Plasma processing methods and apparatus

Abstract

To move an article in and out of plasma during plasma processing, the article is rotated by a first drive around a first axis, and the first drive is itself rotated by a second drive. As a result, the article enters the plasma at different angles for different positions of the first axis. The plasma cross-section at the level at which the plasma contacts the article is asymmetric so that those points on the article that move at a greater linear velocity (due to being farther from the first axis) move longer distances through the plasma. As a result, the plasma processing time becomes more uniform for different points on the article surface. In some embodiments, two shuttles are provided for loading and unloading the plasma processing system. One of the shuttles stands empty waiting to unload the processed articles from the system, while the other shuttle holds unprocessed articles waiting to load them into the system. After the plasma processing terminates, the empty shuttle unloads processed articles from the system, takes the articles away, and gets unloaded and reloaded with unprocessed articles. Meanwhile, the other shuttle loads unprocessed articles into the system and the plasma processing begins. Since the plasma processing system does not wait for the first shuttle, the productivity of the system is increased.

Description

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to processing of materials, and more particularly to plasma processing.

Plasma processing is widely used to modify surface properties of materials. Thus, plasma is used in fabrication of integrated circuits to perform deposition, etch, cleaning, and rapid thermal anneal. Plasma-based surface processes are also used for hardening of surgical instruments and machine tools, and are used in aerospace, automotive, steel, biomedical, and toxic waste management industries. See, for example, M. A. Lieberman and A. J. Lichtenberg, “Principles of Plasma Discharges and Materials Processing” (1994), page 1.

A common goal in a plasma-based process design is uniform treatment of the target surface (i.e. the surface treated with plasma). It is desirable to develop systems in which the uniform processing is facilitated.

In some systems, the target article and the plasma move relative to each other, and it is desirable to facilitate precise control of this relative movement. Further, it is desirable to reduce stresses on the target articles thus reducing the possibility of damaging the target articles.

It is also desirable to increase the productivity of plasma processing systems. A plasma processing system is idle when it is being loaded with articles to be processed or when already processed articles are being unloaded. It is desirable to reduce the idle time of the plasma system.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present invention provide methods and apparatus for moving the target articles relative to the plasma so as to facilitate uniform processing of the target surfaces. In particular, some embodiments facilitate precise control of the movement of the articles relative to the plasma by reducing accelerations of the articles. Reducing the accelerations also results in reduction of stresses to which the articles are subjected.

The inventor has observed that the velocity of the target article as it moves through the plasma may have to be varied to achieve uniform plasma processing. Consider, for example, the dynamic plasma treatment (DPT) system described in Yu. M. Agrikov et al., “Dynamic Plasma Treatment of HIC (Hybrid Integrated Circuit) Substrates”, Elektronnaya Tehnika, Ser. 10, 5(71), 1988, pages 30-32, incorporated herein by reference. In that system, a target substrate is moved in and out of the plasma in a chamber maintained at atmospheric pressure. The substrate is moved by a horizontal arm rotating in a horizontal plane. The plasma flows vertically, intersecting the substrate path. The horizontal cross-section of the plasma is smaller than the substrate surface being treated. Therefore, the plasma source moves along the rotation radius to process the whole surface.

Since the substrate points that are located farther from the rotation axis move faster than the points closer to the rotation axis, the points farther from the rotation axis could be exposed to the plasma for less time than the points closer to the axis, resulting in non-uniform processing. One solution to this problem is to vary the angular velocity of the substrate as the plasma source moves along the rotation radius. Thus, when the plasma source is farther from the rotation axis, the angular velocity can be decreased to increase the time that the substrate moves through the plasma.

Another solution is to vary the velocity of the plasma source.

Both solutions need improvement. Thus, varying the angular velocity of the substrate leads to accelerations that make precise control of the angular velocity more difficult to achieve. Further, these accelerations create stresses that may damage the substrate if the substrate is fragile, for example, if the substrate is a semiconductor wafer. Therefore, for this solution, it is desirable to reduce variations of the substrate angular velocity.

