JP2003311145A - Plasma treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plasma treatment apparatus of which the cover case can easily be cleaned. <P>SOLUTION: The plasma treatment apparatus comprises a lower part electrode 3, a cover case 10 covering over the lower part electrode 3 in a freely openable and closable manner, a gas supply part 12 for supplying a gas for plasma generation to a treatment chamber 11 in the cover case 10, and a vacuum pump 15 for vacuum-evacuating the treatment chamber 11 and which carries out plasma treatment of surface of a work 4 in the treatment chamber 11. The inner surface of the cover case 10 is made specular by sticking a glass plate 7 or the like. Accordingly, the cover case 10 can easily be cleaned by opening the cover case 10, wiping the inner surface of the cover case 10 and removing particles adhering to the inner surface of the cover case 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

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 for performing plasma processing on a surface of a work in a closed space whose pressure is reduced.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plasma processing apparatus is for cleaning the surface of a work such as a substrate. The work is placed in a processing chamber in a lid case, and plasma is generated inside the work to deposit ions and the like on the surface of the work. It is supposed to collide.

When the ions collide with the surface of the work, the surface of the work is etched and the etched fine substances (particles) are scattered around. When the scattered particles fall on the surface of the work and adhere to the work, the work is contaminated. Therefore, conventionally, the inner surface of the lid case is roughened with minute irregularities, and the scattered particles are positively attached by the roughening effect, which causes the particles to fall onto the work surface and I was trying to keep it clean.

[0004]

In the conventional plasma processing apparatus, as the plasma processing is performed, the amount of particles adhering to the inner surface of the lid case increases, and the lid case becomes heavily soiled. Therefore, the inner surface of the lid case must be cleaned by appropriately wiping it.

However, since the inner surface of the lid case of the conventional plasma processing apparatus is roughened so that particles are likely to adhere, the particles are strongly stuck to the inner surface, and therefore cannot be easily cleaned. It was In particular, the humidity in the air adheres to the rough surface, and the particles adhere extremely strongly due to this humidity, which makes cleaning even more difficult.
Therefore, conventionally, the lid case is removed from the plasma processing apparatus and cleaned by blast cleaning with a dedicated cleaning liquid. However, there has been a problem that such a conventional lid case cleaning requires a great deal of labor and time.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus which can easily clean a lid case.

[0007]

The present invention comprises a lower electrode,
An upper electrode, a lid case that is openably and closably covered on the lower electrode, a gas supply unit that supplies a plasma generation gas to a processing chamber in the lid case, and a vacuum suction unit that vacuum-sucks the processing chamber. A plasma processing apparatus for generating plasma in the processing chamber to perform plasma processing on a surface of a work in the processing chamber, wherein an inner surface of the lid case is in a mirror state.

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, since the inner surface of the lid case is in a mirror surface state, the lid case is not removed from the plasma processing apparatus, but can be easily cleaned by wiping it in an open state above the lower electrode. can do.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an opening 2a is provided in a central portion of a base portion 2 which is a horizontally arranged base portion, and a lower electrode 3 is mounted in the opening 2a from below via an insulating member 3a. ing. The upper surface of the lower electrode 3 serves as a work mounting portion on which the substrate 4 that is the work to be processed is mounted.

A plate-shaped ceramic board member 5 is installed on the upper surface of the lower electrode 3. On the board member 5, the substrate 4, which is a workpiece to be processed, is placed. A lid case 10 is covered above the base portion 2 so as to be openable and closable by raising and lowering by a not-shown raising and lowering means. When the lid case 10 is lowered, the lower end portion of the lid case 10 contacts the seal member 6 on the upper surface of the base portion 2.
Thereby, the lower electrode 3, the base portion 2 and the lid case 1
The space surrounded by 0 is closed to form a processing chamber 11 which is a closed space for performing plasma processing. Lid case 1
The inner surface of No. 0 is mirror-finished by installing the glass plate 7 or the like. Of course, the inner surface of the lid case 10 may be mirror-finished to have a mirror-finished state. Alternatively, a fluororesin coating film having high lubricity may be formed on the inner surface thereof.

An exhaust hole 10a is provided at a side portion of the lid case 10, and an air vent section 13, a vacuum gauge 14 and a vacuum pump 15 which is a vacuum suction means are connected to the exhaust hole 10a. By driving the vacuum pump 15,
The inside of the processing chamber 11 is evacuated, and the degree of vacuum inside the processing chamber 11 is detected by the vacuum gauge 14. Also, the atmospheric vent section 1
By opening 3, the atmosphere is introduced into the processing chamber 11 and the vacuum is broken.

