KR20160054694A - Sputtering device - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a sputtering device comprises: a chamber configured to define a reaction region in which a substrate is located; a plurality of targets installed in the chamber and separated from the substrate at a predetermined interval to correspond to a first surface wherein the targets are separated from each other at a predetermined interval; a backing plate located on a second surface of each target to fix each target; a ground shield located between adjacent targets; and a sub-shield overlapping with a portion of each target to correspond to a scribing portion of the substrate in the chamber. Therefore, the sputtering device can form a thin film having a uniform thickness.

Description

[0001] SPUTTERING DEVICE [0002]

The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus, and more particularly to a sputtering apparatus for forming a uniform thin film.

The liquid crystal display device is characterized in that it has a large contrast ratio, is suitable for moving picture display, and has low power consumption, and is used in various fields such as a notebook computer, a monitor, and a TV. Liquid crystal has an optical anisotropy in which the molecular structure is thin and long and has a direction in the arrangement and a polarizing property in which the molecular alignment direction is changed according to the size when it is placed in an electric field.

In order to form such a liquid crystal display device, various processes such as thin film deposition, photo-lithography, and etching for forming a thin film of a predetermined substance are performed.

Among them, the thin film deposition is a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method in which a chemical reaction of a radical is induced on the substrate and the resultant thin film particles are dropped and adsorbed, And sputtering of a physical vapor deposition method in which the substrate is collided with and adsorbed on the substrate.

The principle and operation of thin film deposition of sputtering will be briefly described. After the chamber is vacuum-formed, a reactive gas is injected into the vacuum region while applying a voltage to the backing plate. Then, the particles of the reactive gas are ionized in a plasma state, and the ionized particles collide with the target. At this time, the kinetic energy of the ionized particles is transferred to the atoms constituting the target, A sputtering phenomenon is generated. The atoms emitted from the target are diffused toward the substrate and deposited on the substrate to form a thin film on the substrate.

On the other hand, in a sputtering apparatus using a plurality of targets, a ground shield may be provided between the target and the target in order to maintain a potential during plasma formation. These ground shields do not come in direct contact with the target but overlap with their edges.

As the ground shield is positioned between the target and the target, plasma non-uniformity occurs at the side surface of the target shielded by the ground shield, so that satisfactory thin film uniformity at the portion corresponding to the ground shield can not be expected. In addition, the thickness of the thin film deposited on the substrate corresponding to the ground shield is thicker than the thin film deposited on the substrate corresponding to the portion not covered with the ground shield, which may be recognized as a stain, resulting in defective products.

It is an object of the present invention, which is devised to solve the problems described above, to provide a plasma display panel in which an auxiliary shield is provided only in a portion corresponding to a cut portion of a substrate, thereby minimizing an area in which the auxiliary shield directly covers the target portion, Device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing apparatus including a chamber defining a reaction region in which a substrate is placed, a first surface provided in the chamber and spaced apart from the substrate by a predetermined distance, A backing plate positioned on a second side of each of the targets to secure the respective targets; a ground shield positioned between the adjacent targets; And an auxiliary shield which overlaps with a certain portion of the target to correspond to the scribed portion of the substrate inside.

Further, the auxiliary shield is detachable.

Further, the ground shield is not in direct contact with the target.

Also, the ground shield may be a horizontal bar positioned on the back surface of the backing plate, and a vertical bar protruding from the horizontal bar.

The height of the vertical bar is 15 mm, and the width of the vertical bar is 7 mm.

Further, a magnet is disposed on the back surface of the backing plate.

As described above, the sputtering apparatus according to the present invention includes a ground shield between targets spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and includes an auxiliary shield on a target corresponding to a scribing region of the substrate, Lt; / RTI >

In addition, the sputtering apparatus according to the present invention can form a thin film having a uniform thickness on a substrate.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing the arrangement relationship of the substrate / target / ground shield / auxiliary shield when the sputtering apparatus of FIG. 1 is viewed from above the substrate.
Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a part of the structure of the sputtering apparatus of Fig. 1. Fig.
4A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I 'in FIG.
And FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II 'of FIG.

The details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. To fully disclose the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

In the drawings, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. FIG.

In the drawings, the thickness is enlarged to clearly represent the layers and regions. The thickness of some layers and regions is exaggerated for convenience of explanation in the drawings. Whenever a portion such as a layer, film, region, plate, or the like is referred to as being "on" or "on" another portion, it includes not only the case where it is "directly on" another portion but also the case where there is another portion in between.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a sputtering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a process chamber 100 defining a closed reaction zone.

More specifically, the process chamber 100 provides a closed reaction zone for depositing and etching a thin film on a substrate S, which is not shown in the drawing, S is formed.

