JPH08144059A - Continuous film forming device and continuous film formation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enlarge the area in consideration of mass productivity and to improve treatability at the same time without damaging the interface between a thin film and a dielectric film. CONSTITUTION: An arc-discharge plasma current 13 is made into sheet in a first plasma producing chamber 11 and introduced into a first vacuum treating chamber 10, a raw gas is supplied to the plasma current 13 to form a thin film on a substrate 1, and the substrate is transported to a second treating chamber 20 under reduced pressure. An arc-plasma current 23 is made into sheet in a second plasma producing chamber 21 and introduced, and a raw gas for forming a dielectric layer is supplied into the plasma current 23, excited and decomposed. The generated active species is allowed to react with the thin film to form a dielectric layer on the thin film surface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for treating a surface of a substrate using a plasma process, and in particular, plasma is used to continuously form a multi-layered film consisting of a plurality of layers on the surface of a large-area substrate. The present invention relates to a continuous film forming apparatus and a continuous film forming method effective above.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as a method for forming a dielectric film such as an oxide film or a nitride film on the surface of a substrate or a thin film formed on the substrate, a direct deposition method such as a CVD method or a PVD method is used. A method of forming a dielectric film on a substrate is known.

[0003]

However, in the case of a deposition method in which a dielectric film is newly formed on the surface of a substrate or the like by CVD or PVD, an interface layer is formed at the interface between the substrate and the dielectric film. There is a problem in that the original characteristics of the substrate or the like cannot be expressed because the substrate or the like is damaged depending on the formation or the process at the time of formation.

In particular, in the case of a thin film transistor which is mainly applied to a liquid crystal television or the like, a device is formed by continuously forming a film by the p-CVD method in the same vacuum system, but an insulating film is formed on a semiconductor film. In the case of continuously depositing, the plasma damage during the formation of the insulating film is introduced into the semiconductor film, resulting in insufficient transistor characteristics.

Therefore, in addition to the above-described deposition method, as a method of forming a dielectric layer by treating the surface of a thin film formed on a substrate, a high temperature process of arranging the substrate in a high temperature oxygen or nitrogen atmosphere or , An anodizing method in which a substrate or the like is immersed in a solution and an oxide film is formed at a low temperature by an electrochemical method (for example, regarding anodization of an amorphous silicon thin film on glass, see Electronics Letters 19 (1983) 6). ), Or an oxidation method using plasma using an ECR source or a helicon source (for example, regarding the oxidation of silicon, K. Eljabaly et al J. Electrochem. Soc. 1
38 (1991) 1064, Y. Kawai et al, Appl. Phys Lett. 6
4 (1994) 2223, etc.) are being considered.

However, when the high temperature process is used, there are problems such as heat resistance of the substrate, which limits the applicability, and in the case of the anodic oxidation method, the dielectric layer is low at a low temperature. However, it is a problem that the system of the solution system and the substrate is limited. In the case of an oxidation method using plasma, a certain reaction rate can be obtained, but when processing a large-area substrate, the size of the plasma source is limited. However, there is a problem that it is possible to deal with a wafer of a normal size, but it is not possible to deal with a substrate having a larger area.

As described above, a continuous multi-layer film including a dielectric film, which does not damage the interface between the substrate and the dielectric film, and which can achieve both large area and processability in view of mass productivity. The film forming method and apparatus are not known.

[0008]

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and at least two first and second vacuum processing chambers (10, 20) in which a reduced pressure atmosphere can be adjusted. And first and second plasma generation chambers (11, 21) connected to the respective vacuum processing chambers via gate valves (12, 22) respectively, and the plasma generated in each plasma generation chamber is formed into a sheet. A continuous film forming apparatus having at least a sheet forming means, a partition valve (5) interposed between the first and second vacuum processing chambers, and a substrate transfer means, the first plasma generating chamber ( 1
The first raw material gas for forming a thin film is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (13) which is generated in 1), is transformed into a sheet by the sheet forming means, and is guided to the first vacuum processing chamber (10). A first on the substrate (1) in the first vacuum processing chamber (10)
After forming the thin film, the substrate (1) is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) through the partition valve (5) under reduced pressure by the substrate transfer means, and is generated in the second plasma generation chamber (21). Then, the dielectric layer forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (23) which is deformed into a sheet shape by the sheet forming means and is guided to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) to be excited and decomposed. A continuous film forming apparatus characterized in that a dielectric layer is formed on the surface of the first thin film by reacting the active species generated thereby with the first thin film on the substrate (1) (hereinafter , The first invention), and

