JP2022088862A - Film deposition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a film deposition apparatus capable of relatively moving a substrate and a precursor generation part for generating a film deposition precursor to each other and reducing a variation in thickness distribution on the substrate.SOLUTION: A film deposition apparatus capable of subjecting a substrate W to film deposition includes: a processing chamber capable of arranging the substrate W; and a plurality of linear precursor generation parts T generating a film deposition precursor in the processing chamber and arranged in parallel along the surface of the substrate. The substrate W and the plurality of precursor generation parts T are constituted so as to relatively and linearly move to each other along the surface of the substrate W, and the plurality of precursor generation parts T are arranged so that the longitudinal direction is inclined to the direction of the linear movement.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus that performs a film forming process on a substrate.

Conventionally, as a sputtering apparatus that generates sputtered particles by sputtering a target, a sputtering device that reduces variation in film thickness distribution by moving the substrate and the target relative to each other during the film forming process is known. As such a sputtering apparatus, for example, Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of cylindrical targets arranged side by side so as to face the processing substrate, and the plurality of targets are orthogonal to each other in the axial direction during the film forming process. It is described that by moving in a direction, the variation in the film thickness distribution along the moving direction is reduced.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-116644

However, although the above-mentioned sputtering apparatus can reduce the variation in the film thickness distribution along the moving direction, there is a problem that the variation in the film thickness distribution along the direction orthogonal to the moving direction cannot be reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and reduces variations in the film thickness distribution on the substrate in a film forming apparatus that moves relative to each other between the substrate and the precursor generating portion that generates a film forming precursor. The main task is to do.

That is, the film forming apparatus of the present invention performs a film forming process on a substrate, and generates a film forming precursor in a processing chamber in which the substrate is arranged and in the processing chamber, and the substrate is formed. The substrate and the plurality of precursor generators are provided with a plurality of linear precursor generators arranged in parallel along the surface of the substrate, and the substrate and the plurality of precursor generators move linearly with each other along the surface of the substrate. The plurality of precursor generation portions are arranged so that their longitudinal directions are inclined with respect to the linear movement direction.

In such a case, since the plurality of linear precursor generators are arranged so that their longitudinal directions are inclined with respect to the relative moving direction of the substrate, the precursors are arranged with respect to the moving direction. Compared with the conventional one in which the generation parts are arranged orthogonally, it is possible to reduce the variation in the distribution of the film-forming precursors generated from each precursor generation part in the direction orthogonal to the movement direction, thereby reducing the movement direction. It is possible to reduce the variation in the film thickness distribution in the direction orthogonal to.
The film forming precursor is deposited on the surface of the substrate to form a thin film. For example, when the film forming apparatus is a sputtering apparatus, it is a sputtered particle, and when the film forming apparatus is a plasma CVD apparatus, it is a sputtered particle. Is a plasma state of the raw material gas.

In order to further reduce the variation in the film thickness distribution in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction, it is preferable that the plurality of precursor generating portions are arranged side by side along the direction intersecting the linear moving direction.

It is preferable that the precursor generation portions adjacent to each other are arranged so as to overlap each other when viewed from the linear movement direction.
By doing so, the entire surface to be treated of the substrate can be made to face the precursor generating portion, so that the variation in the film thickness distribution in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction can be further reduced.

It is preferable that the substrate is configured to move relative to the plurality of precursor generators.

Examples of the film forming apparatus include a sputtering target in which the plurality of precursor generating portions are arranged in the processing chamber, and the substrate is formed by sputtering the sputtering target.
By doing so, it is possible to reduce the variation in the film thickness distribution on the substrate in the film formation process performed by sputtering.

It is preferable to provide a bias power supply that individually controls the bias voltage applied to each of the sputtering targets.
By doing so, for example, the bias voltage applied to the sputtering target corresponding to the place where the supply amount of the inert gas is small is made higher than the voltage applied to the other sputtering targets, so that the bias voltage is increased in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction. The variation in the film thickness distribution can be further reduced.

Further, as another embodiment of the film forming apparatus, the plurality of precursor generators are antennas that generate a high-frequency magnetic field in the processing chamber, and the raw material gas introduced into the processing chamber is converted into plasma by the high-frequency magnetic field and described as described above. Examples include those that form a substrate.
By doing so, it is possible to reduce the variation in the film thickness distribution on the substrate in the film forming process using plasma.

