JP2006108178A - Component for semiconductor manufacturing device and semiconductor manufacturing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of stably and effectively reducing the generation of minute dust from a component. <P>SOLUTION: The component for the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprises a component body, and a thermally-sprayed film formed on the surface of the component body by thermally spraying particle oxides, wherein at least part of the particle oxides in the thermally-sprayed film remains unmelted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus component and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus suitable for a plasma etching apparatus and a plasma CVD apparatus.

  In microfabrication in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, isotropic etching and anisotropic etching techniques are used at key points. Plasma etching is one of the common techniques as dry etching that supports this technique.

  For example, plasma etching has a configuration in which an electrode is wound around a quartz container (quartz chamber), and when the introduced etching gas is brought into a low gas pressure state and then a high frequency (RF) is applied, the etching gas becomes plasma. To do.

  In the plasma etching apparatus as described above, an oxide having plasma etching property is applied to the surface of a quartz insulator part on which a quartz chamber part or a Si wafer is mounted by a thermal spraying method, and the sprayed coating causes wear or dust (particles) of the quartz part. ) Has been taken. For example, Patent Literature 1 describes that particles are reduced by applying an Al coating having a thickness of 10 to 500 μm to a quartz chamber part by anodizing, spraying, or sputtering deposition.

Examples of the oxide having plasma etching resistance include Al ₂ O ₃ , Y ₂ O ₃ , ZrO _2, and complex oxides thereof, and they are generally processed by a plasma spraying method.

In recent semiconductor devices, in order to achieve a high degree of integration, the wiring width is being reduced (for example, 0.18 μm, 0.13 μm, and further 0.09 μm or less). In such a narrowed wiring and an element having the wiring, even if extremely small particles (microparticles) having a diameter of about 0.1 μm are mixed, for example, wiring defects and element defects are caused. It is strongly desired to further suppress the generation of fine dust (particles) due to device components.
JP 2002-313780 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that can stably and effectively suppress generation of fine dust generated from the component.

  As a result of intensive research, the inventors of the present invention have remarkably improved the plasma resistance in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as an etching plasma apparatus, and the dust ( We have obtained knowledge that particle reduction and long life of parts can be achieved.

  First, the principle of thermal spraying for melting the supply powder conventionally performed will be described with reference to FIG. The oxide powder as the supply powder 1 is melted by a heating medium 3 using electricity, combustion gas, plasma discharge or the like as a heat source 2, and the molten particles 4 are transferred from the spraying torch 6 using an acceleration gas 5 such as Ar gas. A sprayed coating is obtained by spraying on the material (coating material) 7. According to this method, when the molten particles 4 are deposited on the coating 7, the molten particles 4 are flattened by the collision energy and are deposited as flat particles (lamellar particles) 8 a to have a lamellar structure.

  The inventors of the present invention have found that the plasma resistance is lowered by surface defects and internal defects according to the above-described melt spraying.

Electron microscope of the surface of the sprayed coating by plasma spraying using an oxide powder having plasma etching properties such as Al ₂ O ₃ and using a plasma discharge of Ar and H ₂ or a plasma discharge of Ar and He gas as a heat source A photograph is shown in FIGS. FIG. 2 is an electron micrograph of a thermal spray coating by plasma spraying of Ar and H ₂ , and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. FIG. 4 is an electron micrograph of a thermal spray coating by plasma spraying of Ar and He, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG.

2 and 3, in plasma spraying of Ar and H ₂ , craters are generated by hydrogen reduction, and cracks are generated in flat particles (lamellar) with rapid cooling and solidification when molten particles are deposited. In addition, the presence of fine particles (spatter particles) in which molten particles are scattered and deposited on the sprayed surface can be seen. Moreover, from FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the generation | occurrence | production of the crack by the solidification of a molten particle and adhesion of a scattering particle can be confirmed also in plasma spraying of Ar and He.

  Thus, surface defects are likely to occur when spraying such as plasma spraying.

  In the case of plasma spraying, since the particle size of the oxide powder as the supply powder is as large as about 10 to 45 μm, pores (voids) are generated up to about 15% in the formed sprayed coating and the sprayed surface is rough. The average roughness Ra is about 5 μm. When a plasma etching apparatus component having such a thermal spray coating is used, plasma etching proceeds through the pores. Furthermore, if the surface roughness is large, the plasma discharge is concentrated and hit on the projections of the thermal spray. In addition to the concentration of plasma attacks on internal defects in this way, the thermal spray coating becomes brittle due to surface defects, so the amount of dust (particles) generated due to wear of the thermal spray coating increases, and the service life of parts and equipment Cause a decline.

  In addition, when composite sprayed powder is used, if the sprayed powder is melted and deposited, the separation of the oxide occurs due to the difference in melting point, causing problems that the properties of the original composite oxide are impaired, It becomes difficult to obtain good plasma etching resistance.

