KR100197113B1 - Plasma processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

In a plasma processing apparatus having a plasma chamber having a narrow window and a rectangular waveguide coupled to the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide is formed in the long side of the E wave so as to extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide against the narrow window of the plasma chamber. Has a slot. In addition, one or more rectangular waveguides have two or more long slots disposed thereon, and the horizontal length of each long slot is set to be 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave. Further, the long slots are arranged parallel to each other such that the microwaves move each other up to (2n-1) / 4 of the free space wavelength in the waveguide axial direction of the adjacent long slot rectangular waveguide. Where n is a natural number.

Description

Plasma processing apparatus for irradiating microwaves to the plasma chamber through long slots in a rectangular waveguide

1 is a plan view of the structure of the plasma processing apparatus of Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I 'of FIG.

3 is a graph showing the electric field strength of microwaves relative to the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

4 is a plan view showing the structure of the plasma processing apparatus of Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I 'of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the electric field strength of microwaves with respect to the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

7 is a plan view of the structure of the plasma processing apparatus of Embodiment 3 of the present invention;

8 is a front view of the slot array of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing the electric field strength of microwaves with respect to the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

10 is a plan view showing the structure of a plasma processing apparatus of preferred embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a graph showing the plasma density and the electric field intensity of microwaves with respect to the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

12 is a plan view showing the structure of a plasma processing apparatus of a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I 'of FIG.

14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG.

15 is a graph showing the electric field strength of microwaves relative to the horizontal length of the long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 16 corresponds to the portion of FIG. 14 and is a cross-sectional view of the first piece of plasma processing apparatus of the fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 corresponds to the portion of FIG. 14, and is a sectional view of the second amount of plasma processing apparatus of the fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 corresponds to the portion of FIG. 14, and is a sectional view of a third amount of plasma processing apparatus of the fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing microwave transmittance versus dielectric thickness of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

20 is a plan view showing the general structure of the plasma processing apparatus of Embodiment 6 of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a graph showing the plasma density with respect to the horizontal length of the long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 23 corresponds to the portion of FIG. 14 and shows a plasma processing apparatus of a preferred embodiment 7 of the present invention. FIG.

24 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 15 showing the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

25a, 25b and 25c show the relationship between the movable slot plate and the opening of the plasma processing apparatus when the movable slot plate is moved, FIG. 25a is a front view at timing t1, and FIG. 25b is a timing t2 25c is a front view at timing t3.

FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 24 showing a plasma processing apparatus of an eighth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 27 is a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 23 showing a plasma processing apparatus of a ninth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

FIG. 28 is a cross sectional view taken along the line T1-T1 'of FIG.

FIG. 29 is a cross sectional view taken along the line T2-T2 'of FIG.

30 is a graph showing the electric field strength of microwaves with respect to the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

31 is a sectional view corresponding to FIGS. 23 and 27 showing a plasma processing apparatus of a tenth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

32 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line T1-T1 'in FIG.

33 is a sectional view taken along the line T2-T2 'in FIG.

34 is a graph showing the plasma density versus the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

35 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIGS. 23, 27, and 31 showing a plasma processing apparatus of the eleventh preferred embodiment of the present invention.

36 is a sectional view corresponding to FIGS. 23, 27, 31 and 35 showing a plasma processing apparatus of a twelfth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 37 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG. 36;

FIG. 38 is a graph showing the electric field strength of microwaves with respect to the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 39 is a graph showing the plasma density of the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

40 is a plan view showing a configuration of a plasma processing apparatus of the prior art;

FIG. 41 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I 'of FIG. 40;

42 is a cross sectional view taken along the line T3-T3 'in FIG. 40;

FIG. 43 is a graph showing the electric field strength of microwaves with respect to the horizontal length of each long slot of the plasma processing apparatus of FIG.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1, 1 ': microwave power 2, 2': isolator

3, 3 ', 6: corner rectangular waveguide 4, 4': directional coupler

5, 5 ': automatic impedance matcher 7: plasma chamber

9, 19: termination device 8, 18, 28, 28 ', 58: rectangular waveguide

The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus. In particular, it relates to a plasma processing apparatus for irradiating microwaves from one or more rectangular waveguides through one or more elongated slots to the plasma chamber. The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus is provided for carrying out plasma processing such as thin film formation, surface modification and etching on a large-area target object at a constant and high speed.

Currently, plasma apparatuses utilizing microwaves have been used for processing such as etching, ashing, CVD, etc. in semiconductor and LCD manufacturing processes. 40 is a plan view showing the general structure of a plasma processing apparatus of the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-335095. FIG. 41 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 40.

40 and 41, the plasma processing apparatus of the prior art includes (a) a microwave power source 1 for generating microwaves; (b) isolator (2); (c) corner rectangular waveguide (3); (d) directional couplers 4; (e) an automatic impedance matcher 5 for automatically setting a predetermined impedance; (f) corner rectangular waveguides 6; (g) Plasma chamber 7 joins a rectangular parallelepiped plasma chamber 7 attached to the wall surface (hereinafter referred to as E surface) of a rectangular waveguide parallel to the electric field vector of the microwaves propagating in the waveguide 8. Rectangular waveguide 8; And (h) a termination device 9.

Components 1-9 are connected in series with each other. In this configuration, the plasma chamber 7 is provided for plasma processing of the object 13 in the form of a sheet to be processed.

As shown in FIG. 41 in the plasma chamber 7, the side wall of the plasma chamber 7 in which the protrusion 7b communicating with the inside of the plasma chamber 7 is formed on the rectangular waveguide 8 side of the plasma chamber 7 ( 7a), the projection 7b faces the E surface 8a of the rectangular waveguide 8. As shown in FIG. The electromagnet 10 used as the first electric field generating means in the projecting portion 7b is provided on the outer circumference, and the rectangular shape of the projecting portion 7b is extended so that the narrow rectangular window 7c extends along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 8. It is formed in the waveguide 8. The window 7c is sealed under vacuum by the microwave transmission window 11 made of a silica glass plate, and then the plasma chamber 7 is sealed under vacuum. In addition, an exhaust port 7d is formed in the plasma chamber 7 and is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown), and the gas introduction pipe 12 for introducing the processing gas into the plasma chamber 7 is hermetically sealed. It is attached to the wall of the plasma chamber 7 so as to penetrate the wall of the chamber 7. The plasma chamber 7 is provided with the following.

(a) the roll 14 on which the sheet-like to-be-processed object 13 was wound; And (b) a wound winding roll 15 wound around a fully processed object 13.

Here, the rolls 14 and 15 are located opposite to each other such that the object to be processed 13 is disposed so that the front of the object 13 faces the window 7c.

In the rectangular waveguide 8 provided for engagement with the plasma chamber 7, the rectangular waveguide is formed on the E side 8a such that the long slot or the horizontal slots 8b and 8c extend in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 8. Formed. Each of these long slots 8b and 8c has the same length as the horizontal length of the plasma chamber 7, but the width of the long slots 8b and 8c is set to a value shorter than the width of the window 7c. do. The rectangular waveguide 8 is electrically connected to the plasma chamber 7 by long slots 8b and 8c so as to face the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7.

In the plasma processing apparatus having the above-mentioned configuration, the microwaves generated by the microwave power source 1 are separated from the isolator 2, the corner rectangular waveguide 3, the directional coupler 4, the automatic impedance matcher 5, and the like. It is introduced or irradiated into the rectangular waveguide 8 through the corner rectangular waveguide 6. The microwaves are then irradiated or projected into the plasma chamber 7 in the long slots 8b and 8c through the window 7c.

Between the plasma chamber 7 and the rectangular waveguide 8, a permanent magnet 10c used as a second electric field generating means is disposed in the width direction along the long slots 8b and 8c in the center of the E surface 8a. It is. In addition, a rectangular cylindrical microwave waveguide made of aluminum, copper, stainless steel or the like is horizontally positioned around the permanent magnet 10c to support the permanent magnet 10c and form the microwave waveguide 8. . The microwave waveguide forming member 16 is fixed between the plasma chamber 7 and the rectangular waveguides 16a and 16b by appropriate means.

The terminator 9 is provided with a microwave absorber for absorbing excess microwaves not supplied to the plasma chamber 7 side, in which case water is used as the microwave absorber. Excess microwaves that do not propagate into the plasma chamber 7 are absorbed by the water introduced through the inlet 9a, and the water heated by the microwaves is discharged through the outlet 9b.

In order to perform the plasma treatment with the plasma processing apparatus, the object to be processed 13 is provided, set in the plasma chamber 7, and then the inside of the plasma chamber 7 is evaporated to a high vacuum. Thereafter, a predetermined process gas is supplied to the plasma chamber 7 through the gas introduction pipe 12 until the inside of the plasma chamber is pressurized to a predetermined pressure. In this state, the microwave is rectangular through the microwave power source 1 through the isolator 2, the corner rectangular waveguide 3, the directional coupler 4, the automatic impedance matcher 5 and the corner rectangular waveguide 6 When supplied to one end of the waveguide 8, the microwaves entering the rectangular waveguide 8 are irradiated from the long slots 8b and 8c to direct the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7 to the plasma chamber 7. It is spread. Then, the microwaves excite the processing gas in the plasma chamber 7 with plasma, and then a strip-shaped plasma is generated along the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7. The object 13 to be processed is wound and moved by the roll 15 under the irradiation of the plasma. Thus, a large area of treatment is performed on the object 13 in a continuous manner.