[0009] At least three first, second and third vacuum processing chambers (10,
20, 30) and first, second and third plasma generation chambers (11, 21, 31) connected to respective vacuum processing chambers via gate valves (12, 22, 32), respectively.
Sheet forming means for converting the plasma generated in each plasma generating chamber into a sheet, and a partition valve (5, 6) interposed between the first, second and third vacuum processing chambers,
A continuous film forming apparatus having at least a substrate transfer means, which is generated in a first plasma generation chamber (11) and transformed into a sheet by a sheet forming means to generate a first vacuum processing chamber (1).
0) is supplied to the arc discharge plasma flow (13) to supply the first thin film forming raw material gas to form the first thin film on the substrate (1) in the first vacuum processing chamber (10). After forming, the substrate (1) is transported to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) through the partition valve (5) under reduced pressure by the substrate transporting means,
The second vacuum processing chamber (20) is generated in the second plasma generating chamber (21) and transformed into a sheet by the sheet forming means.
Into the arc discharge plasma flow (23) introduced to the substrate, a raw material gas for forming a dielectric layer is supplied, excited and decomposed, and the active species generated thereby react with the first thin film on the substrate (1). Thus, after the dielectric layer is formed on the surface of the first thin film, the substrate (1) is transported to the third vacuum processing chamber (30) through the partition valve (6) under reduced pressure by the substrate transporting means.
It is generated in the third plasma generating chamber (31) and is transformed into a sheet by the sheet forming means to be the third vacuum processing chamber (30).
Continuous film forming apparatus characterized in that the second thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (33) guided to the step (3) to form the second thin film on the dielectric layer. (Hereinafter referred to as the second invention), and

Generated in the first plasma generation chamber (11),
The first thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (13) which is deformed into a sheet shape and introduced into the first vacuum processing chamber 10 so that the inside of the first vacuum processing chamber (10) is supplied. After forming the first thin film on the substrate (1), the substrate (1) is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) under reduced pressure, and is generated in the second plasma generation chamber (21) to form a sheet. The source gas for forming the dielectric layer is supplied to the arc discharge plasma flow (23) which is deformed into a shape and guided to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) to be excited and decomposed, thereby generating the active species. The base (1)
A continuous film forming method characterized by forming a dielectric layer on the surface of the first thin film by reacting with the above first thin film (hereinafter referred to as the third invention), and

Generated in the first plasma generation chamber (11),
The first thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (13) which is deformed into a sheet and guided to the first vacuum processing chamber (10) to supply the first vacuum processing chamber (10). After the first thin film is formed on the substrate (1) in the inside, the substrate (1) is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) under reduced pressure and is generated in the second plasma generation chamber (21). The dielectric layer forming raw material gas was supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (23) which was deformed into a sheet shape and was introduced into the second vacuum processing chamber (20) to be excited and decomposed, thereby being generated. After forming a dielectric layer on the surface of the first thin film by reacting the active species with the first thin film on the substrate (1), the substrate (1) is placed under reduced pressure in the third vacuum processing chamber (30). And is generated in the third plasma generation chamber (31) and is deformed into a sheet shape to form the third vacuum processing chamber (30). A second thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the guided arc discharge plasma flow (33) to form a second thin film on the dielectric layer. Invention of No. 4, first to fourth
These inventions are collectively referred to as the present invention. ),I will provide a.

1 and 2 are schematic sectional views of an example of a continuous film forming apparatus according to the present invention. In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a substrate, 2 is a substrate preparation chamber, 3 is a substrate take-out chamber, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are partition valves, 10 is a first vacuum processing chamber, and 11 is a first plasma generation. Chamber, 12 gate valve, 13 arc discharge plasma flow, 14 anode, 15 plasma gun, 16 coil, 17 intermediate electrode, 20 second vacuum processing chamber, 21 second plasma Generating chamber, 22 is a gate valve, 23 is an arc discharge plasma flow, 24 is an anode (anode), 25 is a plasma gun, 26 is a coil, 27 is an intermediate electrode, 30 is a third vacuum processing chamber, and 31 is a third vacuum processing chamber. Plasma generation chamber, 32 is a gate valve, 33 is an arc discharge plasma flow, 34 is an anode, 35 is a plasma gun, 36 is a coil, and 37 is an intermediate electrode.

