JPH11269644A - Method for preventing particle generation and sputtering apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the generation of particles by peeling the naturally oxidized film or protective film deposited on the exposed surface within a chamber at the time of pretreatment etching. SOLUTION: A substrate 9 is transported into the pretreatment etching chamber 2 before deposition by sputtering. The pretreatment etching which the naturally oxidized film or protective film on the surface of the substrate 9 is etched away is executed by the plasma P formed by the energy given by a plasma forming means 23 on the gas introduced into a gas introducing means 21. A pseudo substrate 10 which is the silicon substrate formed with an aluminum film on the surface is arranged within a load locking chamber 5. Every time of a prescribed number of the pretreatment etching, the pseudo substrate 10 is transported into the pretreatment etching chamber 2 by a transporting means in common used as the transporting system of the substrate 9 and is etched in the same manner as with the substrate 9. The aluminum film is deposited on the deposited film of the pretreatment time, by which the stress is relieved and the peeling of the deposited film of the pretreatment time is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus used for manufacturing various semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a technique for preventing generation of particles in such a sputtering apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of semiconductor devices and the like, there is a step of forming a predetermined thin film on the surface of a substrate. In the production of such a thin film, sputtering for depositing a thin film of this material on a substrate by sputtering a target made of a predetermined material is widely performed. In the process of manufacturing a device with a high yield, it is important to form a high-quality thin film.

Here, a natural oxide film or a protective film may be formed on the surface of the substrate. If the film is formed while the natural oxide film and the protective film are formed, there is a problem that the adhesion of the thin film is deteriorated. In particular, when a conductive film is formed, the natural oxide film and the protective film are insulating films, so that these films intervene to prevent sufficient electrical contact, thereby deteriorating device characteristics. There is a problem of doing. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the natural oxide film and the protective film before sputtering. Such removal of the natural oxide film and the protective film is conventionally performed by etching. Hereinafter, this etching is referred to as “pretreatment etching”. In the pretreatment etching, the surface of the substrate is usually exposed to plasma, and a natural oxide film and a protective film on the surface of the substrate are removed by the action of ions in the plasma.

[0004]

An exhaust system is usually provided in a chamber for performing such pretreatment etching. The material of the natural oxide film and the protective film removed from the substrate by etching is exhausted to the outside of the chamber by the exhaust system, but not all of the material is exhausted. Deposits on exposed surfaces.

[0005] As the number of times of the pretreatment etching increases, the amount of the film deposited on the exposed surface in the chamber increases.
When the deposition amount increases, this film may be peeled off due to internal stress or the like. The separated film fragments become particles, and when the number of times of pretreatment etching increases, the number of particles generated in the chamber increases. Specifically, the thickness to be etched per substrate is about 50
In the case of nm, about 50 particles are generated in the chamber when the number of processed sheets is about 1,000. When the particles adhere to the substrate, as described above, since the natural oxide film and the protective film are insulators, circuit defects and circuit defects such as disconnection of the circuit and increase in wiring resistance occur. When the number of generated particles increases, the probability of occurrence of such circuit defects and circuit defects increases, which causes a reduction in yield.

Usually, a shield is provided in a chamber for performing the pre-processing etching so that the material removed by the pre-processing etching adheres. The material removed from the surface of the substrate by the pretreatment etching is deposited on the surface of the shield to form a film. This shield is made so that the film deposited by pre-processing etching is less peeled than the inner surface of the chamber, but if the thickness of this deposited film becomes more than a certain value, there is a possibility that it will peel due to internal stress etc. . For this reason, after performing a predetermined number of pretreatment etchings of the substrate, the shield is replaced with a new shield to prevent the generation of particles. Specifically, the chamber is once released to the atmospheric pressure, the shield on which the film is deposited is taken out, and replaced with another new shield. Thereafter, in order to start the processing of the substrate again, the inside of the chamber is evacuated, and it is confirmed that the number of particles has fallen within a reference value, and that the reproducibility of the processing is obtained. Then, the process is restarted. A series of operations until restarting these processes takes about 8 hours, which causes a significant decrease in productivity.

[0007] As described above, conventionally, the process of preventing the generation of particles and restarting the process requires a long time, and significantly reduces the productivity. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to drastically shorten the time required for work for preventing generation of particles, and to prevent a decrease in productivity.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is a sputtering apparatus for performing a film forming process for forming a predetermined thin film on a surface of a substrate by sputtering. In a sputtering apparatus having a pretreatment etching mechanism for performing a pretreatment etching for removing a natural oxide film or a protective film on a surface of a substrate by etching before a film forming process, a chamber in which a substrate is arranged during the pretreatment etching is provided. A method of preventing generation of particles due to peeling of a film made of the natural oxide film or the material of the protective film deposited on the exposed surface of the substrate, wherein the film deposited on the exposed surface in the chamber during the pretreatment etching is By etching the covering member whose surface is formed with a material that is deposited with a small stress,
A film of the material for the covering member is deposited on the film, thereby preventing the generation of the particles. Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a second aspect of the present invention is provided.
The described invention includes a sputtering chamber provided with an exhaust system,
2. A target provided to expose a surface to be sputtered in a sputtering chamber, and a sputtering power source for sputtering the target, wherein a predetermined thin film is formed on the surface of the substrate by sputtering, and the generation of particles according to claim 1 is prevented. The sputtering apparatus in which the method is performed, wherein the sputtering chamber or another chamber hermetically connected to the sputtering chamber includes:
The pretreatment etching mechanism is provided, and further, a transport unit that carries in the coating member to the chamber provided with the pretreatment etching mechanism and transports the coating member out of the chamber is provided. ,
The coating operation can be performed such that the surface of the coating member is etched to deposit a film of the low stress material on the exposed surface in the chamber. Also,
In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that, in the configuration of claim 2, when the remaining amount of the material deposited with the small stress on the surface of the coating member reaches a predetermined amount, A display is provided to inform that this coating member needs to be replaced with another new coating member. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above problem, a transport system for transporting a substrate to the sputtering chamber is provided in the configuration of the second or third aspect, and the transport system includes the transport system. It has a configuration that is also used as a means. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems,
The covering member has the same or similar dimensions and shape as the substrate, and has the same or similar weight. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-described problem, in the configuration of the fifth aspect, the coating member includes a film of a material deposited with the small stress on a surface of the same plate as the substrate. It has a configuration in which it is a pseudo substrate made with a predetermined thickness. Also, in order to solve the above problems,
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the fourth, fifth or sixth aspect, a load lock chamber in which the substrate temporarily stays before or after the film forming process is provided. An exhaust system for exhausting the inside is provided, and a housing member for housing the coating member is provided, and the coating member is removed from the load lock chamber a plurality of times without being taken out to the atmosphere. And used for a plurality of coating operations. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising:
According to the invention described in claim 7, in the configuration according to claim 7, a lock cassette for accommodating the plurality of substrates is provided in the load lock chamber, and the lock cassette also accommodates the covering member. It is configured so as to be able to function as the housing member.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating the configuration of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
This sputtering apparatus is a multi-chamber type apparatus, which includes a separation chamber 1 disposed at the center, a plurality of processing chambers 2, 3, 4, and two load lock chambers 5 provided around the separation chamber 1. Chamber arrangement. Each of the chambers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 has a dedicated or shared exhaust system, and is evacuated to a predetermined pressure. A gate valve 6 is provided at a connection point between the chambers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. An autoloader 7 is provided outside the load lock chamber 5. The autoloader 7 takes out the substrates 9 one by one from the external cassette 8 on the atmosphere side, and stores the substrates 9 in the lock cassette 51 in the load lock chamber 5.