Varying the velocity of the plasma source is disadvantageous because accelerations experienced by the plasma relative to immobile ambient gas can change the plasma characteristics and hence make the processing less uniform. Of note, if the processing occurs at atmospheric pressure (as does DPT), even constant-velocity movement of the plasma source can make the plasma difficult to control unless the plasma motion is very slow. Thus, it is desirable to reduce the velocity and acceleration of the plasma source, preferable down to zero.

Accordingly, in some embodiments of the present invention, target surface points that move at different velocities are caused to travel different distances through the plasma so that the faster moving points travel a longer distance. As a result, the time spent in the plasma by faster moving points approaches the time spent by slower moving points. Consequently, the accelerations needed to make the plasma processing uniform are reduced.

In some embodiments, the plasma source is stationary.

In some embodiments, these advantages are achieved as follows. The plasma flow cross-section through which the target article moves is made to have different dimensions in different directions. The target article passes through the plasma multiple times in different directions so that the points moving faster intersect the plasma along a longer dimension of the cross-section than the slower moving points. As a result, uniform treatment can be obtained with less variation of the article velocity.

In some embodiments, the plasma source is stationary. Changing the direction in which the target article intersects the plasma is achieved by rotating the drive that rotates the article so that the article rotates around a first axis which itself rotates around a second axis. The directions change because the article intersects the plasma at different positions of the first axis.

In some embodiments, the idle time of a plasma processing system is reduced by providing two loading devices. While the system processes one article or one lot of articles, one of the loading devices stands ready to unload the system. At the same time, the other loading device is being loaded with the next article or lot of articles to be processed by the system. As soon as the current processing cycle terminates, the processed articles are unloaded into the first device, and the plasma system is loaded from the second device even before the first device is itself unloaded. Meanwhile, the first device carries the processed articles to an appropriate destination, for example, a cassette for semiconductor wafers, unloads the articles, and gets loaded with unprocessed articles. At the same time, the plasma processing system starts processing the articles loaded from the second device, without waiting for the first device. Then the first and second devices switch roles, with the second device waiting to unload articles from the plasma processing system and the first device ready to load unprocessed articles into the system. Because the plasma processing system does not wait for reloading of the first device, the system idle time is reduced.

Other embodiments and variations are discussed below. The invention is defined by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plasma processing system according to the present invention.

FIGS. 2-4 are top views illustrating wafer trajectories in the system of FIG. 5 .

FIG. 5 is a top view illustrating different positions of plasma relative to a wafer in the system of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 6 shows angular velocity graphs for the system of FIG. 1 and for a prior art system.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating wafer loading equipment according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In plasma processing system 110 ( FIG. 1 ) plasma source 114 generates plasma jet 120 schematically shown by an arrow. Plasma jet 120 flows vertically upwards through an elongated opening 114 -O in source 114 . The opening 114 -O is elliptical in some embodiments. Horizontal cross sections of plasma jet 120 are also elliptical. In some embodiments, the opening 114 -O and the plasma horizontal cross sections have a shape of an elongated rectangle, perhaps with rounded corners.

Carrousel 124 includes five holders 130 . Each holder 130 holds an article 134 ( FIG. 2 ) whose bottom surface is processed by plasma jet 120 . Articles 134 in FIGS. 1-5 are round semiconductor wafers whose flat horizontal bottom surfaces are processed with plasma 120 . In some embodiments, the articles are not round and/or are not semiconductor articles. In some semiconductor-wafer embodiments, holders 130 are non-contact wafer holders such as described, for example, in PCT publication WO 96/21943 “Device For Treating Planar Elements With A Plasma Jet” published Jul. 18, 1996 (inventors I. M. Tokmulin et al.) incorporated herein by reference. Each of these wafer holders has at least three vortex chambers. Each vortex chamber is coupled to a tangential channel connected to a gas supplying means. When the gas supplying means is switched on, gas vortex flows are generated to hold the wafers at a distance from a level end surface of the holder's platform. In some such embodiments, the plasma processing takes place at atmospheric pressure or at some other pressure close to the atmospheric pressure.

