The present invention relates to a member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
In a known member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in the related art, an electrostatic chuck having a wafer placement surface is provided on a cooling device. For example, the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus in PTL 1 includes: a gas supply hole provided in a cooling device; a recess section provided in an electrostatic chuck so as to communicate with the gas supply hole; pores penetrating from the bottom surface of the recess section to a wafer placement surface; and a porous plug composed of an insulating material filled in the recess section. When a back side gas such as helium is introduced into the gas supply hole, the gas is supplied to the space on the rear-surface side of the wafer through the gas supply hole, the porous plug and the pores.
PTL 1: JP 2013-232640 A
However, in the above-mentioned member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the bottom of the recess section of the ceramic plate included in the electrostatic chuck is provided with pores, thus, it has been difficult in machining to reduce the length of the pores in an up-down direction.
The present invention has been devised to address such a problem, and it is a main object to improve machinability of pores that allow the wafer placement surface and the upper surface of the porous plug to communicate with each other.
The member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes: a ceramic plate having a wafer placement surface as an upper surface; a porous plug that is disposed in a plug insertion hole penetrating the ceramic plate in an up-down direction, and allows a gas to flow; an insulating lid that is provided in contact with an upper surface of the porous plug, and exposed to the wafer placement surface; and a plurality of pores penetrating the insulating lid in an up-down direction.
In the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the insulating lid which is a separate body from the ceramic plate is provided with a plurality of pores. Thus, the machinability of the pores is improved, as compared to when the ceramic plate is directly provided with a plurality of pores.
In the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the insulating lid may be a thermal spray film or a ceramic bulk body. Under this condition, the insulating lid can be manufactured relatively easily.
In the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the wafer placement surface may have a large number of small projections that support a wafer, an upper surface of the insulating lid may be at the same height as a reference surface of the wafer placement surface, the reference surface being not provided with the small projections, and the pores may have a length of 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less in an up-down direction. In this manner, the height of the space between the rear surface of the wafer and the upper surface of the porous plug is maintained at a low level, thus it is possible to prevent arc discharge from occurring in the space. In this case, the insulating lid may be a ceramic bulk body, and may have a rear surface bonded to the ceramic plate via an adhesive layer. In this manner, deterioration of the adhesive layer is also prevented. This is because an arc discharge in the space between the rear surface of the wafer and the upper surface of the porous plug is prevented. Note that the height of a reference surface may vary by small projection. The height of a reference surface may be the same as the height of the bottom surface of a small projection closest to the plug insertion hole.
In the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the pores may have a diameter of 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less, and the insulating lid may be provided with the pores that are five or more in number. In this setting, the gas supplied to the porous plug smoothly flows to the rear surface of the wafer.
In the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the plug insertion hole may have a female thread portion on an inner peripheral surface, and the porous plug may have a male thread portion to be screwed into the female thread portion, on an outer peripheral surface. In this manner, the porous plug can be disposed in the plug insertion hole without using a bonding adhesive. In an area where the male thread portion is screwed into the female thread portion, a vertical gap is unlikely to occur and a creepage distance is increased, thus, electrical discharge can be sufficiently prevented in the area.
In the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the porous plug may have an enlarged-diameter section that has a larger diameter at a lower position. In this manner, the porous plug can be prevented from floating due to the pressure of a gas supplied from the lower surface of the porous plug.
In the member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the outer shape of the insulating lid and the porous plug may be a circle, and the outer diameter of the insulating lid may be larger than the outer diameter of the porous plug. In this manner, the adhesion area between the insulating lid and the ceramic plate is increased, thus the adhesiveness between the two becomes favorable.
The member for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention may include: a conductive substrate provided in the lower surface of the ceramic plate; and a communication hole provided in the conductive substrate to communicate with the porous plug. The lower surface of the porous plug may be located inside the communication hole. In this manner, it is possible to prevent arc discharge from occurring between the lower surface of the porous plug and the conductive substrate.
Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The member 10 for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a ceramic plate 20, a cooling plate 30, a metal joining layer 40, a porous plug 50, an insulating lid 56, and an insulating pipe 60.
