JPH0628239B2 - Continuous plasma CVD equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application] The present invention is directed to plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Depositio).
The present invention relates to a continuous plasma CVD apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate by the method n).

[Prior Art] In a conventional plasma CVD apparatus, as shown in FIG. 4, a substrate 3 to be processed is placed on a substrate heater 2 in a vacuum reaction container 1.
Is laid down, an electrode 4 is installed above the substrate 3 so as to face the substrate heater 2, high frequency power is applied from a high frequency power source 5 between the electrode 4 and the substrate heater 2, and a vacuum reaction container is also installed. A raw material gas supply means 6 made of a pipe was used to supply the raw material gas into the chamber 1, and a thin film was formed on the surface of the substrate 4 by the plasma CVD method.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional plasma CVD apparatus, since a thin film can be formed only on one surface (upper surface) of the substrate 3, a thin film is formed on the other surface. I had to do the work to do it again, and there was a problem of inefficiency. Further, in the conventional plasma CVD apparatus, the substrate 3 is set in the vacuum reaction container 1 and then evacuated, and after reaching a predetermined vacuum degree, the plasma CV is generated in the vacuum reaction container 1.
Since the D treatment is performed and then the post-treatment is performed in the vacuum reaction container 1, it takes time for the pre-treatment and the post-treatment, and in this respect, there is a problem of poor efficiency.

The object of the present invention is to form a thin film on both sides of a substrate at the same time,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous plasma CVD apparatus capable of efficiently performing pretreatment and posttreatment.

[Means for Solving Problems] To explain the configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object, the continuous plasma CVD apparatus of the present invention has a first internal structure.
A first chamber container having a chamber, a second chamber container internally having a second chamber communicating with the first chamber, and a third chamber container internally having a third chamber communicating with the second chamber are adjacent to each other. And a boundary between the first and second chambers adjacent to the inlet of the first chamber, a boundary between the second and third chambers adjacent to the inlet of the first chamber, and an outlet of the third chamber are separated by gate valves. The first chamber container is provided with a heating unit for heating a substrate to be processed in the first chamber and a vacuuming unit for vacuuming the first chamber, and the second chamber container is Vacuuming means for vacuuming the second chamber and the substrate sent from the first chamber are placed between a pair of source gas outflow electrodes to form plasma on both sides of the substrate. By supplying a source gas from both source gas outflow electrodes to both sides of the substrate through plasma. Plasma CVD means for simultaneously forming a film on both surfaces of the substrate is provided, and the third chamber container is evacuated to evacuate the third chamber and the second chamber is sent from the second chamber. A film stabilizing gas supply means for supplying a film stabilizing gas for stabilizing the films on both surfaces of the substrate to the third chamber is provided and configured.

[Operation] With this configuration, when the plasma CVD process is performed in the second chamber, the pretreatment and the posttreatment can be performed in parallel in the first chamber and the third chamber, and the work can be performed efficiently. You can Further, in the second chamber, a substrate is arranged between both source gas outflow electrodes, plasma is generated on both sides of the substrate, and source gas is supplied from both source gas outflow electrodes across each plasma to both sides of the substrate. Since it did in this way, a thin film can be simultaneously formed on both surfaces of a board | substrate.

Embodiments Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, in the continuous plasma CVD apparatus of the present embodiment, a first chamber container 7 having a first chamber 7A inside and a second chamber communicating with the first chamber 7A. A second chamber container 8 having 8A therein and a third chamber container 9 having a third chamber 9A communicating with the second chamber 8A therein are provided adjacently to each other. A gate valve 10 is provided at the inlet of the first chamber 7A, and the adjacent first and second chambers 7A,
A gate valve 11 is provided at the boundary of 8A, a gate valve 12 is provided at the boundary between adjacent second and third chambers 8A and 9A, and a gate valve 13 is provided at the outlet of the third chamber 9A. It is partitioned.

The first chamber 7 has a heating means 14 such as a heater for heating the substrate 3 to be processed in the first chamber 7A, and the first chamber 7
A vacuuming means 15 for vacuuming the inside of A and an inert gas supplying means 16 for supplying an inert gas such as Ar into the first chamber 7A are provided.