An air supply hole 2b is provided in the base portion 2, and the air supply hole 2b is connected to the gas supply portion 12. The gas supply unit 12 supplies a plasma generating gas such as oxygen gas or fluorine-based gas to the processing chamber 11. Further, the lower electrode 3 is connected to the high frequency power supply unit 16,
A high-frequency voltage is applied between the grounded lid case 10 and the lower electrode 3 by driving. That is, the lid case 10 also serves as the upper electrode.

With the lid case 10 in contact with the upper surface of the base portion 2, the vacuum pump 15 is driven to perform vacuum suction from the exhaust hole 10a, whereby the inside of the processing chamber 11 is evacuated. After that, a plasma generating gas is supplied from the air supply hole 2b of the base part 2 and a high frequency voltage is applied between the lower electrode 3 and the lid case 10 by the high frequency power supply part 16 to generate plasma discharge in the processing chamber 11. Occurs and lower electrode 3
Plasma processing of the substrate 4 placed on the substrate is performed. Therefore, the vacuum pump 15, the gas supply unit 12, and the high-frequency power supply unit 16 serve as plasma generation means for generating plasma in the processing chamber 11.

The plasma processing apparatus is constructed as described above, and its operation will be described below. First, the substrate 4
Is placed on the board member 5 installed on the upper surface of the lower electrode 3. Then, the lid case 10 is lowered to close the processing chamber 11.

Next, the inside of the processing chamber 11 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 15. Next, the processing chamber 11 is operated by the gas supply unit 12.
With the plasma generating gas supplied therein, the high frequency power supply 16 is driven to apply a high frequency voltage between the lower electrode 3 and the lid case 10. As a result, plasma is generated in the processing chamber 11, and the upper surface of the substrate 4 is etched.

Further, due to the generation of plasma, gas ions and the like collide with the upper surface of the substrate 4 for etching, and scattered substances (particles) scatter to the periphery and adhere to the inner surface of the lid case 10. Therefore, when the dirt on the inner surface becomes severe, the lid case 10 is opened, and cleaning is performed by wiping with a cloth. In this case, since the inner surface of the lid case 10 is mirror-finished by the glass plate 7, the particles are only lightly attached to it, and therefore can be easily cleaned and removed. Particles are generally black or dark, so if the inner surface of the lid case 10 is made clear, such as white or transparent, the degree of adhesion of particles (dirt) can be easily visually recognized by the operator, and the timing of cleaning execution is appropriate. Can judge.

Although the particles tend to scatter toward the inner surface of the lid case 10, since the inner surface of the lid case 10 is in a mirror state, the particles are hard to adhere. Further, since the plasma generating gas is blown up from the air supply hole 2b located below the lid case 10, the gas is exhausted from the exhaust hole 10a together with the particles scattered near the inner surface of the lid case 10. Therefore, the processing chamber 11 can be kept in a clean state. Further, since the board member 5 is installed on the upper surface of the lower electrode 3, it is possible to prevent the generation of particles due to the etching of the lower electrode 3.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the inner surface of the lid case is mirror-finished, the lid case is removed from the plasma processing apparatus, and the lid case is opened and wiped off. And can be easily cleaned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Lower electrode 4 substrates 7 glass plate 10 Lid case (upper electrode) 11 processing room 12 Gas supply section 15 Vacuum pump

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Ryuji Nagadome             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tetsuhiro Iwai             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Naoto Yoshida             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 3B116 AA01 AA46 AB01 BB77 BB89                       BC01 CD24                 4G075 AA30 AA52 AA57 BB10 BC06                       DA02 EB42 EE12 FA01 FB06                       FC20

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A lower electrode, an upper electrode, a lid case that is openably and closably covered on the lower electrode, a gas supply unit for supplying a plasma generating gas to a processing chamber in the lid case, and a processing chamber. A plasma processing apparatus comprising: a vacuum suction means for vacuum-sucking, wherein plasma is generated in a processing chamber to perform plasma processing on a surface of a work in the processing chamber, wherein an inner surface of the lid case is mirror-finished. Plasma processing apparatus. 2. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a glass plate is installed in the lid case to make the inner surface of the lid case a mirror surface. 3. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an exhaust hole is provided in the lid case.