In particular, since the magnetic field is formed in the space between the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7 and the permanent magnet 10c used as the second electric field generating means, the electrons of the plasma are generated. You will have a spiral motion under the force of. Therefore, the processing gas is ionized by acceleration and the density of the plasma irradiated to the object to be processed 13 is improved. Further, if the electric field intensity generated by the electric field generating means is set to form electron cyclotron resonance in space, the plasma density can be improved at high speed.

Further, by providing the electromagnet 10 which is a diverging electric field generating means for forming the diverging electric field in the manner in which the above-mentioned electric field is directed toward the plasma chamber 7 in the widthwise center portion of the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7, the plasma Can be irradiated to the object 13 with high efficiency, the plasma density is improved at a high speed, the plasma is electromagnet 10 as the first electric field generating means and permanent magnet 10c as the second electric field generating means. Can occur without.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the prior art, from the long slot 8b having the length AB to the plasma chamber 7 because the microwave propagates in the oblique direction while being repeatedly reflected by the inner side wall of the rectangular waveguide 8. The irradiated microwave propagates obliquely toward one side of the plasma chamber 7, as shown by the microwaves W1, W2 and W3 of FIG. 42 shown in the cross-sectional view taken along the line T3-T3 'of FIG. As a result, the electric field strength is not constant along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7 as shown in FIG.

In addition, the length provided in the rectangular waveguide 8 The electric field of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber 7 from the long slot 8b of the standing wave is caused by the reflected wave generated by the long slots 8a and 8b irrespective of whether the terminator 9 includes the microwave absorber. Have peaks and valleys. The resulting field strength is a non-uniform distribution with peaks and valleys, as shown in FIG. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the distribution of the generated plasma becomes nonuniform so that the plasma treatment cannot be obtained for a large area of the object to be processed 13.

Further, of the microwave power input to the rectangular waveguide 8, the electric power not irradiated to the plasma chamber 7 from the long slot 8b of the rectangular waveguide 8 is consumed by the micro absorber of the terminator 9 so that the electric power is consumed. This is lost. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the efficiency of using the power of the microwave is deteriorated and the density of the generated plasma is very low.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus capable of uniformly performing plasma processing over a large area of an object to be processed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus which can improve the utilization efficiency of microwave power as compared to the prior art apparatus.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in accordance with a feature of the present invention, a plasma processing apparatus includes: a plasma chamber having a narrow window formed on a sidewall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot disposed on the E surface so as to face the narrow window of the plasma chamber and extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, The waveguide has a waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide parallel to a horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber; Microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot into the plasma chamber, the plasma processing apparatus comprising: at least two long slots disposed in the at least one rectangular waveguide; The horizontal length of each long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the wavelength of the free space of the microwave; The long slot is characterized in that the adjacent long slots move each other up to (2n-1) / 4 of the free-space wavelength of the microwave in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, where n is a natural number.

The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes at least two rectangular waveguides having at least one long slot; And microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to another one of the rectangular waveguides in a direction different from that of one of the rectangular waveguides adjacent to the other one of the rectangular waveguides.

In the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus, each of the long slots is a slot array composed of a plurality of sub slots disposed by equally subdividing the long slots in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, and the plasma processing apparatus includes: A termination device provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide and having a movable short circuit board provided to move along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, wherein the movable short circuit board is a central portion of the peak of the voltage standing wave generated in the rectangular waveguide. Is arranged to coincide with the horizontal center portion of the sub slot.

The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes a rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot, wherein the elongated slot is a slot array composed of a plurality of sub slots disposed by equally subdividing the elongated slot in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide; And a termination device provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide and having a movable short circuit board provided to move along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide; The movable short-circuit board is arranged so that the center portion of the peak of the voltage standing wave generated in the rectangular waveguide coincides with the horizontal center portion of the sub slot.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing apparatus comprising: a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a sidewall, wherein an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot positioned to extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide opposite the narrow window of the plasma chamber, and wherein the rectangular waveguide is the rectangular waveguide. The waveguide axial direction of the waveguide is provided to be parallel to the horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber; And a microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot to the plasma chamber, the plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave The plasma processing apparatus includes a microwave waveguide forming member provided between the long slot and the narrow window of the plasma chamber, and the microwave waveguide forming member has a cross section identical to an opening of the long slot. Having a microwave waveguide; And having a dielectric made of a material that does not absorb any microwave, the dielectric being fitted to the microwave waveguide at a position near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, the dielectric being microwaved Reflect the part of and transmit another part of the microwave.

In the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus, the length of the dielectric in the horizontal direction of the long slot is set to n / 2 of the free space wavelengths of the microwave where n is a natural number, and the insertion length of the dielectric into the microwave waveguide. Is set by adjusting the microwave transmittance of the dielectric so that the electric field strength of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber is substantially uniform.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a sidewall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot disposed on an E surface positioned to extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide against the narrow window of the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide Is provided such that the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide is parallel to the horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber; And a microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated to the plasma chamber through the long slot in the rectangular waveguide, the plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free-space wavelength of the microwave And the plasma processing apparatus includes: a movable short circuit board provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide so as to move along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide by 1/2 or more of the guide wavelength of the microwave; And a moving driving means for moving the moving short circuit board periodically or aperiodically along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide.

According to still another feature of the present invention, a plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a side wall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled to the plasma chamber, wherein the rectangular waveguide has a long slot disposed on an E surface so as to extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide against a narrow window of the plasma chamber, and the rectangular waveguide The waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide is parallel to the horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber; And a microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated to the plasma chamber from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot, the plasma processing apparatus, wherein the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave And the plasma processing apparatus includes a movable slot plate having an opening having a length shorter than the horizontal length of the long slot in the waveguide axial direction and having a width equal to the width of the long slot. A plate is disposed in the space between the long slot in the rectangular waveguide and the narrow window of the plasma chamber such that the opening moves along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide so as to face the long slot; Also provided with a movement driving means for moving the movable slot plate periodically or aperiodically to a length of 1/2 or more of the free space of the microwave.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a side wall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; A rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot disposed on an E surface such that the rectangular waveguide extends along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide opposite the narrow window of the plasma chamber. A waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide is provided in parallel to a horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber, and further comprising microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot to the plasma chamber, the plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave The plasma processing apparatus includes an electric field generating means for generating an electric field in a space between the object provided in the plasma chamber and the narrow window, and for changing the direction and intensity of the electric field.

The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes: at least two waveguide forming members provided between each of the long slots and the plasma chamber and having microwave waveguides having the same cross section as the opening of each of the long slots; Two or more dielectrics made of a material that does not absorb any microwaves, said dielectrics being fitted to said microwave waveguide at a position near the end of said rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction of said rectangular waveguide, said dielectric being Reflect a portion of the microwave and transmit another portion of the microwave; The length of each dielectric is set to n / 2 of the free space wavelength of the microwave where n is a natural number as the horizontal direction of each said long slot; The insertion length of each dielectric into the microwave waveguide is set by adjusting the microwave transmittance of each dielectric such that the electric field strength of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber is substantially uniform.

The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes: at least two rectangular waveguides each having at least one long slot; Microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to another one of said rectangular waveguides in a direction different from one of said rectangular waveguides adjacent to each other of said rectangular waveguides; In the long slot, adjacent long slots move each other up to (2n-1) / 4 of the free-space wavelength of the microwave in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, where n is a natural number.

The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes a microwave waveguide forming member provided between the long slot and the narrow window of the plasma chamber, wherein the microwave waveguide forming member has a micro-section having a cross section like the opening of the long slot. With wave waveguides; And a dielectric made of a material that does not absorb microwaves, the dielectric being inserted into the microwave waveguide at a position near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, the dielectric being microwaved Reflects the part and transmits another part of the microwave.

In the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus, the length of the dielectric in the horizontal direction of the long slot is set to n / 2 of free space wavelengths of microwaves where n is a natural number; The insertion length of the dielectric into the microwave waveguide is set by adjusting the microwave transmittance of the dielectric such that the electric field strength of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber is substantially uniform.

According to the plasma apparatus of the present invention, two or more elongated slots are provided in one or more rectangular waveguides, and the horizontal length of each elongated slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free-space wavelength of the microwave. The slots are arranged to move together in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide up to (2n-1) / 4 (where n is a natural number) of the free-space wavelength of the microwave. Thus, although the microwave electric field irradiated into the plasma chamber in the long slot has peaks and valleys with a wavelength corresponding to the free-space wavelength of the microwave, the strong and weak portions of the microwave are equal to (2n) of the free-space wavelength of the microwave. They overlap each other by shifting the position of each long slot up to a phase of -1) / 4. Therefore, the power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber is constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber, so that a uniform plasma density can be obtained over a large area.

