JP5989835B2 - Plasma processing method and plasma processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

 The present invention relates to a remote plasma type plasma processing method and a plasma processing apparatus.

The remote plasma method is known as a method for plasma processing of an etching apparatus or a CVD apparatus. In the remote plasma system, a wafer, which is an object to be processed, is placed at a position away from a plasma source, and ionized gas is extracted from the plasma and directed to the wafer to cause reactions such as etching and deposition. In this method, since the energy of ions generated in the plasma is relaxed before reaching the wafer, damage to the wafer surface can be suppressed.

The etching apparatus adopting this remote plasma method is a chemical dry etching apparatus in which an etching unit for chemically scraping a wafer thin film in a gas phase and the plasma generation unit are separated and connected by a gas transport pipe. (Hereinafter simply referred to as an etching apparatus).

This etching apparatus will be described. The conventional etching apparatus 10b shown in FIG. 4 has the following configuration.
(1) A vacuum processing chamber 30 for processing a wafer 20 as an object to be processed.
(2) The exhaust unit 40 that exhausts the gas in the vacuum processing chamber 30.
(3) A mass flow unit 50 that generates gas.
(4) A plasma generating unit 60 that generates a plasma active gas with the gas supplied from the mass flow unit 50.
(5) A transport pipe 71 that transports the active gas from the plasma generation unit 60 to the vacuum processing chamber 30.

 The vacuum processing chamber 30 has a support base 31 on which the wafer 20 is placed and gas dispersion that uniformly applies plasmaized gas (hereinafter referred to as active gas) to the wafer 20 in order to perform plasma processing in a reduced pressure state. A plate 32 is provided. A thin film such as Poly-Si or BPSG formed on the surface of the wafer 20 is etched by this gas.

 The exhaust unit 40 includes a vacuum pump 41 such as a dry pump, a pressure regulating valve 42 that regulates the suction force of the vacuum pump 41, and a main valve 43 that is a main valve that opens and closes the exhaust from the vacuum processing chamber 30.

The mass flow unit 50 includes a controller 51 that controls the flow rate of gas such as CF 4, O 2, and N 2, an opening / closing valve 52 that is an opening / closing valve for introducing gas, and an opening / closing valve 53 for supplying gas. In this example, the supply gas is two systems, but is not limited to this.

The plasma generator 60 is supplied by a high frequency power source for generating plasma, for example, a power source 61 of 2.45 GHz and 1.0 kW, a plasma source 62 that applies power from the power source 61 to the gas, and an application from the plasma source 62. It has a discharge tube 63 that turns the gas into plasma. The transport pipe 71 is a flow path for transporting the gas generated by the plasma generation unit 60 to the vacuum processing chamber 30.

In a plasma processing apparatus using such an etching apparatus as an example, particles (fine foreign matter) are generated during plasma ignition and fire extinguishing. The particles serve as a mask to inhibit the etching process, and become foreign matter in the film, making it impossible to obtain a desired uniform film. Therefore, conventionally, techniques for reducing the generation of particles have been proposed.

 For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for keeping plasma ignition in a minimum region and gradually increasing the RF output (power output) step by step. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for suppressing the generation of particles by providing a step for plasma ignition and a step for plasma processing, and switching the steps continuously without losing the plasma between the steps. Has been. Patent Document 3 discloses a technique for suppressing the deterioration of ignitability by changing the position of a choke coil between plasma ignition and plasma processing in a method for suppressing the generation of particles by improving the uniformity of plasma. Has been.

JP 2005-116821 A JP 2008-60304 A JP 2009-212296 A

 The subject of the invention described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 is to suppress generation of particles during ignition and extinguishing in plasma processing. However, these conventional techniques are not a direct avoidance measure of particle generation in a plasma separation type plasma processing apparatus.

In addition, the prior art shown in FIG. 4 has the following problems to be solved.

[First issue]
For example, the surface of the wafer 20 or the surface of the etching apparatus lacks fine protrusions due to a sudden temperature change in a minute range that occurs during plasma ignition or extinguishing, and the by-products attached to the surface It occurs when it peels off.