The process chamber 100 is supplied with a sputter gas such as nitrogen (N 2) or argon (Ar), which is an inert gas, into the process chamber 100 to react with the target 150 to atomize the target 150. And an exhaust port 190 connected to an intake system (not shown) is provided to make the interior of the process chamber 100 highly vacuum.

The substrate S to be processed is mounted in the process chamber 100 and the predetermined sputter gas is introduced into the reaction region of the process chamber 100 on which the substrate S is mounted and activated, Proceed with the process.

A target 150, a backing plate 140 and a magnet 120 are provided on one side of the process chamber 100 of the sputtering apparatus and a process chamber 100 facing the target 150 And a heater 180 is provided on the other side. Between them, the substrate S is transported in a state standing upright by the substrate transfer means (not shown).

Such a sputtering apparatus has an advantage that the process efficiency is higher than that of the cluster type in which the substrate S is horizontally transported in an in-line manner.

At this time, the substrate S is positioned with a certain distance from the target 150, and a reaction region, that is, a plasma forming space E, is formed between the substrate S and the target 150.

The heat provided by the heater 180 is transmitted to the substrate S, and the thickness of the thin film deposited on the substrate S by the heat transferred to the substrate S can be maintained constant, thereby improving the uniformity of the thin film have.

The chamber shield 200 may be provided at the edge of the process chamber 100 to prevent the deposition material from being deposited on the inner wall of the process chamber 100 during the deposition process.

The target 150 is made of the same material as the deposition material to be deposited on the substrate S. The target 150 may be formed of a material such as aluminum (Al), an aluminum alloy (AlNd), chromium (Cr), molybdenum In addition, in the sputtering apparatus according to the present invention, in addition to the above-described metal material, the target 150 may be an oxide semiconductor material such as IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide), ZTO (Zinc Tin Oxide), ZIO Indium Oxide).

The target 150 made of such a material may be provided in a plurality of long bars having a predetermined width, and the targets 150 are arranged in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval.

The backing plate 140 is provided corresponding to the back surfaces of the plurality of targets 150, respectively, and serves to fix the respective targets 150. At this time, the backing plate 140 is connected to an external voltage source (not shown) so that a voltage is applied from an external voltage source, and can serve as a cathode electrode.

As a most characteristic feature of the sputtering apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of ground shields 110 serving as an anode electrode may be provided between adjacent targets 150.

At this time, the plurality of ground shields 110 are configured not to contact the backing plate 140 and the target 150. The ground shield 110 has a shape of 'ㅗ' shape.

The ground shield 110 includes a first shield 110a in the form of a '-` extending in the horizontal direction corresponding to the back surface of the backing plate 140 and a second shield 110b in the form of a second shield 110a corresponding to the sides of the backing plate 140 and the target 150 And a second shield 110b extending in the vertical direction from the first shield 110a.

The height of the second shield 110b may be 15 mm and the width of the second shield 110b may be 7 mm and one side of the second shield 110b may be positioned between the upper surface and the rear surface of the target 150, 110a.

The second shield 110b of the ground shield 110 does not directly contact the side of the target 150 and does not overlap with the top of the target 150. [ That is, the ground shield 110 can be designed so as not to directly overlap with the target 150.

The backing plate 140 serves as a first electrode and the ground shield 110 acts as a second electrode so that when a voltage is applied to the backing plate 140 from the outside, the backing plate 140 and the ground shield 110 ), And the sputter gas is excited by the discharge to be converted into a plasma.

Magnets 120 spaced apart from each other are disposed on the back surface of each backing plate 140. The magnet 120 corresponds to each of the targets 150, and the N pole and the S pole are arranged alternately to the left and the right. A magnetic field is formed between the N pole and the S pole of the magnet 120 so that the plasma formed in the plasma forming space E is trapped near the substrate S by the magnetic field between the N pole and the S pole of the magnet 120 So as to prevent the scattering of the ionized particles separated from the target 150 by colliding with the sputter gas separated from the target 150 to restrain the particles in the vicinity of the surface of the substrate S to increase the efficiency of generating ions of the particles do.

Thus, by positioning the magnet 120 corresponding to each target 150, the magnetic field across each target 150 can be controlled and adjusted.

The plurality of magnets 120 are coupled to the mobile unit 130 and reciprocate in parallel along the arrangement direction of the target 150, thereby improving the use efficiency of the target 150.

In particular, the sputtering apparatus of the present invention further includes a plurality of auxiliary shields 160 overlapping a certain portion of each target 150 on the target 150.