In the present invention, the plasma generation chambers 11 and 2 are
The plasma guns 15, 25, and 35 for generating plasma in Nos. 1 and 31, respectively, are those capable of generating an arc discharge plasma flow by causing an arc discharge with an anode arranged facing the gun portion. A composite cathode type plasma gun, a pressure gradient type plasma gun, or a combination of both is desirable (Uramoto Joshin,
"Vacuum" 25 (1992) 660).

Here, the composite cathode type plasma gun has a coil- or pipe-shaped auxiliary electrode made of a refractory metal having a small heat capacity such as tungsten, tantalum, molybdenum, and a main cathode made of lanthanum boride. The initial discharge is concentrated on the auxiliary electrode, the main cathode is heated by using it, and the main cathode performs arc discharge as the final cathode. When the auxiliary electrode reaches a high temperature of 2500 ° C. or higher, The main cathode is 1500-1800 before it affects the life.
There is an advantage in that it can be heated to 0 ° C. to be in a state where a large amount can be discharged, and a further temperature rise of the auxiliary cathode can be avoided.

In the pressure gradient type plasma gun, the intermediate electrodes 17, 27 and 37 are interposed between the cathode and the anode, the cathode region is set to about 1 Torr, and the anode region is set to 10 ⁻³ To.
The discharge is carried out while keeping the discharge rate at about rr, and the cathode is not damaged by the ion backflow from the anode region, and the gas efficiency of the carrier gas for generating the discharge electron flow is higher than that of the discharge method without the intermediate electrode. It has the advantage of being extremely high and capable of discharging a large amount of current.

Therefore, by constructing a plasma gun in which the above-mentioned composite cathode type plasma gun and pressure gradient type plasma gun are combined, the above-mentioned advantages can be obtained at the same time, which is desirable as the plasma gun of the present invention. .

Further, by processing the plasma drawn from the plasma generating chamber into a sheet shape, it is possible to perform film formation with good distribution and dielectric layer formation processing. The sheet forming means used at this time may be any one that deforms the plasma generated by the plasma gun, and it is desirable that the sheet can be formed by a magnet, a coil or the like so as to form a magnetic field that crushes the plasma from both sides. Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of magnets arranged so as to sandwich the paper surface is provided at a position between each plasma generation chamber and the vacuum processing chamber.

Further, regarding the mounting of the plasma guns 15, 25, 35, in consideration of the workability of exchanging the plasma guns, the gate valves 12, 22, 32 are provided outside the vacuum processing chambers 10, 20, 30 respectively. It is desirable to attach the plasma gun detachably. When the substrate 1 on which film formation or dielectric layer formation processing is to be performed is a large-sized substrate, a plurality of plasma guns are arranged in parallel in one vacuum processing chamber and discharged at the same time, A large-area flat-plate plasma can be formed in one vacuum processing chamber, and a large-area substrate can be easily processed.

From the viewpoint of discharge efficiency, processing performance, etc., it is desirable to use rare gas, hydrogen gas, or a mixed gas of rare gas and hydrogen gas as the discharge gas introduced into the plasma gun in order to generate plasma. . Depending on the type of the thin film to be deposited or the dielectric film to be formed, hydrogen can be added to the film to reduce the defect density such as dangling bonds in the film. Using gas is a more preferred method.

The substrate 1 is not particularly limited, but various glass substrates, plastic substrates, plastic films, single crystal substrates of silicon, etc. can be used as the substrate. The first thin film and the second thin film formed on the base 1 are semiconductor films such as amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon, metal films such as titanium thin film and tantalum thin film, and oxides of the above metals. Examples thereof include a film, a nitride film and an oxynitride film.

