JP2007142120A - Substrate processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the amount of a processing gas component attached to a discharging electrode unit that is lower in temperature than a substrate region. <P>SOLUTION: A substrate processing device includes a processing chamber 201 where substrates are housed as separated from each other by a certain space, a heating means which is provided outside of the processing chamber 201 to heat the substrates housed in the processing chamber 201, a buffer chamber 257 which is provided inside the processing chamber 201, a gas supply means which supplies processing gas into the buffer chamber 257, a discharging electrode 270 which is inserted into the buffer chamber 257 from outside to excite the processing gas supplied into the buffer chamber 257, and gas outlets 248a through which gas plasma is jetted out against the substrates provided inside the buffer chamber 257. The buffer chamber 257 is provided in a heating region 201A inside the processing chamber 201 to which heat released from the heating means attains; and the discharging electrode unit out of the discharging electrode 270 which is inserted into the buffer chamber 257 from outside is positioned outside of the buffer chamber 257, so as to be located at a position to which heat released from the heating means does not attain. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for processing a substrate by generating gas plasma using a discharge electrode.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a substrate processing apparatus that generates gas plasma using a discharge electrode and processes a substrate with the gas plasma (see, for example, Patent Document 1). FIG. 7 shows such a conventional substrate processing apparatus. A buffer chamber 247 is provided in the reaction tube 203, and a discharge electrode 270 protected by an electrode protection tube 275 is inserted into the buffer chamber 247. A plurality of wafers 200 loaded on the boat 217 are inserted into the processing chamber 201 and heated by the heater 207. When the processing gas is supplied to the buffer chamber 247, discharge occurs by the discharge electrode 270, and gas plasma is generated. This gas plasma is ejected from the gas ejection port provided in the buffer chamber 247 toward the wafer to process the wafer 200. As an example of such a process, there is a process in which phosphorus (P) is diffused into a wafer by exciting a PH ₃ gas with plasma.

In this apparatus, in order to limit the discharge within the buffer chamber 247, a structure is adopted in which the discharge electrode 270 enters the buffer chamber 257 from where it is inserted into the reaction tube 203.
JP 2002-280378 A (FIGS. 6 and 8)

Since the gas outlet of the buffer chamber is narrowed down, the inside of the buffer chamber is at a higher pressure than the processing chamber in which the wafer is present, and the processing gas such as PH ₃ is severely decomposed. For this reason, in the conventional structure in which the discharge electrode is inserted into the buffer chamber from where it is inserted into the reaction tube, the following problems occur at the bottom of the buffer chamber.
Since the lower part of the buffer chamber exists in a region where heating by the heating means does not reach, the temperature is low. In addition, since the gas ejection port is not opened at the lower part of the buffer chamber, the processing gas is easy to stagnate. For these reasons, a large amount of a processing gas component such as a phosphorus compound adheres to the discharge electrode portion disposed in the lower portion of the buffer chamber, thereby forming a particle source.
Further, even if an attempt is made to remove the processing gas component adhering to the discharge electrode portion by gas cleaning with NF ₃ gas or the like, it is difficult to effectively remove the adhering processing gas component because the discharge electrode portion is at a low temperature. Met.
An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of solving the above-described problems of the prior art and reducing adhesion of a processing gas component to a low temperature discharge electrode.

The first invention includes a processing chamber for storing a plurality of substrates in a state of being stacked at intervals, a heating means for heating the plurality of substrates provided outside the processing chamber and stored in the processing chamber, A buffer chamber provided in the processing chamber; a gas supply means for supplying a processing gas into the buffer chamber; and a discharge chamber that is inserted into the buffer chamber from outside the buffer chamber and excites the processing gas supplied into the buffer chamber. A heating region in the processing chamber that is provided with an electrode and a plurality of gas ejection ports that are provided in the buffer chamber and eject the gas plasma toward the plurality of substrates, and the buffer chamber is heated by the heating means. Of the discharge electrode inserted into the buffer chamber from the outside of the buffer chamber, the discharge electrode portion that is not heated by the heating means is brought out of the buffer chamber. And a substrate processing apparatus.
Since the discharge electrode portion existing outside the heating region is at a low temperature, if the discharge electrode portion exists in a buffer chamber having a pressure higher than that in the processing chamber, the process gas component tends to adhere to the discharge electrode portion. According to the present invention, since the low temperature discharge electrode part that exists outside the heating region in the processing chamber is taken out of the buffer chamber, the discharge electrode part is not exposed to the high-pressure gas plasma in the buffer chamber, The adhesion amount of the gas component compound to the discharge electrode part can be reduced.