For example, the following table is a measurement of particle generation in a 150 mm quartz substrate dry etching apparatus.

From comparison between a, b, and c in this table, it can be seen that the particles are generated very little if not discharged, and the particles are generated by the discharging action. Next, even if the discharge time is increased by a factor of three, the number of particles generated does not change significantly. Therefore, particles are not released continuously during discharge, but are often generated during ignition or extinguishing. It is inferred that However, since the ignition and extinguishing of plasma are operations that cannot be avoided in the plasma processing, it is difficult to fundamentally prevent the generation of particles.

[Second problem]
It is necessary to perform a plurality of setups until the plasma processing is started after the plasma ignition, and the gas is flowing during this time, but it is not used for the plasma processing and is wasted. Moreover, productivity is reduced due to this waiting time. In order to explain this point, the sequence and approximate time from when the plasma is ignited until the plasma processing is started are shown below.

(1) Flow a certain amount of gas. ... 2 seconds (2) Adjust the opening of the pressure regulating valve 5 to adjust the chamber pressure. ...... 5 seconds (3) Turn on the output of the high frequency power supply 61 to match the impedance. ...... 3 seconds

 As described above, it takes about 10 seconds to ignite plasma and start plasma processing. Furthermore, there are often cases where plasma is difficult to be generated under the conditions to be treated. In this case, the plasma is generated in the sequence of (1) to (3) under the conditions where plasma is easily generated, and then the discharge is maintained. However, in order to change the condition to be processed, the sequence of (1) to (3) is repeated again, and it may take about 20 seconds.

 The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-described problems of the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to reduce particles generated during plasma ignition and extinguishing in a remote plasma type plasma processing method and plasma processing apparatus.

Further, the present invention provides a time and effort for igniting or extinguishing the plasma through the bypass unit without introducing the gas generated in the plasma generating unit into the vacuum chamber during plasma ignition and extinguishing. The purpose is to improve productivity by omitting the above and to reduce the amount of gas used.

The plasma processing method of the present invention has the following characteristics.
A vacuum processing unit for plasma processing an object to be processed, a plasma generating unit for generating plasma, a mass flow unit for supplying a processing gas to the plasma generating unit, and the vacuum processing unit and the plasma generating unit are connected to each other. A gas transport section and a bypass section connected to a branch section provided in the gas transport section, and the gas flow path of the active gas generated in the plasma generation section is either the vacuum processing section or the bypass section. Using a plasma processing device to switch
When the plasma is ignited using the processing gas in the plasma generation unit, the gas flow path is switched to the bypass unit,
The gas flow path is switched to the vacuum processing unit after the discharge in the plasma generating unit is stabilized.
The plasma processing apparatus of the present invention has the following characteristics.
A vacuum processing unit for plasma processing an object to be processed, a plasma generating unit for generating plasma, a mass flow unit for supplying a processing gas to the plasma generating unit, and the vacuum processing unit and the plasma generating unit are connected. A gas transport unit that sends the active gas generated in the plasma generation unit to the vacuum processing unit, a branch unit provided in the gas transport unit, a bypass unit connected to the branch unit, and the plasma generation unit A flow path switching unit that switches a gas flow path of the generated active gas to either the vacuum processing unit or the bypass unit ;
The flow channel switching unit switches the gas flow channel to the bypass unit when the plasma generation unit uses the processing gas to ignite plasma, and after the discharge in the plasma generation unit is stabilized, The gas flow path is switched to the vacuum processing unit.

 According to the present invention, in a remote plasma type plasma processing apparatus, particles generated during plasma ignition and extinguishing can be reduced, yield can be improved by precise processing, and time and effort when igniting or extinguishing plasma can be achieved. Can be eliminated and productivity can be improved.

It is a block diagram which shows the etching apparatus of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the effect | action of the etching apparatus of embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the etching apparatus of other embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the conventional etching apparatus.