A transfer robot 11 is provided in the separation chamber 1. The transfer robot 11 is an articulated robot. The transfer robot 11 is provided with one of the load lock chambers 5.
Substrates 9 are taken out one by one from each of the processing chambers 2,
The processing is sequentially sent to the load lock chambers 3 and 4, and after the last processing is completed, the processing is returned to one of the load lock chambers 5. In the separation chamber 1, a vacuum pressure of about 10 ^-6 to 10 ^-8 Torr is constantly maintained by an exhaust system. Therefore, a robot that can operate under this vacuum pressure is adopted as the transfer robot 11.

One of the plurality of processing chambers 2, 3, 4 is a sputtering chamber 4 for performing sputtering for forming a predetermined thin film on the surface of the substrate 9. In addition, there are a pretreatment etching chamber 2 for performing pretreatment etching for removing a natural oxide film or a protective film on the surface of the substrate 9 before sputtering, and a preheating chamber 3 for preheating the substrate 9 before sputtering. .

First, the structure of the sputtering chamber 4 which is a main part of the sputtering apparatus will be described. FIG. 2 shows FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic front cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a sputtering chamber 4 in the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG. The sputtering chamber 4 is an airtight container provided with a gate valve (not shown) and is electrically grounded. Then, the inside of the sputtering chamber 4 is constantly 10 ⁻⁶ to 10 ⁻⁸ by the exhaust system 46.
It is configured to be exhausted to about Torr. A gas introducing means 45 is provided in the sputtering chamber 4 so that a gas having a high sputtering rate such as argon can be introduced into the inside at a predetermined flow rate. Specifically, the gas introducing means 45 includes a gas cylinder 451 storing a gas for sputter discharge such as argon, a pipe 452 connecting the sputter chamber 4 and the gas cylinder 451, a valve 453 provided in the pipe 452, and a flow rate adjustment. And the main unit 454.

A target 41 is provided in the sputtering chamber 4 such that the surface to be sputtered is exposed. The target 41 is formed of a thin film material to be formed on the surface of the substrate 9. The target 41 is
Through the target holder 411 and the insulator 412,
It is attached to the sputter chamber 4 so as to hermetically close the upper opening of the sputter chamber 4. Target 4
A sputtering power supply 43 for sputtering 1 is connected to the target 41. The sputtering power source 43 is 700
V, a negative DC voltage of about 30 kW is applied to the target 41. When the sputter power supply 43 is operated in a state where the sputter discharge gas is introduced by the gas introducing means 45, a discharge is generated in the sputter discharge gas and the target 41 is sputtered. A high-frequency power supply may be used as the sputtering power supply 43 in some cases.

Behind the target 41, a magnet mechanism 42
Is provided. The magnet mechanism 42 includes a center magnet 421
A peripheral magnet 422 surrounding the center magnet 421;
A disk-shaped yoke 423 connecting the center magnet 421 and the peripheral magnet 422 is formed. This magnet mechanism 42
Is provided for performing magnetron sputtering with efficient discharge. That is, a magnetic field is formed in the vicinity of the target 41 by the magnet mechanism 42, and the electrons perform a magnetron motion by the action of the magnetic field, thereby forming a plasma with higher density. As a result, the efficiency of sputter discharge is improved, and the efficiency of film formation on the substrate 9 is also improved. Each of the magnets 412 and 422 of the magnet mechanism 42 is a permanent magnet, but it is also possible to configure them with electromagnets.

A substrate holder 44 is provided in the sputtering chamber 4. The substrate holder 44
The substrate 9 on which a thin film is to be formed is placed in the sputtering chamber 4
Is held at a predetermined position. The substrate holder 44 has a trapezoidal shape on which the substrate 9 is placed. The substrate holder 44 holds the target 41
This substrate 9 is configured to be parallel to
In some cases, a heating mechanism (not shown) that heats the substrate 9 during film formation to make film formation efficient may be provided in the substrate holder 44.

Next, the configuration of the pretreatment etching chamber 2 which is a feature of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a dashed line X of the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG.
It is sectional schematic in -X. The pretreatment etching chamber 2 is electrically grounded by an airtight container provided with a gate valve 6. The interior of the pre-treatment etching chamber 2 is evacuated by the exhaust system 27 to 10 ^-7 to 10 ^-8 Torr.
The air is exhausted to about r.

In this embodiment, the pretreatment etching is performed by the action of the plasma. Specifically, a pretreatment etching mechanism is provided in the pretreatment etching chamber 2. The pre-treatment etching mechanism
The pretreatment etching chamber 2 includes a gas introduction unit 21 that introduces a predetermined gas into the inside of the pretreatment etching chamber 2, and a plasma formation unit 23 that applies energy to the introduced gas to form a plasma P.