A second invention is the substrate processing apparatus according to the first invention, wherein the buffer chamber is provided with a shielding plate surrounding the discharge electrode portion existing outside the heating region.
When performing substrate processing, the discharge region at the discharge electrode portion that is outside the buffer chamber is particularly widened, and there is a problem that processing unevenness occurs on some of the plurality of substrates. According to the invention, since the discharge region is suppressed by providing the shielding plate surrounding the discharge electrode portion, such a problem can be solved.

  According to the present invention, adhesion of a processing gas component to a low temperature discharge electrode can be reduced.

  In the best mode for carrying out the present invention, as an example, the substrate processing apparatus is configured as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that performs one process step in a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device (IC). In the following description, a case where a vertical apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as a processing apparatus) that performs oxidation, diffusion processing, CVD processing, or the like is applied to the substrate as the substrate processing apparatus will be described. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a processing apparatus applied to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the processing apparatus 101 of the present invention using a cassette 110 as a wafer carrier containing a wafer (substrate) 200 made of silicon or the like includes a casing 111. A cassette stage (substrate container delivery table) 114 is installed inside the casing 111. The cassette 110 is carried onto the cassette stage 114 by an in-process carrying device (not shown), and is also carried out from the cassette stage 114.

  The cassette stage 114 is placed by the in-process transfer device so that the wafer 200 in the cassette 110 is in a vertical posture and the wafer loading / unloading port of the cassette 110 faces upward. The cassette stage 114 can operate so that the cassette 110 is rotated 90 ° clockwise to the rear of the casing 111, the wafer 200 in the cassette 110 is in a horizontal posture, and the wafer loading / unloading port of the cassette 110 faces the rear of the casing 111. It is comprised so that.

A cassette shelf (substrate container mounting shelf) 105 is installed at a substantially central portion in the front-rear direction in the casing 111. The cassette shelf 105 stores a plurality of cassettes 110 in a plurality of rows and a plurality of rows. It is configured. The cassette shelf 105 is provided with a transfer shelf 123 in which the cassette 110 to be transferred by the wafer transfer mechanism 125 is stored.
Further, a preliminary cassette shelf 107 is provided above the cassette stage 114, and is configured to store the cassette 110 preliminary.

  A cassette carrying device (substrate container carrying device) 118 is installed between the cassette stage 114 and the cassette shelf 105. The cassette transport device 118 includes a cassette elevator (substrate container lifting mechanism) 118a that can be moved up and down while holding the cassette 110, and a cassette transport mechanism (substrate container transport mechanism) 118b as a transport mechanism. The cassette 110 is transported between the cassette stage 114, the cassette shelf 105, and the spare cassette shelf 107 by continuous operation of the cassette transport mechanism 118b.

  A wafer transfer mechanism (substrate transfer mechanism) 125 is installed behind the cassette shelf 105, and the wafer transfer mechanism 125 is a wafer transfer apparatus (substrate) that can rotate or linearly move the wafer 200 in the horizontal direction. (Transfer device) 125a and a wafer transfer device elevator (substrate transfer device lifting mechanism) 125b for moving the wafer transfer device 125a up and down. The wafer transfer device elevator 125 b is installed at the right end of the housing 111. By the continuous operation of the wafer transfer device elevator 125b and the wafer transfer device 125a, the tweezer (substrate holding body) 125c of the wafer transfer device 125a is used as a mounting portion for the wafer 200 with respect to the boat (substrate holding tool) 217. The wafer 200 is loaded (charged) and unloaded (discharged).

A processing furnace 202 is provided above the rear portion of the casing 111. The lower end portion of the processing furnace 202 is configured to be opened and closed by a furnace port shutter (furnace port opening / closing mechanism) 147.
Below the processing furnace 202 is provided a boat elevator (substrate holder lifting mechanism) 115 as a lifting mechanism for moving the boat 217 up and down to the processing furnace 202, and an arm 128 as a connecting tool connected to a lifting platform of the boat elevator 115. A seal cap 219 as a lid is horizontally installed, and the seal cap 219 is configured to support the boat 217 vertically and to close the lower end portion of the processing furnace 202.
The boat 217 includes a plurality of support columns, and is configured to hold a plurality of (for example, about 50 to 150) wafers 200 horizontally, with their centers aligned and vertically aligned. Has been.