In the second chamber container 8, a vacuuming means 17 for vacuuming the inside of the second chamber 8A and the substrate 3 sent from the first chamber 7A are placed between a pair of source gas outflow electrodes 18. The substrate 3
Plasma CVD means 19 for forming a plasma on both sides of the substrate 3 and simultaneously forming a film on both sides of the substrate 3 by supplying a source gas from both source gas outflow electrodes 18 to both sides of the substrate 3 through the plasma. ing. That is, the plasma CVD means 19 has a pair of source gas outflow electrodes 18 which are arranged in parallel in the second chamber 8A so as to face each other in the vertical direction. Each raw material gas outflow electrode 18 is made of metal and has a large number of gas outflow holes 18A dispersedly provided in the raw material gas outflow electrode body 18B.
And a funnel-shaped distribution chamber forming body 18C made of metal and integrally provided on the back side thereof. A raw material gas is supplied from the raw material gas supply unit 20 to the raw material gas outflow electrode 18 through a pipe 21. The source gas outflow electrode 18 is grounded via a pipe 21.
A mesh is formed between the facing source gas outflow electrodes 18.
A pair of mesh electrodes 22 are arranged vertically and face each other in parallel with the source gas outflow electrode 18. High frequency power is applied to each mesh electrode 22 from the high frequency power supply 5 through the matching box 23. A space for passing the processing substrate 3 is provided between the mesh electrodes 22. Note that, in FIG. 1, the source gas outflow electrode 18 and the mesh electrode 22 are shown by changing their directions by 90 degrees for the sake of illustration.

The third chamber container 9 has a vacuuming means 24 for vacuuming the inside of the third chamber 9A, and a film-stabilizing film such as oxygen for stabilizing the films on both surfaces of the substrate 3 sent from the second chamber 8A. A film stabilizing gas supply means 25 for supplying a stabilizing gas to the third chamber 9A,
An inert gas supply means 26 for supplying an inert gas such as Ar is provided in the third chamber 9A.

The substrate 3 is vertically mounted on the substrate supporting carriage 27 and is sequentially moved to the first chamber 7A, the second chamber 8A, and the third chamber 9A.

Next, a method for forming a thin film using such a plasma CVD apparatus will be described.

The gate valve 10 is opened, the substrate 3 is put into the first chamber 7A by the substrate supporting carriage 27, and the gate valve 10 is closed.
The substrate 3 is heated to 200 ° C. by the heating means 14 in the first chamber 7A.
Place and heat. Next, the first evacuation means 15
The inside of the chamber 7A is evacuated to a level of 10 ⁻³ to 10 ⁻⁴ Torr to remove impurities and keep the indoor conditions constant. When the substrate 3 can be heated to about 200 ° C., the inert gas supply means 16 is used for Ar.
Such an inert gas is put into the first chamber 7A to regulate the pressure of the first chamber 7 to the level of 10 ^-2 Torr. In such a state, the gate valve 11 is opened, the substrate 3 is put in the second chamber 8A, and the gate valve 11 is closed. In addition, the second chamber 8A is previously set to 10 ^-1 To
The rr is evacuated by the evacuation means 17. 2nd chamber 8A
Then, the substrate 3 is positioned between the mesh electrodes 22. In this state, high-frequency power (13.56 MHz ×
150 W) is applied to generate plasma between each mesh electrode 22 and the source gas outflow electrode 18 facing the mesh electrode 22.
Further, from each raw material gas outflow electrode 18, a raw material gas is supplied across both sides of the substrate 3 across the plasma, and the raw material gas is activated by the plasma, whereby simultaneous film formation is performed on both sides of the substrate 3. The film formation is performed for about 30 seconds. After the film formation on the substrate 3 is completed, the gate valve 9A is opened to set the substrate 3 to the third position.
Send to chamber 9A and close gate valve 9A. The third
The chamber 9A is evacuated to a level of 10 ^-3 Torr in advance by the vacuuming means 24 to remove impurities, and then an inert gas such as Ar is supplied from the inert gas supply means 25 to bring the room to a level of 10 ^-2 Torr. Adjust the pressure. A film stabilizing gas such as oxygen is supplied from the film stabilizing gas supply means 26 to the substrate 3 having entered the third chamber 9A to stabilize the films on both sides of the substrate 3. After the film stabilization process, the gate valve 13 is opened, the substrate 3 is taken out, and the gate valve 13 is closed.