First, the gas introducing means 21 will be described. The gas introducing means 21 mainly includes a gas cylinder 211 storing a gas for pretreatment etching, a pipe 212 connecting the pretreatment etching chamber 2 and the gas cylinder 211, a valve 213 and a flow rate regulator 214 provided in the pipe 212. Is configured. The gas introducing means 21 is configured to introduce, for example, argon (Ar) as a pretreatment etching gas into the pretreatment etching chamber 2 at a flow rate of 60 cc / min.

Next, the plasma forming means 23 will be described. In the present embodiment, plasma is formed by high-frequency energy,
As 3, a high frequency power supply 231 is used. Specifically, a substrate holder 22 that holds the substrate 9 to be subjected to the pre-processing etching at a predetermined position is provided in the pre-processing etching chamber 2. A high frequency power supply 231 for applying a high frequency voltage is connected to the substrate holder 22. A matching device (not shown) and a capacitor 232 for self-biasing, which will be described later, are provided between the substrate holder 22 and the high-frequency power supply 231. This high frequency power supply 231
Is output to the substrate holder 22 at a frequency of 13.56 MHz1.
It is configured to apply a high-frequency power of 000 W.

A predetermined etching gas is introduced into the pretreatment etching chamber 2 by gas introduction means 21,
When the high-frequency power supply 231 is operated in this state, a predetermined high-frequency voltage is applied to the substrate holder 22, and an electric field is set in the space via the substrate holder 22. The etching gas receives energy from the electric field to form plasma P. As a result of the ions in the plasma P colliding with the surface of the substrate 9, the natural oxide film or the protective film on the surface of the substrate 9 is etched.

In this embodiment, since the high-frequency power supply 231 is connected to the substrate holder 22 at the time of the etching, a self-bias voltage is generated on the surface of the substrate 9 at this time. By the effect of the self-bias voltage, the pretreatment etching can be performed more efficiently. In particular,
In the high frequency positive half cycle, electrons in the plasma enter the substrate 9 on the substrate holder 22, and in the negative half cycle, positive ions in the plasma enter. At this time, since electrons have higher mobility than positive ions, charged particles incident on the substrate 9 have more negative charges (electrons). Since the capacitor 232 is provided between the substrate holder 22 and the high frequency power supply 231, the potential of the substrate holder 22 shifts in the negative direction to balance the amount of incident positive ions and electrons. As a result, the substrate holder 22 has a potential change as if a negative DC voltage was superimposed on the sine wave,
A negative self-bias voltage results. By this negative self-bias voltage, positive ions in the plasma are extracted and efficiently enter the substrate 9. For this reason, the above-mentioned pre-processing etching is performed more efficiently.

On the other hand, a magnet 24 for preventing the diffusion of the plasma P is provided above the pretreatment etching chamber 2. This magnet 24, as shown in FIG.
It is a plate-shaped permanent magnet placed horizontally. Both ends of the magnet 24 have different magnetic poles, and are configured so that the lines of magnetic force 241 as shown in FIG. 3 are set through the pretreatment etching chamber 2 and the shield 26. As can be seen from FIG. 3, the lines of magnetic force 241 intersect with the direction in which charged particles in the plasma P diffuse into the upper part of the pretreatment etching chamber 2. The charged particles in the plasma P do not move in a direction crossing the magnetic field lines 241. For this reason, the diffusion of the plasma P is prevented by the magnetic field lines 241. Therefore, the density of the plasma P increases, and the etching is performed efficiently.

As in the prior art, a shield 26 is provided in the pretreatment etching chamber 2 of the present apparatus. The shield 26 is provided so as to cover the inner side surface of the pretreatment etching chamber 2. Therefore, the material of the natural oxide film or the protective film etched by the pre-processing etching adheres to the surface of the shield 26 when scattered into the pre-processing etching chamber 2. The shield 26 is exchangeably mounted in the pre-treatment etching chamber 2, and its surface is formed with irregularities to prevent the deposited film from peeling off.

In the above-described pretreatment etching, the material of the etched natural oxide film or protective film is supplied to the exhaust system 2.
7 discharges out of the pre-treatment etching chamber 2, but not all. In this case, the material of the natural oxide film or the protective film that has not been discharged is deposited on the shield 26 in the pre-treatment etching chamber 2 to form a film as described above. Hereinafter, this film is referred to as a “pretreatment deposited film”.

As the number of times of the pre-process etching of the substrate 9 increases, the amount of the pre-process deposited film formed on the shield 26 gradually increases. The deposited film during the pre-treatment may peel off due to internal stress, and fragments of the peeled film become particles. When the pretreatment etching is further repeated, the number of particles generated in the pretreatment etching chamber 2 increases. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in order to prevent the generation of the particles, a process of covering the deposition film at the time of the pre-processing with another film (hereinafter, referred to as a covering operation) can be performed. Specifically, the coating operation is performed on the pre-process deposited film.
Further, this is an operation in which coating is performed by depositing a film (hereinafter, referred to as a particle prevention film) of a material that is deposited with a smaller stress than the deposition film during the pretreatment. More specifically, the coating operation in the present embodiment is performed by etching a member (hereinafter, referred to as a coating member) on which a film of a material that is deposited with a smaller stress than the film deposited during the pretreatment is formed, thereby preventing particles from being deposited. The film is deposited on the deposition film during the pretreatment.

First, the covering member will be described. As the coating member, a member (hereinafter, referred to as a pseudo substrate) in which a film of a material deposited with a smaller stress than the deposited film at the time of pretreatment and having a predetermined thickness is formed on the surface of the same plate material as the substrate 9 on which the sputter deposition is performed Is used.) 10 is used. When the pseudo substrate 10 is placed on the substrate holder 22 and is etched in the same manner as the substrate 9,
The etched material of the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 is deposited on the surface of the shield 26 as a particle prevention film. As is clear from the above description, the particle prevention film is deposited with a smaller stress than the deposited film at the time of the pretreatment, and thus has an effect of relaxing the stress of the deposited film at the time of the pretreatment. For this reason, compared with the case where it is not covered with the particle prevention film, the separation of the deposited film at the time of the pretreatment is suppressed, and as a result, generation of particles can be prevented.