In addition, according to another aspect of the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the above-described plasma processing apparatus includes a microwave in a rectangular waveguide in a different direction between two or more of the rectangular waveguides having one or more long slots and an adjacent rectangular waveguide. Microwave power supply means for supplying. Thus, areas where the field strength of the microwaves irradiated from one rectangular waveguide through one long slot receive very strong fields of microwaves irradiated from another rectangular waveguide through another long slot, and then The strong and weak parts of the electric field overlap each other. Therefore, the electric power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber becomes constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber, and a uniform plasma density is obtained over the large area.

Further, according to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, each long slot in the above-described plasma processing apparatus is a slot array including a plurality of sub slots formed by equally subdividing the long slots in the waveguide axial direction. The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus is provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide, and has a termination device having a movable short circuit board provided to move in the waveguide axial direction, wherein the movable short circuit board has a central portion of the voltage standing wave generated in the rectangular waveguide. It is located to coincide with the horizontal center of the sub slot. Also in this case, the peak of the electric field strength irradiated in each subslot of the slot array becomes substantially uniform such that the strong and weak portions of the microwave's electric field strength are reduced over the entire length of the slot array. Thus, when generated at very low gas pressures using a microwave-coupled microwave field, a plasma with a high uniform plasma density distribution may be generated even if there are strong and weak portions of the microwave's electric field.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus is a slot array having a single rectangular waveguide having one long slot and having a plurality of sub slots formed by equally subdividing the long slot in the waveguide axial direction. ; And a termination device having a movable short circuit board provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide and provided to move along the waveguide axial direction, wherein the movable short circuit board has a central portion of the peak of the voltage standing wave generated in the rectangular waveguide in the horizontal position of the sub slot. It is positioned to coincide with the center part. In this case, each peak of the slot array becomes substantially uniform such that the peak of the microwave's field strength becomes substantially constant such that the strong and weak portions of the microwave's field strength decrease over the entire horizontal length of the slot array. do. Thus, when generated at very low gas pressures using a microwave-coupled microwave field, a plasma with a very constant plasma density distribution can be generated even if there are strong and weak portions of the microwave's electric field.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the above-mentioned plasma apparatus includes: a microwave forming member provided between a long slot and a window of a plasma chamber, the microwave forming member having a microwave waveguide having the same cross section as the opening of the long slot; It is made of a material that does not absorb microwaves and has a dielectric sandwiched in the microwave waveguide at a position near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction, the dielectric reflecting a portion of the microwave and another portion of the microwave Permeate the part. By reflecting a portion of the microwave, transmitting another portion of the microwave, and providing a dielectric that does not absorb the microwave, the strong portion of the field strength is weakened while the field strength of the microwave is very high, while It is reversed by the power reflected by the dielectric of the weak portion of. Therefore, the power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber becomes more constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber, so that a constant plasma density is obtained over a large area.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, in the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the dielectric along the horizontal direction of the long slot is set to n / 2 (where n is a natural number) of the free space wavelength of the microwave, and the micro The insertion length of the dielectric into the wave waveguide is set by adjusting the microwave transmittance of the dielectric such that the electric field strength of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber is substantially constant. Therefore, the power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber becomes more constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber than the power of the plasma processing apparatus mentioned above.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, in the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave. In addition, the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus is set to 1/2 / or more of the guide wavelength of the microwave. In addition, the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes: a movable short circuit board provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide so as to move along the waveguide axial direction over a horizontal length of 1/2 or more of the guide wavelength of the microwave; And a moving drive means for moving the moving short circuit board periodically or aperiodically along the waveguide axial direction. Thus, even if the generated plasma has helical non-uniformity or irregularity due to the strong and weak portions of the electric field, the non-uniformity of the plasma can be compensated by changing the irradiation of the plasma to the object to be processed in time and space. Thus, very good uniformity plasma processing is performed.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, in the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave. The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus has a movable slot plate having a hole in the space between the long slot of the rectangular waveguide and the narrow window of the plasma chamber, and the movable slot plate has a horizontal length shorter than the length of the long slot in the waveguide axial direction. And the same width as the long slot. The movable slot plate is positioned to move along the waveguide axial direction so that the long slot and the opening face each other, and are movable periodically or aperiodically over a horizontal length of 1/2 or more of the microwave's free-space wavelength. A moving drive means for moving the slot plate is provided. Therefore, even if the generated plasma has spiral non-uniformity or irregularity due to the strong and weak portions of the electric field of the microwave irradiated into the plasma chamber in the long slot, the non-uniformity of the plasma can be irradiated to the target object in time and space. Can be supplemented by changing. Thus, plasma treatment is achieved with good uniformity.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, in the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave. The above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes electric field generating means for generating an electric field in the space between the window and the object set in the plasma chamber, and for changing the direction and intensity of the electric field. Thus, even if the generated plasma has a spiral non-uniformity or irregularity due to the strong and weak portions of the electric field of the microwave irradiated into the plasma chamber in the long slot, the non-uniformity of the plasma changes the plasma irradiation to the target object in time and space. Can be supplemented. Thus, plasma treatment is achieved with good uniformity.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus is provided with two microwave waveguides disposed between each long slot and the narrow window of the plasma chamber and having the same cross section as the opening of each long slot. Microwave waveguide forming member and the above; It consists of a material that does not absorb any microwaves and comprises two or more dielectrics sandwiched in the microwave waveguide at a position near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction, the dielectric reflecting a portion of the microwave and Transmit another part of the microwave; The respective horizontal length in the horizontal direction of each long slot is set to n / 2 (n is a natural number) of the free space of the microwave, and the insertion length of each dielectric into each microwave waveguide is the horizontal of the plasma chamber. It is set by adjusting the microwave transmittance of each dielectric so that the electric field strength of the microwave along the direction is substantially constant. Thus, while the strong portion of the electric field is weakened at the very high electric field strength of the microwave, while providing a dielectric that reflects a portion of the microwave, transmits another portion of the microwave, and does not absorb any microwave, Weak portions of the electric field are reversed by the power reflected by the dielectric. Therefore, the power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber is made constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber, so that a constant plasma density can be obtained over a large area.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes: at least two rectangular waveguides having at least one long slot; Microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide in different directions between adjacent rectangular waveguides; The long slots are formed parallel to each other in such a way that adjacent long slots are moved to each other up to (2n-1) / 4 (where n is a natural number) in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide. Therefore, the field strength of the microwave irradiated from the rectangular waveguide through one long slot is very weak in the area and the strong field of the microwave irradiated from the remaining rectangular waveguide through the remaining long slot is then received. Strong and weak parts overlap each other. Therefore, the power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber is made constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber so that a constant plasma density can be obtained over the entire area.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes: a microwave forming member provided between a long slot and a window of a plasma chamber, the microwave forming member having a microwave waveguide having the same cross section as the opening of the long slot; And constitute a material that does not absorb any microwaves and has a dielectric sandwiched in the microwave waveguide at a location near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction, the dielectric reflecting a portion of the microwave and rest of the microwave Permeate the part. Thus, while reflecting a portion of the microwave, transmitting the rest of the microwave, and providing a dielectric that does not absorb any microwaves, the strong portion of the field strength is weakened while the field strength of the microwave is very high, while the electric field is weakened. Weak portions of the strength are reversed by the power reflected by the dielectric. Therefore, the power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber can be made constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber, so that a constant plasma density can be obtained over the entire area.

According to the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the above-mentioned plasma processing apparatus includes: a microwave waveguide forming member provided between a long slot and a window of a plasma chamber, the microwave waveguide forming member having a microwave waveguide having the same cross-sectional shape as an opening of a long slot; A dielectric composed of a material which does not absorb any microwaves, the dielectric being fitted to the microwave waveguide at a position near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction; The constant dielectric reflects part of the microwave, reflects the rest of the microwave, and the length of the dielectric along the horizontal direction of the long slot is set to n / 2 of the free-space wavelength of the microwave, where n is a natural number. The length of insertion of the dielectric into the microwave waveguide is set by adjusting the microwave transmittance of the dielectric such that the electric field strength of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber is substantially constant. Thus, while reflecting a portion of the microwave, transmitting the rest of the microwave, and providing a dielectric that does not absorb any microwave, the strong portion of the electric field is weakened at the very high field strength of the microwave, while the electric field is weakened. The weak portion of is reversed by the power reflected by the dielectric. Therefore, the power of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber can be made constant along the horizontal direction of the window of the plasma chamber, so that a constant plasma density can be obtained over a large area.

Reference will now be made to the drawings that accompany preferred embodiments of the invention.

Preferred Example 1

1 is a structural diagram of a plasma processing apparatus showing a preferred embodiment 1 of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I 'of FIG.

1 shows the following.

(a) microwave power source 1; (b) isolator (2); (c) corner rectangular waveguides (3, 6); (d) directional couplers 4; (e) an automatic impedance matcher (5); And (f) plasma chamber (7)

These elements are configured in the same way as the elements of the prior art device shown in FIG. Also shown in FIG. 1 is the following.

(g) a rectangular waveguide 18 coupled to the plasma chamber 7, wherein the rectangular waveguide 18 is a long slot or a horizontal long slot 18b formed in the E face 18a of the rectangular waveguide 18 and Termination device (19) having a (18c) and (h) provided with a movable short circuit board (19a).