In some embodiments, wafer holders 130 hold the wafers by vacuum or by electrostatic, mechanical, or some other means.

Some embodiments of system 110 have only one holder 130 , or some other number of holders.

Each wafer holder 130 is attached to an arm 140 A of a first angle drive 140 . Angle drive 140 rotates the wafers around vertical axis 140 X.

Angle drive 140 is attached to arm 150 A of second angle drive 150 . Drive 150 rotates around vertical axis 150 X.

Control system 154 controls the drives 140 and 150 by conventional means (for example, using a computer).

Top view FIGS. 2-4 show different positions of a single wafer 134 during processing.

In some embodiments, plasma source 114 does not move during processing, and therefore the plasma jet is stationary, that is, the plasma jet fills a substantially stationary region in space. However, the plasma source can move vertically and horizontally before processing in order to be positioned at a desired location relative to targets 134 (and, in particular, at a desired distance relative to the targets) as dictated by processing requirements.

Some embodiments of the plasma source are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,627 issued Jun. 16, 1998 to O. Siniaguine and entitled “Plasma Generation and Plasma Processing of Materials”, incorporated herein by reference. See also PCT publications WO 92/12610 (published Jul. 23, 1992), WO 92/12273 (published Jul. 23, 1992), WO 96/21943 (published Jul. 18, 1996), which are incorporated herein by reference.

In some embodiments, the velocity W 1 is constant and thus is simple to control. Angular velocity W 2 of drive 150 is considerably smaller than W 1 . In some embodiments, the average angular velocity of drive 150 is ten times smaller than the velocity W 1 . Therefore, wafers 134 cross the plasma jet multiple times during each revolution of drive 150 .

In some embodiments, system 110 is used for dynamic plasma treatment performed at atmospheric pressure such as described, for example, in Yu. M. Agrikov et al., cited above, incorporated herein by reference. The angular velocities W 1 and W 2 are controlled so that the linear velocities of points being treated with plasma are greater than the speed at which the heat from the plasma propagates through article 130 . Consequently, the processing conditions approach the conditions that would exist if the entire target surface were simultaneously exposed to the plasma. In some embodiments described, W 1 is a constant velocity of about 5 to 30 revolutions per second, and W 2 is much smaller, the average value of W 2 being at least 10 times smaller than W 1 in some embodiments.

Dynamic plasma treatment is also described in the following articles incorporated herein by reference: P. P. Kulik, “Dynamic Plasma Treatment (DPT) of a Surface of a Solid Body”, Plazmohimiya-87, Part 2 (U.S.S.R. Academy of Science, Institut Neftehimicheskogo Sinteza im. A. V. Topchieva, Moscow, 1987), pages 4-13; Yu. M. Agrikov et al., “Foundations of a Realization of a Method of Dynamic Plasma Treatment of a Surface of a Solid Body” (same publication, pages 58-96.)

In some embodiments the plasma processing is performed in vacuum.

FIGS. 1-4 use the following notation:

Numeral 160 denotes a vertical axis that passes through the center of the opening 114 -O and plasma jet 120 . Axis 160 is a symmetry axis of the opening 114 -O, the plasma jet 120 , and plasma source 114 .

R 1 is the distance between axis 140 X and the nearest edge point 134 C of wafer 134 (all the distances in FIGS. 2-4 are taken between the parallel projections of respective points onto a horizontal plane unless mentioned otherwise).

LS is the distance between the axis 140 X and the farthest edge point 134 F of wafer 134 .

R 2 is the distance between the axes 140 X and 150 X.

LP is the distance between axis 150 X and axis 160 of plasma jet 120 .