  According to the oxide sprayed coating deposited without melting the supply powder at the time of thermal spraying as in the present invention, surface defects can be reduced because molten particles are hardly generated. At the same time, it is possible to increase the density of the thermal spray coating and smooth the surface, thereby reducing internal defects. Furthermore, since the stability of the crystal structure of the oxide constituting the thermal spray coating is increased, the chemical stability of the thermal spray coating can be improved.

  By applying such an oxide spray coating to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus component such as an etching plasma apparatus component, it is possible to improve the plasma resistance and suppress the generation amount of dust (particles), The number of device cleaning and parts replacement can be greatly reduced. Reduction of the generation amount of dust (particles) greatly contributes to the yield improvement of various thin films processed by a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and further, elements and parts using the thin films. In addition, the reduction in the number of device cleanings and part replacements greatly contributes to the improvement of productivity and the reduction of etching costs.

  A component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is a component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising a component main body and a thermal spray coating formed on the surface of the component main body by thermal spraying of oxide particles, At least a part of the oxide particles remains unmelted.

  The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in which at least a part of a surface exposed to a plasma gas is a thermal spray coating formed by thermal spraying of oxide particles, the oxide particles in the thermal spray coating At least a part of is still unmelted.

  According to the present invention, generation of fine dust generated from components is stably and effectively suppressed, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in productivity and an increase in component costs due to device cleaning, component replacement, etc. It is possible to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus component and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that can be applied to the manufacture of manufactured semiconductor elements and that can reduce the etching cost by improving the operating rate.

  Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described.

  To reduce dust (particles) and the number of parts replacement in the plasma etching system, it is effective to apply an oxide spray coating with plasma etching on the surface of parts made of quartz (quartz chamber, quartz insulator). However, the oxide spraying is effective with the coating structure in which unmelted particles are deposited.

For example, if the thermal sprayed coating deposited by melting the Al ₂ O ₃ powder as oxide, Al ₂ O ₃ powder of thermally stable oxidation resistant high α structure (trigonal corundum) is melted solidified The phase change to a highly chemically reactive γ structure (cubic spinel type) having lattice defects causes a decrease in plasma etching resistance.

As in the present invention, by leaving at least part of the oxide particles in the sprayed coating unmelted, at least part of the oxide particles have a crystalline structure before melting (for example, α structure Al ₂ O ₃ ). Since it can be maintained as it is, the chemical stability of the sprayed coating can be increased. Further, since the sprayed coating has a fine particle deposition structure, the gap between the deposited particles is small, the sprayed coating can be made high in density, plasma intrusion due to plasma attack and radical attack (for example, active F or Intrusion of radicals by (O radicals) can be prevented. Furthermore, generation | occurrence | production of the crack to microparticles | fine-particles and adhesion of scattering particles can be suppressed.

  As a result, it is possible to reduce wear due to plasma attack and radical attack, and to reduce the amount of particles generated due to wear, and to improve the plasma resistance and corrosion resistance of the oxide sprayed coating.

The Al ₂ O ₃ sprayed coating desirably has a ratio of Al ₂ O ₃ having an α structure of 70% or more and 98% or less in Al ₂ O ₃ constituting the sprayed coating. This is due to the reason explained below. If the ratio of Al ₂ O _{3 having} an α structure is less than 70%, wear due to plasma etching is likely to occur, and the amount of dust (particles) generated may increase. In addition, when the α ₂ structure Al ₂ O ₃ ratio exceeds 98%, the bond strength between particles may be reduced, and the amount of dust (particles) generated may be increased. A more preferable value of the lower limit ratio is 85%. On the other hand, a more preferable value of the upper limit ratio is 90%.

  The porosity of the thermal spray coating is desirably 5% or less. Thereby, since it is possible to suppress the plasma inflow into the pores and to increase the bonding strength between the particles constituting the sprayed coating, the generation of dust (particles) due to wear can be reduced. When this porosity exceeds 5%, plasma etching occurs intensively in the pores, and dust (particles) may be generated from the portion, and the thermal spray coating is easily peeled off. There is a possibility that the number of parts replacement increases and productivity is lowered. A more preferable range of the porosity is 1% or less.

  The surface roughness of the thermal spray coating is desirably 5 μm or less in terms of the average roughness Ra. Thereby, since the part where plasma etching concentrates can be reduced, wear due to acceleration of etching can be reduced, and the life of the sprayed coating can be extended. On the other hand, if the average roughness Ra exceeds 5 μm, plasma concentration occurs on the convex portion and the portion is selectively etched, which may increase dust (particles) and decrease the service life. A more preferable range of the average roughness Ra is 3 μm or less.