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 41, with the same reference numerals as the elements shown in FIGS. 40 and 41 in FIGS.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the first embodiment of the present invention, the long slots 18b and 18c extend in the waveguide axial direction up to (2n-1) / 4 (where n is a natural number) of the free space wavelength λ _{0 in} the microwave. They are moved to each other and positioned so as to be parallel to the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 18 in a suitable space.

As shown in FIG. 2, the long protrusion 7b communicating with the inside of the plasma chamber 7 in the plasma chamber 7 is a sidewall of the plasma chamber 7 on the side of the rectangular waveguide 18 of the plasma chamber 7. It is provided in 7a, and the protrusion part 7b is formed facing the E surface 18a of the rectangular waveguide 18. As shown in FIG. The electromagnet 10 used as the first electric field generating means in the protrusion 7b is provided on the outer periphery of the protrusion 7b, and the protrusion (7c) extends along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 18. 7b) is provided on the rectangular waveguide 18 side. The window 7c is sealed under vacuum by the microwave transmission window 11 made of a silica glass plate, and then the plasma chamber 7 is sealed under vacuum. In addition, an exhaust port 7d is provided in the plasma chamber 7 and connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). And the gas introduction pipe 12 which introduces a process gas into the plasma chamber 7 is attached so that it may pass through the one wall of the plasma chamber 7 in an airtight manner. The plasma chamber is provided with the following. (a) a roll 14 on which an object to be processed 13 is wound in a sheet shape; And (b) a wound winding roll 15 wound around a fully processed object 13. Here, the rolls 14 and 15 are located opposite to each other such that the object to be processed 13 is disposed so that the front of the object 13 faces the window 7c.

In the rectangular waveguide 8 provided for joining the plasma chamber 7, the E side 18a of the rectangular waveguide 18 so that the long slots 18b and 18b extend in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 18. Formed in Each of these long slots 18b and 18c move each other in the waveguide axial direction up to (2n-1) / 4 (where n is a natural number) of the free-space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave and equilibrate each other in the appropriate space. To be located. In the plasma chamber 7, the window 7c is formed on the side wall 7a of the plasma chamber 7 on the side of the rectangular waveguide 18 so as to extend in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 18, and the window 7c As mentioned above, (2n-1) / 4 of λ ₀ is set to a value substantially equal to or substantially equal to the horizontal length of the long slots 18b and 18c. The rectangular waveguide 18 is electrically connected to the plasma chamber 7 by long slots 18b and 18c opposite the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7.

The permanent magnet 10c used as the second field generating means between the plasma chamber 7 and the rectangular waveguide 18 of the E surface 18a of the rectangular waveguide 18 along the long slots 18b and 18c. It is arrange | positioned in the width direction center part. In addition, the rectangular cylindrical microwave waveguide forming member 16 is made of aluminum, copper, stainless steel, and forms the microwaves 16a and 16a 'and supports the permanent magnets 10c to support the permanent magnets 10c. It is horizontally located around it. The microwave waveguide forming member 16 is fixed between the plasma chamber 7a and the rectangular waveguide 18 by appropriate means.

The termination device 19 is provided with a movable short circuit board 19a instead of the termination device constituting the microwave absorber shown in FIG. 40 of the prior art. Therefore, the microwaves introduced into the rectangular waveguide 18 can be supplied to the plasma chamber 7 with high efficiency by adjusting the short circuit board 19a and the automatic impedance matcher 5 which are movable to a predetermined impedance.

In the plasma processing apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the microwaves generated by the microwave power source 1 are separated from the isolator 2, the corner rectangular waveguide 3, the directional coupler 4, the automatic impedance matcher 5, and the like. It is introduced into the rectangular waveguide 18 via the corner rectangular waveguide 6. Microwaves are then irradiated or protruded in the plasma chamber 7 from the long slots 18b and 18c through the microwave waveguides 16a and 16a ', the microwave transmission window 11 and the window 7c.

In the plasma processing apparatus of this embodiment, the electric field strengths of the microwaves irradiated from the long slots 18b and 18c are alternately strong every half of the free space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwaves, as shown in FIG. With the part and the weak part, the long slots 18b and 18c are moved from each other up to 1/2 of the free space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the long slots 18b and 18c. That is, the microwave electric field is combined or synthesized such that the strong and weak portions of the electric field strength overlap each other in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 18. Preferably, the horizontal length at which the long slots 18b and 18c move from each other is set to (1/4) λ ₀ or (3/4) λ ₀ . If the longer slots 18b and 18c move further when they exceed this, the distribution becomes larger due to the electric field strength of the microwaves generated by the one long slots 18b and 18c. That is, the distribution of the electric field strength with strong and weak portions is located at the horizontal ends of the long slots 18b and 18c without combining the electric field strength of the microwaves. Further, the horizontal length of each of the long slots 18b and 18c is set to have a horizontal length n (λ / 2), where n is a natural number larger than 1 and n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2. However, if n is set to a larger number, for example, the reduction in the microwave electric field becomes larger in the horizontal direction of the long slots 18b and 18c when it exceeds 4 with respect to the length of the object 13 to be processed. .

The distribution of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated in the slot of the horizontal length CD given to the long slots 18b and 18c is shown by the solid line in FIG. The magnitudes of the strong and weak parts of the field strength are reduced so that a constant field strength can be obtained. Dotted lines 301 and 302 in FIG. 3 show the distribution of the field strength of the microwaves irradiated in the long slots 18b and 18c. Also, in the preferred embodiment where the impedance can be adjusted, microwaves reflected by the terminator 19 can be introduced into the plasma chamber 7. Thus, a greater field strength can be obtained compared to the electric field of a device of the prior art using a terminator 9 with less load. Therefore, the electric field strength of the microwave can be improved. Thus, plasma with high uniformity and density can be generated. In addition, the utilization efficiency of microwave power is improved compared to the utilization efficiency of the prior art.

Preferred Example 2

4 is a structural diagram of a plasma processing apparatus showing a preferred embodiment 2 of the present invention. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II 'of FIG.

4 shows the following.

(a) microwave power sources 1, 1 '; (b) isolator (2, 2 '); (c) corner rectangular waveguides (3, 3 '); (d) directional couplers 4, 4 '; (e) automatic impedance matcher (5, 5 '); And (f) plasma chamber (7)

These elements are configured in the same way as the elements of the prior art device shown in FIGS. In addition, the following is shown.

(g) terminators 19, 19 '; (h) Rectangular waveguides 28, 28 ′ that connect with the plasma chamber 7.

Here, rectangular waveguides 28 and 28 'have long slots 28b and 28b'. 5 is similar to FIG. 41 except for rectangular waveguides 28 and 28 '. In Figs. 4 and 5, the same elements as those shown in the above-mentioned drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Referring to FIG. 4, the microwave power source 1 ', isolator 2', corner rectangular waveguide 3 ', directional coupler 4', automatic impedance coupler 5 'and rectangular waveguide 28' ) And terminators (19 ') are microwave power sources (1), isolators (2), corner rectangular waveguides (3), directional couplers (4), automatic impedance matchers (5), and rectangular waveguides (18) and terminations. It is connected in series in the same way as the device 19.

The rectangular waveguides 28 and 28 'are arranged in parallel, and the long slots 28b provided in the E faces 28a and 28a' of the rectangular waveguides 28 and 28 'along the waveguide axial direction, and (28b '). The long slots 28b and 28b 'are parallel to each other in the waveguide axial direction and the appropriate space of the rectangular waveguides 28 and 28' to 1/4 or 3/4 of the free space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave. It is positioned to move. The rectangular waveguides 28 and 28 'also include microwave power sources 1, 1', isolators 2, 2 ', corner rectangular waveguides 3, 3', directional couplers 4, 4 ', Automatic impedance matchers 5, 5 'are connected, and they are symmetrically about line I-I' so that microwaves propagating in rectangular waveguides 28, 28 'are fed in different directions and parallel to each other. It is provided. That is, rectangular waveguide 28 has a microwave supplied at the left end of FIG. 4, while rectangular waveguide 28 'has a microwave supplied at the right end of FIG.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the distribution of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated in the long slot 28b is shown in the form of FIG. 43, while the microwave irradiated in the long slot 28b 'is shown. The distribution of electric field strength is opposite to the distribution shown in FIG. Thus, by shifting the long slots 28b and 28b 'to a horizontal length of 1/4 or 3/4 of the free-space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave, the two field strengths of the microwaves are a strong part of the field strength. And weak portions overlap each other like in preferred embodiment 1.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the field strength of the microwaves irradiated in the long slots 28b and 28b 'is shown by the solid line of FIG. The distribution of is more uniform over the entire horizontal length of the long slot. Therefore, uniformity is further improved. Dotted lines 311 and 312 in FIG. 6 represent the distribution of the field strength of the microwaves irradiated in the long slots 28b and 28b '.

Preferred Example 3

7 is a structural diagram of a plasma processing apparatus showing a preferred embodiment 3 of the present invention. Preferred Embodiment 3 is arranged in the same manner as shown in FIG. 5 of Preferred Embodiment 2, except for two rectangular waveguides 38 and 38 'provided to engage the plasma chamber 7. Rectangular waveguides 38 and 38 'have slot arrays 80b and 80b'. Elements similar to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 in FIG. 7 are given the same reference numerals as the elements shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.