120 F denotes the horizontal cross section of plasma jet 120 at the level of the lower surface of wafer 134 . This cross section is called a “plasma footprint” below. The long axis of this elliptical footprint is shown at 210 ; the short axis is shown at 214 . Axis 214 is perpendicular to axis 210 .

Short axis 214 lies on axis 220 which intersects the axes 160 , 150 X in the top view of FIGS. 2-4 .

P 1 is the length of footprint 120 F, and P 2 is the width of the footprint.

In FIGS. 2-4 , each circle 234 C is a trajectory of the wafer point 134 C for some position of the axis 140 X. Each circle 234 F is a trajectory of point 134 F for some position of axis 140 X. The actual trajectories of points 134 C and 134 F are not circles because the axis 140 X rotates during processing. However, in embodiments in which the angular velocity W 2 of drive 150 is small relative to the angular velocity W 1 of drive 140 , circles 234 C, 234 F are fair approximations of the actual trajectories of points 134 C, 134 F.

In FIG. 2 , circle 240 is the smallest circle circumscribed around all the circles 234 F.

Angles Θ (Θ 1 in FIG. 3 and Θ 2 in FIG. 4 ) are angles between the axis 220 and arm 150 A (that is, between axis 220 and a horizontal straight line intersecting the vertical axes 150 X and 140 X). In FIG. 2 , Θ=0. Angles Ψ (Ψl in FIG. 3 , Ψ 2 in FIG. 4 ) are angles between (1) the long axis 210 of plasma footprint 120 F and (2) the trajectory of a selected point on wafer 134 where this trajectory intersects the axis 210 . The selected point is chosen on the diameter 134 D interconnecting the points 134 C and 134 F. In FIG. 3 (Θ=Θ 1 ), this selected point is 134 F. In FIG. 4 , the selected point is 134 C. Different wafer points are selected for different angles Θ because no single wafer point intersects the plasma footprint at every value of Θ. Of note, in some embodiments, the wafer diameter is 100-300 mm; the length P 1 of the footprint 120 F is 50-150 mm; the footprint width P 2 is 20-50 mm; R 1 is about 20-100 mm; R 2 is 150-300 mm; LS is 120-400 mm; LP is 150-300 mm.

The trajectory determining the angle Ψ is drawn assuming the arm 150 A is stationary. The drawn trajectory is a good approximation of the actual trajectory if the angular velocity W 2 of drive 150 is small relative to velocity W 1 of drive 140 .

In FIG. 2 , wafer 134 does not intersect plasma footprint 120 F.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2-5 , as the arm 150 A approaches plasma jet 120 (the angle Θ increases), the intersection of plasma footprint 120 F with the wafer 134 approaches the point 134 C and axis 140 X. In FIG. 5 , the ellipse 120 F 1 shows the position of plasma footprint 120 F relative to wafer 134 when Θ=Θ 1 (FIG. 3 ). In that position, the plasma footprint covers the point 134 F. The ellipse 120 F 2 shows the plasma footprint position at Θ=Θ 2 (FIG. 4 ). In that position, plasma footprint 120 F covers the point 134 C. Ellipse 120 F 3 shows the position of the plasma footprint 120 F when Θ has an intermediate value between Θ 1 and Θ 2 .

As the plasma footprint moves closer to point 134 C and to axis 140 X, the plasma processes wafer points having lower linear velocities. Indeed, the linear velocity relative to axis 140 X (corresponding to the angular velocity W 1 ) decreases because the distance from axis 140 X decreases. Since angular velocity W 1 is considerably higher than W 2 , the linear velocity component corresponding to W 1 dominates the point's resultant linear velocity.

