KR101270601B1 - Apparatus for substrate using plasma ion and method of using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus using plasma ions according to the present invention includes a process chamber into which a plurality of trays on which a plurality of substrates are placed is loaded; A first plasma ion source unit provided inside the process chamber and performing processing on a substrate entering the inlet side of the process chamber; A second plasma ion source unit provided in the process chamber and performing processing on the substrate moving from the first plasma ion source unit to an exit side of the process chamber; An in-line method is provided in close contact between the trays on which the substrate is mounted, including a transfer unit for transferring the end portions of the plurality of trays brought into the process chamber to the first plasma ion source unit and the second plasma ion source unit. In the case of proceeding with the process, the substrate can be processed continuously after generating plasma at the beginning of the first process, thereby enabling high speed substrate processing.

Description

Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method using plasma ion {APPARATUS FOR SUBSTRATE USING PLASMA ION AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method, and more particularly, to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method using plasma ions to treat a substrate using plasma ions.

Plasma and ion sources are used in processes for processing semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for displays, and substrates for solar cells. In addition, unit processes using such plasma and ion sources include processes such as plasma chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), reactive ion etching, plasma surface modification and cleaning, and sputtering.

The types of plasma and ion sources include hollow cathode plasma sources, grid ion sources, end hall ion sources, closed drift type ion sources, and impeded. Or an anode type.

By the way, it is difficult to expand linearly since most plasma and ion sources use a point electron source. Therefore, since the substrate must be processed on a mostly fixed stage, the substrate processing efficiency is not high. Ideally, the plasma treatment for the substrate is efficient during substrate transfer for the substrate treatment, but the point electron source is difficult to linearly expand the plasma, which makes it difficult to perform the plasma treatment during the transfer of the substrate.

On the other hand, an anode layer type ion source can emit a uniform ion beam over a long source length. However, the anode layer type ion source is limited to use because of the low current density of ions.

The present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method using plasma ions that can perform the processing on the substrate in an inline manner using a plasma ion source.

Another object of the present invention related to the above object is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method using plasma ions for stably treating a substrate using a linear plasma in a plurality of regions in an inline manner using a plasma ion source. will be.

A substrate processing apparatus using plasma ions according to the present invention includes a process chamber into which a plurality of trays on which a plurality of substrates are placed is loaded; A first plasma ion source unit provided inside the process chamber and performing processing on a substrate entering the inlet side of the process chamber; A second plasma ion source unit provided in the process chamber and performing processing on the substrate moving from the first plasma ion source unit to an exit side of the process chamber; End portions of the plurality of trays brought into the process chamber are brought into contact with each other to transfer the first plasma ion source portion and the second plasma ion source portion.

A first buffer chamber is connected to the inlet gate of the process chamber, and the first buffer chamber is provided with a first buffer chamber side transfer stage for transferring the tray to the process chamber, and a second gate is provided at the outlet gate of the process chamber. A buffer chamber may be connected, and the second buffer chamber may include a second buffer chamber side transfer stage configured to receive the tray discharged from the process chamber.

The process chamber may be provided with at least one process chamber side transfer stage for transferring the tray.

The first buffer chamber-side transfer stage may transfer the first tray, which is first loaded into the buffer chamber, into the process chamber, and then contact the second tray, which is loaded next, with the rear end of the first tray.

The process chamber side transfer stage may transfer the ends of the plurality of trays transferred in the process chamber to be in contact with each other.

The process chamber side transfer stage may transfer the ends of the plurality of trays transferred in the process chamber to be in contact with each other when moving from the first plasma ion source portion to the second plasma ion source portion.

The first buffer chamber may be provided with a heater for heating the substrate.

The first plasma ion source portion and the second plasma ion source portion may deposit a film in a linear plasma with respect to the substrate.

The first plasma ion source unit may deposit a thin film in a linear plasma on the substrate, and the second plasma ion source unit may further deposit a thin film in a linear plasma on the thin film of the substrate.

The process chamber, the first buffer chamber and the second buffer chamber may be vacuum pumped by a vacuum pump.

The inside of the process chamber may be vacuum pumped to 1 ~ 50mTorr.

In the substrate processing method using the plasma ions according to the present invention, a first tray on which a substrate is mounted is loaded into a first buffer chamber, and the first tray is inserted into a process chamber in which a plurality of plasma ion source portions are installed in a moving direction of a tray. Bringing in a second tray having a substrate seated in the first buffer chamber, and transferring the second tray into the process chamber, wherein the ends of the second tray and the first tray are in contact with each other; The substrate is processed while the first tray and the second tray are moved together.