The ceramic plate 20 is a ceramic circular plate (for example, a diameter of 300 mm, a thickness of 5 mm) such as an alumina sintered body and an aluminum nitride sintered body. The upper surface of the ceramic plate 20 is a wafer placement surface 21. An electrode 22 is embedded in the ceramic plate 20. As illustrated in
The plug insertion hole 24 is a through-hole that penetrates the ceramic plate 20 in an up-down direction. As illustrated in
The cooling plate 30 is a circular plate (circular plate with a diameter equal to or larger than the diameter of the ceramic plate 20) having a favorable thermal conductivity. A refrigerant flow path 32 through which a refrigerant circulates and a gas hole 34 for supplying a gas to the porous plug 50 are formed inside the cooling plate 30. The refrigerant flow path 32 is formed in the entirety of the cooling plate 30 in a plan view from an entrance to an exit in a one-stroke pattern. The gas hole 34 is a hole in a cylindrical shape, and is provided at a position opposed to the plug insertion hole 24. The material for the cooling plate 30 includes, for example, a metal material and a metal matrix composite (MMC). The metal material includes Al, Ti, Mo or an alloy of these. The MMC includes a material containing Si, SiC and Ti (also referred to as SiSiCTi) and a material obtained by impregnating a SiC porous body with Al and/or Si. As the material for the cooling plate 30, it is preferable to select a material with a thermal expansion coefficient closer to that of the material for the ceramic plate 20. The cooling plate 30 is also used as an RF electrode. Specifically, an upper electrode (not illustrated) is disposed above the wafer placement surface 21, and when high-frequency power is applied to parallel plate electrodes comprised of the upper electrode and the cooling plate 30, a plasma is generated.
The metal joining layer 40 joins the lower surface of the ceramic plate 20 to the upper surface of the cooling plate 30. The metal joining layer 40 is formed, for example, by thermal compression bonding (TCB). The TCB is a publicly known method in which a metal joining material is inserted between two members to be joined, and the two members are pressure-bonded with heated at a temperature lower than or equal to the solidus temperature of the metal joining material. The metal joining layer 40 has a circular hole 42 penetrating the metal joining layer 40 in an up-down direction at a position opposed to the gas hole 34. The metal joining layer 40 and the cooling plate 30 of this embodiment correspond to the conductive substrate of the present invention, and the circular hole 42 and the gas hole 34 correspond to the communication hole.
The porous plug 50 is a plug that allows a gas to flow, and is disposed in the plug insertion hole 24. The outer peripheral surface of the porous plug 50 conforms (is in contact with) the inner peripheral surface of the plug insertion hole 24. The porous plug 50 is in a cylindrical shape, and has a male thread portion 52 on an outer peripheral surface. The male thread portion 52 is screwed into the female thread portion 24b of the plug insertion hole 24. The upper surface of the porous plug 50 conforms the bottom surface of the cylindrical member 24a of the plug insertion hole 24. A lower surface 50b of the porous plug 50 conforms a lower surface 20b of the ceramic plate 20. In this embodiment, the porous plug 50 is a porous bulk body obtained through sintering using ceramic powder. As a ceramic, for example, alumina and aluminum nitride may be used. The porosity of the porous plug 50 is preferably 30% or more, and the average pore diameter is preferably 20 µm or more.
The insulating lid 56 is a circular plate member composed of ceramic (such as alumina). The insulating lid 56 is provided inside the cylindrical member 24a of the plug insertion hole 24 so as to be in contact with the upper surface of the porous plug 50, and is exposed to the wafer placement surface 21. The upper surface of the insulating lid 56 is at the same height as the reference surface 21c. The insulating lid 56 has a plurality of pores 58. The pores 58 are provided to penetrate the insulating lid 56 in an up-down direction. The length (the thickness of the insulating lid 56) of the pores 58 in an up-down direction is preferably, 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less, more preferably, 0.05 mm or more and 0.2 mm or less, and particularly preferably, 0.05 mm or more and 0.1 mm or less in a device in which a high voltage is applied. The diameter of the pores 58 is preferably, 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less, more preferably, 0.1 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less, and further preferably, 0.1 mm or more and 0.2 mm or less. The insulating lid 56 is preferably provided with the pores 58 that are five or more in number, and more preferably provided with the pores 58 that are 10 or more in number. The insulating lid 56 may be dense or porous, but is preferably dense.
The insulating pipe 60 is a circular pipe in a plan view, composed of dense ceramic (such as dense alumina). The outer peripheral surface of the insulating pipe 60 is bonded to the inner peripheral surface of the circular hole 42 of the metal joining layer 40 and the inner peripheral surface of the gas hole 34 of the cooling plate 30 via an adhesive layer which is not illustrated. The adhesive layer may be an organic adhesive layer (resin adhesive layer), or an inorganic adhesive layer. Note that the adhesive layer may be further provided between the upper surface of the insulating pipe 60 and the lower surface of the ceramic plate 20. The inside of the insulating pipe 60 communicates with the porous plug 50. Therefore, when a gas is introduced to the inside of the insulating pipe 60, the gas is supplied to the rear surface of the wafer W through the porous plug 50.