The decreasing linear velocity tends to increase the plasma processing time for points closer to the point 134 C. However, the decreasing linear velocity is at least partially offset by the decreasing length of the points' trajectories through the plasma footprint. For example, the trajectory T 2 of point 134 C through ellipse 120 F 2 is shorter than the trajectory T 3 of the point passing through the center of ellipse 120 F 3 . The trajectory length decreases because the plasma footprint turns relative to the wafer so that as Θ increases from 0 to 180°, the angle between short axis 214 of the plasma footprint and the arm 140 A increases from about 0 towards 90°. (In FIG. 5 , the axis 214 is shown at 214 - 1 , 214 - 2 , 214 - 3 for respective plasma footprint positions 120 F 1 , 120 F 2 , 120 F 3 . The long axis 210 in the position 120 F 2 is shown at 210 - 2 .) Since the wafer points travel through the footprint essentially at 90° to arm 140 A, their trajectories become shorter.

In some embodiments, the angular velocities W 1 and W 2 are chosen so that as Θ increases to 180°, each point on wafer 134 passes through footprint 120 F several times during several successive revolutions of first drive 140 . Thus, successive plasma paths on the wafer surface overlap. When Θ=0 or Θ=180°, wafer 134 does not pass through plasma 120 . Therefore, points 134 C and 134 F pass through the plasma about the same number of times as every other wafer point.

To reduce the probability that different points may pass a different number of times through the plasma, in some embodiments each article 130 is processed in two or more revolutions of drive 150 . In each revolution, the plasma traces a different path on the article surface, thus increasing the processing uniformity. To obtain different plasma paths in different revolutions, the following techniques are used:

I. After each revolution, the drive 150 is stopped for a while in the position Θ=0 (FIG. 2 ), while the drive 140 continues to rotate. Then drive 150 is restarted at a time when the position of wafer 130 is different from the wafer position at the start of a previous revolution. In some embodiments, the stopping time is a few milliseconds.

II. Alternatively, drive 150 is not stopped at Θ=0, but the velocity W 2 is changed near Θ=0 compared with a previous revolution (for example, W 2 is increased or decreased by 0.1% when Θ is near 0), so that when Θ increases to a value at which the wafer 130 starts intersecting the plasma 120 , the wafer 130 has a different position from its position for the same Θ in a previous revolution. Such small variations of W 2 can be performed with less acceleration of drive 150 than in option I. Further, since drive 150 is not stopped, the processing time is less than in option I. In some embodiments, for Θ near 0, W 2 is increased for 2 or 3 revolutions of drive 150 , then W 2 is decreased for a few revolutions of drive 150 , then increased again. In some embodiments, for Θ values at which the wafers 130 intersect the plasma, W 2 is the same in each revolution.

III. Velocity W 1 of drive 140 is varied slightly (for example, by 0.1%) between different revolutions of drive 150 .

The technique III is combined with I or II in some embodiments.

In some variations of techniques I, II, III, W 2 and/or W 1 are varied when Θ is near 180° and/or 0° and/or some other value.

The technique I has the advantage of allowing the wafer 130 to cool at least part of the way down to its original temperature after each revolution of drive 150 , thus allowing the thermal conditions to be similar at each revolution. See PCT Publication WO 96/21943 published Jul. 18, 1996, incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, the wafer is stopped for a few seconds at Θ=0 to allow the wafer to cool. If the processing is sensitive to the thermal conditions, velocity W 1 is controlled so that the wafer is allowed to cool during each revolution of drive 140 .

In FIGS. 2-4 , the following relations hold true:

R 1 ≧ P 1 /2  (1)

that is, the distance R 1 between the axis 140 X and the nearest edge point 134 C of wafer 134 is greater than or equal to one half of the length P 1 of plasma footprint 120 F.

This condition ensures in any revolution of first drive 140 , any given point on wafer 134 passes through plasma 120 at most once. This is true even if the axis 140 X is close to the axis 160 . If the relation (1) did not hold, and the axis 140 X were close to plasma 120 , some wafer points (for example, 134 C) could pass through the plasma twice in a single revolution of drive 140 . Other wafer points (such as 134 F) would pass through plasma 120 at most once in any revolution of drive 140 . Therefore, the plasma processing would be less uniform unless the wafer velocity were doubled for points that pass through the plasma twice during a single revolution of drive 140 .

