WO2006135924A9 - Improvement of etch rate uniformity using the independent movement of electrode pieces - Google Patents
Improvement of etch rate uniformity using the independent movement of electrode piecesInfo
- Publication number
- WO2006135924A9 WO2006135924A9 PCT/US2006/023114 US2006023114W WO2006135924A9 WO 2006135924 A9 WO2006135924 A9 WO 2006135924A9 US 2006023114 W US2006023114 W US 2006023114W WO 2006135924 A9 WO2006135924 A9 WO 2006135924A9
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- electrode
- bottom electrode
- grounded
- plasma
- extension
- Prior art date
Links
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32009—Arrangements for generation of plasma specially adapted for examination or treatment of objects, e.g. plasma sources
- H01J37/32082—Radio frequency generated discharge
- H01J37/32091—Radio frequency generated discharge the radio frequency energy being capacitively coupled to the plasma
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32009—Arrangements for generation of plasma specially adapted for examination or treatment of objects, e.g. plasma sources
- H01J37/32082—Radio frequency generated discharge
- H01J37/32137—Radio frequency generated discharge controlling of the discharge by modulation of energy
- H01J37/32155—Frequency modulation
- H01J37/32165—Plural frequencies
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32532—Electrodes
- H01J37/32568—Relative arrangement or disposition of electrodes; moving means
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
- H01J37/00—Discharge tubes with provision for introducing objects or material to be exposed to the discharge, e.g. for the purpose of examination or processing thereof
- H01J37/32—Gas-filled discharge tubes
- H01J37/32431—Constructional details of the reactor
- H01J37/32623—Mechanical discharge control means
Definitions
- the present invention relates to semiconductor fabrication. More particularly, the present invention relates to a plasma etching apparatus.
- a typical plasma etching apparatus comprises a reactor in which there is a chamber through which reactive gas or gases flow. Within the chamber, the gases are ionized into a plasma, typically by radio frequency energy. The highly reactive ions of the plasma are able to react with material, such as the dielectric between interconnects or a polymer mask on a surface of a semiconductor wafer during it being processed into Integrated Circuits (ICs). Prior to etching, the wafer is placed in the chamber and held in proper position by a chuck or holder which exposes a top surface of the wafer to the plasma.
- ICs Integrated Circuits
- the etch or deposition rate uniformity across the wafer during each process directly affects the device yield. This has become one of the main qualifying requirements for a process reactor and hence is considered a very important parameter during its design and development.
- the problem of ensuring uniformity of each batch of integrated circuits becomes more difficult. For instance, with the increase from 200mm to 300mm in wafer size and smaller circuit size per wafer, the edge exclusion shrinks to, for example, 2mm.
- maintaining a uniform etch rate, profile, and critical dimensions all the way out to 2mm from the edge of the wafer has become very important.
- etch parameters' etch rate, profile, CD, etc.
- Maintaining uniform plasma discharge and hence plasma chemistry above the wafer has become very critical to improve the uniformity.
- Many attempts have been conceived to improve the uniformity of the wafer by manipulating the gas flow injection through a showerhead, modifying the design of the showerhead, and placing edge rings around the wafer.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional capacitively-coupled plasma processing chamber 100, representing an exemplary plasma processing chamber of the types typically employed to etch a substrate.
- the plasma reactor 100 comprises a chamber 102, a bottom electrode 104, a top electrode 106.
- the bottom electrode 104 includes a center bottom electrode 108 and an edge bottom electrode 110.
- Top electrode 106 includes a center top electrode 112 and an edge top electrode 114.
- Edge top electrode 114 and edge bottom electrode 110 are in the shape of a ring respectively encircling center top electrode 112 and center bottom electrode 108 to form a single plane.
- Center bottom electrode 108 is connected to RF power supply 118 while top electrode 106 and edge bottom electrode 110 are grounded for draining charge from plasma 116 produced between top electrode 106 and bottom electrode 104.
- the shape of the glow discharge region (plasma 116) is distorted near the edge of center bottom electrode 108 because of grounded edge bottom electrode 110. That distortion causes non-uniform etch rate on a substrate (not shown) placed on center bottom electrode 108.
- the positive ions accelerate across the equipotential field lines to impinge on the surface of the substrate, thereby providing the desired etch effect, such as improving etch directionality.