Next, an example of use of thus configured member 10 for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus will be described. First, a wafer W is placed on the wafer placement surface 21 with the member 10 for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus installed in a chamber which is not illustrated. The pressure in the chamber is then reduced and adjusted by a vacuum pump to achieve a predetermined degree of vacuum, and a DC voltage is applied to the electrode 22 of the ceramic plate 20 to generate an electrostatic adsorption force and cause the wafer W to be absorbed and fixed to the wafer placement surface 21 (specifically, the upper surface of the seal band 21a and the upper surfaces of the small circular projections 21b). Next, a reactive gas atmosphere with a predetermined pressure (for example, several 10s to several 100s of Pa) is formed in the chamber, and in this state, a high-frequency voltage is applied across an upper electrode (not illustrated) provided in a ceiling portion in the chamber and the cooling plate 30 of the member 10 for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to generate a plasma. The surface of the wafer W is processed by the generated plasma. A refrigerant is circulated through the refrigerant flow path 32 of the cooling plate 30. A back side gas is introduced into the gas hole 34 from a gas cylinder which is not illustrated. A heat transfer gas (for example, helium) is used as the back side gas. The back side gas is supplied and enclosed in the space between the rear surface of the wafer W and the reference surface 21c of the wafer placement surface 21 through the insulating pipe 60, the porous plug 50 and the plurality of pores 58. Heat is efficiently transferred between the wafer W and the ceramic plate 20 due to the presence of the back side gas.
Next, a manufacturing example of the member 10 for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus will be described with reference to
The lower surface of the ceramic plate 20 and the upper surface of the cooling plate 30 are joined by TCB to obtain a joined body 94 (
Subsequently, the insulating pipe 60 is prepared, and after a bonding adhesive is applied to the inner peripheral surface of the circular hole 42 of the metal joining layer 40 and the inner peripheral surface of the gas hole 34 of the cooling plate 30, the insulating pipe 60 is inserted into those holes, and bonded and fixed to the circular hole 42 and the gas hole 34 (
Subsequently, the porous plug 50 (porous bulk body) including the male thread portion 52 is prepared (
The male thread portion 52 of the porous plug 50 is screwed into the female thread portion 24b of the plug insertion hole 24 to bring the lower surface of the porous plug 50 into contact with the upper surface (the lower surface of the ceramic plate 20) of the insulating pipe 60 (
Subsequently, a thermal spray film 96 is formed by spraying ceramic powder to the upper surface of the porous plug 50 (
Subsequently, grinding process (machining process) is performed so that the upper surface of the thermal spray film 96 is flush with the reference surface 21c (see
In the member 10 for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus described in detail above, the insulating lid 56, which is a separate body from the ceramic plate 20, is provided with the plurality of pores 58. Therefore, the machinability of the pores is improved, as compared to when the ceramic plate 20 is directly provided with a plurality of pores.
The insulating lid 56 is a thermal spray film. Thus, the insulating lid 56 can be produced relatively easily. Note that the thermal spray film may be porous or may be dense. When a porous film is used, the porosity is preferably 10 to 15%.
Furthermore, the upper surface of the insulating lid 56 is at the same height as the reference surface 21c of the wafer placement surface 21, and the length of the pores 58 in an up-down direction is preferably 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less. When the length is 0.01 mm or more, favorable machinability is likely to be secured. In addition, when the length is 0.5 mm or less, the height of the space between the rear surface of the wafer W and the upper surface of the porous plug 50 is maintained at a low level, thus it is possible to prevent arc discharge from occurring in the space. Incidentally, when the height of the space is high, arc discharge occurs when electrons generated due to ionization of helium (back side gas) are accelerated to collide with other helium. However, when the height of the space is low, such an arc discharge is prevented.
Furthermore, the diameter of the pores 58 is preferably, 0.01 mm or more and 0.5 mm or less, and the insulating lid 56 is preferably provided with the pores 58 that are five or more in number. In this setting, the back side gas supplied to the porous plug 50 smoothly flows to the rear surface of the wafer W.
The plug insertion hole 24 has the female thread portion 24b on the inner peripheral surface, and the porous plug 50 has the male thread portion 52 to be screwed into the female thread portion 24b on the outer peripheral surface. Therefore, the porous plug 50 can be disposed in the plug insertion hole 24 without using a bonding adhesive. Furthermore, in an area where the male thread portion 52 is screwed into the female thread portion 24b, a vertical gap is unlikely to occur and a creepage distance is increased, as compared to when no thread is provided. Thus, electrical discharge can be sufficiently prevented in the area.