Specifically, when the film deposited at the time of the pretreatment is silicon oxide or silicon nitride, a material having a smaller stress is aluminum. Therefore, as the pseudo substrate 10, a substrate obtained by forming aluminum on the surface of a silicon substrate is used. Regarding the stress of the film, it is generally considered that a material that easily undergoes plastic deformation forms the film with a small stress. Therefore, aluminum, copper, silver, lead, or an alloy thereof forms a film with a small stress. However, since a material having a high vapor pressure is likely to evaporate and contaminate the inside of the pretreatment etching chamber 2, a material having a low vapor pressure is suitable. From the viewpoint of cost and the like, aluminum, copper or alloys thereof are practically preferable among the above materials. The coating material is appropriately selected in consideration of such points.

The pseudo substrate 10 is always accommodated in the load lock chamber 5. That is, a housing member for housing the pseudo substrate 10 is provided in the load lock chamber 5. The storage member includes a lock cassette 5 for storing the substrate 9 in the load lock chamber 5.
1 is also used. The lock inner cassette 51 has horizontally elongated projections 511 on the inner side surfaces of the left and right side walls. The plurality of protrusions 511 are provided at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. And the board | substrate 9 is accommodated by the edge of the board | substrate 9 resting on these protrusions 511. The number of substrates 9 accommodated in the cassette 51 inside the lock is 2
Although there are five, 27 protrusions 511 are provided in the vertical direction. Thus, there are two extra storage locations. The pseudo substrate 10 is accommodated in these two extra accommodation locations.

A transport means for transporting the dummy substrate 10 between the lock inside cassette 51 and the pre-processing etching chamber 2 and between the lock inside cassette 51 and the atmosphere side is provided. The transfer means also serves as a transfer system for transferring the substrate 9. First, a transport system for transporting the substrate 9 will be described. In the present embodiment, the transfer system for transferring the substrate 9 includes the transfer robot 11 described above and the autoloader 7.
And an elevating mechanism 52 for elevating and lowering the in-lock cassette 51 which will be described later.

In the present embodiment, the arm of the transfer robot 11 is configured to enter the cassette 51 inside the lock at a predetermined height and to retreat from the cassette 51 inside the lock. Hereinafter, this height is referred to as an “arm entry line”. The elevating mechanism 52 of the cassette 51 inside the lock
The cassette 51 inside the lock is moved up and down to
This is for adjusting the accommodation location of the arm to the arm entry line. Specifically, the lifting mechanism 52 may be an air cylinder that vertically moves a column (not shown) fixed to the cassette 51 inside the lock, or may rotate a ball screw fixed to the column (not shown) and the ball screw. A combination of motors for moving the support up and down may be used.

Cassette 51 in lock and transfer robot 11
The operation of transporting the substrate 9 during the period will be described.
When the substrate is carried into the pre-processing etching chamber 2, the elevating mechanism 52 moves the lock cassette 5 so that the accommodation position of the predetermined substrate 9 is located at a position slightly higher than the arm entry line.
1 is raised and lowered. When the arm of the transfer robot 11 enters below the substrate 9, the cassette 51 in the lock is lowered by the elevating mechanism 52, and the substrate 9 is placed on the arm. After that, the arm retreats and moves to the separation chamber 1, and the substrate 9 is carried into the pretreatment etching chamber 2. When the substrate 9 after the film formation processing is carried out of the sputtering chamber 4, the elevating mechanism 52 moves the lock cassette 51 so that a predetermined accommodation location of the substrate 9 is located at a position slightly lower than the arm entry line. Raise and lower in advance. The arm of the transfer robot 11 takes out the substrate 9 from the sputter chamber 4 and enters the in-lock cassette 51 from the height of the arm entry line. After the arm on which the substrate 9 is placed enters the cassette 51 inside the lock, the cassette 51 inside the lock is lifted by the elevating mechanism 52 and stores the substrate 9 in a predetermined storage location.

Next, a transfer means for transferring the pseudo substrate 10 will be described. The transfer of the pseudo substrate 10 between the load lock chamber 5 and the pre-processing etching chamber 2 is performed by the lifting mechanism 52 of the lock inner cassette 51 and the transfer robot 1.
1 is performed. Specifically, the above-described lifting mechanism 5
2 is to raise and lower the cassette 51 inside the lock,
It is configured to take out the pseudo substrate 10 at a predetermined accommodation location along the arm entry line, or accommodate the pseudo substrate 10 at the predetermined accommodation location. More specifically, the pseudo substrate 10 is placed in the pre-treatment etching chamber 2.
When the cassette 51 is carried into the lock cassette 51, the lock inner cassette 51 is moved up and down such that the accommodation location of the predetermined pseudo substrate 10 is located at a position slightly higher than the arm entry line. afterwards,
The transfer robot 11 operates similarly to the case of the substrate 9, and the pseudo substrate 10 is carried into the pre-processing etching chamber 2.

When the dummy substrate 10 is unloaded from the pre-treatment etching chamber 2 after the coating operation is completed, the lifting mechanism 52 moves the predetermined dummy substrate 10 to a position slightly lower than the arm entry line. The cassette 51 in the lock is moved up and down to be positioned. Then, the substrate 9
As in the case of (1), the transfer robot 11 operates to accommodate the pseudo substrate 10. When the coating operation is performed again, the transport unit repeats the operation of transporting the pseudo substrate 10.

As described above, the cassette 51 inside the lock is used.
Accommodates two pseudo substrates 10. When the remaining surface thickness of one pseudo substrate 10 reaches a predetermined amount, the transfer means is configured to transfer the other pseudo substrate 10 to the pre-processing etching chamber 2. When the surface remaining thickness of both of these two pseudo substrates 10 reaches a predetermined amount, the two pseudo substrates 10 are
The paper is conveyed one by one from the cassette 51 inside the lock to the external cassette 8. Then, when two new pseudo substrates 10 are stored in the external cassette 8, these pseudo substrates 10 are carried by the autoloader 7 to a predetermined storage location of the cassette 51 in the lock. Thus, the cassette 5 in the lock
The new pseudo-substrate 10 housed in 1 is likewise used for the coating operation.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the pseudo substrate 10 is always kept on the vacuum side without being taken out to the atmosphere side and used for a plurality of coating operations. The surface of the pseudo substrate 10 held on the vacuum side has no adhesion of moisture or the like due to being taken out to the atmosphere side. Therefore, when the coating operation is performed, an impurity-free particle prevention film is formed on the pre-deposited film. If impurities are present in the particle prevention film or at the interface between the particle prevention film and the deposition film at the time of pretreatment, the internal stress of the film increases. As described above, when the internal stress increases, these films are easily peeled, and the risk of generating particles increases. However, in the present embodiment, as described above, since the particle prevention film without impurities is formed, the effect of the covering operation can be enhanced. The above description of the covering operation is also the description of the embodiment of the invention described in claim 1.

