable valve through the variable valve. As a result, there is an advantageous effect that it is possible to realize a plasma processing apparatus that is easy to design for high-frequency power supply.

Further, in the plasma processing apparatus according to the second solution of the present invention, the wiring is made to easily penetrate the valve without interfering with the movable member, so that the design related to the high frequency power supply is easy. The advantageous effect that a simple plasma processing apparatus can be realized easily and reliably is achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A and 1B are symbol diagrams of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention together with a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing the entire structure, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view of an exhaust control variable valve. .

FIG. 2 is a symbol diagram used in combination with a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing the overall structure of a conventional plasma processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 substrate (processing target, plasma processing target) 2 vacuum chamber (process chamber) 2a opening (exhaust port, vacuum suction through opening) 3 susceptor (substrate loading part that also serves as an electrode, electrode that can hold the processing target) 3a support (susceptor base, susceptor leg, electrode support) 4 high frequency power supply (RF power supply) 4a wiring (RF cable, wiring for high frequency power supply) 5 lifter drive mechanism 6 flow path (cooling air supply path, vacuum chuck) Intake passage) 7 valve (variable valve for adjusting exhaust gas) 7a inflow port (exhaust inflow part) 7b outflow port (exhaust outflow part) 7c electric motor (rotational drive means) 8 vacuum pump 9 controller (control calculation means) 9a vacuum Pressure gauge 70 Valve (variable valve for adjusting exhaust gas) 71 Outer cylinder 71a Opening (through opening of side peripheral wall, opening change portion) 71b Closed end face 72 Inner cylinder 72a Opening (through opening of side peripheral wall, opening change part) 73 Small gear (rotation transmission member) 74 Branch pipe

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plasma processing apparatus in which wiring for supplying high-frequency power penetrates a variable valve for adjusting exhaust gas of a vacuum chamber. 2. The variable valve is configured such that an inner cylinder whose both ends are open is rotatably housed in an outer cylinder whose one end is open, and a penetrating portion of the wiring is a closed end surface of the outer cylinder. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1.