JP3031364B1 - Sputtering equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to prevent particles scattered by sputtering from adhering to an inner wall of a chamber, prevent dielectric breakdown of particles deposited on a deposition-preventing member, and further reduce unnecessary plasma in the chamber. Provided is a sputtering apparatus capable of preventing discharge. SOLUTION: A chamber 2, an anode 5 and a cathode 3 arranged in the chamber 2 so as to face each other, and a discharge region between the anode 5 and the cathode 2 in the chamber 2 are arranged. A floating potential inner protection member 8 and an outer protection member 7 having the same potential as the chamber 2 disposed outside the inner protection member 8 in the chamber 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus for forming various films on a substrate, and more particularly to a sputtering apparatus for preventing generation of dust and particles and preventing occurrence of abnormal discharge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a sputtering apparatus having a structure shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is known. As shown in FIG. 2, a conventional sputtering apparatus 100 includes a chamber 10
1, a cathode 102 and an anode 104 are arranged to face each other. A target 103 is provided on the cathode 102. A substrate 105 is attached to the anode 104. An inner wall of the chamber 101 is provided with a protection member 1
06 are attached along. Since the attachment-preventing member 106 is attached to the inner wall of the chamber 101 at a ground potential using fixing means such as bolts, the chamber 1
The ground potential is the same as 01.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, another conventional sputtering apparatus 100 includes a cathode 101 in a chamber 101.
02 and the anode 104 are arranged to face each other. A target 103 is provided on the cathode 101. A substrate 105 is attached to the anode 104. The deposition preventing member 106 includes the cathode 101 and the anode 1.
It is arranged at a place surrounding the chamber 101 and in contact with the chamber 101 via an insulator 107. This attachment member 106
Is different from the ground potential and the ground potential, and when charged, the floating potential charged to the charged position can be selectively set.

[0004]

However, the conventional sputtering apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 2 has a structure in which the deposition preventing member 106 is attached to the inner wall of the chamber 101. For this reason, it is necessary to form the deposition-preventing member 106 into the inner wall shape of the chamber 101, and depending on the inner wall shape of the chamber 101, the structure becomes complicated and the number of parts increases. As a result, there is a problem that maintenance time and cost are required. Further, since the area of the coating film of the sputtered particles is large, there is also a problem that the amount of dust and particles generated by re-scattering from the deposition-inhibiting member 101 increases.

On the other hand, in another conventional sputtering apparatus 100 shown in FIG.
Although the film area becomes smaller as the value approaches 03, the film thickness adhered per unit area of the deposition-inhibiting member 106 increases as compared with the sputtering apparatus 100 shown in FIG. Also,
When the potential of the deposition-preventing member 106 is the ground potential, for example, when an insulating material is used as a sputtering material, the sputtered particles (insulating film) attached to the deposition-preventing member 106 are gradually charged by the influence of the plasma. When a certain amount of charge accumulates, although it differs depending on the material, dielectric breakdown occurs and flows to the ground through the deposition preventing member 106. When this dielectric breakdown occurs, abnormal discharge occurs. In the worst case, there is a problem that it may cause cracking or chipping of the target 103 and also cause dust.

In the other conventional sputtering apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 3, when the potential of the deposition-preventing member 106 is a floating potential, the phenomenon of dielectric breakdown of the insulating film attached to the deposition-preventing member 106 can be prevented. Cathode 1
02 applied to the deposition-preventing member 106 through the plasma space, and as a result,
In some cases, plasma discharge occurs between the chamber 06 and the chamber 101. This phenomenon occurs due to the amount of electric power applied to the cathode 102 and the amount of sputtered particles attached to the deposition-preventing member 106. For this reason, it is impossible to predict the occurrence of the plasma discharge, and the occurrence of the plasma discharge is uncertain. Further, unnecessary plasma discharge in the region inside the chamber 101 causes a loss of the power of the applied plasma discharge, which causes a problem that the semiconductor manufacturing process becomes unstable.