The dielectric layer that can be formed in the present invention is not particularly limited, but examples thereof include oxides, nitrides and carbides of the first thin film material already deposited on the substrate 1 and composites thereof. . As the dielectric layer forming raw material gas for forming these dielectric layers, in order to form an oxide, a gas such as oxygen gas or NO ₂ gas is used.
Further, it is desirable to use nitrogen gas, ammonia gas or the like for forming the nitride, and hydrocarbon gas such as methane gas for forming the carbide, but it is not particularly limited. These mixed gases may be used to form these composites. Further, in order to form a dielectric layer other than this, a gas containing an element forming the dielectric layer may be used.

In forming the dielectric layer in the present invention, a source gas is supplied into plasma, excited and decomposed, and active species generated thereby react with the first thin film material previously formed on the substrate. By doing so, a dielectric layer is formed. Therefore, an excellent dielectric layer-first thin film interface can be formed as compared with the conventionally known deposition method.

Further, according to the present invention, the distance between the substrate to be processed and the plasma can be adjusted arbitrarily as compared with the conventional method using plasma such as a parallel plate type plasma film forming apparatus. The substrate can be placed in a plasma region of high intensity or in a non-luminous region outside the plasma region. Therefore, for the dielectric layer forming raw material gas for forming the dielectric layer, the excitation decomposition energy of the raw material gas required at that time is selected, and the first thin film on the substrate surface may be damaged. It becomes easy to control the amount of high ions or the like reaching the surface of the first thin film to be low, and to optimize the amount of long-lifetime radicals reaching the surface of the first thin film. Since the damage to the first thin film due to charged particles or the like can be reduced, the dielectric layer can be formed on the surface of the first thin film without impairing the characteristics of the first thin film.

Specifically, in the direction perpendicular to the sheet-shaped arc discharge plasma flow, the intensity of the main emission peak of the discharge gas used to generate plasma is 1 / the intensity of the strongest part of the plasma. It is desirable to install the substrate in a region of 2 or less in parallel with the sheet-like plasma flow, from the viewpoint of film thickness uniformity of the formed dielectric layer and optimization of the substrate position.

The type of the second thin film in the second and fourth inventions is not particularly limited, but a similar dielectric film can be formed as the second thin film on the formed dielectric layer. This makes it possible to form a thick dielectric layer at a high speed while maintaining a good dielectric layer-first thin film interface when the formation rate of the dielectric layer is not sufficient.

In the present invention, the first vacuum processing chamber for forming the first thin film, the second vacuum processing chamber for forming the dielectric layer, and the second thin film in the second and fourth inventions. Although the combination of the third vacuum processing chamber for forming is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is possible to combine other vacuum processing chambers depending on the required combination of thin films. Other thin film forming methods, for example, a PVD method such as a sputtering method or a parallel plate type p-CV
A film forming apparatus can also be configured by combining with a D device or the like.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a substrate preparation chamber (load lock chamber) 2 for introducing a substrate and a substrate take-out chamber (unload lock chamber) 3 for taking out a substrate may be combined, Furthermore, a preliminary chamber for preventing the introduction of impurities due to the mutual diffusion of the source gases can be provided between the vacuum processing chambers.

[0028]

【Example】

[Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, the first and third inventions will be described in detail based on embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an example of an apparatus according to the first and third inventions. In FIG. 1, 1 is a substrate, 2 is a substrate preparation chamber, 3 is a substrate take-out chamber,
4, 5 and 6 are partition valves, 10 is the first vacuum processing chamber,
11 is a first plasma generation chamber, 12 is a gate valve, 1
3 is an arc discharge plasma flow, 14 is an anode,
15 is a plasma gun, 16 is a coil, 17 is an intermediate electrode,
20 is a second vacuum processing chamber, 21 is a second plasma generating chamber, 22 is a gate valve, 23 is an arc discharge plasma flow, 24 is an anode, 25 is a plasma gun, 2
6 is a coil and 27 is an intermediate electrode.

First, a 10 cm square glass substrate is introduced into the substrate preparation chamber 2 as the substrate 1 and evacuated to a high vacuum.
The substrate was transported to the vacuum processing chamber 10 by the substrate transporting means. Next, after exhausting to 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr, an argon gas (20
sccm) and hydrogen gas (60 sccm) were passed through the mixture to discharge at an excitation current of 80A. After the discharge is stable,
The plasma is guided to the first vacuum processing chamber 10 by using the magnetic field generated by the coil 16 provided on the gate valve 12 side of the first plasma generation chamber 11, and the first plasma generation chamber 11 and the first vacuum chamber are connected to each other. This plasma was transformed into a substantially sheet shape by using a magnetic field generated by a pair of magnets arranged between the processing chambers 10 so as to sandwich the paper surface of FIG.