 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, about the part same as a prior art, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Configuration of the embodiment]
In the etching apparatus 10 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the gas transport unit 70 includes a transport pipe 71 and a transport pipe that transport active gas from the plasma generation unit 60 to the vacuum processing chamber 30 (corresponding to the vacuum processing unit in the claims). 71 has a branching portion 72 provided in 71, and an opening / closing valve 73 provided on the downstream side of the branching portion 72. A bypass unit 80 is branched from the branch unit 72, and an open / close valve 84, a main valve 83, a pressure regulating valve 82, and a vacuum pump 81 are provided on the downstream side of the bypass unit 80.

 The flow path switching unit in the present invention includes the opening / closing valve 73, the opening / closing valve 84, and a control unit 85 for controlling the opening / closing operation of these valves. The control unit 85 includes a plasma generator 60 and sensors 86 and 87 provided in the vacuum processing chamber 30 and a timer 88 for measuring a waiting time in order to transmit flow path switching control information. . When the control valve 85 is opened and the open / close valve 84 is closed by the controller 85, the active gas flows from the plasma generator 60 into the vacuum processing chamber 30. On the other hand, when the control valve 85 closes the open / close valve 73 and the open / close valve 84 is opened, the active gas flows from the plasma generating section 60 into the bypass section 80.

 The sensor 86 provided in the plasma generation unit 60 collects information related to ignition and extinguishing of plasma in the plasma generation unit 60 and transmits the information to the control unit 85. In addition, the sensor 87 provided in the vacuum processing chamber 30 provides information such as loading of the object to be processed in the vacuum processing chamber 30, pressure adjustment, start and completion of plasma processing, unloading processing, and start of conveyance of the next object to be processed. Collected and transmitted to the control unit 85.

 The waiting time set in the timer 88 of the control unit 85 is the time until the plasma processing is started after the plasma ignition described in the second problem, for example, the time that the gas stays in the vacuum processing chamber 30 (hereinafter referred to as residence). Time). According to the knowledge obtained by the inventor, this residence time is about 0.1 second when the volume of the vacuum pump 41 is 5 L, the average pressure is 10 Pa, and the total gas flow rate is 300 sccm (standard cc / min). By waiting 10 to 100 times the residence time, the foreign substance concentration is considered to be about 1/10 to 1/100. From the viewpoint of productivity, the waiting time set in the timer 88 is 0.1 seconds. 1 to 10 seconds, which is 10 to 100 times as long as, is desirable.

[Operation of the embodiment]
The operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. When the wafer 20 is placed on the support base 31 and the processing by the etching apparatus 10 is started, the opening / closing valves 52 and 53 of the mass flow unit 50 are opened, and processing gas is supplied to the plasma generation unit 60 based on the control of the controller 51. (Step S100).

When the sensor 86 of the plasma generation unit 60 connected to the control unit 85 detects this state, the on-off valve 73 of the gas transport unit 70 is closed and the on-off valve 84 of the bypass unit 80 is opened by an instruction from the control unit 85. (Step S110). As a result, the gas flow path is switched to the bypass unit 80.

By applying high frequency power from the power source 61 of the plasma generator 60 to the plasma source 62, plasma is generated in the discharge tube 63, thereby exciting the processing gas and generating active gas (step S120). This active gas flows into the transport pipe 71, flows into the bypass section 80 whose flow path is switched by the control section 85 through the branch section 72, and passes through the opening / closing valve 84, the main valve 83, and the pressure regulating valve 82. Then, it is sucked by the vacuum pump 81.

 When the waiting time set in advance in the timer 88 provided in the control unit 85 does not end, the control unit 85 does not output a switching command. Therefore, the active gas is supplied from the vacuum pump 81 using the bypass unit 80 as a flow path. Suction is performed (step S130: No). On the other hand, when the control unit 85 detects that the waiting time set in the timer 88 has elapsed, the control unit 85 outputs a gas flow path switching command and proceeds to step S140 (step S130: Yes).

