KR20040053966A - Plasma generating system having a divided rf power - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A plasma generation system having a separative RF power unit is provided to simplify the maintenance and enhance the operational performance by separating the RF power unit from a plasma reaction unit. CONSTITUTION: A process chamber(40) is used for receiving a plasma gas and performing a predetermined wafer process. A gas supply source(10) is used for supplying a process gas to perform a plasma reaction process. A vacuum pump(14) is connected to the process chamber in order to maintain the process chamber a vacuum state and exhaust the process gas to the outside. A plasma reaction unit(30) is installed at a top of the process chamber in order to receive the process gas from the gas supply source and generate the plasma to the process chamber. An RF power unit(20) is separated from the plasma reaction unit. and generates an RF signal to the process chamber.

Description

Plasma generation system with separated RF power {PLASMA GENERATING SYSTEM HAVING A DIVIDED RF POWER}

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a plasma generation system, and more particularly, to a plasma generation system having separate RF power that uses separate RF power to improve the maintenance and operation performance of the system.

1 is a view showing an example of a conventional plasma generation system, Figure 2 is a view showing the circuit configuration of the plasma generation system of FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the plasma generation system is largely comprised of a gas source 10, a vacuum pump 14, RF power 20, plasma reactor 30, and a process chamber 40.

The process gas provided from the gas source 10 is supplied to the plasma reactor 30 and subjected to a plasma reaction to the process chamber 40. The RF power 20 operates by receiving a commercial AC power supply 12, generates an RF signal, and inputs the RF signal to the plasma reactor 30. The plasma reactor 30 may be configured, for example, in a magnetic induction manner in which the inductor coil and core 32 are coupled with the reactor tube 34. The RF power 20 is largely composed of a rectifier 24, a half bridge circuit 22, and a controller 26.

Within the process chamber 40 a substrate 42 is constructed, on which a wafer 44 is placed for the process to proceed. The inside of the process chamber 40 is maintained by a vacuum pump 14 in a certain order of vacuum state, the process gas is reacted is discharged to the outside.

However, the RF power 20 of the conventional plasma generation system has a disadvantage in that the switching method is a half-bridge method, which consumes a large amount of current, and does not include a separate filter so that a square wave containing noise is included in the plasma reactor 30. There is a problem of supplying the inductor coil 32. In addition, since the plasma reactor 30 and the RF power 20 are coupled to the upper portion of the process chamber 40, they can be easily used. However, the RF power 20 can be used only in a small size of 3kw or less. Due to the weight and volume of the process chamber 40 is difficult to configure, there is a problem that their maintenance is difficult.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a plasma generation system having an RF power suitable for constructing a large-scale plasma generation system as proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems.

1 shows an example of a conventional plasma generation system;

2 shows a circuit configuration of the plasma generation system of FIG.

3 shows a configuration of a plasma generation system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; And

4 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the plasma generation system of FIG. 3.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

10: gas source 12: AC power source

14: vacuum pump 20, 50: RF power

22, 53: half bridge circuit 24, 54: rectifier

26, 56: control unit 30: plasma reactor

32: inductor coil and core 34: reactor tube

40: process chamber 42: substrate

44: wafer 58: low pass filter

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the object of the present invention as described above, the plasma generation system is supplied with a plasma gas to perform a predetermined process for processing a wafer; A gas source providing a process gas for the plasma reaction; A vacuum pump connected to the process chamber to maintain the process chamber in a vacuum state and to discharge the process gas which has been processed in progress to the outside; A plasma reactor installed at an upper portion of the process chamber and configured to receive a process gas from a gas source and generate a plasma and supply the plasma to the process chamber; It is configured to be mechanically separated from the plasma reactor, and includes RF power for generating an RF signal to the process chamber and supplying it to the plasma reactor.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the RF power is rectifier for receiving AC power; A full bridge circuit for receiving the rectified power output from the rectifier to generate and output an RF signal; It includes a low-pass filter to remove the noise contained in the RF signal generated in the entire bridge circuit to provide a plasma reactor.

The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described below. This embodiment is provided to explain more clearly the present invention to those skilled in the art.

(Example)

Hereinafter, a plasma generating system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. In the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the components of the same function.

3 is a view showing the configuration of a plasma generation system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 4 is a view showing the circuit configuration of the plasma generation system of FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the plasma generation system of the present invention comprises a gas source 10, a vacuum pump 14, RF power 50, a plasma reactor 30, and a process chamber 40. The process chamber 40 receives a plasma gas and performs a predetermined process for processing the wafer 44 positioned on the substrate 42. The plasma reactor 30 may be configured, for example, in a magnetic induction manner in which the inductor coil and core 32 are coupled with the reactor tube 34.

The plasma reactor 30 plasma-processes the process gas provided from the gas source 10 and supplies it to the process chamber 40. At this time, the RF power 50 receives a commercial AC power source 12 to generate an RF signal and input it to the plasma reactor 30. Within the process chamber 40 a substrate 42 is constructed, on which a wafer 44 is placed for process progress. The interior of the process chamber 40 is maintained by a vacuum pump 14 in a certain order of vacuum state, the process gas is reacted is discharged to the outside.

The RF power 50 is largely comprised of a rectifier 54, a full bridge circuit 52, a low pass filter 58, and a controller 56. A smoothing capacitor C20 is configured between the rectifier 54 and the full bridge circuit 52. The entire bridge circuit 52 is composed of a plurality of transistors Q20, Q22, Q24, Q26 and a transformer T20. The low pass filter 58 is composed of two inductors L20 and L22 and a capacitor C22.

The RF power 50 of the present invention uses the full bridge circuit 52, so that the current processing capacity is small, so that the load on each component is low, thereby preventing component damage. By using the low pass filter 58, noise is prevented from entering the RF signal into the plasma reactor 30.

In addition, unlike the conventional RF power 50 is mechanically separated from the plasma reactor 30, only the plasma reactor 30 is attached to the top of the process chamber 40, the maintenance of the process chamber 40 becomes very simple. . In addition, since the plasma reactor 30 and the RF power 40 are separated, when any one of them is broken, only a corresponding part needs to be replaced, thereby maintaining high maintainability.

Although the configuration and operation of the inductively coupled plasma inductor according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention as described above have been shown in accordance with the above description and drawings, this is merely an example and is within the scope not departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications are possible in the art.

According to the present invention as described above, the plasma generating system has high maintenance by separating the plasma reactor and the RF power, it is possible to prevent the damage to the circuit components to the maximum by using the entire bridge circuit RF power. By using a low pass filter, noise can be reduced as much as possible, thereby increasing process yield.

Claims (2)

A process chamber receiving a plasma gas and performing a predetermined process for processing a wafer; A gas source providing a process gas for the plasma reaction; A vacuum pump connected to the process chamber to maintain the process chamber in a vacuum state and to discharge the process gas which has been processed in progress to the outside; A plasma reactor installed at an upper portion of the process chamber and configured to receive a process gas from a gas source and generate a plasma and supply the plasma to the process chamber; A plasma generating system comprising an RF power which is mechanically separated from the plasma reactor and generates an RF signal to the process chamber and supplies the RF signal to the plasma reactor. According to claim 1, The RF power is, A rectifier for receiving rectified AC power; A full bridge circuit for receiving the rectified power output from the rectifier to generate and output an RF signal; Plasma generating system comprising a low pass filter to remove the noise contained in the RF signal generated in the entire bridge circuit to provide to the plasma reactor.