After the plasma flow is stabilized, SiH ₄ gas and SiF are used as the first raw material gas for forming a thin film from the raw material gas supply pipe.
₄ gases are supplied at a flow rate ratio of 2: 1 and the substrate temperature is 580 ° C.
A film was formed for 8 minutes to form a polycrystalline silicon film as the first thin film (the film thickness at this time was determined to be about 120 nm based on the results of not performing the subsequent dielectric layer forming process). ).

After that, the discharge was stopped, the inside of the first vacuum chamber 10 was evacuated to 5 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr, and the substrate was transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber 20 through the partition valve 5. After the completion of the transfer, 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ To as in the case of forming the first thin film
After evacuating to rr, the plasma gun 25 discharges argon gas (20 sccm) and hydrogen gas (6 sc
A mixed gas (0 sccm) was caused to flow, and the excitation current was set to 100 A to cause discharge. After the discharge is stabilized, the second plasma generation chamber 2
The plasma is guided to the second vacuum processing chamber 20 by using the magnetic field generated by the coil 26 provided on the side of the first gate valve 22 and the vicinity of the space between the second plasma generating chamber 21 and the second vacuum processing chamber 20. Then, the plasma was transformed into a substantially sheet shape by using a magnetic field of a pair of magnets arranged so as to sandwich the paper surface of FIG.

After the plasma flow is stabilized, oxygen gas (60 sccc) is used as a raw material gas for forming the dielectric layer from the raw material gas supply pipe.
m) and an argon gas (20 sccm) were flowed, and a dielectric layer (silicon oxide layer) forming treatment was performed at a substrate temperature of 400 ° C. for 5 minutes. The plasma at this time
The distance between the substrates was set to be twice the distance at which the intensity of the emission peak of argon gas at 706.7 nm was 1/2 that of the strongest portion. After that, the plasma was stopped, the gas supply was stopped, and then the second vacuum chamber was evacuated to 5 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr,
The substrate was conveyed to the substrate taking-out chamber 3, and after the conveyance was completed, the substrate taking-out chamber 3 was opened to the atmosphere and the substrate was taken out.

After taking out the substrate, the film thickness and the refractive index of the oxide film formed on the polycrystalline silicon film were evaluated by the ellipsometry method. As a result, it was confirmed that a silicon oxide film having a film thickness of 7.2 nm and a refractive index of 1.4 was formed on the surface.

Example 2 In order to confirm whether good interfacial characteristics can be obtained by the method of the present invention, a thin film transistor was prepared as follows and its characteristics were evaluated. The thin film transistor thus formed had a coplanar structure.

That is, a thin film transistor was prepared using the apparatus shown in Example 1. The polycrystalline silicon film to be the semiconductor layer was formed under the same conditions as in Example 1. The formed film thickness was 120 nm. The conditions for forming the oxide layer formed on the polycrystalline silicon film were the same as in Example 1, and the silicon oxide layer having the above-described thickness was formed.

Since this film thickness is insufficient for device fabrication, after taking out this substrate from the apparatus of Example 1,
On the above silicon oxide layer, another p-CVD apparatus was used to
A 0 nm a-SiO _x film was deposited. Then, after forming a contact hole in the insulating layer, a doping layer for improving the contact characteristics between the semiconductor layer and the electrode layer was formed by an ion shower method, and further an electrode layer was formed.

After all the above steps were completed, heat treatment was performed and the electrical characteristics were measured. From the 100 transistors of the same size formed on the substrate, 20 were randomly selected and the characteristics were evaluated. As a result, the average value of the on-current flowing between the drain and the source was 2 × 10 ⁻⁵ A, The average value of field effect mobility was 3.2 cm ² / V. sec was obtained.