For the above reasons, there is a strong demand for a sputtering apparatus 100 having a structure that prevents unnecessary plasma discharge in the region within the chamber 101 while preventing dielectric breakdown of the deposited film of the deposition-preventing member 106. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and can prevent particles scattered by sputtering from adhering to an inner wall of a chamber and prevent dielectric breakdown of particles deposited on a deposition-inhibiting member. It is another object of the present invention to provide a sputtering apparatus capable of preventing unnecessary plasma discharge in a chamber.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a sputtering apparatus, comprising: a chamber; an anode and a cathode disposed in the chamber so as to face each other; and a discharge between the anode and the cathode in the chamber. A floating potential inner deposition member surrounding the area,
An outer deposition member having the same electric potential as the chamber disposed outside the inner deposition member in the chamber.
The inner and outer shield members are 1 to
It is characterized by being arranged at an interval of 4 mm .

In the present invention, the inner deposition-inhibiting member includes:
It is preferable that the outer protective member is fixed to the chamber by directly contacting the chamber while being fixed to the chamber via an insulator.

Further, in the present invention, the outer shield member may be formed of a conductive material, and the inner shield member may be formed of a conductive material when fixed to the chamber via an insulator. it can. Further, when the inner protective member is formed of an insulating material, the insulator can be omitted.

[0012]

Further, in the present invention, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which one or more deposition members having a floating potential are further disposed inside the inner deposition member.

In the present invention, the inner adhesion-preventing member floating potential in the chamber, by spaced outer adhesion-preventing member and the first to 4mm chamber the same potential, the particles scattered by sputtering , Adhere to the inner deposition member and become the same potential as the chamber even if the outer deposition member is charged. This can prevent particles scattered by sputtering from adhering to the inner wall of the chamber, prevent dielectric breakdown of the deposition-preventing member due to deposition of the particles, and prevent unnecessary plasma discharge in the chamber. .

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the sputtering apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, a cathode 3 and an anode 4 are arranged at the center in a chamber 2 so as to face each other. A target 4 for sputtering is mounted on the cathode 2, and a substrate 6 on which a film is to be formed is provided on the anode 5. In the chamber 2, two cylindrical deposition members 7 and 8 made of, for example, stainless steel, which is a conductive material, are concentrically arranged so as to surround the entire discharge region between the anode and the cathode. Are located. Of these deposition-preventing members 7 and 8, the inner deposition-preventing member 8 arranged at a position close to the center of the chamber 2 is connected to the chamber 2 through an insulator 9.
It is fixed to. Outside the inner shield member 8, an outer shield member 7 is fixed so as to directly contact the chamber 2. Further, the distance between the inner protective member 8 and the outer protective member 7 is 1 to 4 mm so that no part is in contact with each other.
Are arranged at intervals. That is, the outer protective member 7
Are arranged to be in direct contact with the chamber 2 and are held at the same potential as the chamber, and the inner deposition-inhibiting member 8 is fixed via an insulator, which is an insulator, and is held at a floating potential. Note that the chamber 2 is set to the GND potential.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, a substrate 5 is set on an anode 4, and a sputtering gas, for example, Ar or the like is introduced into a chamber 2 from a gas inlet (not shown). Here, the gas flow rate and the process pressure are controlled by another system (not shown).

Next, plasma discharge power is applied to the cathode 3. The power for plasma discharge is applied from a power source provided separately from the chamber 2. For example,
In the case of performing RF sputtering, application is performed using a high-frequency power supply.

Next, a discharge trigger used in a normal semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is turned on while a sputtering gas is introduced and plasma discharge power is applied. And
Initiate plasma discharge. The ions of the gas excited in the plasma, for example, Ar ions are irradiated on the target 4 attached to the cathode 3, and sputter particles are emitted from the target 4. The sputtered particles coat the substrate 6 on the anode 5 and the inner protective member 8. In this sputtering apparatus 1, since the entire plasma discharge region is surrounded by the inner protective member 8, only the inner protective member 8 is coated with sputter particles, and the outer protective member 7 is not coated.