  As schematically shown in FIG. 6, a supply fan and a dust-proof filter are provided to supply clean air to the left end portion of the casing 111 opposite to the wafer transfer device elevator 125 b and the boat elevator 115 side. A clean unit 134b configured by the clean unit 134b is installed, and the clean air blown out from the clean unit 134b flows through the wafer transfer device 125a and the boat 217, and then is sucked into an exhaust device (not shown) to It is designed to be exhausted outside.

Next, the operation of the processing apparatus of the present invention will be described.
The cassette 110 is placed on the cassette stage 114 so that the wafer 200 is in a vertical posture and the wafer loading / unloading port of the cassette 110 faces upward. Thereafter, the cassette 110 is rotated 90 ° clockwise to the rear of the casing 111 so that the wafer 200 in the cassette 110 is placed in a horizontal posture by the cassette stage 114 and the wafer loading / unloading port of the cassette 110 faces the rear of the casing 111. Be made.

  Next, the cassette 110 is automatically transported and delivered by the cassette transport device 118 to the designated shelf position of the cassette shelf 105 to the spare cassette shelf 107 and temporarily stored, and thereafter the cassette shelf 105 to the spare shelf. It is transferred from the cassette shelf 107 to the transfer shelf 123 by the cassette transfer device 118 or directly transferred to the transfer shelf 123.

  When the cassette 110 is transferred to the transfer shelf 123, the wafers 200 are picked up from the cassette 110 by the tweezers 125c of the wafer transfer device 125a through the wafer loading / unloading port and loaded (charged) into the boat 217 at the rear of the transfer chamber 124. ) The wafer transfer device 125 a that has delivered the wafer 200 to the boat 217 returns to the cassette 110 and loads the next wafer 200 into the boat 217.

  When a predetermined number of wafers 200 are loaded on the boat 217 in a stacked state, the lower end of the processing furnace 202 closed by the furnace port shutter 147 is opened by the furnace port shutter 147. Is done. Subsequently, the boat 217 in which a plurality of wafers 200 are stacked at intervals is loaded into the processing furnace 202 when the seal cap 219 is lifted by the boat elevator 115.

  After loading, oxidation, diffusion processing and CVD processing are performed on the wafer 200 in the processing furnace 202. After the processing, the wafer 200 and the cassette 110 are paid out to the outside of the casing 111 in the reverse procedure described above.

  Next, the configuration of the first embodiment of the processing furnace 202 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a vertical processing furnace 202, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A 'of FIG.

The processing furnace 202 includes a vertically long vertical reaction tube 203 and a heater 207 as a heating means.
The lower end opening of the reaction tube 203 is hermetically closed by a seal cap 219 as a lid, and a processing chamber 201 is formed inside. Wafers 200 as a plurality of substrates are accommodated in the processing chamber 201.

  The heater 207 is provided on the outer periphery of the reaction tube 203 and heats the plurality of wafers 200 in the processing chamber 201 to a predetermined temperature. The heater 207 includes a heat insulating material 207b and a heater wire 207a as a heating source. The heater element wire 207 a is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the reaction tube 203 corresponding to the substrate region in the processing chamber 201 occupied by the wafer 200. An area heated by the heater wire 207a is referred to as a heating area 201A. A region that is not heated by the heater wire 207a is referred to as a heating region outside 201B.

  On the seal cap 219, a boat 217 as a substrate holding means is erected via a heat insulation / heat insulation cap 218, and the heat insulation / heat insulation cap 218 serves as a holding body for holding the boat 217. The boat 217 is inserted into the processing chamber 201. In the boat 217, a plurality of wafers 200 to be batch-processed are stacked in a horizontal posture at intervals in the tube axis direction. The boat 217 is provided in the heating area 201A, and the heat insulation / heat insulation cap 218 is provided outside the heating area 201B.