As described above, the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 is formed by forming an aluminum film as a coating material. In the present embodiment, a means is provided for indicating that it is necessary to replace this pseudo substrate 10 with another new pseudo substrate 10 when the aluminum on the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 has reached a predetermined remaining amount. Have been. That is, when the above-described coating operation is repeatedly performed, the thickness of the aluminum on the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 gradually decreases. When this aluminum is completely etched, a plate material equivalent to that of the lower substrate is exposed, and this plate material is also etched. If the material of the plate material is an impurity different from that of the particle prevention film, the impurity is etched by the coating operation. As a result, the impurities are present in the particle prevention film or at the interface between the particle prevention film and the deposition film at the time of the pretreatment, and the internal stress of the film is increased.

When the internal stress becomes large, these films tend to peel off and generate particles, so that the effect of the coating operation cannot be sufficiently obtained. Therefore, the apparatus of the present embodiment has a configuration for replacing another new pseudo substrate 10 when the remaining thickness of the aluminum film on the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 reaches a predetermined amount.
Specifically, the apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a main control unit 25 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus. The main control unit 25 is a microcomputer, and is provided with a display unit 251 for performing various displays such as an operation state of the apparatus. The main control unit 25 is also configured to perform a display indicating the necessity of replacing the pseudo substrate 10 described above. More specifically,
The main control unit 25 is configured to control the operation of the high-frequency power supply 231 and to store the time when the high-frequency power supply 231 has been operated, in order to indicate the necessity of replacing the pseudo substrate 10.

On the other hand, the main control section 25 has an input section 252 for inputting operating conditions of the apparatus. This input part 2
From 52, a use time (hereinafter, referred to as an allowable maximum use time) until the thickness of the coating material on the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 reaches a predetermined thickness can be input. The allowable maximum use time is determined by previously measuring the etching rate when the pseudo substrate 10 is etched in the pre-treatment etching chamber 2 and calculating and inputting from the etching rate and the initial thickness of the coating material. Has become.

The main control unit 25 compares the input allowable maximum use time with the total operation time of the stored high frequency power supply 231 and, when the operation time of the high frequency power supply 231 becomes equal to the maximum allowable use time, The display unit 251 is programmed to provide a display indicating that the pseudo substrate 10 needs to be replaced. Specifically, the main control unit 25
Since two pseudo substrates 10 are held in the cassette 51 inside the lock, when the usage time of one of the two pseudo substrates 10 reaches the input allowable maximum use time, the other pseudo substrate 10 is held. It is configured to provide a display that needs to be replaced with 10. The main controller 25 controls the transport robot 11 and the elevating mechanism 52 of the cassette 51 inside the lock so as to carry the other pseudo substrate 10 in the cassette 51 inside the lock.

When the two pseudo substrates 10 in the cassette 51 inside the lock reach a predetermined remaining thickness, the main control unit 25 unloads these pseudo substrates 10 and renews them. Is configured to perform a display that needs to be loaded. The main control unit 25 controls the cassette 51 inside the lock.
The autoloader 7 and the raising / lowering mechanism 52 of the cassette 51 in the lock are controlled so that the two pseudo substrates 10 are unloaded and another new pseudo substrate 10 is loaded. For this reason, in the apparatus of this embodiment, before the aluminum on the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 is completely etched, it is replaced with a new pseudo substrate 10, so that a plate material equivalent to the substrate on the lower side of aluminum is also etched. Can be prevented. Therefore, as described above, the effect of the coating operation can be enhanced.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the preheat chamber 3 of the plurality of processing chambers shown in the sputtering apparatus will be described. First, preheating (preheating)
Is performed for the purpose of releasing the occluded gas of the substrate 9. If the occlusion gas is not released, there is a problem that the occlusion gas is released due to heat during film formation and the surface of the film becomes rough due to foaming. In the preheat chamber 3, a heat stage (not shown) that is heated and maintained at a predetermined temperature is provided. The substrate 9 is placed on this heat stage and is preheated by being heated to a predetermined temperature.

Next, the overall operation of the multi-chamber sputtering apparatus of this embodiment will be described. The substrate 9 accommodated in the external set 8 is carried by the autoloader 7 into the in-lock cassette 51 in the load lock chamber 5. Substrate 9 carried into cassette 51 inside lock
Is first loaded into the pretreatment etching chamber 2 by the transfer robot 11 provided in the separation chamber 1. In the pretreatment etching chamber 2, the pretreatment etching is performed on the substrate 9 as described above. Next, the substrate 9 is conveyed to the preheat chamber 3, is placed on a heat stage (not shown), and is heated to a predetermined temperature. Thus, the substrate 9 is preheated, and the occluded gas in the substrate 9 is released. Next, the substrate 9 is carried into the sputter chamber 4 and sputter deposition is performed.
Thereafter, the substrate 9 is carried out of the sputtering chamber 4 by the transfer robot 11 and stored in the cassette 51 inside the lock. The processed substrate 9 accommodated in the cassette 51 inside the lock is accommodated in the external cassette 8 by the autoloader 7. By repeating such an operation, the single wafer processing is sequentially performed on the plurality of substrates 9.

When the above operation is repeated and the substrate 9 is processed one by one, the pre-processing etching in the pre-processing etching chamber 2 is repeated by the number of times of the single-wafer processing. When a predetermined number of sheet processing is performed, the control unit 25
Sends a signal to a transfer unit also serving as a transfer system, and controls the pseudo substrate 10 to be loaded into the pre-processing etching chamber 2. As a result, as described above, the pseudo substrate 10
Is carried into the pre-processing etching chamber 2 from the cassette 51 in the lock. This pseudo substrate 10 is etched under predetermined conditions, and the coating operation described above is performed. Thereafter, the pseudo substrate 10 is accommodated in the lock inside cassette 51 by the transporting means. Then, in the pre-processing etching chamber 2, the above-described single-wafer processing of the substrate 9 is restarted.

