Patent Grant
7445690
The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus for performing a plasma process such as an etching on a substrate to be processed.
In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, a plasma processing apparatus such as a plasma etching apparatus and a plasma CVD film forming apparatus has been employed to perform a plasma process, e.g., an etching process or a film forming process, on a substrate to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer and a glass substrate.
There are well-known plasma generating methods used in the plasma processing apparatus, e.g., a method including steps of supplying a processing gas into a chamber with parallel plate electrodes disposed therein; feeding a specific power to the parallel plate electrodes; and generating a plasma by capacitive coupling between the electrodes and a method including steps of accelerating electrons by an electric field produced by a microwave which is introduced into a chamber and a magnetic field generated by a magnetic field generating unit which is installed outside the chamber; colliding the accelerated electrons with neutral molecules of a processing gas; and generating a plasma by ionization of the neutral molecules, or the like.
In the latter method utilizing a magnetron effect due to the electric field produced by the microwave and the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating unit, a predetermined specific power microwave is supplied to an antenna disposed in the chamber through a waveguide/coaxial tube so that the microwave is emitted into a processing space in the chamber.
However, the microwave oscillator 91 using the magnetron 91a has a drawback such as the high cost for the equipment and the maintenance thereof due to a short life of about half a year of the magnetron 91a. Further, since the magnetron 91a has oscillation stability of approximately 1% and output stability of approximately 3%, resulting in a large difference therebetween, it is difficult to transmit a stable microwave.
The present invention has been conceived to overcome the above drawbacks; and it is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a plasma processing apparatus provided with a microwave oscillator having a long life. Further, it is another object of the present invention to provide a plasma processing apparatus provided with a microwave oscillator capable of stably supplying a microwave.
First, in order to overcome the above drawbacks, the present inventors have proposed a plasma processing apparatus for amplifying the microwave to have a predetermined specific output by using a semiconductor amplifying device (Patent Application No. 2002-288769, hereinafter, referred to as “prior application”).
The microwave introducing unit 80 includes a microwave oscillator 80a for oscillating to generate the microwave of a predetermined specific power; an isolator 85 for absorbing a microwave, among the microwaves outputted from the microwave oscillator 80a, which returns to the microwave oscillator 80a from the antenna 87; an antenna 87 provided in a chamber for emitting a microwave which is outputted through the isolator 85 into a processing space in the chamber; and a matcher 86 for performing matching for the antenna 87 to reduce the microwave reflected from the antenna 87.
Further, the microwave oscillator 80a includes a microwave generator 81 for generating the microwave; a divider 82 for dividing the microwave outputted from the microwave generator 81 into a plurality of microwaves, e.g., into four to be distributed along four paths as shown in
The microwave generator 81 has a microwave generating source (generator) 81a for generating a microwave of a predetermined frequency (e.g., 2.45 GHz) and a variable attenuator 81b for attenuating a power of the microwave generated by the microwave generating source 81a to a specified level.
Each solid state amplifier 83 has a sub-divider 83a for further dividing an input microwave into a plurality of microwaves (four shown in
By using such microwave introducing unit wherein each semiconductor amplifying device 83b performs power amplification, the apparatus becomes semipermanent and a microwave of a stable output power can be emitted into the chamber.
However, in such microwave introducing unit 80, there is a need to perform impedance matching in the divider 82 and the combiner 84, in addition to impedance matching in the solid state amplifier 83. In case of impedance mismatching, power loss can be increased. Particularly, there is a need to transmit the microwave of 2 to 3 kW to, e.g., the antenna 87 in a plasma processing apparatus and the combiner 84 is required to combine the microwaves of large power in the microwave introducing unit 80. For this reason, especially, in the combiner 84, a more precise impedance matching is required to suppress the power loss of the microwave.
Further, in order to transmit the large power microwave outputted from the combiner 84 to the isolator 85, the isolator 85 needs to be large-sized in a few KW range, resulting in restricting the place where the isolator 85 is to be installed and further resulting in a high cost for the isolator 85 itself. Furthermore, since the combined microwave is transmitted to the antenna 87 through a single coaxial tube, it is not possible to control the distribution of the microwave outputted from the antenna 87.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to overcome such drawbacks of the microwave introducing unit in the above-mentioned prior application, that is, an increase in transfer loss, an oversized unit for supplying the microwave, and the loss of control over power distribution of the emitted microwave.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing apparatus, including a chamber for containing a substrate to be processed; a gas supply unit for supplying a processing gas into the chamber; and a microwave introducing unit for introducing plasma generating microwaves into the chamber, the microwave introducing unit having a microwave oscillator for outputting a plurality of microwaves having specified outputs; and an antenna section having a plurality of antennas to which the microwaves outputted from the microwave oscillator are respectively transmitted.