Like the ground shield 110, the plurality of auxiliary shields 160 are grounded to the ground so that the auxiliary shield 160 maintains a potential difference with respect to the target 150 or the backing plate 140 during discharging, thereby serving as an anode.

2, the plurality of auxiliary shields 160 are disposed on the target 150 so as to correspond to the scribe area S / P of the substrate S, . At this time, the substrate S can be finally separated into the first to fourth substrates S1 to S4 by the scribe area S / P.

The plurality of auxiliary shields 160 assist the function of the ground shield 110 to sufficiently maintain the potential difference with the target 150 in the process chamber 100 to uniform the plasma intensity in the plasma forming space E .

In the case where only the ground shield 110 is provided in the process chamber 100, the area occupied by the ground shield 110 is small, so that the potential is lowered toward the inside of the substrate S, which may make plasma maintenance difficult. Accordingly, a plurality of auxiliary shields 160 are provided to assist the ground shield 110, thereby uniformizing the plasma intensity in the process chamber 100 and finally forming a thin film having a uniform thickness on the substrate S .

When the ground shield 110 covers both sides of the target 150 in the process chamber 100, the portion of the ground shield 110 where the target 150 is covered by the ground shield 110 increases, A difference in the thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate S may occur between the portion where the target 150 is covered and the portion where the target 150 is not covered. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the ground shield 110 from directly overlapping the target 150 and to provide a plurality of sub-shields 160 corresponding to only the scribe area S / P of the substrate S in the process chamber 100 It is possible to minimize the unevenness of the substrate S while making the plasma intensity uniform.

On the other hand, as the plurality of sub-shields 160 are positioned above the target 150 in the process chamber 100, a certain portion of the target 150 may be covered to cause staining on the substrate S. However, since the plurality of sub-shields 160 are located on the target 150 so as to correspond to the scribe area S / P of the substrate S, they do not exist in the final product.

In addition, since the plurality of auxiliary shields 160 can be detached and attached in the process chamber 100, the position can be flexibly changed according to the size of the product to be applied.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a part of the structure of the sputtering apparatus of Fig. 1. Fig.

1 and 3, a sputtering apparatus includes a plurality of target 150 spaced apart from each other, a plurality of ground shields 110 positioned between the targets 150, and a portion of each target 150 And a plurality of sub-shields 160 that are formed on the substrate.

A plurality of ground shields 110 and auxiliary shields 160 are grounded to ground.

4A, the plurality of sub-shields 160 may be formed on the substrate S so that one substrate S corresponds to a scribe region S / P divided into first to fourth substrates S1 to S4. And surrounds the upper portion of the target 150 located under the scribe area S / P of the target substrate S3.

A plurality of auxiliary shields 160 together with the ground shield 110 sufficiently maintain the potential difference with the target 150 in the process chamber 100 to uniform the plasma intensity in the plasma forming space E.

A plurality of sub-shields 160 are removable by the operator in the process chamber 100 to correspond to the scribe area S / P of the substrate (S in FIG. 1). Accordingly, the positions of the plurality of auxiliary shields 160 can be changed according to the size of the product to be deposited.

Since the plurality of sub-shields 160 are formed only on the scribe area S / P of the substrate S, as shown in FIG. 4B, But not on the top of the target 150.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of ground shields 110 are provided between the target 150 and the target 150, and a plurality of ground shields 110 are formed between the target 150 and the target 150, A plurality of auxiliary shields 160 may be provided in the process chamber 100 to maintain the plasma intensity uniformly within the process chamber 100.

As a result, a thin film having a uniform thickness in the process chamber 100 can be formed on the substrate S.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. It is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. .

100: Process chamber 110: Ground shield
120: Magnet 130: Mobile unit
140: backing plate 150: target
160: auxiliary shield 170: gas injection means
180: heater 190: exhaust port
200: chamber shield

Claims (7)

A chamber defining a reaction zone in which the substrate is located;
A target disposed in the chamber and spaced apart from the substrate by a predetermined distance so as to correspond to a first surface,
A backing plate positioned on a second side of each of the targets to secure the respective targets;
A ground shield positioned between said adjacent targets; And
And an auxiliary shield overlapping with a certain portion of the target to correspond to a scribing portion of the substrate within the chamber. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the auxiliary shield is attachable / detachable. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ground shield is not in direct contact with the target. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ground shield is formed of a horizontal bar located on a back surface of the backing plate and a vertical bar protruding from the horizontal bar. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the vertical bar has a height of 15 mm and a width of 7 mm. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the vertical bar comprises one side positioned between the first and second surfaces of the target and the other side contacting the horizontal bar. The method according to claim 1,
And a magnet is disposed on the back surface of the backing plate.

Images