As described above, the apparatus and the method of the present embodiment carry the pseudo substrate 10 into the pre-processing etching chamber 2 and perform etching, thereby causing the generation of particles generated by the pre-processing etching of the substrate 9. Is deposited with a particle prevention film. Since the surface of the coating member is made of a material that is deposited with a smaller stress than the deposited film at the time of the pretreatment, the peeling of the deposited film at the time of the pretreatment can be suppressed. As a result, the frequency of replacing the shield 26 is dramatically reduced as compared with the conventional case.
Therefore, the overall time required to prevent the generation of particles is shorter than in the past. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the productivity is greatly improved as compared with the conventional apparatus. Also,
As a result of preventing generation of particles, it is possible to contribute to improvement in device quality.

[0045]

Next, an example of the above embodiment will be described. First, the conditions for the pretreatment etching in the pretreatment etching chamber 2 include the following conditions. Etching gas; Argon Gas flow rate: 60 cc / min Pressure: 2 mTorr High frequency power: 13.56 MHz, 1000 W The substrate 9 is formed of silicon, and the surface film is a natural oxide film (SiO ₂ ). In some cases, when etching is performed under the above conditions, the etching rate becomes 400 Å / min for a substrate having a diameter of 8 inches, and the pretreatment etching of one substrate 9 is completed in 30 seconds. The conditions for the covering operation include the following conditions.・ Coating member: Silicon substrate on which aluminum film 3 μm is formed ・ Etching gas: Argon ・ Gas flow rate: 60 cc / min ・ Pressure: 2 mTorr ・ High frequency power: 13.56 MHz, 1000 W Prevention of particles by performing coating operation under the above conditions The film deposition rate is 500 Å / min, and one coating operation is completed in about 720 seconds. Further, the etching amount of aluminum at one time is 840.
It is about 0 angstroms.

Next, the effects of the present embodiment under the above conditions will be described. First, under the above conditions, if the number of times of the pretreatment etching of the substrate 9 exceeds 1,000, the number of particles becomes 50 or more, so that the coating operation is performed after performing the pretreatment etching on the 1000 substrates 9. I do. Thereby, generation of particles can be suppressed to 10 or less. And
After performing the pretreatment etching of the substrate 9 again 1000 times,
Perform a coating operation. Thus, 1000
One coating operation is performed for each pre-treatment etch.

However, by repeating the cycle of performing one coating operation every time the 1000 pre-process etchings are performed, the total thickness of the pre-process deposited film and the particle generation preventing film deposited on the shield 26 increases. To go. If the thickness exceeds a certain limit, these films deposited on the shield 26 may be separated by their own weight or the like, and the amount of generated particles may exceed the limit. Specifically, when the pre-processing etching and the coating operation are performed under the above conditions, the number of pre-processing etchings is limited to 5,000 (the number of coating operations is five). Is more than 50. Therefore, after performing 5000 pre-process etchings, the shield 26 is replaced with a new shield 26.
To be replaced. In the conventional case, the shield is replaced after performing the pre-processing etching 1000 times, and it can be seen that the productivity is dramatically increased in comparison with this.

In the present embodiment according to the above-described configuration and operation, the dummy substrate 10 is arranged in the cassette 51 in the lock and is carried by the transfer robot 11 into the pre-processing etching chamber 2. The following configuration is also possible as the method of (1). First, the pseudo substrate 10 may be always provided in the pre-processing etching chamber. Specifically, the pseudo substrate 10 is configured to be exchangeably fixed to the inner wall of the etching chamber. And the pseudo substrate 10
A plasma is formed at a position where is etched. In addition, during the pre-processing etching of the substrate,
Cover the pseudo substrate 10 with a plasma shield so as not to be exposed to plasma. And when performing the coating operation,
The plasma shield is removed, and the pseudo substrate 10 is configured to be etched by the plasma. Compared to this configuration, the configuration of the above-described embodiment is superior in that the configuration such as providing a plasma shield is not complicated.

In the above-described embodiment, the pseudo-substrate 10 in which the film of the coating material is formed on the same plate as the substrate 9 is used as the coating member. However, a case in which a film of a coating material is formed on the surface of a plate material of the same size and the same weight even if it is not exactly the same as the substrate 9 can be used without changing the configuration of the transport system. However, such a material may be used as a covering member. Further, when a coating material is formed on a plate material different from the substrate 9, the structure of the existing transport system is used in order to serve also as a transport system for the substrate 9 and a transport means for the coating member. May need to be changed. However, even in this case, if a plate material having the same size and shape as the substrate 9 and the same weight is used, the configuration of the transport system is not changed so that the cost may be reduced. Therefore, the plate material may have the same dimensions and shape and the same weight as long as the configuration of the transport system is small and the cost can be advantageously reduced.

When a transporting means for transporting only the coating member is provided separately from the transport of the substrate 9, the coating member can be made of a plate material having a completely different size, shape and weight from the substrate 9. . The configuration in which the transport system of the substrate 9 is also used for the transport of the covering member as in the present embodiment has the advantage of saving space in terms of space since the mechanism is also used. As another configuration of the covering member, a substrate 9
A plate obtained by plating the surface of the same or equivalent or similar plate material with a coating material, or a plate made of the coating material itself can be used.

The pre-processing etching mechanism may be provided in the pre-heating chamber 3 or the sputtering chamber 4 instead of in the pre-processing etching chamber 2. In the above-described embodiment, a high frequency is used as a means for forming plasma in the pre-treatment etching chamber 2, but other means for forming a DC bipolar discharge may be used.