In accordance with the present invention, since the microwaves are transmitted to respective antennas included in the antenna section, it is not necessary to combine high power microwaves in the transmission line leading to the antenna section. Thus, a combiner is not needed to thereby be able to completely avoid the power loss due to the combiner. Further, since it is possible to lower the powers of microwaves transmitted to respective antennas, there is no need to use an isolator for a high power. Accordingly, the microwave oscillator need not be large-sized. Further, since microwaves having different powers from each other can be supplied to a plurality of antennas included in the antenna section, it becomes possible to control the output distribution of the microwave emitted from the antenna.
Preferably, the microwave oscillator has a microwave generator for generating a low power microwave; a divider for dividing the microwave generated from the microwave generator into a plurality of microwaves; and a plurality of amplifier sections for amplifying respective microwaves divided by the divider to specified powers, wherein a plurality of microwaves outputted from the plurality of amplifier sections are respectively transmitted to the plurality of antennas.
In this case, if each of the plurality of amplifier sections has a variable attenuator for attenuating a microwave outputted from the divider to a predetermined level; a solid state amplifier for amplifying a microwave outputted from the variable attenuator to a specified power; an isolator for separating a reflected microwave returning to the solid state amplifier from a microwave which is outputted from the solid state amplifier to the antenna; and a matcher for regulating a power of the reflected microwave, microwaves of different powers can be supplied to respective antennas by regulating an attenuation rate in each variable attenuator. Accordingly, it is possible to control the distribution of a plasma generated in the chamber.
The isolator may have a dummy load for converting the reflected microwave into heat; and a circulator for leading a microwave outputted from the solid state amplifier to the antenna and leading a reflected microwave from the antenna to the dummy load.
In this case, the power of the microwave outputted from a single solid state amplifier is not extremely large such that it is possible to use a small-sized isolator to thereby cut down on manufacturing costs of the apparatus.
The solid state amplifier has a sub-divider for dividing an input microwave into a multiplicity of microwaves; a multiplicity of semiconductor amplifying devices for respectively amplifying the multiplicity of microwaves outputted from the sub-divider to respectively specified powers; and a combiner for combining microwaves whose powers are amplified by the multiplicity of semiconductor amplifying devices. As the semiconductor amplifying devices, power MOSFETs, GaAsFETs, GeSi transistors or the like are used appropriately.
Since a power of a low power microwave is amplified by a semiconductor amplifying device without using a magnetron, the amplifier section can be semipermanent. Consequently, equipment costs and maintenance costs can be cut down. Further, the semiconductor amplifying device has an excellent output stability and therefore a stable microwave can be emitted into the chamber. Thus, a plasma is generated in a satisfactory condition, thereby improving quality in processing the substrate. Furthermore, in this case, a range of output control for the amplifier section is wide (0 to 100%) and the control becomes easy.
The antenna section may has a circular antenna provided at a center thereof; plural approximately fan-shaped antennas which surrounds a periphery of the circular antenna; and a dividing plate for dividing the circular antenna and the plural approximately fan-shaped antennas from each other. Each antenna may have a wave delay plate, a cooling plate and a slot plate. Further, it is preferable that the dividing plate is a metal member and grounded.
In this case, it is preferable that the circular antenna is provided with first slots of a predetermined length disposed along a circle located inwardly by λg/4 from the periphery of the circular antenna and second slots of a specified length disposed on one or more concentric circles located inwardly at intervals of λg/2 from the first slots. Further, it is preferable that each of the plural approximately fan-shaped antennas is provided with third slots of a preset length located inwardly by λg/4 from respective boundaries between the approximately fan-shaped antennas and fourth slots of a specific length located inwardly at intervals of λg/2 from the third slots. Thus, the microwave can be effectively emitted into the chamber.
The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments, given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The plasma etching apparatus 1 includes a chamber 11 for containing the wafer W therein; a gas inlet opening 26 provided in the chamber 11; a gas supply unit 27 which supplies a processing gas (e.g., Cl2) for producing a plasma into the chamber 11 through the gas inlet opening 26; a gas exhaust port 24 installed in the chamber 11; a gas exhaust unit 25 for exhausting an inside of the chamber 11 through the gas exhaust port 24; a substrate support stage 23 for supporting the wafer W in the chamber 11; an air core coil 21 for generating a magnetic field in a processing space 20 inside the chamber 11; and the microwave introducing unit 50 for supplying a microwave into the chamber 11.
