KR100661740B1 - Apparatus for processing substrate with plasma - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus for generating a plasma in a vacuum chamber to perform a predetermined process on a substrate.

The present invention provides a plasma processing apparatus for generating a plasma in a vacuum chamber to perform a predetermined treatment on a substrate, the plasma processing apparatus comprising: an upper electrode and a lower electrode respectively provided at upper and lower portions of the chamber to apply high frequency power into the chamber; A shower head coupled to an upper electrode rim protruding downward from the upper electrode, and diffusing a process gas into the chamber; A coolant passage formed through the upper electrode in a horizontal direction and providing a path through which a coolant supplied from the outside passes; Heat transfer means provided in contact with the upper surface of the shower head and the lower surface of the upper electrode, and transferring heat from the shower head to the upper electrode; A coolant circulation unit coupled to both ends of the coolant passage and connected to one end of the coolant passage to supply a coolant and to the other end to recover the coolant; It provides a plasma processing apparatus characterized in that is provided.

Plasma, Plasma Treatment Equipment, Shower Head, Coolant

Description

Plasma Processing Equipment {APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING SUBSTRATE WITH PLASMA}

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a conventional plasma processing apparatus.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the heat transfer means according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the structure of the heat transfer means according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a perspective view showing the structure of a heat transfer means according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

1: conventional plasma processing apparatus

100: plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention

10, 110: upper electrode 20, 120: lower electrode

30, 130: internal lifting pin 40, 140: external lifting bar

14, 150: showerhead 16, 112: coolant passage

14, 152: process gas diffusion hole 160: heat transfer means

162: heat transfer pin 164: heat transfer plate

166: heat transfer lattice 168: process gas through hole

170: coolant circulation section 172: coolant supply pipe

174: coolant recovery pipe 176: coolant circulation pump

178: end cap S: substrate

G: gate valve

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus for generating a plasma in a vacuum chamber to perform a predetermined process on a substrate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many plasma processing apparatuses for treating a surface of a substrate using plasma have been used in manufacturing processes such as semiconductor devices and liquid crystal display devices. Examples of such a plasma processing apparatus include a plasma etching apparatus for etching a substrate, a plasma CVD apparatus for performing chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plasma processing apparatus 1 includes two flat plate electrodes 10 and 20 that face each other in parallel with each other. The substrate S is mounted on the lower electrode 20 of the two electrodes. Therefore, this lower electrode 20 is also called a substrate mounting table.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the plasma processing apparatus 1 is provided with an internal elevating pin 30 and an external elevating bar 40 to assist a process of carrying in or carrying out a substrate into the processing apparatus. At this time, the internal elevating pin 30 is formed through the edge of the lower electrode 20, passes through the through-hole 22 formed in the lower electrode 20 is driven up and down.

The external elevating bar 40 is separately provided outside the lower electrode 20. That is, it is provided in a space formed between the side wall of the lower electrode 20 and the side wall of the plasma processing apparatus, and has a structure capable of driving up and down.

The plasma processing apparatus 1 is provided with an exhaust section (not shown) for exhausting the gas therein. The exhaust unit sucks and removes gas inside the plasma processing apparatus by a pump provided outside the plasma processing apparatus 1 and maintains the inside of the plasma processing apparatus in a vacuum state.

Next, the upper electrode 10 is provided at a position facing the lower electrode 20. This upper electrode not only serves as an electrode, but also serves as a process gas supply unit for supplying process gas between both electrodes. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1, a shower head 12 is coupled to the lower portion of the upper electrode 10. Here, the shower head 12 is formed with a plurality of process gas diffusion holes 14 having fine diameters. Therefore, the process gas is uniformly supplied to the space between the both electrodes 10 and 20 through the shower head 12. The processing gas supplied between the electrodes becomes a plasma by application of high frequency power to the electrodes, and the surface of the substrate is processed by the plasma.

In addition, the coolant passage 16 through which the coolant circulates is formed in the upper electrode 10. The coolant passage 16 is formed to penetrate the upper electrode 10 in the horizontal direction, and is connected to each other, and is formed evenly over all the regions of the upper electrode 10. One end of the coolant passage 16 is connected to the coolant supply pipe 17 communicating with the outside, and the other end is connected to the coolant recovery pipe 18. Therefore, new coolant is supplied through the coolant supply pipe 17 and the coolant recovery pipe 18, and the used coolant is recovered to circulate the coolant. This coolant passage 16 is for preventing the influence of the process performed by the plasma processing apparatus due to the temperature rise of the shower head 12 during the plasma generation process.