Referring to FIG. 8, the slot arrays 80b and 80b 'have an E-side 38a, 38a' of the rectangular waveguides 38, 38 'along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguides 38 and 38'. ) And each of the slot arrays 80b and 80b 'consists of a plurality of small subslots 80s formed to extend in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguides 38 and 38'. The sub slots 80s are arranged in a line or in a round shape. The horizontal length of each subslot 80s is set at 1/2 of the free space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave, and each propagates in the rectangular waveguides 30 and 38 'of the subslot 80s. The guide wavelengths λg of the microwaves are arranged at half intervals. Slot arrays 80b and 80b 'are parallel to one another in a suitable space, and are 1/4 or 3/4 of the free-space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguides 38 and 38'. Move parallel to move each other until. In this embodiment, λg λ ₀ .

In the plasma processing apparatus of this embodiment, the center portion of the peaks of the voltage standing waves occurring in the rectangular waveguides 38 and 38 'is terminated in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguides 38 and 38'. When the movable short-circuit boards 19a and 19a 'of (19') and (19 ') are moved to coincide with the horizontal center portions of the sub slots 80s of the slot arrays 80b and 80b', the microwaves From the slot arrays 80b and 80b ', it is irradiated toward the plasma chamber 7 with high efficiency. Then, the peak of the electric field strength of the microwaves irradiated in the sub slots 80s of the slot arrays 80b and 80b 'becomes substantially constant. However, the electric field strengths of the microwaves irradiated in one slot array 80b and 80b 'have alternating strong and weak portions every half of the microwave's free-space wavelength λ ₀ . By moving the slot arrays 80b and 80b 'to each other by (1/4) λ ₀ or (3/4) λ ₀ , the two field strengths of the microwaves are weak and strong in the microwave's field strengths. The parts are synthesized or combined so that they overlap each other.

The distribution of the electric field strength of the microwaves irradiated from the slot arrays 80b and 80b 'is shown by dashed lines 321 and 322 in FIG. Slot arrays 80b and 80b, as shown by the solid line in Fig. 9, shows the distribution of the electric field strength of the microwaves irradiated in the slots having the horizontal length CD of two slot arrays 80b and 80b '. It becomes substantially constant over the entire horizontal length of '). When the plasma is generated by using the electric field strength of the combined microwaves, the strong and weak portions of the plasma density with respect to the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguides 38 and 38 'are reduced to generate a constant plasma.

Preferred Example 4

10 is a structural diagram of a plasma processing apparatus showing a preferred embodiment 4 of the present invention. This preferred embodiment is arranged in a manner similar to the first diagram shown in Preferred Embodiment 1, except that one slot array 80b is provided in the rectangular waveguide 48. Elements similar to those of FIG. 10 in FIG. 10 are labeled with the same reference numerals as the elements shown in FIG.

The slot array 80b used in the preferred embodiment of the present invention is the same as the slot array 80b shown in FIG. In the same manner as in FIG. 8, the horizontal length of each subslot 80s is set to 1/2 of the free-space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave, and the microslots in which the subslots 80s propagate in the rectangular waveguide 48 The waves are arranged at half intervals of the guide wavelength lambda g.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a short circuit board of which the center portion of the peak of the voltage standing wave generated in the rectangular waveguide 48 is movable in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 48 ( By moving 19a), if it coincides with the horizontal center of each subslot 80s of the slot array 80b, the microwave is irradiated toward the plasma chamber 7 in the slot array 80b with high efficiency, and the slot array ( The peak of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated in the sub slot 80s of 80b) becomes substantially constant.

The distribution of the electric field strength of the microwaves irradiated from the slot array 80b is indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 11, so that the strong and weak portions of the microwaves with respect to the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 48 are formed in the slot array 80b. ) Over the entire horizontal length. When the plasma is generated using the electric field strength of the microwaves coupled at very low gas pressure, it is in the state shown by the solid line of the plasma density distribution yarn 11. Thus, plasma with good uniformity can be generated even if there are strong and weak portions of the microwave's field strength.

Preferred Example 5

12 is a structural diagram of a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 12. 12 shows the following.

(a) microwave power source 1; (b) isolator (2); (c) corner rectangular waveguides (3, 6); (d) directional couplers 4; (e) an automatic impedance matcher (5); (f) Plasma chambers (7) and (g) Terminators (19).

These elements are arranged in a manner similar to the elements of FIG. 1 shown in the preferred embodiment 1. FIG. Also shown is a rectangular waveguide 58 which engages with the plasma chamber 7 and the rectangular waveguide 58 has an elongated slot 58b formed in the E face 58a of the rectangular waveguide 58. Also shown in FIG. 13 is a microwave waveguide forming member 26 having a microwave waveguide 26a and a dielectric sandwiched by the microwave waveguide 26a. Elements similar to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in FIGS. 12 and 13 are labeled with the same reference numerals as the elements shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the microwave waveguide forming member 26 is made of a good conductive metal such as copper, aluminum, etc., and electrically connects the plasma chamber 7 to the rectangular waveguide 58. The cross section of the microwave waveguide forming member 26 is formed in the same narrow rectangular shape as the cross section of the long slot 58b.

FIG. 14 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG. In the microwave waveguide 26a of the microwave waveguide forming member 26, for example, a dielectric 27, i.e. a rectangular parallelepiped is fitted, and the dielectric 27 is composed of a material that does not absorb any microwave. It is made of ceramic, synthetic resin. The dielectric 27 selects a material that does not absorb into any microwave so that the microwave is partially reflected by the dielectric 27 and the remaining microwaves reach the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7 in order to reach the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7. 27).

In the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, the microwaves W2 are reflected by the dielectrics 27 while the dielectrics 27 are inserted at the longitudinal side of the rectangular waveguide 58, i.e., the position where the microwave electric field is very strong. The reflected microwave becomes microwave W21, while the remaining microwaves are transmitted to dielectric 27 to become microwave W22. The microwave W21 strengthens the original opposite end of the field strength of the microwaves in the plasma chamber 7, while the microwave W22 is reduced to have a microwave power lower than that of the microwave W2. This weakens the originally strong portion of the electric field strength of the microwaves in the plasma chamber 7. In the case of the microwave W3, the microwave W31 is reflected by the dielectric 27, which is reflected by the movable short circuit board 19a, and the reflected microwave is finally supplied to the plasma chamber 7 do. On the other hand, the microwave W32 passing through the dielectric 27 is further reduced to have a weak microwave power similar to the manner of the microwave W22 so that the microwave W32 weakens the original strong portion of the microwave electric field strength. do.

The distribution of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated in the long slot 58b is substantially constant along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7, as shown in FIG. 15, so that the uniformity of the distribution of the electric field strength of the microwave is further increased. Is improved. Thus, high density plasma can be generated.

The dielectrics 27a and 27b shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 are an improved version of the dielectric 27, and each dielectric 27a and over an area from the strong portion to the weak portion of the electric field strength of the microwave. By gradually reducing the thickness of (27b), the uniformity of the distribution of the electric field strength of the microwave is obtained. That is, in the case of FIG. 16, the cross-sectional shape of the dielectric 27a is L1a in width on the rectangular waveguide 58 side, L1 (L1a) in width and L2 on the plasma chamber 7 side. 17, the cross-sectional shape of the dielectric material 27b is the maximum thickness L2 (= L2a + L2b) and the minimum thickness is L1. The thickness of the dielectric 27b is varied from 0 to L1 at the portion of the thickness L2a on the side of the rectangular waveguide 58.

The dielectric 27c shown in FIG. 18 is predetermined in size so that the width is L1 and the thickness is L2. As shown in FIG. 43, the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber 7 has a strong portion and a weak portion alternately in cycles corresponding to 1/2 of the free space wavelength λ 0 of the microwave. Therefore, along the horizontal length of the long slot 58b, the horizontal length L1 of the dielectric 27c is set to n / 2 (where n is a natural number) of the free space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave, whereby Good matching with space can be obtained. Therefore, the supply efficiency of the microwave is improved and the disturbance of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber 7 can be minimized.

Further, based on FIG. 19 showing the relationship between the thickness L2 of the dielectric 27c and the microwave transmittance, the microwave transmittance of the dielectric 27c is applied to the area from the strong part to the weak part of the electric field strength of the microwave. The dielectric along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7 when adjusted by increasing or decreasing the insertion length L2 of the dielectric 27c into the microwave waveguide 26a over the microwave waveguide 26a. The distribution of the electric field strength of the wave is constantly improved. That is, the insertion length L2 is reduced in the region where the transmittance of the dielectric 27c is very high, while the transmittance of the dielectric 27c is increased in the region where the electric field strength of the microwave is very small. In other words, the insertion length L2 is obtained by adjusting the transmittance of the dielectric 27c so that a constant electric field distribution can be obtained along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7.

Objects with a large dielectric constant (ε _r ) are used to increase the reflection of microwaves by the dielectrics 27, 27a, 27b and 27c and these dielectrics 27, 27a, 27b and It is chosen for (27c) because the characteristic impedance of the dielectric medium depends on the dielectric constant (ε _r ) and is 1 / (ε _r ) ^1/2 times the value in vacuum. In this case, for example, a dielectric such as ceramic, aluminum, or the like can be used.