[0052]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the film deposited on the exposed surface in the chamber by the pretreatment etching is covered with the material deposited with a smaller stress than that of the film. Peeling is suppressed, and generation of particles due to peeling of the film is prevented. As a result, it is possible to prevent the quality of the film formation process from deteriorating due to the adhesion of particles to the substrate. Further, since the peeling of the film deposited on the exposed surface in the chamber is suppressed, the time required for maintenance required to prevent the peeling of the film is also shortened, and as a result, the productivity is increased. Further, according to the invention of claim 2, sputtering can be performed while obtaining the effect of claim 1. At this time, since the coating member is not in the pre-processing etching chamber, and is configured to be carried into the pre-processing etching chamber only when necessary by the transport means, the coating member is normally used during the pre-processing etching. Is not etched. According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, the coating member is suppressed from being etched beyond a predetermined remaining thickness of the coating material on its surface. Therefore, the effect of preventing the generation of particles can be obtained more reliably. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the second or third aspect, the transporting means for transporting the coating member and the transporting system for transporting the substrate are also used. Is simplified. According to the fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the fourth aspect, since the covering member is the same as or similar to the substrate, it can be used without changing the existing transport system, or can be used with few changes. can do. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the device can be reduced. According to the invention of claim 6, in addition to the effect of the above-mentioned claim 5, since the covering member is a pseudo substrate, it can be used also as a conveying means of the covering member without changing the existing conveying system. . Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the device can be reduced. According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the above-mentioned fourth and fifth aspects are described.
In addition to the effect of 6, the coating member is not carried out to the atmosphere while being used a plurality of times, so that the effect of preventing the generation of particles can be largely obtained. Also, since there is no operation for unloading the covering member, work efficiency is high. According to the invention of claim 8, in addition to the effect of claim 7, since the housing member for housing the substrate also houses the coating member, there is no complexity in providing another housing member, and The structure for accommodating the members is simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating a configuration of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front sectional view illustrating a configuration of a sputtering chamber 4 in the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG.

3 is an alternate long and short dash line X- of the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG.
It is sectional schematic in X.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Separation chamber 11 Transfer robot 2 Pre-processing etching chamber 21 Gas introduction means 211 Gas cylinder 212 Piping 213 Valve 214 Flow rate regulator 22 Substrate holder 23 Plasma formation means 231 High frequency power supply 232 Capacitor 24 Magnet 241 Magnetic field line 25 Main control part 251 Display part 252 Input unit 26 Shield 27 Exhaust system 3 Preheat chamber 4 Sputter chamber 41 Target 411 Target holder 412 Insulator 42 Magnet mechanism 421 Center magnet 422 Peripheral magnet 423 Yoke 43 Sputter power supply 44 Substrate holder 45 Gas introduction means 451 Gas cylinder 452 Pipe 453 Valve 454 Flow rate Adjuster 46 Exhaust system 5 Load lock chamber 51 Cassette in lock 511 Projection 52 Elevating mechanism 6 Tobarubu 7 autoloader 8 external cassette 9 substrate 10 pseudo substrate

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 9, 1999

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating the configuration of a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
This sputtering apparatus is a multi-chamber type apparatus, which includes a separation chamber 1 disposed at the center, a plurality of processing chambers 2 , 3 , 4, and two load lock chambers 5 provided around the separation chamber 1. Chamber arrangement. Each of the chambers 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5 is provided with a dedicated or shared exhaust system, and is configured to exhaust to a predetermined pressure. A gate valve 6 is provided at a connection point between the chambers 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 and 5. An autoloader 7 is provided outside the load lock chamber 5. The autoloader 7 takes out the substrates 9 one by one from the external cassette 8 on the atmosphere side, and stores the substrates 9 in the lock cassette 51 in the load lock chamber 5.

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

A transfer robot 11 is provided in the separation chamber 1. The transfer robot 11 is an articulated robot. The transfer robot 11 is provided with one of the load lock chambers 5.
Substrates 9 are taken out one by one from each processing chamber 2 ,
The processing is sequentially sent to the load lock chambers 3 and 4, and after the last processing is completed, the processing is returned to one of the load lock chambers 5. Separation chamber 1, a vacuum pressure at all times ¹⁰ -6 ^{to 10} -8 Torr is maintained by the exhaust system. Therefore , a transfer robot that can operate under this vacuum pressure is adopted.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

One of the plurality of processing chambers 2 , 3 , 4 is a sputtering chamber 4 for performing sputtering for forming a predetermined thin film on the surface of the substrate 9. In addition, there are a pretreatment etching chamber 2 for performing pretreatment etching for removing a natural oxide film or a protective film on the surface of the substrate 9 before sputtering, and a preheating chamber 3 for preheating the substrate 9 before sputtering. .

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

First, the structure of the sputtering chamber 4 which is a main part of the sputtering apparatus will be described. FIG. 2 shows FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic front cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a sputtering chamber 4 in the sputtering apparatus shown in FIG. The sputtering chamber 4 is an airtight container provided with a gate valve (not shown), and is electrically grounded. Then, the inside of the sputtering chamber 4 is constantly 10 ⁻⁶ to
It is configured to be evacuated to about 10 ⁻⁸ Torr. A gas introducing means 45 is provided in the sputtering chamber 4 so that a gas having a high sputtering rate such as argon can be introduced into the inside at a predetermined flow rate. Specifically, the gas introducing means 45 includes a gas cylinder 451 storing a gas for sputter discharge such as argon, a pipe 452 connecting the sputter chamber 4 and the gas cylinder 451, a valve 453 provided in the pipe 452, and a flow rate adjustment. Vessel 454
It is mainly composed of

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0013

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

A target 41 is provided in the sputtering chamber 4 such that the surface to be sputtered is exposed. The target 41 is formed of a thin film material to be formed on the surface of the substrate 9. The target 41 is
Through the target holder 411 and the insulator 412,
It is attached to the sputter chamber 4 so as to hermetically close the upper opening of the sputter chamber 4. Target 4
A sputtering power supply 43 for sputtering 1 is connected to the target 41. The sputtering power source 43 is 700
A negative DC voltage of about V is applied to the target 41, and a power of about 30 kW is applied to the target 41.
It is supplied to. When the sputter power supply 43 is operated in a state where the sputter discharge gas is introduced by the gas introducing means 45, a discharge is generated in the sputter discharge gas and the target 41 is sputtered. A high-frequency power supply may be used as the sputtering power supply 43 in some cases.