The microwave introducing unit 50 includes a microwave oscillator 30 for outputting a plurality of microwaves (four paths shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,), each having a predetermined output, and an antenna section 13 having antennas 13a, 13b, 13c and 13d (the antenna 13d not shown in
The microwave oscillator 30 includes a microwave generator 31 for generating a low power microwave; a divider 32 for dividing the microwave outputted from the microwave generator 31 into a plurality of microwaves (four shown in
The microwave generator 31 generates the microwave of a predetermined frequency (e.g., 2.45 GHz). The divider 32 divides the microwave during impedance matching between an input side and an output side such that any loss of the microwave rarely occurs.
As shown in
The variable attenuator 41 regulates a power level of the microwave which is inputted to the solid state amplifier 42. That is, an attenuation level is regulated in the variable attenuator 41 such that the power of the microwave outputted from the solid state amplifier 42 is regulated.
The variable attenuator 41 is individually installed in each of the four amplifier sections 33. Accordingly, attenuation rates of the variable attenuators 41 are individually changed, whereby powers of the microwaves outputted from the four amplifier sections 33 can be different from one another. In other words, the microwave oscillator 30 can supply the microwaves of different powers to the antennas 13a to 13d, respectively. Thus, plasmas of various distributions as well as a uniform plasma can be generated in the chamber 11.
The solid state amplifier 42 includes a sub-divider 42a for further dividing the input microwave into a plurality of microwaves (four shown in
The sub-divider 42a has the same configuration as the divider 32. For example, Power MOSFET is employed as the semiconductor amplifying device 42b. A maximum power of the microwave outputted from one semiconductor amplifying device 42b is, e.g., 100 W to 150 W, whereas a total power of the microwave that needs to be supplied to the antenna section 13 is generally 1000 to 3000 W. Thus, the attenuation rate of the variable attenuator 41 in each amplifier section 33 can be regulated such that average 250 to 750 W microwaves are transmitted to the antennas 13a to 13d, respectively.
The combiner 42c combines the microwaves outputted from respective semiconductor amplifying devices 42b during impedance matching. At this time, circuits such as Wilkinson type, Branch line type, and Sorter balun type can be used as the matching circuit.
The microwaves outputted from the solid state amplifiers 42 are sent to respective antennas 13a to 13d in the antenna section 13 through the respective isolators 43 and the matchers 44. At this time, portions of the microwaves return (are reflected and come) to the respective solid state amplifiers 42 from the antennas 13a to 13d. Each isolator 43 has a circulator 43a and dummy load 43b, and the circulator 43a leads the reflected microwave going back to the solid state amplifier 42 from a corresponding one of the antennas 13a to 13d to the dummy load (coaxial termination) 43b. The dummy load 43b converts the reflected microwave led by the circulator 43a into heat.
As described with reference to
The matcher 44 has a tuner for performing matching on a corresponding one of the antennas 13a to 13d in order to reduce the reflected microwave led to the dummy load 43b. The microwaves are respectively transferred from the matchers 44 to feeding points 60a to 60d provided in the antennas 13a to 13d through outer conductive coaxial tubes 16a and inner conductive coaxial tubes 16b (see
As shown in
It is preferable that the dividing plate 19 is a metal member and grounded. The microwaves supplied to the antennas 13a to 13d via the feeding points 60a to 60d, respectively, are totally reflected while phases thereof are rotated 180 degrees by the dividing plate 19. In short, the microwaves are not transferred among the antennas 13a to 13d. Each of the antennas 13a to 13d independently emits the microwave into the processing space 20. The microwave is reflected by the dividing plate 19 to thereby generate a standing wave on each of the wave delay plates 17a and 17b. Thus, when narrow and long slots perpendicular to proceeding directions of the standing waves are formed at positions of the slot plates 14a, 14b corresponding to antinodes in the standing waves, the microwave can be emitted into the processing space 20 effectively by the slots.
Let a wavelength of the microwave be λ1; and a relative dielectric constant of the wave delay plates 17a and 17b, ∈r; and define λg=λ1/∈r1/2. As shown in
The microwaves emitted from the slots 61a to 61d formed on the slot plates 14a and 14b pass through the microwave transmissive insulating plate 15 and then reach the processing space 20 to form an electric field of the microwaves therein. At the same time, when a magnetic field is generated in the processing space by operating the air core coil 21, a plasma can be produced effectively by a magnetron effect. However, the air core coil 21 is not necessarily needed and a plasma can be also generated only by the microwaves emitted from the antenna section 13.
In accordance with the plasma etching apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, since the microwave having a stable power can be supplied to the processing space 20 by the microwave introducing unit 50, a plasma can be generated stably in the processing space 20 to thereby improve the processing quality of the wafer W. Further, the microwave can be emitted with a predetermined power distribution such that a plasma can be produced with a predetermined specific distribution. For example, a process can be performed by a plasma having a density in a central portion different from that in a peripheral portion.