- the field lines may not be uniform across the wafer surface and may vary significantly at the edge of the wafer 104. Accordingly, grounded ring 110 is typically provided to improve process uniformity across the entire wafer surface.
- etch rate cannot be separately controlled at the center and at the edge of the wafer.
- the non-uniformity during the etching process can lead to different dimensions between the center and the edge lowering the yield of reliable devices per wafer.
- a primary purpose of the present invention is to solve these needs and provide further, related advantages.
- a plasma reactor comprises a chamber, a bottom electrode, a top electrode, a bottom grounded extension adjacent to and substantially encircling the bottom electrode.
- the top grounded extension adjacent to and substantially parallel to the top electrode.
- the top electrode is also grounded.
- the top grounded extension is capable of being independently raised or lowered to extend into a region above the bottom grounded extension.
- FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a plasma reactor in accordance with a prior art
- FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a plasma reactor in accordance with one embodiment.
- FIG. 3 is a flow diagram schematically illustrating a method for operating the plasma reactor illustrated in FIG. 2.
- FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a plasma reactor 200 comprising a chamber 202, a bottom electrode 208, a bottom electrode extension 210, a top electrode 212, and a top electrode extension 214.
- bottom electrode extension 210 includes a grounded ring 210 parallel and adjacent to the bottom electrode 208 and encircling the bottom electrode 208.
- the top electrode extension 214 includes a adjustable grounded ring 214 parallel and adjacent to the top electrode 212 and encircling top electrode 212.
- Bottom electrode 208 is connected to RF power supply 218 while top electrode 212, top electrode extension 214, and bottom electrode extension 210 are grounded for draining charge from plasma 216 produced between top electrode 212 and bottom electrode 208.
- bottom electrode extension 210 and top electrode extension 212 may be made of a conductive material such as aluminum.
- plasma 216 includes two regions 220 and 222 having different plasma densities based on the position (height) of top electrode extension 214.
- Bottom electrode 208 is configured to receive a workpiece and includes an associated bottom electrode area that is adapted to receive the workpiece.
- Bottom electrode 208 is coupled to at least one power supply 218.
- Power supply 218 is configured to generate RF power that is communicated to bottom electrode 208.
- a dual frequency power supply 218 may be used to generate the high electric potential that is applied to a gas to produce plasma 216.
- the illustrated power supply 218 is a dual power frequency power supply operating at 2 MHz and 27 MHz that is included in etching systems manufactured by Lam Research. It shall be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other power supplies capable of generating plasma in the processing chamber 202 may also be employed.
- the invention is not limited to RF frequencies of 2 MHz and 27 MHz but may be applicable to a wide range of frequencies.
- the invention is also not limited to dual frequency power supplies but is also applicable to systems that have three or more RF power sources with a wide variety of frequencies.
- Top electrode 212 is disposed at a predetermined distance above from bottom electrode 208.
- Top electrode 212, top electrode extension 214, together with ground extension 210 are configured to provide a complete electrical circuit for RF power communicated from bottom electrode 208.
- Top electrode extension 214 can move up or down independently from top electrode 212 to manipulate plasma density at the edge of bottom electrode 208 - plasma region 222. With the plasma density varied at the edge of bottom electrode 208, the etch rate at that region can be independently controlled (either faster rate or slower rate) from the etch rate in the plasma region 220.
- a mechanical or motorized knob may be used to raise or lower top electrode extension 214 without having to open and access the interior of chamber 202.
- top and bottom electrodes extensions 214 and 210 are provided to improve process uniformity across the entire wafer surface.
- Plasma reactor 200 is configured to receive a gas (not shown) that is converted into plasma 216 by plasma reactor 200.
- a gas not shown
- the relatively high gas flow rate that is pumped into chamber is 1500sccm. Gas flow rates less than 1500sccm as well as more than 1500sccm may also be applied.
- RF power levels of 2 W per cm 3 of plasma volume may be applied.
- RF power levels of less than 2W per cm 3 of plasma volume may also be applied.
- plasma reactor 200 described in FIG. 2 employs capacitive coupling to generate plasma 216 in processing chamber 202. It shall be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that the present apparatus and method may be adapted to be used with inductively coupled plasma. [0023] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the above configurations shown in FIG. 2 are not intended to be limiting and that other configurations can be used without departing from the inventive concepts herein disclosed. For example, two or more adjacent top electrode extension 214 may be positioned to further control the etch rate at the edge of bottom electrode 208.