It is preferable to provide a high frequency power supply that individually controls the high frequency current flowing through each of the antennas.
By doing so, for example, the high-frequency current applied to the antenna corresponding to the place where the supply amount of the inert gas is small is made larger than the high-frequency current applied to the other sputtering targets, so that the direction orthogonal to the moving direction is obtained. The variation in the film thickness distribution in the above can be further reduced.

According to the present invention configured in this way, it is possible to reduce variations in the film thickness distribution on the substrate in the film forming apparatus that moves the substrate and the precursor generating portion that generates the film forming precursor relative to each other.

The end view orthogonal to the moving direction of the substrate which shows the structure of the film forming apparatus of this embodiment schematically. It is a top view which shows the structure of the film-forming apparatus of the same embodiment schematically, and is the top view which shows the relationship between the moving direction of a substrate, and the arrangement of precursor generation part. It is a plan view which shows typically the structure of the film formation apparatus of the same embodiment, and is the top view which explains the positional relationship between the movement path of a substrate, and the precursor generation part. It is a plan view which shows typically the structure of the film formation apparatus of another embodiment, and is the top view which shows the relationship between the moving direction of a substrate, and the arrangement of precursor generation part. It is a plan view which shows typically the structure of the film formation apparatus of another embodiment, and is the top view which shows the relationship between the moving direction of a substrate, and the arrangement of precursor generation part. It is a plan view which shows typically the structure of the film formation apparatus of another embodiment, and is the top view which shows the relationship between the moving direction of a substrate, and the arrangement of precursor generation part.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the film forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Device configuration>
The film forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is a sputtering apparatus that uses an inductively coupled plasma P to sputter the target T, which is a precursor generating portion, to form a film on the substrate W. Here, the substrate W is, for example, a substrate for a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, a flexible substrate for a flexible display, or the like.

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the film forming apparatus 100 has a vacuum container 2 in which a processing chamber R to be evacuated and a gas is introduced is formed inside, and a substrate W in the processing chamber R. A substrate holding unit 3 for holding, a target holding unit 4 for holding a target T in the processing chamber R, a plurality of linear antennas 5 arranged in the processing chamber R, and an induction coupling type in the processing chamber R. It is provided with a high frequency power supply 6 that applies a high frequency for generating the plasma P of the above to a plurality of antennas 5, and a moving mechanism 7 that moves the substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 3. By applying a high frequency from the high frequency power supply 6 to the plurality of antennas 5, a high frequency current IR flows through the plurality of antennas 5, an inductive electric field is generated in the processing chamber R, and an inductively coupled plasma P is generated.

The vacuum container 2 is, for example, a metal container, and the inside thereof is evacuated by the vacuum exhaust device 16. The vacuum vessel 2 is electrically grounded in this example.

The sputtering gas 90 is introduced into the processing chamber R formed by the inner wall of the vacuum vessel 2, for example, via the flow rate regulator 80 and the gas introduction port 21. The sputtering gas 90 may be set according to the processing content to be applied to the substrate W. Examples of the sputtering gas 90 include an inert gas such as argon (Ar).

The substrate holding portion 3 is a holder that holds the flat plate-shaped substrate W in the processing chamber R so as to be in a horizontal state, for example. The substrate holding portion 3 is configured to be linearly reciprocally scanned in the processing chamber R as described later.

The target holding portion 4 holds the target T facing the substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 3. The target T of the present embodiment is a flat plate having a long shape (straight line) in a plan view. The target holding portion 4 is provided on a side wall 2a (for example, an upper side wall) forming the vacuum container 2. Further, an insulating portion 9 having a vacuum sealing function is provided between the target holding portion 4 and the upper side wall 2a of the vacuum container 2. A target bias power supply 10 for applying a target bias voltage to the target T is connected to the target T via a target holding unit 4 in this example. The target bias voltage is a voltage that draws ions in the plasma P into the target T and sputters them.

In the present embodiment, a plurality of targets T and target holding portions 4 (here, 6 each) are provided. The plurality of target holding portions 4 are arranged in parallel on the front surface side of the substrate W in the processing chamber R along the surface of the substrate W (for example, substantially parallel to the back surface of the substrate W) on the same plane. ing. The target holding portions 4 are arranged at equal intervals so that their longitudinal directions are parallel to each other. As a result, each target T arranged in the processing chamber R is substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate W and parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It will be placed at intervals. Each target holding unit 4 and each target T have the same configuration.