When the second tray is introduced into the process chamber, the first buffer chamber may be vacuum pumped together with the process chamber.

The inside of the process chamber may be vacuum pumped to 1 ~ 50mTorr.

When the second tray is brought into the first buffer chamber, the first buffer chamber and the process chamber may be cut off from the outside.

In the substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method using plasma ions according to the present invention, since a linear plasma is formed in a form in which a complete discharge current is injected from the inside of the ion source to the outside, a high density plasma is formed to process the substrate in an inline manner. It is possible to process a large-area substrate by extending the length of the plasma in the linear direction, and process can be performed at low pressure, which is advantageous to dealing with contaminants, and to process a large amount of substrates and chemical vapor deposition at high speed. When the deposition process is performed in two different regions by the deposition of the film, there is an effect of effectively repeating the deposition by suppressing the movement of particles and contaminants therebetween.

1 is a perspective view showing a substrate processing apparatus using plasma ions according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II of FIG. 1.
3 to 12 are diagrams for explaining a state in which a process is performed on a substrate while the tray on which the substrate is mounted is transferred.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments disclosed below, a substrate processing apparatus using plasma ions is described as an embodiment. A substrate processing apparatus using plasma ions according to an embodiment of the present invention moves a substrate in an inline manner and processes the substrate using linear plasma.

In the following embodiment, the method of treating a substrate is partially performed by performing a chemical vapor deposition process, but may be applied to an embodiment using plasma ions in other substrate processing processes.

1 is a perspective view showing a substrate processing apparatus using plasma ions according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the substrate processing apparatus using plasma ions according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of chambers are continuously arranged, and the substrate 10 moves in-line between these chambers. do. The substrate 10 is processed while the substrate 10 is moved.

In addition, in order to simultaneously load and unload a plurality of substrates 10, a plurality of substrates 10 are loaded and transported in one tray 20. Substrate 10 may be, for example, a silicon wafer. The substrate 10 is treated with a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) that deposits an oxide film, a nitride film, a microcrystalline silicon (uC-Si: H) and amorphous (a-Si: H) silicon film. Plasma Enhanced CVD) process, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited to deposition of oxide films, deposition of nitride films, microcrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon or chemical vapor deposition. The tray 20 may be formed with a pocket into which the substrate 10 is inserted, but may support the substrate 10 without the pocket.

Meanwhile, the loading unit 100 is provided to transfer the tray 20 on which the substrate 10 is mounted. The first buffer chamber 200 is connected to the loading unit 100. If necessary, the substrate 10 in which the process is completed may be unloaded into the loading unit 100. Therefore, the loading unit 100 may function as the unloading unit 500. The transfer unit 600 may be provided from the loading unit 110 to the unloading unit 500.

The first buffer chamber 200 connected to the loading unit 100 performs a function of heating the substrate 10 transferred from the loading unit 100. Therefore, the heater 210 may be installed in the first buffer chamber 200. The first buffer chamber 200 may be provided in plurality. When the substrate 10 is heated to a predetermined temperature or more in the first buffer chamber 200, deposition on the substrate 10 is performed more quickly and efficiently.

In addition, the process chamber 300 is connected to the first buffer chamber 200 in the moving direction of the tray 20. The first buffer chamber 200 may be provided in plurality. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the first buffer chamber 200 is provided with a first buffer chamber side transfer stage 610 equipped with a roller 611.

The process chamber 300 generates plasma ions to process the substrate 10. The process chamber 300 may be configured to have a longer length than the first buffer chamber 200. The process chamber 300 includes a first transfer stage 620 and a second transfer stage 630 provided with rollers 621 and 631.

In the process chamber 300, a plurality of vacuum pumps 360 are installed at the top, and a plurality of plasma ion source units 320 and 340 are installed at the top. In the present embodiment, the plasma ion source units 320 and 340 generate linear plasma ions.

The second buffer chamber 400 is connected to a position where the substrate 10 is carried out in the process chamber 300. The second buffer chamber 400 may perform cooling on the substrate 10 carried out after the process is performed. A separate cooling device may be provided for cooling, or natural cooling may be performed during the movement of the tray 20. The second buffer chamber 400 may be provided in plurality. In addition, the second buffer chamber 400 is provided with a second buffer chamber side transfer stage 640 provided with a roller 641.