However, in the related art, since the coolant passage 16 is formed on the upper electrode 10 to indirectly cool the shower head 14, the temperature control of the shower head 14 spaced apart from the upper electrode 10 by a predetermined interval is prevented. There is a problem that is not easy. As such, when the temperature of the shower head is difficult to control the temperature of the shower head 14, the transmission efficiency of the high frequency power is decreased, and the process reproducibility is deteriorated due to the influence of the etching rate and the etching uniformity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus that provides a heat transfer means between a showerhead and an upper electrode to facilitate temperature control of the showerhead.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention, in the plasma processing apparatus for generating a plasma in the chamber in a vacuum to perform a predetermined process, the upper and lower chambers respectively provided for applying high frequency power to the chamber An upper electrode and a lower electrode; A shower head coupled to an upper electrode rim protruding downward from the upper electrode, and diffusing a process gas into the chamber; A coolant passage formed through the upper electrode in a horizontal direction and providing a path through which a coolant supplied from the outside passes; Heat transfer means provided in contact with the upper surface of the shower head and the lower surface of the upper electrode, and transferring heat from the shower head to the upper electrode; A coolant circulation unit coupled to both ends of the coolant passage and connected to one end of the coolant passage to supply a coolant and to the other end to recover the coolant; It provides a plasma processing apparatus characterized in that is provided.

At this time, the heat transfer means is preferably made of a metal material excellent in thermal conductivity because it can easily transfer the heat of the shower head to the upper electrode.

In the present invention, the heat transfer means can be provided as a fin-shaped heat transfer fin or a plate-shaped heat transfer plate or a lattice heat transfer grating.

In this case, when the heat transfer means is formed in the shape of a heat transfer plate or a heat transfer grating, it is preferable that a process gas through hole formed by penetrating the heat transfer plate or the heat transfer grating in the thickness direction for the smooth flow of the process gas is further formed.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a specific embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the plasma processing apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes an upper electrode 110, a lower electrode 120, an internal lifting pin 130, and an external lifting bar in a chamber in which a vacuum state can be formed. 140, a process gas supply part, an exhaust part, etc. are comprised. Here, since the upper electrode 110, the lower electrode 120, the inner lifting pin 130, the outer lifting bar 140, the process gas supply portion, the exhaust portion has the same structure and function as that of the conventional, it will be repeatedly described herein. I never do that.

On the other hand, since the structure of the shower head 150, the heat transfer means 160, and the coolant circulation unit 170 according to the present embodiment is different.

The heat transfer means 160 is further provided on the showerhead 150 according to the present embodiment. The heat transfer means 160 serves to transfer the heat of the showerhead 150 to the upper electrode 110. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the heat transfer means 160 is disposed in the space formed by the upper surface of the shower head 150 and the lower surface of the upper electrode 110, and the lower surface of the shower head 150 and the lower electrode 110. It is provided to be in contact with both sides. Therefore, the heat of the showerhead 150 is conducted by contact with the upper electrode 110. Conventionally, although there is a space at a predetermined interval for process gas diffusion between the showerhead 150 and the upper electrode 110, there is no direct contact between the showerhead and the upper electrode, thereby directly cooling the showerhead 150 This is to solve the problem that cannot be solved. That is, the upper electrode 110 and the showerhead 150 that are cooled by the coolant are directly contacted at various points so that the heat of the showerhead 150 is easily conducted to the upper electrode 110.

Therefore, in this embodiment, it is preferable that the heat transfer means 160 is formed of a metal material having excellent thermal conductivity.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the heat transfer means 160 may be configured in such a manner that a plurality of fin-shaped heat transfer fins 162 are spaced at predetermined intervals. In this case, the heat transfer fins 162 are evenly distributed over the entire area of the shower head 150.

4 and 5, the heat transfer means 160 may be implemented as a plate heat transfer plate 164 or a lattice heat transfer grating 166. At this time, the heat transfer plate 164 or the heat transfer grating 166 is preferably disposed evenly over the entire area of the shower head 150 because the temperature can be adjusted over the entire area of the shower head 150.

On the other hand, when the heat transfer means 160 is composed of a heat transfer plate 164 or a heat transfer grating 166, the process gas passage hole 168 is formed in the heat transfer plate 164 or the heat transfer grating 166 to smoothly flow the process gas. It is preferably formed. As illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the process gas passage holes 168 penetrate the heat transfer plate 164 or the heat transfer grating 166 in the thickness direction, and a plurality of the process gas passage holes 168 are formed.