A plurality of antennas 5 are arranged in parallel on the same plane along the surface of the substrate W (for example, substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate W) on the surface side of the substrate W in the processing chamber R (here, 5). The book) is arranged. The antennas 5 are arranged at equal intervals so that their longitudinal directions are parallel to each other. Each antenna 5 is linear in a plan view and has the same configuration, and its length is several tens of centimeters or more.

Each antenna 5 is arranged between the targets T as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. That is, the antenna 5 and the target T are arranged alternately, and one antenna 5 is sandwiched between the two targets T. Here, the longitudinal direction of each antenna 5 and the longitudinal direction of each target T are the same direction (that is, parallel). Further, the pitch widths of the plurality of targets T and the pitch widths of the plurality of antennas 5 are arranged to be the same. Further, the antenna 5 arranged between the two targets T is arranged equidistant from the two targets T.

The material of each antenna 5 is, for example, copper, aluminum, alloys thereof, stainless steel, and the like, but the material is not limited thereto. It is also possible to make the antenna 5 hollow and allow a refrigerant such as cooling water to flow through the antenna 5 to cool the antenna 5. Further, the portion of each antenna 5 located in the processing chamber R is made of an insulating material and is covered with a straight tubular insulating cover 12.

A high-frequency power supply 6 is connected to the feeding end portion 5a, which is one end of the antenna 5, via a matching circuit 61, and the ending portion (not shown), which is the other end, is directly grounded. An impedance adjusting unit (not shown) for adjusting the impedance of each antenna 5 is connected to the feeding end portion 5a or the terminal portion. Specifically, this impedance adjusting unit is a load (specifically, a variable capacitor) having a variable reactance connected to the end of the antenna 5. By adjusting the impedance of each antenna 5 in this way, the density distribution of plasma P in the longitudinal direction of the antenna 5 can be made more uniform, and the film thickness in the longitudinal direction of the antenna 5 can be made more uniform. ..

With the above configuration, a high frequency current IR can be passed from the high frequency power supply 6 to the antenna 5 via the matching circuit 61. The high frequency frequency is, for example, 13.56 MHz, which is common, but is not limited to this.

The moving mechanism 7 moves the substrate W held by the substrate holding portion 3 linearly with respect to the target T. Here, the moving mechanism 7 is configured to linearly move the substrate W along the surface thereof in the depth direction in FIG. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the moving mechanism 7 moves the substrate W so that the entire surface thereof completely passes under the target T. The moving mechanism 7 may reciprocate the substrate W along its linear moving direction, or may move the substrate W one way.

However, in the film forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, in order to reduce the variation in the film thickness distribution in the direction intersecting the linear movement direction of the substrate W, the plurality of targets T have their longitudinal directions in the linear movement direction of the substrate W. It is arranged so as to incline with respect to it.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of targets T are arranged side by side at equal intervals along the directions intersecting the linear movement directions in a plan view. More specifically, the plurality of targets T are arranged along a direction orthogonal to the linear movement direction so that the positions of both ends along the linear movement direction are aligned with each other. The plurality of targets T are arranged so that their longitudinal directions intersect in a linear movement direction at an inclination angle θ _T of more than 0 ° and less than 90 ° (preferably 30 ° or more and 60 ° or less). Here, the plurality of targets T are arranged so that their inclination angles θ _T are adjusted so that the adjacent targets T overlap each other when viewed from the linear movement direction. That is, each target T is arranged so that the entire surface of the substrate W passes directly under the target T.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of targets T have a total distance length (thick line portion) passing directly under the target T at an arbitrary point (here, a, b, and c) on the surface of the substrate W. Are arranged so that they are equal.

Further, in the present embodiment, similarly to the target T, a plurality of antennas 5 are arranged so that their longitudinal directions are inclined with respect to the linear moving direction. Specifically, the antennas 5 are arranged side by side at equal intervals along a direction intersecting the linear movement direction in a plan view, more specifically, a direction orthogonal to the linear movement direction. The antennas 5 are arranged between the targets T so that their longitudinal directions intersect the target T in the linear movement direction at the same inclination angle θ _T.