When the sputtered particles adhere to the inner deposition-inhibiting member 8, the sputtered particles are gradually charged by the influence of the plasma, and do not cause dielectric breakdown even if a certain amount of charge accumulates. Further, the RF applied to the cathode 3
The components flow to the ground through the outer shield member 7,
For this reason, the outer protective member 7 and the chamber 2 are maintained at the same potential. As a result, no plasma discharge occurs between the deposition-inhibiting member and the chamber 2 or between the inner deposition-inhibiting member 8 and the outer deposition-inducing member 7. Then, this process is completed by turning off the plasma discharge power as soon as the coated film reaches a desired film thickness.

In this embodiment, the inner protective member 7 is
Since it is fixed via the chamber 2 and the insulator 9, the potential can be maintained at the floating potential. For this reason,
Even if the sputtered particles attached to the inner deposition-inhibiting member 8 are charged with electric charge, dielectric breakdown does not occur. Therefore, generation of dust or particles can be prevented, and abnormal discharge such as arcing that occurs in the case of dielectric breakdown can also be prevented.

In this embodiment, an additional gas such as a reactive gas can be added simultaneously with the sputtering gas depending on the kind of the film. The power supply to be applied can be changed according to the purpose. For example, when performing DC sputtering, a DC power supply can be used. Furthermore, these power supplies can be used not only alone but also in combination.

Further, in the present embodiment, the outer protective member 7 is provided.
Is at the same potential as chamber 2, that is, at ground potential,
Abnormal discharge does not occur between the deposition preventing member and the inner wall of the chamber 2. Since a gap is provided between the inner and outer protective members 8 and 7, no plasma discharge occurs. This interval slightly varies depending on the process pressure and the applied power, but is 1 to 4 mm in the range of conditions used in an ordinary sputtering apparatus. Further, the inner protective member 8
Although a conductive material such as a stainless steel material was used in the above, the present invention is not particularly limited thereto. For example, an insulating material suitable for maintaining a floating potential such as quartz or ceramics can be used. By forming the inner protective member 8 with an insulating material suitable for maintaining the floating potential, the inner protective member 8 can be attached to the chamber 2 without using the insulator 9.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the two deposition members, the inner deposition member 8 and the outer deposition member 7, are provided in a double configuration. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this. , An arbitrary number of deposition-inhibiting members may be provided. For example, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a deposition member having a floating potential is further disposed in a portion where electric charges easily accumulate near the target inside the inner deposition member 8 and three deposition members are provided. This makes it possible to further prevent the generation of dust or particles,
Abnormal discharge can be prevented.

Further, in this embodiment, the inner deposition-inhibiting member 8 has a cylindrical shape. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and the plasma discharge of the anode 5 and the cathode 3 is not limited thereto. Any shape may be used as long as it surrounds the region. For example, a rectangular tube, a sphere or an ellipsoid may be used.

[0026]

According to the present invention as described in detail above, according to the present invention, the inner adhesion-preventing member of floating potential disposed in the chamber, outside of the chamber at the same potential as the adhesion-preventing member and the 1 to 4m
By disposing at intervals of m, particles scattered by sputtering are prevented from adhering to the inner wall of the chamber, dielectric breakdown of a deposition-preventing member due to deposition of particles is prevented, and unnecessary plasma in the chamber is prevented. Discharge can be prevented. Therefore, the yield of processing substrates can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a conventional sputtering apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another conventional sputtering apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 100; sputtering apparatus 2, 101; chamber 3, 102; cathode 4, 103; target 5, 104; anode 6, 105; substrate 7, outer shield member 8, inner shield member 9, 107; Deposition material

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A chamber, an anode and a cathode disposed opposite each other in the chamber, and a floating potential inside the chamber surrounding a discharge region between the anode and the cathode. and Chakubuzai, the have a, and an outer adhesion-preventing member of the chamber the same potential disposed outside of the inner adhesion-preventing member in the chamber, and the inner adhesion-preventing member and the outer adhesion preventing member, 1 No
A sputtering apparatus, which is arranged at an interval of 4 mm . 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inner shield member is fixed to the chamber via an insulator, and the outer shield member is fixed in direct contact with the chamber. 3. The sputtering apparatus according to 1. 3. The inner protective member and the outer protective member,
The sputtering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sputtering apparatus is formed of a conductive material. 4. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inner deposition-inhibiting member is formed of an insulating material. 5. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one or more deposition members having a floating potential are further disposed inside the inner deposition member.