In step S140, the open / close valve 73 of the gas transport unit 70 is opened and the open / close valve 84 of the bypass unit 80 is closed by a command from the control unit 85, so that the active gas flow path passes through the branching unit 72 from the transport pipe 71. Thus, the vacuum processing chamber 30 is reached. In this way, when the gas flow path is switched to the vacuum processing chamber 30 and the active gas is introduced into the vacuum processing chamber 30, the processing of the wafer 20 by the active gas is started in the vacuum processing chamber 30 (step). S150).

When the sensor 87 provided in the vacuum processing chamber 30 detects that the processing of the wafer 20 has been completed (step S160), the control unit 85 that has received a signal from the sensor 87 outputs a gas flow path switching command. To do. By this switching command, the opening / closing valve 73 of the gas transport unit 70 is closed, the opening / closing valve 84 of the bypass unit 80 is opened, and the gas flow path is switched to the bypass unit side (step S170).

 If there is a wafer 20 to be processed next (step S180: Yes), after the processed wafer 20 is unloaded from the vacuum processing chamber 30, the newly processed wafer 20 is placed on the support base 31 of the vacuum processing chamber 30. It is installed (step S200). In step S140, the control unit 85 switches the gas flow path to the vacuum processing chamber 30 side, thereby introducing the active gas into the vacuum processing chamber 30 again and processing the next wafer 20.

 On the other hand, if there is no next wafer 20 to be processed (step S180: No), the processed wafer 20 is unloaded from the vacuum processing chamber 30, and the plasma generator 60 finishes generating the active gas (step S190). ). In this case, the gas flow path is still switched to the bypass unit 80 side, and the gas at the time of extinguishing the plasma is not introduced into the vacuum processing chamber 30.

[Effect of the embodiment]
According to the present embodiment, when the plasma generator 60 is ignited, the flow path of the active gas is changed to the bypass section 80, and when the processing is completed, the flow path of the active gas is switched to the bypass section 80 again, and the output of the power supply 61 is changed. Stop and extinguish the discharge in the discharge tube 63. As described above, particles generated during plasma ignition or extinguishing do not reach the vacuum processing chamber 30 but are directly exhausted to the vacuum pump 81 and can be prevented from being placed on the wafer 20. As a result, the problem of obstructing the etching process is solved, and the yield of the wafer 20 can be improved.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when the processing on the wafer 20 is completed, the control unit 85 switches the gas flow path to the bypass unit 80 side by a signal from the sensor 87 that detects this. As a result, plasma is continuously generated without igniting and extinguishing the plasma while the wafer 20 is replaced, so that the waiting time required for ignition and extinguishing is not required, and the total amount necessary for plasma processing is eliminated. Time can be shortened and productivity can be improved.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and includes other embodiments as described below.

(1) Although the bypass part 80 of embodiment of FIG. 1 is the structure which has the vacuum pump 81, it is not limited to this. For example, a configuration like the etching apparatus 10a shown in FIG. 3 may be used. In the etching apparatus 10 a shown in FIG. 3, the exhaust part 40 a has a branch part 44 provided between the pressure regulating valve 42 and the main valve 43. The bypass part 80 a has an open / close valve 84, and the downstream end of the valve is connected to one branch of the branch part 44. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, when the flow path of the active gas is the bypass unit 80a, the gas in the bypass unit 80a is also sucked using the vacuum pump 41 that sucks the gas in the vacuum processing chamber 30. This configuration has an effect of reducing the number of pumps.

(2) The active gas flow switching unit from the plasma generation unit 60 of the embodiment is the opening / closing valve 73 and the opening / closing valve 84, but is not limited thereto. For example, the flow path switching unit may be a branch valve provided in the branch unit 72.

(3) When switching the flow path of the active gas from the plasma generation unit 60 to the bypass units 80 and 80a , for example, the plasma generation unit 60 may be cleaned or seasoned. In this way, the temperature stability and chemical stability of the plasma generation unit 60 can be maintained.