Next, a coolant passage 112 is formed in the upper electrode 110. The coolant passage 112 is formed to penetrate the upper electrode 110 in the horizontal direction, and is connected to one and is formed over the entire area of the upper electrode 110.

The coolant circulation unit 170 is coupled to both ends of the coolant passage 112 to supply and recover the coolant to the coolant passage 112, thereby circulating the coolant. At this time, in the present embodiment, the coolant circulation unit 170 is a coolant supply pipe 172; Coolant recovery tube 174; It consists of a coolant circulation pump 176.

The coolant supply pipe 172 is provided to penetrate the inside and the outside of the chamber, and is connected to one end of the coolant passage 112. The coolant supply pipe 172 serves to supply fresh coolant to the coolant passage 112 from the outside.

The coolant recovery pipe 174 is provided to penetrate the inside and the outside of the chamber like the coolant supply pipe 172 and is connected to the other end of the coolant passage 112. The coolant recovery pipe 174 passes through the coolant passage 112 and discharges the warmed coolant to the outside of the chamber to recover the coolant.

Next, the coolant circulation pump 176 is provided in connection with the coolant supply pipe 172 and the coolant recovery pipe 174, and serves to circulate the coolant by using a pump. Of course, the coolant circulation pump 176 may be further provided with a coolant storage tank capable of storing a predetermined amount of coolant.

In this embodiment, an end cap 178 is used to connect the coolant circulation pump 176, the coolant supply pipe 172, and the recovery pipe 174. Therefore, the separate coupling of the coolant supply pipe 172 and the coolant circulation pump 176 provided separately from the coolant supply pipe 172 and the recovery pipe 174 is provided to facilitate the chamber. In the case of the plasma processing apparatus 100, since the upper chamber is often opened for maintenance therein, the coolant circulation pump 176, the coolant supply pipe 172, and the recovery pipe ( 174) is required prior to work. Therefore, in this embodiment, the separation coupling of the coolant circulation pump 176 is easy, and thus there is an advantage in that the maintenance work of the plasma processing apparatus is facilitated.

In addition, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the aforementioned coolant supply pipe 172 and the coolant recovery pipe 174 are drawn out in the direction of the upper wall of the chamber. This is also to facilitate the maintenance work of the plasma processing apparatus. That is, when the coolant supply pipe 172 or the recovery pipe 174 is drawn out in the direction of the side wall of the chamber, the area occupied by the device is not only wider, but also may act as an obstructive element during maintenance work.

According to the present invention, since the heat transfer means 160 is further provided between the showerhead 150 and the upper electrode 110, the upper electrode 110 and the showerhead 160, which are cooled by the coolant, are in direct contact with the showerhead 150. The heat of the well is transferred to the upper electrode 110 has the advantage of easy temperature control of the showerhead (150).

When the temperature of the shower head 150 is smoothly controlled, the process reproducibility by the plasma processing apparatus is excellent.

Claims (7)

delete A plasma processing apparatus for generating a plasma in a chamber in a vacuum state to perform a predetermined treatment on a substrate. An upper electrode and a lower electrode provided at upper and lower portions of the chamber to apply high frequency power to the inside of the chamber; A shower head coupled to an upper electrode rim protruding downward from the upper electrode, and diffusing a process gas into the chamber; A coolant passage formed through the upper electrode in a horizontal direction and providing a path through which a coolant supplied from the outside passes; A heat transfer means provided in contact with the upper surface of the shower head and the lower surface of the upper electrode and spaced apart at regular intervals, the heat transfer pin having a fin-shaped heat transfer fin to transfer the heat of the shower head to the upper electrode; and A coolant circulator configured to be coupled to both ends of the coolant passage, and to supply a coolant to one end of the coolant passage and recover the coolant at the other end; Plasma processing apparatus characterized in that the provided. delete The method of claim 2, wherein the heat transfer means, Plasma processing apparatus, characterized in that the plate-shaped heat transfer plate provided spaced at a predetermined interval. The method of claim 2, wherein the heat transfer means, Plasma processing apparatus characterized in that the heat transfer grating formed in the form of a lattice. The heat transfer plate according to claim 4, Plasma processing apparatus characterized in that it is provided through the horizontal direction, the process gas passage hole through which the process gas passes. The method of claim 5, wherein the heat transfer grating, Plasma processing apparatus characterized in that it is provided through the horizontal direction, the process gas passage hole through which the process gas passes.

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