On the other hand, small dielectric constants epsilon _r objects are used to reduce the reflection of the microwaves by the dielectrics 27, 27a, 27b and 27c and the dielectrics 27, 27a, 27b and Is selected for (27c). For example, synthetic resins such as polyethylene or teflon can be used as the dielectric. There is an advantage that the resin is easy to process so as to obtain an arbitrary shape.

Preferred Example 6

FIG. 20 is a structural diagram showing a preferred embodiment 6 of the present invention, and FIG. 21 is a partial sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG. 20 shows the following.

(a) microwave power source 1; (b) isolator (2); (c) corner rectangular waveguides (3, 6); (d) directional couplers 4; (e) an automatic impedance matcher (5); (f) plasma chamber 7; (g) a rectangular waveguide 58 coupling the plasma chamber 7; And (h) terminations (19).

These elements are arranged in a manner similar to the elements of FIG. 2 shown in the fifth preferred embodiment. FIG. 20 also shows a short circuit board drive device 19 for driving the short circuit board 19a movable in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58 in a reciprocating motion.

The short circuit board driver 91 has one end supported by the shaft 111 so that the drive bar 91b rotates around the peripheral end of the disk 91a at the center thereof, and the other end of the drive bar 91b is movable. A drive bar 91b connected to 19a and a disk 91a supported by the shaft 110 at the center of the disk 91a and rotating in the rotational direction of the arrow 100 by a stepping motor or the like are provided. By controlling the rotation of the stepping motor, i.e. by controlling the rotation of the disk 91a from the outside by a personal computer (not shown), the movable short-circuit board 19a is indicated by the arrow 200, As can be seen, it can automatically reciprocate along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58, and can move periodically and aperiodically.

As shown in FIG. 21, in the plasma processing apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the movable short circuit board 19a is generated in the rectangular waveguide 58 because the movable short circuit board 19a moves along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58. As shown in FIG. The standing wave is changed in accordance with the movement of the movable short circuit board 19a. Therefore, when the short circuit board 19a which is movable along the waveguide axial direction is moved reciprocally, the standing wave changes into W1, W2, W2, W2, W1, W2, W3, .... In FIG. 21, the standing wave W1 is shown by the dashed-dotted line, the standing wave W2 is shown by the dotted line, and the standing wave W3 is shown by the solid line. In a preferred embodiment, the plasma is directed to each part of the object to be processed 13 by moving the strong part of the electric field strength of the irradiated microwave back and forth from the long slot 58b along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58. It can be investigated regularly.

The plasma density distribution due to the electric field intensity of the microwave irradiated in the long slot 58b becomes uniform along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7, as shown by the solid line in FIG. Dotted lines shown in FIG. 22 represent plasma density distributions at t1 and t2.

In a preferred embodiment, it is preferable to continuously move the movable short circuit board 19a over this distance by setting the moving distance of the movable short circuit board 19a to about 1/2 of the guide wavelength λg of the rectangular waveguide 58. desirable. It is preferable to set the movement cycle of the movable short-circuit board 19a in the form of a sheet at a period not larger than 1/10 of the processing time of the object 13 to be processed.

Preferred Example 7

FIG. 23 is a partial sectional view taken along the line II ′ of FIG. 12 showing a fifth preferred embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG. 23 and 24 show movable slot plates 22, bearings 23a and 23b, flexible conductors 24a, 24b, 24c and 24d and movable slot plates 22. The slot plate drive device 92 to drive is shown.

In Figs. 23 and 24, elements similar to those shown in Figs. 12 and 13 have been given the same reference numerals as the elements shown in Figs.

The movable slot plate 22 is made of electrically conductive metal of aluminum, copper and stainless steel, and the flexible conductor 24a in which the movable slot plate 22 is disposed on the side of the movable slot plate 22, Periodically or non- axially in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58 by bearings 23a and 23b arranged above and below the movable plates 24 and 24b and 24c and 24d. It is provided in the space between the long slot 58b and the microwave transmission window 11 in a cyclically moving manner. A rectangular opening, such as the width of the movable slot plate 22 is a rectangular wave guide 58, a waveguide shaft length of elongated slots along the direction (58b), the horizontal length less than λ _0/2 longer than a short, wide slot (58b) of at 22a is provided. Elongated slot 58b, microwave waveguide 26a and opening 22a form waveguide 58 through which microwaves propagate from rectangular waveguide 58 toward plasma chamber 7. In addition, the plasma chamber 7 and the microwave waveguide forming member 26 are electrically connected to each other by the flexible conductors 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d. In addition, the bearings 23a and 23b are provided for the movable slot plate 22 to smoothly move along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58. In addition, the microwave waveguide forming member 26 electrically connects the plasma chamber 7 to the rectangular waveguide 58.

The slot plate driving device 92 is supported by the shaft 110 in the center of the disk 92a, and rotates in the rotational direction of the arrow 100 by the stepping motor and the driving bar 92b. Slot plate 22 having a drive bar 92b whose one end is supported by shaft 111 so that its center rotates around the periphery of disk 92a, and the other end of drive bar 92b is movable; It is connected to the center of. By controlling the rotation of the stepping motor, that is, by controlling the rotation of the disk 92a from an external personal computer (not shown), the movable slot plate 22 automatically reciprocates, and the arrow 200 As indicated by the movement, the waveguide 58 moves periodically or aperiodically along the waveguide axial direction.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the preferred embodiment, since the movable slot plate 22 moves along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58, the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated in the long slot 58b is movable. Change according to the movement. Therefore, by periodically reciprocating the slot plate 22 movable in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58, the movable slot plate 22 is subjected to timing t1, timing t2, timing t3, timing t2, timing t1, It is moved to be located at the timing t2, ... position. That is, the plasma is uniformly irradiated onto each end face of the object to be processed 13 by moving the strong portion of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated back and forth in the long slot 58b in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58. .

As shown by the solid line in FIG. 22, the plasma density distribution due to the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated from the long slot 58b becomes more constant along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7 in the preferred embodiment 6. As shown in FIG.

[Eighth preferred embodiment]

26 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG. 12; Reference numerals 10a and 10b denote magnetic field generators.

The magnetic field generators 10a and 10b include an air core coil connected to a power source (not shown), and the central axis of the air core coil is θ (rad) so that a magnetic field is generated around the microwave transmission window 11. They are located around the connection in such a way that they move each other up to one another. As described below, the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b are formed from the divergent magnetic field generator means.

In the plasma processing apparatus of the preferred embodiment, the phases are 90 ° different from each other, the magnitude is constant when the half-wave rectified currents are supplied to the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b, and the magnetic force lines are dotted lines in the solid line H1. An oscillating magnetic field can be obtained which is continuously changed to H2). Next, electrons and ions of the plasma generated in the plasma chamber 7 are limited by the magnetic force lines and supplied to the object 13. That is, by changing the magnetic lines of force in time and space, non-uniform plasma can be projected by the equivalent amount of plasma irradiation on the object to be treated 13, so that the uniformity of the plasma processing can be further improved.

The plasma density distribution by the electric field intensity of the microwave irradiated in the long slot 58b becomes more uniform along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7, as shown by the solid line in FIG.

Since the magnetic field generator (10a), and each θ formed by the central axis of (10b) is in the elongated slots (58b), a plasma chamber 7, the micro of the standing wave of the electric field intensity of a wave peak and valley λ _0/4 investigated until It is set to approximately _{(λ 0/2) / d} . In this case, d represents the distance from the microwave transmission window 11 to the object to be processed 13, and λ ₀ is the free space wavelength of the microwave.

[Preferred Ninth Embodiment]

FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram of a plasma processing apparatus showing a ninth preferred embodiment of the present invention in which preferred embodiments 2 and 5 are combined with each other.

FIG. 27 shows a plasma chamber 7 and shows rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 'provided to engage with the plasma chamber 7, wherein the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58' are oriented in the waveguide axial direction. It has elongated slots 58b and 58b 'formed in the E faces 58a and 58a' of the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 '. These long slots 58b and 58b 'are parallel to each other in a suitable space and are shifted from each other in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide 58 to one quarter or three quarters of the free-space wavelength λ ₀ of the microwave. Are arranged. Further, the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 'are such that the microwaves are supplied in different directions, that is, the microwaves propagate from the front side to the paper back side of the drawing of the upper rectangular waveguide 58, and the remaining microwaves are lowered. It is connected at one end to a microwave power source (not shown) to propagate in the opposite direction of the rectangular waveguide 58 '.

In addition, the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 'are connected at the other end to a termination device provided with a short circuit board as in the preferred embodiment 2 of FIG. Thus, microwaves can be supplied to the plasma chamber 7 with high efficiency by providing an automatic impedance matcher between the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 'and the microwave power source and the short circuit board mentioned above.

The microwave waveguide forming member 26 electrically connects the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 'with the plasma chamber 7, and the cross section of each of the microwave waveguides 36a and 36a' has a long slot ( It has the same narrow rectangular shape as those of 58b) and 58b '.

FIG. 28 shows a sectional view taken along the line T1-T1 'of FIG. 27, and FIG. 29 shows a sectional view taken along the line T2-T2' of FIG. In a preferred embodiment, the solid dielectrics 27 and 27 'are fitted to the microwave waveguides 36a and 36a' at the ends of the rectangular waveguide 58 with a very high irradiation density of the microwaves. By selecting materials that do not absorb microwaves as described previously as dielectrics 27 and 27 ', the microwaves are partially reflected by dielectrics 27 and 27' and the remaining microwaves It is partially reflected by the dielectrics 27 and 27 'to reach the window 7c of 7).