As for an outside diameter of the entire antenna section 13, a shape of each of antennas 13a to 13d, a position of each slot, a general technique for designing a disc shaped antenna can be employed. Hereinafter, a method for designing a disc shaped antenna will be described in brief.
The wave delay plate 72 is flat ring shaped and has an inside diameter of 2×r, an outside diameter of 2×R and a thickness of h. When λ1 and ∈r designate a wavelength of the microwave and a relative dielectric constant of the wave delay plate 72 respectively and λg is defined as λg=λ1/∈r1/2, it is preferable that a width L (=R−r) of the wave delay plate 72 is approximately an integer multiple of λg. In this case, the periphery of the wave delay plate 72 corresponds to nodes of the standing wave and a first concentric circle located inwardly by λg/4 from a periphery of the wave delay plate 72 and a second concentric circle located inwardly by λg/2 from the first concentric circle correspond to positions of antinodes of the standing wave. It is preferable that positions of slots in the slot plate 71 are formed to be matched to positions of antinodes of the standing wave. Accordingly, even if characteristic impedance of the coaxial tube 74 does not correspond to that of the wave delay plate 72, it is possible to minimize the power of the reflected microwave that returns to the matcher from the antenna 70.
The thickness h of the wave delay plate 72 can be found as follows. For example, when WX-39D (EIAJ (Electronic Industries Association of Japan) Standards) is used as the coaxial tube 74, the inside diameter 2r of the wave delay plate 72 becomes 38.8 mm. The characteristic impedance of the coaxial tube 74 is generally 50 Ω, whereas the characteristic impedance Zo of parallel plate line is given by the following Equation (1). Thus, the thickness h of the wave delay plate 72 can be obtained as shown in the following Equation (2). Further, ∈ is an average dielectric constant of aluminum nitride and μ is a permeability of aluminum nitride. Here, since the aluminum nitride is an insulating material, a relative permeability μr is 1.
Hereinafter, a method of impedance matching in the antenna 70 will be described. In a circuit shown in
In order to improve the efficiency of consumption of the energy of the transmitted microwave in the load, it is necessary to have Ze=Zo. That is, a combined impedance of the load and the matcher needs to be identical to a characteristic impedance of the transmission line. But, an ignition voltage Vs to ignite the plasma is obtained by the following Equation (5) describing a relation between pressure P and gap (discharge distance) L based on Paschen's law.
Vs=f(p·L) (5)
When the gap L is fixed, the ignition voltage is determined from the Equation (5). Further, from the Equation (3), when Ze is greater than Zo (Ze>Zo), it is feasible to make the voltage Vo of the loading point higher.
Therefore, for example, in order to shorten a processing time, as shown in Smith chart of
As described above, even though the present invention has been described in accordance with the above embodiment, it is not limited thereto. For example, a circuit configuration of the microwave oscillator 30 or a circuit configuration of the solid state amplifier 42 can be varied without being limited to that shown in
For example, when it is not necessary to make the distribution of the microwave emitted from the antenna section 13 non-uniform, areas of the antennas 13a to 13d, from which the microwaves are emitted, are made equal to each other to thereby provide a variable attenuator between the microwave generator 31 and divider 32 without providing the variable attenuator 41 in each amplifier section 33. Consequently, the number of variable attenuators used as components can be decreased.
Further, when microwaves of different powers are transmitted to the antennas 13a to 13d, it is possible to use amplifier sections including solid state amplifiers, each having different number of semiconductor amplifying devices. For example, an amplifier section including a solid state amplifier having four semiconductor amplifying devices can be employed to transfer a 600 W microwave to the antenna 13a, whereas amplifier sections including solid state amplifiers having two semiconductor amplifying devices 42 can be employed to transfer 300 W microwaves to the antennas 13b to 13d.
The antenna section 13 is not limited to the one including four antennas 13a to 13d and may include more or less than four antennas. Further, an antenna is not limited to be circular or approximately fan-shaped as shown in
An etching process has been described as an example of a plasma process, but the present invention can be applied to another plasma process such as a plasma CVD process (a film-forming process, reforming of oxynitride film and the like) and an ashing process. In this case, a processing gas suitable for an object of a process may be supplied into the chamber 11. Further, a substrate to be processed is not limited to a semiconductor wafer W and may be an LCD substrate, a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate and the like.
While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-293529 | Oct 2002 | JP | national |
This application is a Continuation Application of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP03/12792 filed on Oct. 6, 2003, which designated the United States.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20050160987 A1 | Jul 2005 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP03/12792 | Oct 2003 | US |
| Child | 11088811 | US |