Subsequently, the unloading unit 500 is connected to the second buffer chamber 400. However, the unloading unit 500 is not provided separately and receives the tray 20 on which the substrate 10 is seated in the second buffer chamber 400, and then loads the tray 20 through another path. It can be configured to return to.

For moving the tray 20 on which the substrate 10 is seated to the loading unit 100, the first buffer chamber 200, the process chamber 300, the second buffer chamber 400, and the unloading unit 500. The transfer part 600 is installed in the lower part of the chambers. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the transfer part 600 may include a plurality of rollers 631 and a motor 632 for rotating the plurality of rollers 631.

Meanwhile, the plasma ion source units 320 and 330 may include a first plasma ion source unit 320 that performs processing on the substrate 10 that enters the entrance gate 310 of the process chamber 300. In the process chamber 300, a second plasma ion source portion for processing the substrate 10 transferred from the first plasma ion source unit 320 by the transfer unit 600 to the exit gate 350 side ( 340 is provided.

In addition, between the first plasma ion source unit 320 and the second plasma ion source unit 340, the lower end is installed to be close to the surface side of the tray 20, so that at least the substrate 10 on which the tray 20 is seated is provided with the first substrate 10. A partition wall 330 spaced apart from the bottom by a width sufficient to move between the plasma ion source unit 320 and the second plasma ion source unit 340 is installed.

The partition wall 330 blocks the deposition particles or the pollutant sources generated in the first plasma ion source unit 320 and the second plasma ion source unit 340 from being transferred to each other.

The first plasma ion source unit 320 and the second plasma ion source unit 340 are provided in the same configuration. Although not shown in the drawing, each plasma ion source unit 320 and 340 includes a first ion source and a second ion source spaced apart from each other, and a precursor is formed between the first ion source and the second ion source. 10) It is provided with a gas supply part which injects to the side. The ion source may be implemented as an asymmetric magnetron source or a hollow cathode source to form a linear plasma.

That is, for example, the ion source may consist of at least one electrode connected to an AC power source, a magnetron and a plurality of magnets facing each other, the plurality of magnets creating a null magnetic field point in the discharge cavity and The electrodes of each plasma beam source connected to the AC power source alternately function as an anode electrode or a cathode electrode for half a cycle to ionize the precursor gas so that a linear plasma is generated on the surface of the substrate 10.

Hereinafter, a film deposition method using plasma ions according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the first tray 20 on which the plurality of substrates 10 are mounted is loaded into the first buffer chamber 200 through the loading unit 100 to process the substrate 10. In this case, the inlet side gate 310 of the process chamber 300 may be in a closed state, and the inside of the process chamber 300 may be in a vacuum pumped state.

Thereafter, the gate 220 of the first buffer chamber 200 is closed, and when the inlet side gate of the process chamber 300 is opened, the substrate moves to the buffer space inside the process chamber 300, and then the inlet of the process chamber 300 is opened. Side gate 310 is closed.

 Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the first tray 20 is first plasma by the first transfer stage 621 on the process chamber 300 side with the inlet gate 310 of the process chamber 300 closed. It moves to the ion source unit 320. As a result, a processing process for the substrate seated on the first tray 20 is performed. At this time, the gate 220 of the first buffer chamber 200 is opened, and the second tray 21 is loaded into the first buffer chamber 200.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, when the second tray 21 is completely loaded into the first buffer chamber 200, the gate 220 of the first buffer chamber 200 is closed and the inlet side of the process chamber 300 is closed. Gate 310 is opened. At this time, the first buffer chamber-side moving stage 610 moves the second tray 21 quickly so that the rear end of the first tray 20 and the front end of the second tray 21 are in close contact with each other.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6, the first buffer chamber side transfer stage 610 and the process chamber side first transfer stage 620 operate at constant speed so that the first tray 20 and the second tray 21 are in close contact with each other. To be moved to the default state. The substrate 10 of the first tray 20 and the second tray 21 may be treated with plasma ions.

Therefore, since there is no gap between the first tray 20 and the second tray 21, the substrate is not dispersed or changed in shape due to the surface step between the first tray 20 and the second tray 21. Processing such as film deposition for (10) is made stable.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 7, the third tray 22 is loaded into the first buffer chamber 200 while substrate processing is performed in the process chamber 300 with respect to the first tray 20. As shown in FIG. 8, when the gate 220 of the first buffer chamber 200 is closed, the inlet side gate 310 of the process chamber 300 opens, whereby the first buffer chamber side transfer stage 610 is opened. The third tray 22 is quickly transferred so that the front end of the third tray 22 comes into close contact with the rear end of the second tray 21.