Since microwaves propagate obliquely inside the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 ', the irradiation density of the microwaves in the plasma chamber 7 shows high intensity at the end sides of the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58'. One distribution. The advantages arising from sandwiching the dielectrics 27 and 27 'at a very strong field strength of the microwave are described below for the microwave waveguide 36a and the lower microwave waveguide 36a.

As shown in FIG. 28, the microwave W2 in the upper microwave waveguide 36a is reflected by the dielectric 27, and the reflected microwave becomes microwave W21, while the remaining microwaves Passes through dielectric 27 to be microwave W22. The microwave W21 strengthens the desired weak portion of the microwaves in the plasma chamber 7, while the microwave W22, on the other hand, reduces the microwave power to a lower microwave power than the power of the microwave W2, thereby reducing the plasma chamber 7 Weakens the original strong part of the microwave. In the case of the microwave W3, the microwave W3 'reflected by the dielectric 27 is further reflected by a movable short circuit board provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide 58, and then the reflected microwave is Finally, it is supplied to the plasma chamber 7. Reduced to weak microwave power, like microwave W22, causing microwave W32 to weaken the original strong portion of the microwave. Therefore, the distribution of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber 7 is the distribution shown by the dotted line in FIG. 30 which is more uniform than the distribution when the dielectric 27 is not fitted.

As shown in FIG. 29, in the lower microwave waveguide 36a ', the microwave W2' is reflected by the dielectric 27, while the reflected microwave becomes the microwave W21 'while the remaining micro The wave passes through the dielectric such that it is microwave W22 '. The microwave W21 'acts to strengthen the original weak portion of the microwave in the plasma chamber 7, whereas the microwave W22' has a microwave power lower than that of the microwave W2 '. To weaken the original strong portion of the microwave in the plasma chamber (7). In the case of the microwave W3 ', the microwave W31' reflected by the dielectric is further reflected by a movable short circuit board provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide 58 ', and the reflected microwave is finally plasma Supplied to the chamber (7). On the other hand, the microwave W32 'transmitted through the dielectric 27' is reduced to a weak microwave power, such as the microwave W22 ', so that the microwave weakens the original strong portion of the microwave. Therefore, the distribution of the electric field strength of the microwave irradiated to the plasma chamber 7 is shown by the dashed dashed line in FIG. 30 which is more constant than when the dielectric 27 'is not fitted.

In addition, since the long slots 58b and 58b 'provided in the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58' move in the waveguide axial direction to each other by (1/4) λ ₀ or (3/4) λ ₀ , the micro The distribution of the electric field strength of the wave is substantially uniform in the waveguide axial direction as shown by the solid line in FIG.

[Preferred Tenth Embodiment]

31 is a structural diagram showing a tenth embodiment of the present invention in which the preferred embodiment 2 and the eighth embodiment are combined together. The rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 ', the microwave waveguide forming member 36 and the plasma chamber 7 are arranged in the same manner as in Example 2 except for the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b. 32 and 33 are cross-sectional views taken along the line T1-T1 'of FIG. 31 and cross-sectional views taken along the line T2-T2' of FIG.

The magnetic field generators 10a and 10b include air core coils connected to a power source, and the microwave waveguides in such a way that the central axes of the air core coils of the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b cross each other up to θ (rad). It is provided to surround 36a and 36a '. For example, when the currents that are 90 ° different from each other and rectified half-wave current are supplied to the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b, the magnitude is constant and the magnetic field lines can be continuously changed from the solid line H1 to the dotted line H2. A magnetic field, that is, an oscillating magnetic field, may be formed in the space between the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7 and the object to be processed 13. The electrons and ions of the plasma generated in the plasma chamber 7 are supplied to the object 13 under confinement by magnetic force lines. That is, by changing the magnetic lines of force with time and space, the non-uniform plasma can be projected in an equal amount of plasma irradiation to the object to be treated 13, so that the uniformity of the plasma processing can be further improved.

The distance between the long slot (58b) and (58b ') in the plasma chamber (7) of the radiation field intensity of the microwave peak irradiated to the belly, consider the fact that the λ _0/4, the irradiation field mentioned above, the microwave The angle θ (rad) formed by the central axis of the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b so that the high and low plasma intensity due to the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b are supplemented with each other by the action of the oscillating magnetic field. This next relation is set to satisfy.

Here, d is the distance from the microwave transmission window 11 to the object to be processed 13, and λ ₀ is the free space wavelength of the microwave.

Referring to FIG. 34, the plasma density distribution due to the irradiated microwave and the oscillating magnetic field from the long slot 58b of the upper rectangular waveguide 58 is indicated by the dotted line, and the long slot 58b of the lower rectangular waveguide 58 '. Plasma density distribution due to the microwave and oscillating magnetic field irradiated at ') is shown by the dashed dashed line. As can be seen from FIG. 34, a more uniform plasma density distribution can be obtained along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber 7.

[Preferable Eleventh Embodiment]

35 is a structural diagram of the plasma processing apparatus of the eleventh embodiment of the present invention in which the preferred embodiments 2, 5 and 8 are combined with each other.

The microwave waveguide forming member 36 electrically connects the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 'with the plasma chamber 7, and the slots 58b having the long cross sections of the respective microwaves 36a and 36a'. ) And narrow rectangular shapes identical to those of (58b ').

In the microwave waveguides 36a and 36a ', the solid dielectrics 27 and 27' are fitted to the end sides of the rectangular waveguides 58 and 58 ', which have very strong irradiation field strengths of the microwaves. Dielectrics 27 and 27 'are structured and arranged in the same manner as in the fifth preferred embodiment.

The magnetic field generators 10a and 10b include air core coils connected to a power source, and the microwave waveguides 36a and 36a such that the central axes of the generators 10a and 10b cross each other by θ (rad). It is provided to surround '). The magnetic field generators 10a and 10b are used to obtain uniformity of the plasma density distribution. The principle of making the plasma density uniform and the method of setting the angle [theta] (rad) in which uniformity is effective are the same as in the eighth preferred embodiment.

The plasma density distribution obtained by the present preferred embodiment is similar to the distribution shown by the solid line in FIG. Thus, a plasma distribution of good uniformity can be obtained.

[Preferable Twelfth Embodiment]

FIG. 36 is a cross sectional view of a rectangular waveguide 58 coupled with a plasma chamber 7 and a plasma chamber 7 showing the twelfth embodiment of the present invention in which the fifth preferred embodiment and the eighth preferred embodiment are combined with each other.

Referring to FIG. 36, microwaves are introduced into the rectangular waveguide 58 at the microwave power source through an isolator, directional coupler, automatic impedance matcher and corner rectangular waveguide. In addition, a termination device equipped with a movable short circuit board is provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide 58. The microwave of the twelfth preferred embodiment has the same configuration as that of FIG. 1 showing the first preferred embodiment.

The microwave waveguide forming member 36 electrically connects the rectangular waveguide 58 with the plasma chamber 7 and has a narrow rectangular shape in which the cross section of each microwave waveguide 36a is the same as that of the long slot 58b. .

FIG. 37 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line T-T 'of FIG. The solid dielectric 27 is inserted into the microwave waveguide 36a, i.e., the rectangular waveguide 58, in the very strong part of the microwave irradiated toward the plasma chamber 7, with the dielectric absorbing microwaves as previously described. The microwaves are partially reflected by the dielectric 27 by selecting a material that does not, while the remaining microwaves pass through the dielectric 27 to reach the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7. Thus, the dielectric 27 strengthens the original weak portion of the microwave in the plasma chamber 7 and weakens the original strong portion of the microwave. The principle of obtaining a constant electric field intensity distribution of the microwaves in the plasma chamber 7 by inserting the dielectric 27 is the same as that of the fifth preferred embodiment.

The magnetic field generators 10a and 10b include air core coils connected to a power source, and the outside of the microwave waveguide 36a with the central axes of the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b intersected by θ (rad). It is provided around. For example, when the phases are 90 ° different from each other and are predetermined in the ninth embodiment, the rectified half-wave current is constant in magnitude and passes through the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b and the magnetic lines are dotted (H1). Magnetic field, that is, the oscillating magnetic field, which is constantly changed to the solid line H2, may be formed in the space between the window 7c of the plasma chamber 7 and the object to be processed 13. The electrons and ions of the plasma generated in the plasma chamber 7 are supplied to the object 13 by magnetic lines of force under confinement. That is, by changing the magnetic lines of force with time and space, non-uniform plasma can be projected with an equivalent amount of plasma irradiation to the object to be treated 13, so that the uniformity of the plasma processing can be further improved.

38 shows the electric field strength of the microwaves irradiated to the plasma chamber 7. As first shown in 38, when the distance between the long slot (58b) in the plasma chamber 7 is irradiated sheets peak and valley of the microwave irradiation in consideration of the fact that the λ _0/4, mentioned above, in the microwave The angle θ (rad) formed by the central axes of the magnetic field generators 10a and 10b to be supplemented with each other by the action of the oscillating magnetic field caused by the high and low plasma intensity magnetic field generators 10a and 10b due to the irradiated electric field. This is then set to satisfy the following equation.