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0014

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Behind the target 41, a magnet mechanism 42
Is provided. The magnet mechanism 42 includes a center magnet 421
A peripheral magnet 422 surrounding the center magnet 421;
A disk-shaped yoke 423 connecting the center magnet 421 and the peripheral magnet 422 is formed. This magnet mechanism 42
Is provided for performing magnetron sputtering with efficient discharge. That is, a magnetic field is formed in the vicinity of the target 41 by the magnet mechanism 42, and the electrons perform a magnetron motion by the action of the magnetic field, thereby forming a plasma with higher density. As a result, the efficiency of sputter discharge is improved, and the efficiency of film formation on the substrate 9 is also improved. Each of the magnets 421 and 422 of the magnet mechanism 42 is a permanent magnet, but it is also possible to configure them with electromagnets.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0019

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Next, the plasma forming means 23 will be described. In the present embodiment, plasma is formed by high-frequency energy,
As 3, a high frequency power supply 231 is used. Specifically, a substrate holder 22 that holds the substrate 9 to be subjected to the pre-processing etching at a predetermined position is provided in the pre-processing etching chamber 2. A high frequency power supply 231 for applying a high frequency voltage is connected to the substrate holder 22. A matching device (not shown) and a capacitor 232 for a self-bias voltage , which will be described later, are provided between the substrate holder 22 and the high frequency power supply 231. This high frequency power supply 2
Numeral 31 is configured to apply a high frequency power of 13.56 MHz and an output of 1000 W to the substrate holder 22.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0023

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

As in the prior art, a shield 26 is provided in the pretreatment etching chamber 2 of the present apparatus. The shield 26 is provided so as to cover the inner side surface of the pretreatment etching chamber 2. Therefore, the material of the natural oxide film or the protective film etched by the pre-processing etching adheres to the surface of the shield 26 when scattered into the pre-processing etching chamber 2. Shield 26 is attached to exchange freely pretreatment etching chamber 2, Sea
Irregularities are formed on the surface of the screen 26 to prevent the deposited film from peeling off.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0037

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

When the internal stress becomes large, these films tend to peel off and generate particles, so that the effect of the coating operation cannot be sufficiently obtained. Therefore, the apparatus of the present embodiment has a configuration for replacing another new pseudo substrate 10 when the remaining thickness of the aluminum film on the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 reaches a predetermined amount.
Specifically, the apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a main control unit 25 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus. The main control unit 25 is a microcomputer, and is provided with a display unit 251 for performing various displays such as an operation state of the apparatus. And the main control
The unit 25 is also configured to perform a display indicating the necessity of replacing the pseudo substrate 10 described above. More specifically, the main control unit 25 is configured to control the operation of the high-frequency power supply 231 and to store the time during which the high-frequency power supply 231 has been operated, in order to indicate the necessity of replacing the pseudo substrate 10.

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0038

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

On the other hand, the main control section 25 has an input section 252 for inputting operating conditions of the apparatus. This input part 2
From 52, it is also possible to input a use time (hereinafter, referred to as an allowable maximum use time) until the thickness of the coating material on the surface of the pseudo substrate 10 becomes a predetermined thickness. . The allowable maximum use time is determined by previously measuring the etching rate when the pseudo substrate 10 is etched in the pre-treatment etching chamber 2 and calculating and inputting from the etching rate and the initial thickness of the coating material. Has become.

[Procedure amendment 11]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0048

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In the present embodiment according to the above-described configuration and operation, the dummy substrate 10 is arranged in the cassette 51 in the lock and is carried by the transfer robot 11 into the pre-processing etching chamber 2. The following configuration is also possible as the method of (1). First, the pseudo substrate 10 may be always provided in the pre-processing etching chamber. Specifically, the pseudo substrate 10 is configured to be exchangeably fixed to the inner wall of the etching chamber. And the pseudo substrate 10
A plasma is formed at a position where is etched. Further, the pseudo substrate 1 is used at the time of the pre-processing etching of the substrate 9.
The pseudo substrate 10 is covered with a plasma shield so that 0 is not exposed to plasma. Then, when performing the coating operation, the plasma shield is removed, and the pseudo substrate 10 is configured to be etched by the plasma. Compared to this configuration, the configuration of the above-described embodiment is superior in that the configuration such as providing a plasma shield is not complicated.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A sputtering apparatus for performing a film forming process for forming a predetermined thin film on a surface of a substrate by sputtering, wherein a natural oxide film or a protective film on the surface of the substrate is removed by etching before the film forming process. In a sputtering apparatus having a pre-treatment etching mechanism for performing pre-treatment etching, a film formed of a material of the natural oxide film or the protective film deposited on an exposed surface in a chamber in which a substrate is disposed during the pre-treatment etching is removed. A method for preventing the generation of particles, by etching a coating member having a surface formed of a material deposited with a smaller stress than the film deposited on an exposed surface in the chamber during the pretreatment etching. Depositing a film of the material for the covering member on the film, thereby reducing the generation of the particles. Particle generation preventing method which is characterized in that stop. 2. A sputter chamber having an exhaust system,
2. A target provided to expose a surface to be sputtered in a sputtering chamber, and a sputtering power source for sputtering the target, wherein a predetermined thin film is formed on the surface of the substrate by sputtering, and the generation of particles according to claim 1 is prevented. A sputtering apparatus in which the method is performed, wherein the sputter chamber or another chamber hermetically connected to the sputter chamber is provided with the pretreatment etching mechanism, and further provided with the pretreatment etching mechanism. The chamber is provided with conveying means for loading the coating member and unloading the coating member from the chamber, and etching a surface of the coating member to form a film of the small stress material. Coating operation to deposit on exposed surface in chamber Characterized in that sputtering can be performed. 3. When the remaining amount of the material deposited by the small stress on the surface of the coating member reaches a predetermined amount, the coating member needs to be replaced with another new coating member. 3. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for performing a display notifying the fact. 4. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a transfer system for transferring the substrate to the sputtering chamber, wherein the transfer system is also used as the transfer unit. 5. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the covering member has the same or similar dimensions and shape as the substrate and has the same or similar weight. 6. The pseudo-substrate according to claim 5, wherein the coating member is a pseudo-substrate in which a film of a material deposited with the small stress is formed on a surface of the same plate material as the substrate with a predetermined thickness.
The sputtering apparatus as described in the above. 7. A load lock chamber in which the substrate temporarily stays before or after the film forming process is provided. The load lock chamber is provided with an exhaust system for exhausting the inside thereof, and A housing member for housing the coating member is provided, and the coating member is carried into the chamber a plurality of times from the load lock chamber without being taken out to the atmosphere side and used for the coating operation multiple times. 7. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the sputtering apparatus comprises: 8. A lock inside cassette for accommodating a plurality of said substrates is provided in said load lock chamber, and said lock inside cassette is configured to also accommodate said covering member, and said accommodating member. The sputtering apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the sputtering apparatus also serves as a sputtering device.