In addition, the upper surface of the porous plug 50 is covered by the insulating lid 56 provided with the pores 58, thus occurrence of particles from the porous plug 50 can be prevented.
Still furthermore, the gas hole 34 is provided with the insulating pipe 60, thus the creepage distance between the wafer W and the cooling plate 30 is increased. Therefore, occurrence of creeping discharge (spark discharge) in the porous plug 50 can be prevented.
Furthermore, the outer shape of the insulating lid 56 and the porous plug 50 is a circle, and the outer diameter of the insulating lid 56 is larger than that of the porous plug 50. Consequently, the adhesion area between the insulating lid 56 and the ceramic plate 20 is increased, thus the adhesiveness between the two becomes favorable.
Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and can be implemented in various modes within the technical scope of the present invention.
In the embodiment described above, as the insulating lid 56, a thermal spray film is used, but the insulating lid 56 is not particularly limited to a thermal spray film. For example, as illustrated in
In the above embodiment, the lower surface 50b of the porous plug 50 conforms the lower surface 20b of the ceramic plate 20; however, the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, as illustrated in
In the above embodiment, the insulating pipe 60 is used; however, instead of the insulating pipe 60, an insulating plug 160 in which a gas passage 162 illustrated in
Instead of the porous plug 50 of the above embodiment, porous plugs 150 to 650 illustrated in
In the above embodiment, the insulating lid 56 has a circular plate shape with an upper base and a lower base in the same size which is larger than the upper surface of the porous plug 50; however, the shape of the insulating lid 56 may be as illustrated in
In the above embodiment, the insulating lid 56 has a circular plate shape with an upper base and a lower base in the same size; however, the insulating lid 56 may be an inverted circular truncated cone with an upper base larger than a lower base. In this case, the cylindrical member 24a of the plug insertion hole 24 is a space in an inverted circular truncated cone shape. In this manner, when the insulating lid 56 is formed with thermal spray films, the cylindrical member 24a of the plug insertion hole 24 is likely to be filled with thermal spray films. In addition, the contact area between the insulating lid 56 and the cylindrical member 24a of the plug insertion hole 24 is increased, thus the adhesiveness between the insulating lid 56 and the plug insertion hole 24 is improved.
In the above embodiment, the male thread portion 52 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the porous plug 50, the female thread portion 24b is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the plug insertion hole 24, and the male thread portion 52 is screwed into the female thread portion 24b; however, the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, the male thread portion 52 may not be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the porous plug 50, and the female thread portion 24b may not be formed on the inner peripheral surface of the plug insertion hole 24. In this case, the outer peripheral surface of the porous plug 50 and the inner peripheral surface of the plug insertion hole 24 may be bonded by a bonding adhesive (an organic bonding adhesive or an inorganic bonding adhesive may be used). However, it is difficult to fill the space between the outer peripheral surface of the porous plug 50 and the inner peripheral surface of the plug insertion hole 24 with a bonding adhesive without creating a gap. When a gap is created, electric discharge may occur in the gap. Thus, the structure (structure in which the male thread portion 52 is screwed into the female thread portion 24b) of the above embodiment is more preferable.
In the above embodiment, the insulating pipe 60 is provided; however, the insulating pipe 60 may be omitted. Alternatively, instead of providing the cooling plate 30 with the gas hole 34, a gas channel structure may be provided. As the gas channel structure, a structure may be adopted which includes: a ring section provided inside the cooling plate 30 and concentric therewith in a plan view; an introduction section for introducing a gas from the rear surface of the cooling plate 30 to the ring section; and a distribution section (corresponding to the above-described gas hole 34) that distributes a gas from the ring section to each porous plug 50. The number of introduction sections may be smaller than the number of distribution sections, and may be one, for example.
In the above embodiment, an electrostatic electrode is illustrated as the electrode 22 to be embedded in the ceramic plate 20; however, the configuration is not limited thereto. For example, in replacement of or in addition to the electrode 22, a heater electrode (resistance heating element) may be embedded in the ceramic plate 20, or an RF electrode may be embedded therein.
In the above embodiment, the ceramic plate 20 and the cooling plate 30 are joined by the metal joining layer 40; however, a resin adhesive layer may be used in replacement of the metal joining layer 40. In this case, the cooling plate 30 corresponds to the conductive substrate of the present invention.
The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-007943, filed on Jan. 21, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2022-007943 | Jan 2022 | JP | national |