The effect of not melting is not limited to Al ₂ O ₃ , but can be obtained as long as it is an oxide having plasma etching resistance. Examples of the oxide having plasma etching resistance include Y ₂ O ₃ and ZrO ₂ . In particular, a ceramic whose crystal structure is changed by melting Al ₂ O ₃ or Y ₂ O ₃ is suitable. The crystal of Y ₂ O ₃ has a β structure, but when it is melt sprayed, it becomes oxygen deficient, resulting in a deviation from the structure in which the composition ratio of Y and O is 2: 3. By maintaining at least a part of the Y ₂ O ₃ particles unmelted and maintaining the β-type crystal structure, it is possible to improve the plasma etching resistance of the sprayed coating.

The ratio of β-type Y ₂ O ₃ during Y ₂ O ₃ melt spraying is preferably 70% or more and 98% or less, and more preferably 85% or more and 90% or less.

  As described above, it is effective to deposit an oxide sprayed coating in an unmelted state for reducing dust (particles) and reducing the number of parts replacement (prolonging the life) of the plasma etching apparatus. By using the sprayed powder selected, the optimal thermal sprayed surface roughness can be obtained with a low porosity, so that it is possible to achieve a surface form and sprayed structure with high plasma etching resistance, and the effects of both are demonstrated. A sprayed coating is obtained.

  In order to obtain such a thermal spray coating, it is very difficult with the conventional thermal spraying method, and the ultra high-speed flame spraying method using fine oxide particles whose powder particle size is selected to be several microns is effective. I found.

  As a specific method for obtaining a sprayed coating in which at least a part of the oxide particles are not melted, ultra high-speed flame spraying conditions are determined depending on the component material and shape of the component body, the environmental conditions used, the spraying material, etc. It is desirable to select and use as appropriate. In order to control the size of the unfused bonded particles, fine oxide particles with a powder particle size of about a few microns are used, and for controlling the size of the bonded particles and the sprayed surface roughness, the supplied powder The desired particle size and surface roughness can be obtained by selecting and using a particle size range. And by controlling the spraying conditions such as current, voltage, gas flow rate, pressure, spraying distance, nozzle diameter, material supply amount, etc., the sprayed coating structure in which unmelted particles are bonded, surface roughness, porosity, etc. are controlled. be able to.

  In the ultra-high speed flame spraying, it is possible to make only the powder surface in a molten state by reducing the supply amount of the combustion gas and lowering the combustion temperature. In order to firmly adhere the powder that is in a molten state only on this surface without being deposited by melting, the combustion temperature is lowered by reducing the amount of oxygen for combustion acceleration compared to the amount of acetylene, and argon gas By accelerating the particles at a high flow rate, the particles can be adhered without melting.

  Next, an embodiment of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a main configuration of a plasma etching apparatus which is an embodiment of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

  A quartz insulator 11 is disposed on the upper surface of the support base 10. An object to be processed such as a Si wafer 12 is disposed on the quartz insulator 11. The quartz bell jar 13 is mounted on the support base 10 so as to cover the quartz insulator 11. On the outer surface of the quartz bell jar 13, an electrode (not shown) is wound in a coil shape.

  The thermal spray coating 14 containing unmelted oxide particles is formed on the inner surface of the quartz bell jar 13 and the surface on which the Si wafer 12 of the quartz insulator 11 is disposed.

  In such a plasma etching apparatus, a low-pressure etching gas is introduced into the quartz bell jar 13, and then a high frequency (RF) is applied by a coiled electrode, whereby the etching gas is turned into plasma and applied to the Si wafer 12. Perform dry etching.

  Since the thermal spray coating 14 can reduce wear due to plasma and radicals as described above, generation of particles due to peeling of the thermal spray coating 14 can be reduced. At the same time, since the quartz surfaces of the bell jar 13 and the insulator 11 can be suppressed from being exposed, generation of particles due to peeling from the quartz surface can be reduced.

[Example]
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

Example 1
The Al ₂ O ₃ powder having an average particle diameter of 2.5 μm is used for the quartz chamber and the quartz insulator of the plasma etching apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 by the gas spraying method, and the supply amount of acetylene as the combustion gas is changed. The flow rate was set to 20 L / min, the supply amount of oxygen gas was set to 50 L / min, and an oxide sprayed coating of Al ₂ O ₃ was applied with a film thickness of 150 μm.

In this plasma etching apparatus, plasma etching of the SiO ₂ film was performed with Ar etching gas, and the amount of dust (particles) generated and the service life were compared. The amount of dust (particles) generated was determined by measuring the number of dust particles having a diameter of 0.2 μm or more on an 8-inch wafer with a particle counter. In addition, the service life was confirmed by the number of wafers processed in order to increase the dust. These results are shown in Table 1.