In the film forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the target bias power supply 10 is configured to individually adjust the target bias voltage applied to each target T, and the high frequency power supply 6 applies a high frequency current energizing each antenna 5. It is configured to be adjusted individually. Specifically, the film forming apparatus 100 includes a gas distribution detection mechanism (not shown) that detects the distribution of the introduced inert gas in the processing chamber R. Then, the target bias power supply 10 and the high frequency power supply 6 are based on the distribution of the inert gas detected by the gas distribution detection mechanism, and the target bias voltage and the antenna 5 applied to the target T corresponding to the place where the introduced amount of the inert gas is small. It is configured to increase the high frequency current that energizes the gas. On the contrary, the target bias power supply 10 and the high frequency power supply 6 are configured to reduce the target bias voltage applied to the target T corresponding to the place where the introduced amount of the inert gas is large and the high frequency current energized to the antenna 5. ..

<Effect of this embodiment>
According to the film forming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment as described above, the plurality of linear targets T, which are precursor generation portions, are inclined so that their longitudinal directions are inclined with respect to the relative moving direction of the substrate W. Since the targets are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the moving direction, it is possible to reduce the variation in the distribution of the spatter particles generated from each target T in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction. This makes it possible to reduce variations in the film thickness distribution in the direction orthogonal to the moving direction.

<Other modified embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the film forming apparatus 100 may include a film forming rate detecting mechanism 8 for detecting the film forming rate in each part of the substrate W. The film formation rate detection mechanism 8 detects the film formation rate in each portion along the direction orthogonal to the linear movement direction. Specifically, the film formation rate detection mechanism 8 may be configured to include, for example, a crystal oscillator, and may be provided in plurality in front of the substrate W in the moving direction on the substrate mounting surface of the substrate holding portion 3. The target bias power supply 10 and the high frequency power supply 6 are configured to adjust the target bias voltage applied to the target T and the high frequency current energized to the antenna 5 according to the film forming rate of each part detected by the film forming rate detection mechanism 8. May be done.

Further, the film forming apparatus 100 of the above-described embodiment is a plasma sputtering apparatus using inductively coupled plasma, but the present invention is not limited to this. The film forming apparatus 100 of another embodiment may be a plasma CVD apparatus when the film is formed by the plasma CVD method. In this case, the film forming apparatus 100 may not be provided with the target T as shown in FIG. 5, and the precursor generating portion may be configured by the antenna 5.

In yet another embodiment, the film forming apparatus 100 may be a magnetron sputtering apparatus. In this case, the film forming apparatus 100 does not have to include the antenna 5 as shown in FIG.

Further, in the above embodiment, the moving mechanism 7 is configured to move the substrate W with respect to the precursor generating portion (for example, the target T), but the present invention is not limited to this. In the moving mechanism 7 of the other embodiment, the precursor generating portion (for example, the target T) may be relatively moved with respect to the substrate W, and both the substrate W and the precursor generating portion are relatively moved with respect to each other. It may be configured as follows.

Further, in the film forming apparatus 100 of the above-described embodiment, the target bias power supply 10 is configured to individually adjust the target bias voltage applied to each target T, but the present invention is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the target bias power supply 10 may be configured to apply the same target bias voltage to each target T. Similarly, the high frequency power supply 6 may be configured to energize each antenna 5 with the same high frequency current.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

100 ... Sputtering device T ... Precursor generator W ... Substrate R ... Processing room

Claims (8)

A film forming device that performs film forming processing on a substrate.
The processing room in which the substrate is placed and
A film-forming precursor is generated in the processing chamber, and is provided with a plurality of linear precursor generators arranged in parallel along the surface of the substrate.
The substrate and the plurality of precursor generators are configured to linearly move relative to each other along the surface of the substrate.
A film forming apparatus in which the plurality of precursor generating portions are arranged so that their longitudinal directions are inclined with respect to the linear moving direction. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of precursor generating portions are arranged side by side along a direction intersecting the linear moving direction. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the precursor generating portions adjacent to each other are arranged so as to overlap each other when viewed from the linear moving direction. The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is configured to move the substrate relative to the plurality of precursor generators. The plurality of precursor generators are sputtering targets arranged in the processing chamber.
The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the substrate is formed by sputtering the sputtering target. The film forming apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a bias power supply that individually controls the bias voltage applied to each sputtering target. The plurality of precursor generators are antennas that generate a high-frequency magnetic field in the processing chamber.
The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the raw material gas introduced into the processing chamber is turned into plasma by the high frequency magnetic field to form a film on the substrate. The film forming apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a high-frequency power supply that individually controls the high-frequency current flowing through each of the antennas.

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