[Comparative Example 1] In order to compare with the transistor characteristics of Example 2, a transistor having the same structure as that of Example 2 was not subjected to the silicon oxide layer forming treatment. It was prepared in the same manner as in Example 2. That is, without performing the silicon oxide layer forming treatment, the substrate is directly taken out after the polycrystalline silicon thin film is deposited, and another p-C film is formed.
It was carried out by a method of introducing it into a VD apparatus and depositing an a-SiO _x film. Immediately before the introduction of the p-CVD apparatus, HF treatment was performed to remove the natural oxide film formed on the thin film surface.

As a result of measuring the characteristics of this substrate, it was found that the average value of the on-current flowing between the drain and the source was 6 × 10 ⁻⁶ A
However, the average value of the field effect mobility is 1.8 cm ²
/ V. sec was obtained. From this, it was confirmed that in the transistor of Example 2 according to the present invention, by forming the silicon oxide layer according to the present invention, a better insulating film-semiconductor interface than the interface formed by the deposition method can be formed. .

[Embodiment 3] In order to make a comparison with the transistor characteristics of Embodiment 2, a transistor having a structure similar to that shown in Embodiment 2 is used, which has a higher plasma density, that is, charged particles in plasma. A comparison was made with the characteristics when a silicon oxide layer was formed in a high density region such as. That is, the distance between the plasma substrates at the time of forming the silicon oxide layer is set to a position where the intensity of the main emission peak is 3/4 of the intensity of the strongest portion, and the other conditions are the same as those of the second embodiment. It was created.

As a result of measuring the characteristics of this substrate, the average value of the on-current flowing between the drain and the source was 9 × 10 ⁻⁶ A
However, the average value of the field effect mobility is 2.8 cm ²
/ V. sec was obtained. From this, it is expected that when the silicon oxide layer is formed in the region where the plasma density is high, some defects are introduced into the underlying polycrystalline silicon film.

[Fourth Embodiment] The second embodiment will be described below.
The fourth invention will be described in detail. FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of an example of an apparatus according to the second and fourth inventions.
In FIG. 2, 1 is a base, 2 is a base preparation chamber, 3 is a base take-out chamber, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are partition valves, and 10 is a first base.
Vacuum processing chamber, 11 is a first plasma generating chamber, 12 is a gate valve, 13 is an arc discharge plasma flow, 14 is an anode, 15 is a plasma gun, 16 is a coil, 1
7 is an intermediate electrode, 20 is a second vacuum processing chamber, 21 is a second plasma generating chamber, 22 is a gate valve, 23 is an arc discharge plasma flow, 24 is an anode (anode), 25 is a plasma gun, and 26 is a coil. , 27 is an intermediate electrode, 30 is a third vacuum processing chamber, 31 is a third plasma generating chamber, 32 is a gate valve, 33 is an arc discharge plasma flow, 34 is an anode (anode), 35 is a plasma gun, and 36 is Coil, 3
7 is an intermediate electrode.

Using this apparatus, a polycrystalline silicon film as a first thin film and a silicon oxide layer forming process were performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

After that, the discharge was stopped, the inside of the second vacuum chamber 20 was evacuated to 5 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr, and the substrate was transferred to the third vacuum processing chamber 30 through the partition valve 6. After the completion of the transfer, 1 × 10 ⁻⁷ To as in the case of forming the first thin film
After evacuating to rr, plasma gas was discharged from the plasma gun 35 as argon gas (20 sccm) and hydrogen gas (6 sccm).
A mixed gas (0 sccm) was caused to flow, and the excitation current was set to 100 A to cause discharge. After the discharge is stabilized, the third plasma generation chamber 3
The plasma is guided to the third vacuum processing chamber 30 using the magnetic field generated by the coil 36 provided on the side of the first gate valve 32, and the space between the third plasma generation chamber 31 and the third vacuum processing chamber 30 is increased. This plasma was transformed into a substantially sheet shape by using a magnetic field generated by a pair of magnets arranged in the vicinity so as to sandwich the paper surface of FIG.

After the plasma flow is stabilized, SiH ₄ gas and carbon dioxide gas are supplied as a raw material gas for forming a second thin film at a ratio of 1: 4 from the raw material gas supply pipe, and a silicon oxide film as a second thin film having a thickness of 100 nm is supplied. Formed. After that, the plasma is stopped, the gas supply is stopped, the third vacuum chamber is evacuated to 5 × 10 ⁻⁷ Torr, the substrate is transferred to the substrate extraction chamber 3, and after the transfer is completed, the substrate extraction chamber 3 is opened to the atmosphere. Then, after taking out the substrate, a contact hole was formed in the insulating layer, and thereafter, the same steps as in Example 2 were performed to manufacture a transistor.