- FIG. 3 illustrates a method for using the plasma reactor illustrated in FIG.
- top electrode extension 214 is selected. Top electrode extension 214 is capable of being raised and lowered to extend into a region above the bottom electrode extension.
- plasma reactor 200 processes a wafer supported by bottom electrode 208.
- the wafer is examined to determine the etch uniformity throughout the surface of the wafer.
- the position of top electrode extension 214 is adjusted based on the analysis at 306 to further improve the etch rate uniformity throughout the surface of the wafer.
Landscapes
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Plasma & Fusion (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
- Drying Of Semiconductors (AREA)
- Plasma Technology (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP2008516039A JP4970434B2 (en) | 2005-06-13 | 2006-06-12 | Plasma reactor and method of using plasma reactor |
CN2006800208380A CN101194340B (en) | 2005-06-13 | 2006-06-12 | Improvement of etch rate uniformity using the independent movement of electrode pieces |
KR1020077029150A KR101283830B1 (en) | 2005-06-13 | 2006-06-12 | Improvement of etch rate uniformity using the independent movement of electrode pieces |
KR1020137002561A KR20130023390A (en) | 2005-06-13 | 2006-06-12 | Improvement of etch rate uniformity using the independent movement of electrode pieces |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US11/152,016 | 2005-06-13 | ||
US11/152,016 US20060278339A1 (en) | 2005-06-13 | 2005-06-13 | Etch rate uniformity using the independent movement of electrode pieces |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO2006135924A1 WO2006135924A1 (en) | 2006-12-21 |
WO2006135924A9 true WO2006135924A9 (en) | 2007-02-22 |
Family
ID=37067470
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2006/023114 WO2006135924A1 (en) | 2005-06-13 | 2006-06-12 | Improvement of etch rate uniformity using the independent movement of electrode pieces |
Country Status (7)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20060278339A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP4970434B2 (en) |
KR (2) | KR20130023390A (en) |
CN (1) | CN101194340B (en) |
SG (1) | SG162771A1 (en) |
TW (1) | TWI397100B (en) |
WO (1) | WO2006135924A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (14)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US8012306B2 (en) | 2006-02-15 | 2011-09-06 | Lam Research Corporation | Plasma processing reactor with multiple capacitive and inductive power sources |
US20070221332A1 (en) * | 2006-03-22 | 2007-09-27 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Plasma processing apparatus |
US20080277064A1 (en) * | 2006-12-08 | 2008-11-13 | Tes Co., Ltd. | Plasma processing apparatus |
KR100823302B1 (en) * | 2006-12-08 | 2008-04-17 | 주식회사 테스 | Plasma processing apparatus |
KR100978754B1 (en) * | 2008-04-03 | 2010-08-30 | 주식회사 테스 | Plasma processing apparatus |
US20080156772A1 (en) * | 2006-12-29 | 2008-07-03 | Yunsang Kim | Method and apparatus for wafer edge processing |
US20170213734A9 (en) * | 2007-03-30 | 2017-07-27 | Alexei Marakhtanov | Multifrequency capacitively coupled plasma etch chamber |
US20090236214A1 (en) * | 2008-03-20 | 2009-09-24 | Karthik Janakiraman | Tunable ground planes in plasma chambers |
US8382941B2 (en) | 2008-09-15 | 2013-02-26 | Micron Technology, Inc. | Plasma reactor with adjustable plasma electrodes and associated methods |
US20130098390A1 (en) * | 2011-10-25 | 2013-04-25 | Infineon Technologies Ag | Device for processing a carrier and a method for processing a carrier |
US20140060739A1 (en) * | 2012-08-31 | 2014-03-06 | Rajinder Dhindsa | Rf ground return in plasma processing systems and methods therefor |
WO2015169385A1 (en) * | 2014-05-09 | 2015-11-12 | Ev Group E. Thallner Gmbh | Method and device for plasma treatment of substrates |
CN105789010B (en) * | 2014-12-24 | 2017-11-10 | 中微半导体设备(上海)有限公司 | Plasma processing apparatus and the adjusting method of plasma distribution |
CN110249416B (en) | 2017-04-07 | 2023-09-12 | 应用材料公司 | Plasma density control at substrate edge |
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JPS5723227A (en) * | 1980-07-17 | 1982-02-06 | Nippon Telegr & Teleph Corp <Ntt> | Plasma etching device |