  A buffer chamber 257 is provided in the processing chamber 201. The buffer chamber 257 is provided in a cross-sectional segment shape between the inner wall of the reaction tube 203 and the partition wall 237 provided along the wafer 200 stacked on the boat 217. The partition wall 237 includes a concave partition front portion 237 a facing the plurality of wafers 200, a partition side portion 237 b connected to the inner wall of the reaction tube 203 connected to the partition front portion 237 a, and a partition upper portion 237 c blocking the upper portion of the buffer chamber 257. And a partition wall lower portion 237d that blocks the lower portion of the buffer chamber 257. Among the partition walls 237, a plurality of gas ejection ports 248 a corresponding to the plurality of wafers 200 are provided in a concave partition wall front portion 237 a facing the plurality of wafers 200.

  A gas supply means for supplying a processing gas to the buffer chamber 257 is provided. This gas supply means includes a gas nozzle 233 for dispersing gas in the buffer chamber 257 and a gas supply pipe 232 a connected to the gas nozzle 233.

  In the buffer chamber 257, plasma generating means for exciting the processing gas supplied into the buffer chamber 257 is provided. The plasma generating means is composed of a pair of discharge electrodes 270 and a pair of electrode protection tubes 275 that protect them.

  The electrode protection tube 275 is inserted into the reaction tube 203 from outside the reaction tube 203. The electrode protection tube 275 inserted into the reaction tube 203 is further inserted into the buffer chamber 257 from outside the buffer chamber 257. The electrode protection tube 275 includes an electrode protection tube upper portion 275 a completely surrounded by the buffer chamber 257 and an electrode protection tube lower portion 275 b not surrounded by the buffer chamber 257. The electrode protection tube upper portion 275a is linearly provided in the buffer chamber 257 upward. The electrode protection tube lower portion 275b is bent at an obtuse angle with respect to the electrode protection tube upper portion 275a and is taken out from the lower side of the reaction tube 203 while being inclined.

  The long discharge electrodes 270 are inserted into the electrode protection tubes 275 described above. By making the coupling angle between the electrode protection tube upper portion 275a and the electrode protection tube lower portion 275b an obtuse angle, insertion of the long discharge electrode 270 into the electrode protection tube 275 is facilitated. The discharge electrode 270 includes a discharge electrode upper portion 270a and a discharge electrode lower portion 270b corresponding to the electrode protection tube upper portion 275a and the electrode protection tube lower portion 275b. A high frequency power source is connected to the discharge electrode 270, and plasma P is generated between the electrode protection tubes 275 by discharge between the discharge electrodes 270.

  The plasma P activates the processing gas in an excited state, thereby generating active species, and the generated active species are ejected from the gas ejection ports 248 a toward the plurality of wafers 200. At least the buffer chamber 257, the pair of discharge electrodes 270, and the pair of electrode protection tubes 275 described above constitute an activation unit that forms active species.

  The reaction tube 203 is provided with an exhaust port 235 at a lower portion thereof. The exhaust port 235 is connected to a vacuum pump 246 as exhaust means via a gas exhaust pipe 231 as an exhaust pipe for exhausting gas, and the inside of the processing chamber 201 is evacuated.

  In the above-described processing furnace 202, in this embodiment, the position of the lower portion of the buffer chamber 257 (the partition wall lower portion 237d) is shifted upward in order to prevent the processing gas component from adhering to the electrode protective tube lower portion 275b. In this case, the lower portion of the buffer chamber 257 is shifted upward by moving the lower portion of the buffer chamber 257 into the heating region 201A in the processing chamber 201 where the heating by the heater wire 207a is performed. For example, the lower position of the buffer chamber 257 is preferably disposed above the lower end position of the heater element wire 207a. Note that the upper portion of the buffer chamber 257 (the partition upper portion 237c) has a margin as compared with the lower portion, and is therefore the same position as the conventional example and is not particularly shifted.

  As described above, the entire buffer chamber 257 including the lower portion is provided in the heating region 201 </ b> A to which the heating by the heater 207 extends. As a result, of the discharge electrodes 270 introduced into the buffer chamber 257 from outside the buffer chamber 257, the discharge electrode upper portion 270a entering the buffer chamber 257 is heated in the processing region 201A in the processing chamber 201 where the heater 207 is heated. Will exist. In addition, only the discharge electrode lower portion 270 b outside the buffer chamber 257 exists outside the heating region 201 B in the processing chamber 201 where the heating by the heater 207 does not reach.