As a result of measuring the characteristics of this substrate, the average value of the on-current flowing between the drain and the source was 2.1 × 10.
^-5 A is 3.2c as the average value of the field effect mobility.
m ² / V. sec was obtained. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the reliability of the transistor characteristics, a current-carrying test was conducted under the condition of heating at 80 ° C., and a result of a current deterioration rate of 2% was obtained. On the other hand, as a result of performing the same evaluation for Example 2, the deterioration rate was about 4%. From this, it was confirmed that according to the second and fourth inventions, the reliability was improved by carrying the film without breaking the vacuum and continuously forming a film.

[0047]

According to the method of the present invention, the density of plasma can be increased as compared with the conventional method, so that not only a thin film can be formed at high speed but also, for example, an insulating film-semiconductor interface is formed. In such a case, it is necessary to adjust the distance between the substrate to be treated and the plasma so that the substrate can be arranged in the plasma region of an arbitrary intensity or in the non-emission region outside the plasma region. It becomes easier to select the energy of the excited decomposition of the source gas to optimize the amount of ions that have a high possibility of damaging the surface of the thin film that has already been formed and reach the thin film, thus reducing damage. Therefore, a dielectric layer such as an oxide film can be formed on the surface of the thin film without impairing the characteristics of the thin film. Further, even when considering a treatment on a large-area substrate, it is possible to arrange a plurality of plasma guns adjacent to each other on the same plane and simultaneously form sheet-like plasmas on the same plane, which enables uniform treatment.

As described above, according to the present invention, including the dielectric layer, the interface between the thin film and the dielectric film is not damaged, and the large area and the processability in consideration of mass productivity are compatible. Further, it is possible to realize a continuous film forming method and apparatus.