(4) As an object to be processed by plasma treatment, a member other than a wafer, for example, an indium tin oxide electrode can be used widely.

(5) The timing of switching the gas flow path by the flow path switching unit is set to the timer 88 in advance, without providing the sensors 86 and 87 in the plasma generation unit 60 and the vacuum processing chamber 30 as in the illustrated embodiment. It is also possible to set to.

(6) In the embodiment, the sensor 86 detects that the processing gas has been supplied to the plasma generation unit 60 as the timing for switching the flow path to the bypass unit during plasma ignition. Alternatively, the opening and closing valves of the bypass units 80 and 80a may be opened to switch the gas flow path to bypass. The sensor 86 detects the pressure, gas flow rate, concentration, and flow rate in the plasma generating unit 60 and the vacuum processing chamber 30 in addition to detecting that the processing gas is supplied to the plasma generating unit 80. May be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 10a, 10b ... Etching apparatus, 20 ... Wafer, 30 ... Vacuum processing chamber, 31 ... Support stand, 32 ... Gas dispersion plate, 40, 40a ... Exhaust part, 41 ... Vacuum pump, 42, 82 ... Pressure regulating valve, 43, 83 ... main valve, 44 ... branching part, 50 ... mass flow part, 51 ... controller part, 52, 53, 73, 84 ... open / close valve, 60 ... plasma generating part, 61 ... power source, 62 ... plasma source, 63 ... Discharge tube, 70 ... gas transport section, 71 ... transport pipe, 72 ... branch section, 80, 80a ... bypass section, 81 ... vacuum pump, 85 ... control section, 86, 87 ... sensor, 88 ... timer.

Claims (7)

A vacuum processing unit for plasma processing an object to be processed, a plasma generating unit for generating plasma, a mass flow unit for supplying a processing gas to the plasma generating unit, and the vacuum processing unit and the plasma generating unit are connected to each other. A gas transport section and a bypass section connected to a branch section provided in the gas transport section, and the gas flow path of the active gas generated in the plasma generation section is either the vacuum processing section or the bypass section. Using a plasma processing device to switch
When the plasma is ignited using the processing gas in the plasma generation unit, the gas flow path is switched to the bypass unit,
The plasma processing method, wherein after the discharge in the plasma generation unit is stabilized, the gas flow path is switched to the vacuum processing unit.   The plasma processing method according to claim 1, wherein information on the plasma ignition in the plasma generation unit is collected, and the gas flow path is switched based on the information. When the plasma processing on the object to be processed is completed, the gas flow path is switched to the bypass section, and when the processing is performed on the next object to be processed, the gas flow path is switched to the vacuum processing section. The plasma processing method according to claim 1 or 2. A vacuum processing unit for plasma processing an object to be processed, a plasma generating unit for generating plasma, a mass flow unit for supplying a processing gas to the plasma generating unit, and the vacuum processing unit and the plasma generating unit are connected. A gas transport unit that sends the active gas generated in the plasma generation unit to the vacuum processing unit, a branch unit provided in the gas transport unit, a bypass unit connected to the branch unit, and the plasma generation unit A flow path switching unit that switches a gas flow path of the generated active gas to either the vacuum processing unit or the bypass unit ;
The flow channel switching unit switches the gas flow channel to the bypass unit when the plasma generation unit uses the processing gas to ignite plasma, and after the discharge in the plasma generation unit is stabilized, A plasma processing apparatus, wherein a gas flow path is switched to the vacuum processing section.   The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the bypass unit includes a pressure regulating valve and a vacuum pump on a downstream side of the gas flow path.   The said plasma generation part has a sensor or timer which detects plasma ignition, and the said flow-path switching part switches the said gas flow path based on the information of the said sensor or the said timer. The plasma processing apparatus as described. The flow channel switching unit switches the gas flow channel to the bypass unit when the plasma processing of the workpiece is completed, and performs the processing on the next workpiece when the gas flow channel is switched. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the plasma processing apparatus is switched to the vacuum processing unit.

Images