As shown in FIG. 9, the first buffer chamber side transfer stage 610, the process chamber side first transfer stage 620, and the second transfer stage 630 are driven at a constant speed so that the first, second, and third trays ( 20) 21 and 22 are all moved in close contact. At this time, the first tray 20 is close to the second buffer chamber 400 side, and thus the exit gate 350 of the process chamber 300 is opened. At this time, the gate 410 of the second buffer chamber 400 maintains a closed state.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 10, the first tray 20 is carried out to the second buffer chamber 400, and the fourth tray 23 enters the first buffer chamber 200, and at this time, the process chamber ( In 300, the substrates mounted on the second and third trays 22 are processed.

11 and 12, the fourth tray 23 is in close contact with the third tray 22, and the trays 20 and 21 which have been processed are unloaded from the second buffer chamber 400. It is taken out in turn 500.

As such, the end portions of the trays 20, 21, 22, and 23 move in close contact with each other in the process chamber 300, and thus, a boundary between the trays 20, 21, 22, and 23. There is no gap in Therefore, the substrate processing process by the stable plasma ion is to proceed. In addition, the process chamber 300 always maintains a vacuum pumping state in a state of being cut off from the outside.

On the other hand, although not shown in the drawings in another embodiment, the first load lock chamber may be installed on the first buffer chamber 200 side, and the second load lock chamber may be installed on the second buffer chamber 400 side. In this case, a separate partition wall may be installed without installing a gate between the first buffer chamber 200 and the second buffer chamber 400. In addition, a gate may be installed between the load lock chamber and the buffer chamber.

In such a configuration, the close contact between the trays may be performed between the buffer chamber and the process chamber 300 in communication with each other, or the close contact between the trays may be achieved between the load lock chamber and the buffer chamber. Likewise, a stable plasma process can be achieved.

As such, when the substrate is in close contact with the trays on which the substrate is seated, the substrate may be continuously processed after generating plasma at the start of the first process, thereby enabling high speed substrate processing.

The substrate treatment apparatus using the plasma ions and the film deposition method using the plasma ions according to the embodiment of the present invention as described above can be performed such as the film deposition on the substrate in an inline manner, the film is deposited at the top and bottom The thickness in the direction can be deposited by dividing using two plasma ion source portions.

Therefore, a relatively thick thick film can be formed by controlling the transfer speed of the substrate, or a relatively thin ultra-thin film can be formed using one plasma ion source portion, so the variability in functionality is excellent. Moreover, the in-line method can process substrates continuously, so the substrate processing productivity is very good.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described through the embodiments described in the drawings and the detailed description of the present invention, but these are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains have various modifications and equivalents therefrom. Examples are possible. Therefore, the technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the appended claims.

1st buffer chamber
300 ... process chamber
400 ... second buffer chamber
500 ... Unloading Section
600 ...

Claims (15)

Bringing into the first buffer chamber the first tray on which the substrate is seated,
Bringing the first tray into a process chamber provided with a plurality of plasma ion source portions in a moving direction of the tray,
Bringing in a second tray having a substrate mounted therein into the first buffer chamber,
Delivering the second tray into the process chamber, the end of the second tray and the first tray is in contact with each other,
The first tray and the second tray are moved while the opposite ends of the first tray and the second tray are in contact with each other, and the first tray and the second tray are moved by the plurality of ion source units. A substrate processing method using plasma ions for depositing a thin film in a linear plasma on the substrate seated on the upper surface of the tray.
The method of claim 1, wherein the inside of the first buffer chamber is vacuum pumped together with the process chamber when the second tray is introduced into the process chamber.
The method of claim 1, wherein the inside of the process chamber is vacuum pumped to 1 to 50 mTorr.
The substrate processing method of claim 1, wherein the first buffer chamber and the process chamber are blocked from the outside when the second tray is loaded into the first buffer chamber.
2. The plasma plasma display device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of plasma ion source portions comprise a first plasma ion source portion and a second plasma ion source portion, wherein the first plasma ion source portion and the second plasma ion source portion are linear with respect to the substrate. A substrate processing method using plasma ions for depositing a thin film with plasma.
The substrate processing method of claim 5, wherein the second plasma ion source unit further deposits a thin film as linear plasma on the thin film deposited on the substrate by the first plasma ion source unit. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete

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