  The reaction tube 203, the buffer chamber 257, and the electrode protection tube 275 are made of, for example, quartz. The boat 217 and the heat insulation / heat insulation cap 218 are made of, for example, quartz or SiC. The seal cap 219 is made of, for example, stainless steel or aluminum.

Next, phosphorus (P), which is an n-type impurity, is diffused after forming a silicon film used as a gate electrode of a MOS transistor, a resistor, or a wiring material in a semiconductor device manufacturing process using the processing furnace 202 described above. A process for controlling the specific resistance or the sheet resistance will be described. Here, a process of diffusing phosphorus (P) in the silicon film on the wafer by exciting the PH ₃ gas with plasma will be described.

  When a boat 217 in which a plurality of wafers 200 are stacked at intervals is loaded into the processing furnace 202, the processing chamber 201 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure or lower by a vacuum pump 246 connected to a gas exhaust pipe 231. Is done. By supplying power to the heater 207, the temperature of the processing chamber 201 rises to a predetermined temperature.

After the temperature of the processing chamber 201 reaches a preset value, for example, 600 to 750 ° C. and stabilizes, a predetermined gas is supplied into the processing chamber 201 and the pressure reaches a preset value, for example, 1000 to 4000 Pa. Then, high frequency power is applied between the pair of discharge electrodes 270. The PH ₃ gas is supplied from a gas supply pipe 232 a serving as a gas supply unit to the gas nozzle 233 and is introduced into the buffer chamber 257 from the gas nozzle 233. At this time, Ar may be simultaneously supplied as a carrier gas. When the PH ₃ gas is introduced into the buffer chamber 257, a discharge occurs between the discharge electrodes 270, and PH ₃ plasma is generated in the buffer chamber 257. Molecules containing phosphorus (P) or phosphorus atoms (hereinafter referred to as PH ₃ gas plasma) excited thereby are accommodated in a state of being stacked on the boat 217 in the processing chamber 201 from each gas outlet 248a of the buffer chamber 257. Each jet is ejected toward the wafer 200.

The PH ₃ gas plasma is ejected from the gas ejection ports 248a, flows into the wafers 200 facing each other, and is diffused and introduced into the silicon film on each wafer 200. At this time, the PH ₃ gas flow rate is 1000 to 5000 sccm, and the doping time is 20 to 50 min. The gas containing PH ₃ gas plasma that has not been introduced into the wafer 200 is drawn from the exhaust port 235 below the reaction tube 203 by the vacuum pump 246 and discharged from the gas exhaust tube 231.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the lower position of the buffer chamber 257 is shifted upward, and the discharge electrode lower portion 270 b is at a lower pressure than in the buffer chamber 257, and the buffer chamber in the processing chamber 201 in which gas flows. 257 outside. Accordingly, the discharge electrode lower portion 270b is not exposed to the intense decomposition reaction of PH ₃ in the high-pressure buffer chamber 257, and gas stagnation does not occur in the discharge electrode lower portion 270b. Even if it is low, the adhesion amount of the phosphorus compound in the electrode protection tube lower part 275b can be significantly reduced, and the electrode protection tube lower part 275b can be effectively prevented from becoming a particle source.

  By the way, if the lower portion of the buffer chamber 257 is shifted upward, the discharge that occurs between the discharge electrodes 270 is not limited to the buffer chamber 247, so that discharge occurs outside the buffer chamber 247 where the discharge electrode lower portion 270b is located. For this reason, the discharge region in the processing chamber 201 is widened, which may affect the film thickness uniformity of the wafer 200 loaded under the boat 217 near the discharge electrode lower portion 270b.

  FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views showing the effect of shifting the lower portion of the buffer chamber upward, where FIG. 5A is a film thickness (Thickness) characteristic diagram, and FIG. 5B is a measurement point (Measuring point) on the wafer. Show. In the figure, TOP is the uppermost wafer film data of the wafers loaded on the boat, and BTM is the lowermost wafer film data of the wafers loaded on the boat. Among the measurement points # 1 to # 9 on the wafer, # 1, # 4, # 6, and # 9 indicate the outer peripheral measurement points of the wafer. The in-plane uniformity is 1.6% for TOP data, whereas it is 6.9% for BTM. Although there is no problem with the TOP data, it can be seen that the outer peripheral points # 1, # 6 and # 9 are thicker in the BTM data.