JPS61164271U (en) * | 1985-04-01 | 1986-10-11 | ||
JPH03138382A (en) * | 1989-10-20 | 1991-06-12 | Nissin Electric Co Ltd | Reactive ion etching device |
US5508881A (en) * | 1994-02-01 | 1996-04-16 | Quality Microcircuits Corporation | Capacitors and interconnect lines for use with integrated circuits |
TW299559B (en) * | 1994-04-20 | 1997-03-01 | Tokyo Electron Co Ltd | |
US5585012A (en) * | 1994-12-15 | 1996-12-17 | Applied Materials Inc. | Self-cleaning polymer-free top electrode for parallel electrode etch operation |
JP2953974B2 (en) * | 1995-02-03 | 1999-09-27 | 松下電子工業株式会社 | Method for manufacturing semiconductor device |
JPH08321488A (en) * | 1995-05-26 | 1996-12-03 | Sony Corp | Dry etching method and magnetron rie equipment |
US5567640A (en) * | 1996-01-11 | 1996-10-22 | Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation | Method for fabricating T-shaped capacitors in DRAM cells |
US6017825A (en) * | 1996-03-29 | 2000-01-25 | Lam Research Corporation | Etch rate loading improvement |
US5705438A (en) * | 1996-10-18 | 1998-01-06 | Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation | Method for manufacturing stacked dynamic random access memories using reduced photoresist masking steps |
US5731130A (en) * | 1996-11-12 | 1998-03-24 | Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation | Method for fabricating stacked capacitors on dynamic random access memory cells |
US5792693A (en) * | 1997-03-07 | 1998-08-11 | Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation | Method for producing capacitors having increased surface area for dynamic random access memory |
US5780338A (en) * | 1997-04-11 | 1998-07-14 | Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation | Method for manufacturing crown-shaped capacitors for dynamic random access memory integrated circuits |
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US5895250A (en) * | 1998-06-11 | 1999-04-20 | Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation | Method of forming semicrown-shaped stacked capacitors for dynamic random access memory |
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US6770166B1 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2004-08-03 | Lam Research Corp. | Apparatus and method for radio frequency de-coupling and bias voltage control in a plasma reactor |
US6527911B1 (en) * | 2001-06-29 | 2003-03-04 | Lam Research Corporation | Configurable plasma volume etch chamber |
US6984288B2 (en) * | 2001-08-08 | 2006-01-10 | Lam Research Corporation | Plasma processor in plasma confinement region within a vacuum chamber |
US6717193B2 (en) * | 2001-10-09 | 2004-04-06 | Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. | Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor structure and methods of fabricating same |
US6841943B2 (en) * | 2002-06-27 | 2005-01-11 | Lam Research Corp. | Plasma processor with electrode simultaneously responsive to plural frequencies |
US7405521B2 (en) * | 2003-08-22 | 2008-07-29 | Lam Research Corporation | Multiple frequency plasma processor method and apparatus |
-
2005
- 2005-06-13 US US11/152,016 patent/US20060278339A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
2006
- 2006-06-12 CN CN2006800208380A patent/CN101194340B/en active Active
- 2006-06-12 KR KR1020137002561A patent/KR20130023390A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2006-06-12 JP JP2008516039A patent/JP4970434B2/en active Active
- 2006-06-12 SG SG201004056-6A patent/SG162771A1/en unknown
- 2006-06-12 WO PCT/US2006/023114 patent/WO2006135924A1/en active Application Filing
- 2006-06-12 KR KR1020077029150A patent/KR101283830B1/en active IP Right Grant
- 2006-06-13 TW TW095121069A patent/TWI397100B/en active
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US20060278339A1 (en) | 2006-12-14 |
SG162771A1 (en) | 2010-07-29 |
JP2008544500A (en) | 2008-12-04 |
KR101283830B1 (en) | 2013-07-08 |
WO2006135924A1 (en) | 2006-12-21 |
CN101194340A (en) | 2008-06-04 |
KR20130023390A (en) | 2013-03-07 |
TWI397100B (en) | 2013-05-21 |
CN101194340B (en) | 2011-12-28 |
KR20080019225A (en) | 2008-03-03 |
TW200713389A (en) | 2007-04-01 |
JP4970434B2 (en) | 2012-07-04 |
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