In this way, the second chamber 8A is set at the level of 10 ^-1 Torr, and the first and third chambers are
If the chambers 7A and 9A are on the order of 10 ^-2 Torr, the gate valve 1
When 1 is opened, the airflow flows from the second chamber 8A to the first chamber 7A, and when the gate valve 12 is opened, the airflow flows from the second chamber 8A to the third chamber 9A so that impurities do not enter the second chamber 8A. become.

The first chamber container 7 to the third chamber container 9 are all formed of, for example, stainless steel. Further, in this apparatus, the substrate 3 is moved after a predetermined time and a sequence is formed so as to receive a predetermined process, and the sequence is automated.

Although the high frequency power is applied to the mesh electrode 22 in the above embodiment, the high frequency power may be directly applied to the substrate 3 by omitting the mesh electrode 22.
By doing so, plasma is generated between the substrate 3 and the source gas supply electrode 18.

In the second chamber 8A, hydrocarbon-based deposits are attached to the components inside the chamber as well, so it is necessary to regularly clean the components. The cleaning is performed by plasma etching by applying plasma while supplying O ₂ , for example.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the continuous plasma CVD apparatus of the present invention, the first, second, and third chambers are continuously provided, and each chamber is independent by the gate valve. Plasma CVD
During processing, pre-processing and post-processing can be performed in parallel in the first chamber and the third chamber, and there is an advantage that work can be performed efficiently. Further, in the second chamber, a substrate is arranged between both source gas outflow electrodes, plasma is generated on both sides of the substrate, and source gas is supplied from both source gas outflow electrodes across each plasma to both sides of the substrate. I did so,
Thin films can be formed on both sides of the substrate at the same time. Therefore, according to the present invention, the film formation by the plasma CVD method can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of a continuous plasma CVD apparatus according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are front views and vertical sectional views of a source gas outflow electrode used in this embodiment. ,
FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a conventional plasma CVD apparatus. . 3 ... Substrate, 5 ... High-frequency power source, 7 ... First chamber container, 7
A: first chamber, 8: second chamber container, 8A: second chamber, 9
...... Third chamber container, 9A ...... Third chamber, 10 to 13 ...... Gate valve, 14 ...... Heating means, 15, 17, 24 ...... Vacuating means, 18 ...... Material gas electrode, 19 ...... Plasma CVD means, 25 ... Inert gas supply means, 26 ... Membrane stabilizing gas supply means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first chamber container having a first chamber therein, and a second chamber container having a second chamber communicating with the first chamber therein.
A third chamber container having a third chamber therein, which communicates with the second chamber, is adjacently provided in sequence, and a second chamber is adjacent to the boundary between the first and second chambers adjacent to the inlet of the first chamber. The boundary of the third chamber and the outlet of the third chamber are each partitioned by a gate valve, and the first chamber container has a heating means for heating a substrate to be processed in the first chamber and the first chamber. And a vacuuming means for vacuuming the second chamber, and a pair of the vacuuming means for vacuuming the second chamber and the pair of substrates sent from the first chamber in the second chamber container. Plasma is formed on both sides of the substrate by being placed between the source gas outflow electrodes and the source gas is supplied from both source gas outflow electrodes to both sides of the substrate through the plasma to simultaneously form a film on both sides of the substrate. Plasma CVD means for forming the third chamber A vacuuming means for vacuuming the third chamber and a film for supplying a film stabilizing gas for stabilizing the films on both surfaces of the substrate sent from the second chamber to the third chamber. A continuous plasma CVD apparatus comprising a stabilizing gas supply means.