Further, according to the present invention, not only the dielectric layer-thin film interface having excellent characteristics from the viewpoint of an electronic device can be formed, but also a stable multilayer film structure can be formed. It is possible to provide a technology that can be applied to other uses.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an example of a continuous film forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of an example of a continuous film forming apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: substrate, 2: substrate preparation chamber, 3: substrate extraction chamber, 4,
5, 6, 7: partition valve, 10: first vacuum processing chamber,
11: first plasma generation chamber, 12: gate valve, 1
3: arc discharge plasma flow, 14: anode,
15: plasma gun, 16: coil, 17: intermediate electrode,
20: second vacuum processing chamber, 21: second plasma generating chamber, 22: gate valve, 23: arc discharge plasma flow, 24: anode (anode), 25: plasma gun, 2
6: coil, 27: intermediate electrode, 30: third vacuum processing chamber, 31: third plasma generating chamber, 32: gate valve, 33: arc discharge plasma flow, 34: anode (anode), 35: plasma gun , 36: coil, 37: intermediate electrode.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. At least two first and second vacuum processing chambers (10, 20) capable of adjusting a reduced pressure atmosphere,
A gate valve (12, 2) is provided in each vacuum processing chamber.
2) a first and a second plasma generating chambers (11, 21) connected to each other, a sheet forming means for converting the plasma generated in each plasma generating chamber into a sheet, and the first and second vacuums. Partition valve (5) interposed between processing chambers
And a substrate transfer means, which is a continuous film forming apparatus, which is generated in the first plasma generating chamber (11) and is transformed into a sheet by the sheet forming means to be the first vacuum processing chamber (10).
Into the arc discharge plasma flow (13) introduced to the first vacuum processing chamber (1), the first thin film forming raw material gas is supplied.
After the first thin film is formed on the substrate (1) in (0), the substrate (1) is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) through the partition valve (5) under reduced pressure by the substrate transfer means. The second vacuum processing chamber (20) is generated in the second plasma generation chamber (21) and is transformed into a sheet by the sheet forming means.
Into the arc discharge plasma flow (23) introduced to the substrate, a raw material gas for forming a dielectric layer is supplied, excited and decomposed, and the active species generated thereby react with the first thin film on the substrate (1). Thus, the continuous film forming apparatus is characterized in that the dielectric layer is formed on the surface of the first thin film. 2. At least three vacuum processing chambers (10, 10, 3) capable of adjusting a depressurized atmosphere.
20, 30) and first, second and third plasma generation chambers (11, 21, 31) connected to respective vacuum processing chambers via gate valves (12, 22, 32), respectively.
Sheet forming means for converting the plasma generated in each plasma generating chamber into a sheet, and a partition valve (5, 6) interposed between the first, second and third vacuum processing chambers,
A continuous film forming apparatus having at least a substrate transfer means, which is generated in a first plasma generation chamber (11) and transformed into a sheet by a sheet forming means to form a first vacuum processing chamber (10).
Into the arc discharge plasma flow (13) introduced to the first vacuum processing chamber (1), the first thin film forming raw material gas is supplied.
After the first thin film is formed on the substrate (1) in (0), the substrate (1) is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) through the partition valve (5) under reduced pressure by the substrate transfer means. The second vacuum processing chamber (20) is generated in the second plasma generation chamber (21) and is transformed into a sheet by the sheet forming means.
Into the arc discharge plasma flow (23) introduced to the substrate, a raw material gas for forming a dielectric layer is supplied, excited and decomposed, and the active species generated thereby react with the first thin film on the substrate (1). As a result, after the dielectric layer is formed on the surface of the first thin film, the substrate (1) is transported to the third vacuum processing chamber (30) through the partition valve (6) under reduced pressure by the substrate transporting means. The third vacuum processing chamber (30) is generated in the plasma generating chamber (31) of No. 3 and is transformed into a sheet by the sheet forming means.
Continuous film forming apparatus characterized in that the second thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (33) guided to the step (3) to form the second thin film on the dielectric layer. . 3. A plasma is generated in the first plasma generation chamber (11),
The first thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (13) which is deformed into a sheet and guided to the first vacuum processing chamber (10) to supply the first vacuum processing chamber (10). After forming the first thin film on the substrate (1) in the inside, the substrate (1) is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) under reduced pressure, and is generated in the second plasma generation chamber (21). The dielectric layer forming raw material gas was supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (23) which was deformed into a sheet shape and was introduced into the second vacuum processing chamber (20) to be excited and decomposed, thereby being generated. By reacting the active species with the first thin film on the substrate (1), the first
2. A continuous film forming method, which comprises forming a dielectric layer on the surface of the thin film. 4. A plasma is generated in the first plasma generation chamber (11),
The first thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (13) which is deformed into a sheet and guided to the first vacuum processing chamber (10) to supply the first vacuum processing chamber (10). After forming the first thin film on the substrate (1) in the inside, the substrate (1) is transferred to the second vacuum processing chamber (20) under reduced pressure, and is generated in the second plasma generation chamber (21). The dielectric layer forming raw material gas was supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (23) which was deformed into a sheet shape and was introduced into the second vacuum processing chamber (20) to be excited and decomposed, thereby being generated. By reacting the active species with the first thin film on the substrate (1), the first
After forming a dielectric layer on the surface of the thin film of, the substrate (1) is transferred to the third vacuum processing chamber (30) under reduced pressure, generated in the third plasma generation chamber (31), and transformed into a sheet shape. A second thin film forming raw material gas is supplied into the arc discharge plasma flow (33) guided to the third vacuum processing chamber (30) to form a second thin film on the dielectric layer. And a continuous film forming method. 5. The continuous film formation according to claim 3, wherein the discharge gas used for generating plasma in the plasma generation chamber is at least one gas selected from rare gas and hydrogen gas. Method. 6. A dielectric layer forming source gas for forming a dielectric layer on the surface of a first thin film formed on a substrate (1) in a second vacuum processing chamber (20) is oxygen gas. 6. The continuous film forming method according to claim 3, further comprising at least one kind of gas selected from nitrogen gas, nitrogen gas, and hydrocarbon gas. 7. The main emission peak of the discharge gas used for plasma generation in the second vacuum processing chamber (20) in the direction perpendicular to the sheet-shaped arc discharge plasma flow (23). The strength is 1 / the strength of the strongest part of the plasma
The continuous film forming method according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the substrate (1) is installed in a region of 2 or less.