Here, d is the distance from the microwave transmission window 11 to the object to be processed 13, and λ ₀ is the free space wavelength of the microwave.

The plasma density distribution of the object to be processed is shown by the dashed line and dashed line in FIG. 39 by the magnetic fields H1 and H2 in FIG. The plasma density distribution is leveled as shown by the solid line by providing an oscillating magnetic field in which the lines of magnetic force are continuously changed in the direction. Thus, a constant plasma density distribution is obtained over the entire area of the object 13 to be processed.

Another preferred embodiment

In preferred embodiment 1, microwaves are supplied to one end of the rectangular waveguide 58. However, the present invention is not so limited, but the termination device 19 connected to another end of the rectangular waveguide 18 is removed, and this microwave is connected to another end, and then the microwave is connected to the other end of the rectangular waveguide. It is supplied to both ends of (18). In this case, the same functions and effects as in the preferred embodiment 2 can be obtained.

In preferred embodiments 1 and 2, two elongated slots 18b and 18c or 28b and 28b 'have one rectangular waveguide 18 or two rectangular waveguides 28 and 28'. Is provided. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and one or more long slots may be provided. In this case, adjacent long slots are positioned to move from each other up to {(2n-1) / 4} λ0 where n is a natural number.

It may also be provided in three or more rectangular waveguides. In this case, adjacent long slots move from each other up to {(2n-1) / 4} λ0 (where n is a natural number) and the microwave power source, isolator, corner rectangular waveguide, directional coupler and automatic impedance matcher Waves are fed to adjacent rectangular waveguides in different and parallel directions.

In preferred embodiment 3, two rectangular waveguides 38 and 38 'are provided. However, three or more rectangular waveguides may be provided.

In a preferred embodiment 4 one rectangular waveguide 48 may be provided. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and two or more rectangular waveguides may be provided.

In the preferred ninth to eleventh embodiments, one long slot is provided in one rectangular waveguide. However, two or more long slots may be provided in one rectangular waveguide. Also in this case, the number of rectangular waveguides may be three or more.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the accompanying drawings, various changes and modifications are possible.

Claims (13)

The plasma processing apparatus includes: a plasma chamber having a narrow window formed on a side wall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot disposed on the E surface so as to face the narrow window of the plasma chamber and extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, The waveguide has a waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide parallel to a horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber; Microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot into the plasma chamber, the plasma processing apparatus comprising: at least two long slots disposed in the at least one rectangular waveguide; The horizontal length of each long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the wavelength of the free space of the microwave; Wherein said long slots are adjacent said long slots to each other up to (2n-1) / 4 of the free-space wavelength of the microwave in the waveguide axial direction of said rectangular waveguide, wherein n is a natural number. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: at least two rectangular waveguides having at least one long slot; And microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to another one of said rectangular waveguides in a direction different from one of said rectangular waveguides adjacent to each other of said rectangular waveguides. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of the long slots is a slot array composed of a plurality of sub slots disposed by equally subdividing the long slots in the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, and the plasma processing apparatus includes: And a termination device provided at the termination and having a movable short circuit board provided to move along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, wherein the movable short circuit board has a central portion of the peak of the voltage standing wave generated in the rectangular waveguide. And a plasma processing apparatus arranged to coincide with the horizontal center portion of the slot. The slotted array according to claim 1, wherein said long slot is a slot array comprising a plurality of sub slots disposed by equally subdividing said long slot in the waveguide axial direction of said rectangular waveguide; And a termination device provided at the end of the rectangular waveguide and having a movable short circuit board provided to move along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide; And the movable short-circuit board is arranged so that the center of the peak of the voltage standing wave generated in the rectangular waveguide coincides with the horizontal center of the sub slot. The plasma processing apparatus includes: a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a sidewall, wherein an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot positioned to extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide opposite the narrow window of the plasma chamber, and wherein the rectangular waveguide is the rectangular waveguide. The waveguide axial direction of the waveguide is provided to be parallel to the horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber; And a microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot to the plasma chamber, the plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave, The plasma processing apparatus includes a microwave waveguide forming member provided between the long slot and the narrow window of the plasma chamber, wherein the microwave waveguide forming member has a microwave waveguide having a cross section identical to an opening of the long slot. With; And having a dielectric made of a material that does not absorb any microwave, the dielectric being fitted to the microwave waveguide at a position near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, the dielectric being microwaved Reflecting a portion of and transmitting another portion of the microwave. The length of the dielectric in the horizontal direction of the long slot is set to n / 2 of the free space wavelength of the microwave where n is a natural number, and the insertion length of the dielectric into the microwave waveguide is the plasma. And controlling the microwave transmittance of the dielectric so that the electric field strength of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the yarn is substantially uniform. The plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a side wall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot disposed on an E surface positioned to extend along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide against the narrow window of the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide Is provided such that the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide is parallel to the horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber; And a microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated to the plasma chamber through the long slot in the rectangular waveguide, the plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free-space wavelength of the microwave The plasma processing apparatus includes: a movable short circuit board provided at an end of the rectangular waveguide so as to move along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide by 1/2 or more of the guide wavelength of the microwave; And moving driving means for moving the short circuit board periodically or aperiodically along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide. The plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a side wall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; And a rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, wherein the rectangular waveguide has a long slot disposed on an E surface such that the rectangular waveguide extends along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide opposite to the narrow window of the plasma chamber. Is provided with a waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide parallel to the horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber, and further comprising microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated to the plasma chamber from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot, the plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave The plasma processing apparatus includes a movable slot plate having an opening having a length shorter than a horizontal length of the long slot in a waveguide axial direction and having a width equal to the width of the long slot, wherein the movable slot plate is the An opening is disposed in the space between the elongated slot in the rectangular waveguide and the narrow window of the plasma chamber such that the opening moves along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide; And a moving driving means for moving the movable slot plate periodically or aperiodically to a length of 1/2 or more of the free space of the microwave. The plasma processing apparatus includes a plasma chamber having a narrow window disposed on a side wall, and an object to be processed is provided inside the narrow window; A rectangular waveguide coupled with the plasma chamber, the rectangular waveguide having an elongated slot disposed on an E surface such that the rectangular waveguide extends along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide opposite the narrow window of the plasma chamber. A waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide is provided in parallel to a horizontal direction of the narrow window of the plasma chamber, and further comprising microwave power supply means for supplying microwaves to the rectangular waveguide; Wherein the microwave is irradiated from the rectangular waveguide through the long slot to the plasma chamber, the plasma processing apparatus, the horizontal length of the long slot is set to 1/2 or more of the free space wavelength of the microwave, And the plasma processing apparatus includes electric field generating means for generating an electric field in a space between the object provided in the plasma chamber and the narrow window, and for changing the direction and intensity of the generated electric field. 3. A microwave forming member according to claim 2, provided between each said long slot and said plasma chamber, having at least two microwave waveguides, each waveguide having a cross section equal to the opening of each said long slot. Wow ; A dielectric made of a material that does not absorb any microwaves, said dielectric being fitted to each said microwave waveguide at a position near the end of said rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction of said rectangular waveguide, said dielectric being micro Reflect a portion of the wave and transmit another portion of the microwave; The length of each dielectric is set to n / 2 of the free space wavelength of the microwave where n is a natural number as the horizontal direction of each said long slot; The insertion length of each dielectric into the microwave waveguide is set by adjusting the microwave transmittance of each dielectric such that the electric field strength of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber is substantially uniform. Plasma processing apparatus. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising: at least two said rectangular waveguides each having at least one said long slot; Supply microwave power means for supplying microwaves to another of the rectangular waveguides in a direction different from one of the rectangular waveguides adjacent to the other one of the rectangular waveguides; Wherein said long slots move adjacent each other up to (2n-1) / 4 of the free-space wavelength of the microwave in the waveguide axial direction of said rectangular waveguide, where n is a natural number. The microwave waveguide forming member according to claim 11, further comprising a microwave waveguide forming member provided between the elongated slot and the narrow window of the plasma chamber, wherein the microwave waveguide forming member has a cross section shaped like an opening of the elongated slot. With; And having a dielectric made of a material that does not absorb microwaves, the dielectric being fitted to the microwave waveguide at a location near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, the dielectric of the microwave Reflecting the portion and passing another portion of the microwave. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a microwave forming member provided between the long slot and the narrow window of the plasma chamber, the microwave forming member having a microwave waveguide having an opening shape and a cross section of the long slot; Also provided is a dielectric made of a material that does not absorb any microwave, the dielectric being fitted to the microwave waveguide at a position near the end of the rectangular waveguide along the waveguide axial direction of the rectangular waveguide, the dielectric being Reflect a portion of the microwaves and transmit the remaining microwaves; The length of the dielectric in the horizontal direction of the long slot is set to n / 2 of the free space wavelength of the microwave where n is a natural number, and the insertion length of the dielectric into the microwave waveguide is the length of the microwave along the horizontal direction of the plasma chamber. And controlling the microwave transmittance of the dielectric so that the electric field strength is substantially uniform.