(Comparative Example 1)
In the quartz chamber and quartz insulator of the plasma etching apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 described above, current 500 A, voltage 85 V, Ar gas flow rate / pressure is set to 100/100 by plasma spraying, and an average particle diameter is 35 μm. ₂ O ₃ powder was used, and an Al ₂ O ₃ oxide sprayed coating was applied at a constant film thickness of 150 μm.

In this plasma etching apparatus, plasma etching of the SiO ₂ film was performed with Ar etching gas, and the amount of dust (particles) generated and the service life were compared. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

(Example 2)
A Y ₂ O ₃ powder having an average particle size of 3 μm is used for the quartz chamber and the quartz insulator of the plasma etching apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 by gas spraying, and the supply amount of acetylene as a combustion gas is 20 L / Min, the supply amount of oxygen gas was 50 L / min, and the Y ₂ O ₃ oxide sprayed coating was applied at a constant film thickness of 150 μm.

In this plasma etching apparatus, plasma etching of the SiO ₂ film was performed with an etching gas composed of CF ₄ and O _2, and the amount of dust (particles) generated and the service life were compared. The results are shown in Table 1 below. .

(Comparative Example 2)
The above-described quartz chamber and quartz insulator of the plasma etching apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 are set to a current of 550 A, a voltage of 75 V, an Ar gas flow rate / pressure of 100/100 by plasma spraying, and an average particle size of 33 μm is Y. ₂ O ₃ powder was used, and an oxide sprayed coating of Y ₂ O ₃ was applied at a constant thickness of 150 μm.

In this plasma etching apparatus, plasma etching of the SiO ₂ film was performed with an etching gas composed of CF ₄ and O _2, and the amount of dust (particles) generated and the service life were compared. The results are shown in Table 1 below. .

  The surface roughness Ra and porosity of the thermal spray coatings of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 and the crystal structure ratio of the particles constituting the thermal spray coating were confirmed by the method described below, and the results are shown in Table 1 below. It is written together.

(Surface roughness Ra of thermal spray coating)
The arithmetic average roughness specified by JIS B 0601-1994 was defined as the surface roughness Ra.

(Porosity of sprayed coating)
The cross-sectional structure cut in the film thickness direction of the thermal spray coating was observed with an optical microscope at a magnification of 500 times, and the area of pores was measured in a visual field of 210 μm in length and 270 μm in width. Table 1 below shows the average value of 10 visual fields in terms of porosity.

Porosity (%) = (S ₂ / S ₁ ) × 100 (1)
However, S ₁ is a viewing area (μm ² ) of 210 μm in length and 270 μm in width, and S ₂ is a total area (μm ² ) of holes in a viewing field of 210 μm in length and 270 μm in width.

  As is apparent from Table 1, in the case of the plasma etching apparatus according to Examples 1 and 2, it was found that the amount of dust generated was smaller and the service life was longer than that of Comparative Examples 1 and 2. From these, it was confirmed that the thermal spray coating of Examples 1 and 2 can effectively and stably prevent the generation of dust and can extend the service life.

  As described above, according to the component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, dust generated from the component can be prevented stably and effectively, and the stability of the peeling preventing coating itself can be enhanced. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of times of cleaning the device and replacing parts. Further, according to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention having such a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus component, it is possible to suppress the dust from being mixed into the film that causes the defect of the wiring film or the element, and the production. It is possible to improve the performance and reduce the cost of consumable parts.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The schematic diagram for demonstrating the principle of the conventional thermal spraying method. An electron micrograph of a thermal spray coating by plasma spraying of Ar and H ₂ . The electron micrograph which expanded the principal part of FIG. An electron micrograph of a thermal spray coating by plasma spraying of Ar and He. The electron micrograph which expanded the principal part of FIG. The schematic diagram which shows the principal part structure of one Embodiment of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Supply powder, 2 ... Heat source, 3 ... Heating medium, 4 ... Molten particle, 5 ... Acceleration gas, 6 ... Spraying torch, 7 ... Base material, 8a ... Flat particle, 10 ... Support stand, 11 ... Insulator, 12 ... Si wafer, 13 ... bell jar, 14 ... sprayed coating.

Claims (6)

A component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising a component main body and a thermal spray coating formed on the surface of the component main body by thermal spraying of oxide particles,
A component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, wherein at least a part of oxide particles in the sprayed coating remains unmelted.   2. The component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the oxide particles have a crystal structure that changes upon melting, and the unmelted oxide particles maintain a crystal structure before melting. The oxide particles is Al ₂ O ₃ particles, the non-molten oxide particles semiconductor manufacturing device component according to claim 1, characterized in that the α-Al ₂ O ₃ particles.   The component for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thermal spray coating has a porosity of 5% or less.   The surface roughness of the said thermal spray coating is 5 micrometers or less by average roughness Ra, The components for semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses of any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus component according to claim 1.

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