KR100460799B1 - Plasma Treatment Equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus, wherein the wafer transfer robot arm and the support pin are in contact with each other by forming a portion in which a support pin for supporting a wafer is fixed to a lower window of a quartz material located in a chamber so as to be detachable from the lower window. When the pin fixing part is damaged, the life of the lower window can be extended by removing and replacing only the supporting pin fixing part which is detached without replacing the entire lower window.

Description

Plasma processing equipment

The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a robot arm and a support pin for transferring a wafer by allowing a predetermined area of a lower window to which a support pin for supporting a wafer is fixed in a process chamber to be detached from the lower window. The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus capable of preventing an edge portion of an accommodating groove in which a support pin is accommodated from being broken and contacting the entire lower window.

In general, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, etching means pattern masking with a photoresist on a predetermined thin film formed on a wafer and removing unmasked portions using chemical or physical reactions.

These etching methods are divided into dry etching and wet etching. Wet etching is a method that removes photoresist using a solution with strong oxidizing action, so that it can be removed smoothly without damaging the wafer.

The dry etching method involves mounting a wafer on a cathode in a closed chamber and then etching the insulating film or metal layer formed on the wafer by a gas in a plasma state, so that the etching process is not necessary, and the insulating film or the metal layer is anisotropically etched. It has the characteristic to become. Reactive ion etching, which is one of the dry etching methods having such characteristics, has a good anisotropic etching property and is mainly used to form fine patterns.

The equipment that performs a predetermined process by the dry etching method is a plasma etching apparatus. Here, the operation of the plasma etching apparatus will be described schematically. First, the wafer having completed the preceding process is loaded into the process chamber by the robot arm. In this case, as shown in FIG. 1, a lower window 5 made of quartz material resistant to insulation and corrosion is disposed in a process chamber (not shown), and a plurality of support pins 7 are provided on the lower window 5. This is detachably installed and a wafer (not shown) is loaded onto the support pin 7. Thereafter, the etching material gas flows into the process chamber to be in a plasma gas state by high frequency, and then etching occurs on the wafer to form a predetermined pattern.

However, when the wafer is loaded and unloaded on the support pin in the chamber by the robot arm, the robot arm may come into contact with the support pin due to an error in the equipment. At this time, the edge of the support pin and the receiving groove receiving the support pin is broken, if the edge portion of the support pin receiving groove is broken, there is a problem that the entire lower window is replaced by the flow of the support pin fixed to the lower window.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus in which the entire lower window is not replaced even when the edge portion of the support pin receiving groove is broken.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plasma processing apparatus including a lower window positioned in a process chamber to support a wafer.

The lower window includes a first support plate having a through hole formed at the center and a plurality of receiving grooves formed radially around the through hole, and supporting pins detachably inserted into the receiving grooves and supporting the wafer, respectively. It characterized in that it comprises a second support plate, each fixed.

Preferably, it is characterized in that the engaging separation projection is formed on the second support plate.

Preferably, the second support plate is characterized in that the insulating material.

Preferably, the insulating material is characterized in that the quartz.

Preferably, the insulating material is characterized in that the ceramic.

Preferably, the interval between the outer circumferential surface of the second support plate and the inner circumferential surface of the receiving groove is 5 mm or less.

Preferably, the second support plate is characterized in that detachable to the receiving groove via the impact buffer member.

Preferably, the shock absorbing member is characterized in that the O-ring.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a plasma etching apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown, in the process chamber 10, a wafer 12 having a preliminary process, for example, a polycrystalline silicon thin film is formed on the surface and a photoresist pattern is formed on the polycrystalline thin film is located. 12 is placed on the lower window 30 made of quartz material disposed in the process chamber 10. At this time, the lower window 30 is connected to the vacuum pump 40 located outside the process chamber 10 to exhaust the inside of the process chamber 10.

In addition, the top lead 11 connected to the ground potential is positioned at a position opposite to the wafer 12, and an etching material gas, which is a reactive gas, is spaced apart from the top lead 11 by a predetermined distance below the top lead 11. There is a gas distribution double control means 20 for uniformly feeding toward 12. The gas distribution double control means 20 is formed of holes having a predetermined diameter and fixed to the bottom of the top lid 11. A second gas distribution dual control means 21 and a second having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the holes of the first gas distribution dual control means 21 and fixed at a predetermined interval apart from the first gas dual control means 21; It consists of a gas distribution double regulating means 22.