Therefore, when PH ₃ plasma doping is performed using a processing furnace having a configuration in which the lower part of the buffer chamber 257 is shifted upward, it is necessary to improve the film thickness uniformity of the wafer in the boat lower region in the above-described embodiment.

  3 and 4 show a second embodiment in which such an improvement has been made. FIG. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the processing furnace, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line B-B ′ of FIG.

  In the second embodiment, the buffer chamber 257 is provided with a shielding plate 260 surrounding the discharge electrode lower portion 270b existing outside the heating region 201B. The shielding plate 260 is configured by extending a part of a concave partition front part 237a facing the wafer 200 and a partition side part 237b connected to the partition front part 237a as it is. The space surrounded by the shielding plate 260 is a space opened in the processing chamber 201 and is not a closed space like the buffer chamber 257.

  The shielding plate 260 extends to a position where the discharge area in the processing chamber 210 due to the discharge electrode lower portion 270b can be suppressed. The lower end of the shielding plate 260 is, for example, below a portion where the discharge electrode lower portion 270b is taken out of the reaction tube 203 and above the exhaust port 235 to which the gas exhaust tube 231 is connected. The shielding plate 260 is made of, for example, quartz or SiC.

When performing the PH ₃ plasma doping on the wafer 200, if the discharge electrode lower part 270 b goes out of the buffer chamber 257, the discharge region expands, and a plurality of wafers 200 housed in the processing chamber 201 in a stacked state. Among them, the problem of non-uniform processing occurs in the wafer 200 in the vicinity including the BTM. According to the second embodiment described above, the shielding plate 260 that reliably suppresses the expansion of the discharge region is provided. Therefore, such a problem can be solved.
In particular, not only the barrier rib front part 237a but also a part of the barrier rib side part 237b extending to the barrier rib front part 237a extends to surround the discharge electrode lower part 270b three-dimensionally. Compared with what covers in a plane, the discharge region at the discharge electrode lower portion 270b can be more reliably suppressed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of having a pair of discharge electrodes has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to the case of having two or more pairs of discharge electrodes. In addition, the case where two of the pair of discharge electrodes are provided with the discharge electrode in the processing chamber 201 has been described, but at least one discharge electrode of the pair of discharge electrodes is provided in the processing chamber. It is also applicable when Further, the case where the main part such as the discharge electrode of the plasma generating means is provided inside the reaction tube has been described, but even when the plasma generating means is provided along the outer surface of the reaction tube, at least one of the pair of discharge electrodes. This is applicable when one discharge electrode is disposed in the processing chamber 201.

It is a schematic longitudinal cross-section of the vertical type processing furnace in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A ′ of FIG. 1. It is a general | schematic longitudinal cross-section of the vertical type processing furnace in 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line B-B ′ in FIG. 3. It is a film thickness characteristic view using the processing furnace in a 1st embodiment. It is a perspective view of the processing apparatus in an embodiment. It is a general | schematic longitudinal cross-section of the vertical type processing furnace of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

200 wafer (substrate)
201 processing chamber 207 heater (heating means)
248a Gas outlet 257 Buffer chamber 232a Gas supply pipe (gas supply means)
233 Gas nozzle (gas supply means)
270 Discharge electrode 270b Discharge electrode lower part (discharge electrode part)
201A Heating area 201B Outside heating area 275b Lower electrode protection tube P Plasma

Claims (1)

A processing chamber for storing a plurality of substrates in a state of being stacked at intervals, and
Heating means for heating the plurality of substrates provided outside the processing chamber and housed in the processing chamber;
A buffer chamber provided in the processing chamber;
Gas supply means for supplying a processing gas into the buffer chamber;
A discharge electrode that is inserted into the buffer chamber from outside the buffer chamber and excites the processing gas supplied into the buffer chamber;
A plurality of gas jets provided in the buffer chamber and jetting the gas plasma toward the plurality of substrates;
With
Discharging electrode portion that is provided with a heating area in the processing chamber where the heating by the heating means reaches the buffer chamber and is not heated by the heating means among the discharging electrodes inserted from the outside of the buffer chamber into the buffer chamber. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the substrate processing apparatus is taken out of the buffer chamber.

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