JPH04235279A - Apparatus for forming thin film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable formation of thin film of compound having good quality even in the case pressure of reaction gas is not made to high or temp. of a substrate is not made to high. CONSTITUTION:An optical beam source 26 for exciting reaction gas 20, by which the optical beam 28 irradiates near surface of the substrate 12 in a holder 14, is arranged. By this method, reactivity of the reaction gas 20 is made to high.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention is applicable to reactive ion beam sputtering equipment, vacuum evaporation equipment, etc., in which particles generated from a particle source are reacted with a reactive gas to form a compound thin film on the surface of a substrate. The present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional examples of this type of thin film forming apparatus are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is a reactive ion beam sputtering apparatus, and is equipped with an ion source 2 and a target 6 for sputtering as particle generation sources.

[0004] Then, in a vacuum container (not shown),
A reactive gas (for example, oxygen, nitrogen, methane, etc. when forming a compound thin film of oxides, nitrides, carbides, etc.) 20 introduced from the gas introduction pipe 18 is blown near the substrate 12, and at the same time, the reaction gas 20 is drawn out from the ion source 2. A high-speed ion beam 4 collides with a target 6 to emit sputtered particles 10 made of molecules, atoms, etc. of the target constituent material into space, and the sputtered particles 10 are deposited on a substrate 12. As a result, a compound thin film is formed on the surface of the substrate 12 by the reaction between the reactive gas 20 and the sputtered particles 10 .

[0005] In this example, a plurality of substrates 12 are attached to a rotary holder 14 . Further, the temperature of the substrate 12 can be controlled by a heater 16 provided inside the holder 14 or on the back thereof. 8 is a holder for the target 6.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is a reactive vacuum evaporation apparatus, and is equipped with an evaporation source 22 such as an electron beam heating type or a resistance heating type as a particle generation source.

[0007] Then, in a vacuum container (not shown),
A reaction gas 20 as described above introduced from a gas introduction pipe 18 is blown near the substrate 12, and required evaporation particles 24 are evaporated from an evaporation source 22 and deposited on the substrate 12. As a result, the substrate 12
A thin compound film is formed on the surface of the reactant gas 20 and the evaporated particles 24 by reaction.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In any of the above devices, in order to improve the reactivity on the substrate surface, it is necessary to increase the pressure of the reaction gas 20 or increase the temperature of the substrate 12. . For example, when forming SiC using the apparatus shown in FIG. 4, the substrate temperature must normally be raised to nearly 900°C.

However, when the pressure of the reaction gas 20 is increased, it becomes difficult for the sputtered particles 10 and the evaporated particles 24 to reach the substrate 12. Furthermore, the density of impurities in the thin film increases. Furthermore, in the case of the ion beam sputtering apparatus of FIG. 3, the amount of ion beam 4 reaching target 6 is reduced.

On the other hand, when the temperature of the substrate 12 is increased, the thermal load on the substrate 12, the holder 14, etc. increases, and there are restrictions on the materials used. Further, when oxygen is used as the reaction gas 20, there is a high possibility that the life of the heater 16 will be extremely shortened.

[0011] Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a thin film forming apparatus that can form a high quality compound thin film without increasing the gas pressure of the reaction gas or increasing the substrate temperature. .

0012

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that a light source is provided that irradiates light near the surface of the substrate and excites the reaction gas there. do.

[0013]

[Operation] When the reactive gas is excited near the surface of the substrate by the light from the light source, the reactivity of the reactive gas increases. As a result, a high-quality compound thin film can be formed without increasing the gas pressure of the reaction gas or increasing the substrate temperature.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively show apparatuses according to embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding parts as in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the differences from the conventional example will be mainly explained below.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a reactive ion beam sputtering apparatus, and corresponds to the conventional example shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, a light source 26 that irradiates light 28 near the surface of the substrate 12 on the holder 14 is provided, and this light 28 excites the reactive gas 20 that is blown onto the surface of the substrate 12 near the surface. That's what I do.

The light source 26 is, for example, a laser light source, in which case the light 28 is a laser light. The laser light may be either pulsed or continuous wave (CW). Further, the light source 26 may be other than a laser light source, for example, an ultraviolet lamp or the like. The same applies to other embodiments described later.

When the reactive gas 20 is excited in the vicinity of the surface of the substrate 12 by the light 28 from the light source 26, the molecules constituting the reactive gas 20 become activated and their reactivity increases. As a result, a compound thin film of better quality than before can be formed on the substrate 12 without increasing the gas pressure of the reaction gas 20 or increasing the temperature of the substrate 12.

The position at which the reactive gas 20 is excited by irradiating the light 28 is preferably close to the surface of the substrate 12. If this is done, more excited molecules of the reactive gas 20 will reach the substrate 12. This allows them to be used more effectively.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is an example of a reactive vacuum deposition apparatus, and corresponds to the conventional example shown in FIG.

Similar to the above embodiment, this embodiment also includes a light source 2 that irradiates light 28 near the surface of the substrate 12 on the holder 14.
6 is provided so that the light 28 excites the reactive gas 20 blown onto the surface of the substrate 12 near the surface thereof. As a result, a compound thin film of better quality than before can be formed on the substrate 12 without increasing the gas pressure of the reaction gas 20 or increasing the temperature of the substrate 12.

[0022]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a light source is provided that irradiates light near the surface of the substrate to excite the reactive gas there, so that the gas pressure of the reactive gas can be increased and the substrate temperature can be increased. A compound thin film of better quality than before can be formed on a substrate without having to do so. As a result, various adverse effects associated with increasing the gas pressure of the reaction gas or increasing the substrate temperature can be eliminated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a thin film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a thin film forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional thin film forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing another example of a conventional thin film forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Ion source for sputtering 6 Target 10 Sputtered particles 12 Board 18 Gas introduction pipe 20 Reactant gas 22 Evaporation source 24 Evaporation particles 26 Light source 28 Light

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A reactive gas is introduced in the vicinity of a substrate in a vacuum container, and particles generated from a particle generation source are deposited on the substrate, whereby the reactive gas and particles react on the surface of the substrate. A thin film forming apparatus for forming a compound thin film, characterized in that the thin film forming apparatus is provided with a light source that irradiates light near the surface of the substrate and excites the reactive gas there.