In addition, a plurality of light reflecting portions 51 are provided below the lower window 30 to irradiate light toward the wafer 12 to maintain the inside of the chamber 10 at a predetermined temperature suitable for the process progress conditions. Tungsten halogen lamps 50 are arranged.

In addition, the process chamber 10 is provided with a gas supply unit (not shown) for supplying the etching material gas into the process chamber 10, and a magnetron (not shown) for applying a high frequency such that the etching material gas is in a plasma state. have.

Here, the lower window according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3. 3 is an exploded perspective view and a cross-sectional view showing a lower window.

As shown in the drawing, the lower window 30 has a through hole having a predetermined diameter formed in the first support plate 31 having a circular shape made of quartz material. The lower window 30 is made of quartz material and is connected to a vacuum pump. One end of the gas exhaust pipe 32 having a diameter is inserted into the through hole, and then the first support plate 31 and the gas exhaust pipe 32 are joined by welding, while the gas exhaust pipe 32 is opposed to the gas exhaust pipe 32 according to the present invention. A plurality of receiving grooves 33 having a predetermined diameter is formed on the first supporting plate 31, and the second supporting plate 33 fixedly supports the supporting pins 34 having a central portion protruding from the receiving groove 33. On the second supporting plate 33, the engaging separation protrusion 35 is formed on the second supporting plate 33 so that an operator can easily detach the second supporting plate 33 in the receiving groove 33. The interval between the outer circumferential surface of the second support plate and the inner circumferential surface of the accommodation groove is preferably about 5 mm or less, and the second support plate 36 has the same material as that of the insulating member, for example, the first support plate 31, that is, has high insulation property. It is preferable that it is quartz or consists of a ceramic material.

The lower window structure replaces only the second support plate because the second support plate and the first support plate are detachably coupled and do not affect the first support plate even if a predetermined area of the second support plate is broken by the contact of the robot arm and the support pin. As a result, the life and cost savings of the lower window can be extended.

Referring to the operation of the plasma etching apparatus of such a structure in detail as follows.

First, the etching material gas flows into the process chamber 10 from a gas supply part (not shown) formed in the process chamber 10. At this time, the etching material gas flows between the top lead 11 and the first gas distribution dual control means 21 and is primarily distributed through the first gas distribution dual control means 21. The etching material gas is primarily distributed. Is more evenly distributed through the second gas distribution dual control means 22 and injected into the process chamber 10.

Subsequently, a glow discharge is generated in the etching material gas by a high frequency applied from a magnetron (not shown), the etching material gas is activated by the glow discharge to generate a plasma, and etching of the wafer is performed by the activated molecules, ions and atoms Proceeds to form a predetermined pattern.

As such, the lower window allows the second support plate on which the support pin for supporting the wafer is fixed to be attached to or removed from the accommodation groove formed in the first support plate, so that the second support plate and the support pin may be broken due to a system error. Only support plates can be replaced. Thus, the repair time is shortened and the life of the lower window is extended.

In addition, as another modification of the present invention, an impact buffer member such as an O-ring may be interposed between the receiving grooves of the first and second support plates.

As described above, the present invention forms a portion in which the support pin for supporting the wafer is fixed to the lower window so as to be detachable from the lower window when the wafer transfer robot arm and the support pin are contacted to damage the support pin fixing part. By removing and replacing only the supporting pin fixing part that is detached without replacing the entire lower window, repair time can be shortened, and the life of the lower window can be extended, thereby reducing the cost.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a lower window according to the prior art.

2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a plasma etching apparatus according to the present invention.

3 is an exploded perspective view and a cross-sectional view showing a lower window according to the present invention.

Claims (7)

A plasma processing apparatus comprising a lower window positioned within a process chamber to support a wafer, The lower window includes a first support plate having a through hole formed at the center and a plurality of receiving grooves formed radially around the through hole, and supporting pins detachably inserted into the receiving grooves and supporting the wafer, respectively. And a second support plate fixed to each other. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein a protrusion for joining and separating is formed on the second support plate. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second support plate is made of an insulating material. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the insulating material is quartz. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the insulating material is ceramic. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second support plate is attached to and detached from the receiving groove via the shock absorbing member. 7. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the impact buffer member is an O-ring.

Images