R 2 ≧ R 1   (2)

that is, the distance between axes 140 X and 150 X (essentially the length of arm 150 A) is greater than the distance between the axis 140 X and wafer point 134 C.

i R 2 − R 1 < LP<R 2 + R 1   (3)

LP+R 2 > LS   (4)

The relations (2), (3), and (4) allow every point of wafer 134 to be processed during a single revolution of drive 150 provided the velocity W 2 is sufficiently low relative to W 1 .

The appendix at the end of this description gives equations that can be used to determine the angular velocity W 2 . The equations assume that W 1 is constant. The equations can be solved using known numerical methods.

Alternatively, W 2 can be determined experimentally, for both constant and variable velocities W 1 , using known iterative techniques. More particularly, when system 110 is being set up, test wafers are processed at some angular velocity W 2 1 which is the first iterative approximation of the final velocity W 2 . In some embodiments, velocity W 2 1 is constant. Then the wafers are examined to determine which points were processed too little relative to other points. For example, if the plasma processing is an etch process, the amount h 1 (r) of the material etched at different wafer points is examined, where r is the distance between the wafer point and axis 140 X. Suppose that it is desired to etch away the amount h 0 (r). (In many processes h 0 (r) is independent of r, that is, the same amount of material is to be etched away at every wafer point.) Then the velocity W 2 2 (r) at the second iterative pass is given by the formula:

W 2 2 ( r )= W 2 1 ( r )* h 1 ( r )/ h 0 ( r ).

If additional iterations are desired, the velocity W 2 at each subsequent iteration can be determined similarly (the more material is removed at a given coordinate r during the previous iteration, the greater is the velocity W 2 (r) during the next iteration).

These iterations are programmed into the control system 154 . In production, the control system 154 causes the system 110 to perform all the iterations.

Because wafer points traveling at a greater linear velocity tend to have longer trajectories through the plasma footprint 120 F (see FIG. 5 ), uniform plasma processing can be achieved with less variation of the angular velocity W 2 of drive 150 . FIG. 6 illustrates this in one embodiment for a 200 mm wafer. The horizontal axis D i is the distance between a wafer point P on diameter 134 D and the point 134 C. The top curve 610 shows the linear velocity V of the center of plasma footprint 120 F (axis 160 ) relative to axis 140 X. The velocity units are chosen so that V=1 at D i =0. The velocity V was determined from velocity W 2 which in turn was determined from the equations in the appendix.

The bottom curve 620 in FIG. 6 shows the linear velocity V for a prior art apparatus having only the angle drive 150 . The first drive 140 is omitted. In that prior art apparatus, the distance between the axis 150 X and the nearest wafer point 134 C is R 2 +R 1 where R 2 and R 1 are the dimensions for which the curve 610 was obtained. The linear velocity V was determined from angular velocity W 2 which in turn was computed from appropriate equations similar to those given in the appendix. Curves 610 and 620 intersect at D i =0, but the slope magnitude (and hence the acceleration) for curve 610 is smaller than for curve 620 . The maximum acceleration (at D i =0) for curve 610 is about two times smaller than for curve 620 . Since the angular velocity W 2 is proportional to V, the acceleration associated with W 2 is also about two times smaller for curve 610 .

In some embodiments, the plasma system 110 corresponding to curve 610 performs a back-side etch of wafers or individual dies to reduce the wafer or die thickness to 15-350 μm after the circuits on the wafers or the dies have been fabricated. Such thin dies and wafers are suitable for vertical integration modules in which multiple dies are stacked on top of each other and then the whole stack is packaged. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,209 “Back-Side Contact Pads” filed by O. Siniaguine on Oct. 29, 1996 and incorporated herein by reference. See also PCT Application PCT/US97/18979 filed Oct. 27, 1997 entitled “Integrated Circuits and Methods for Their Fabrication” incorporated herein by reference. The thin wafers and dies are fragile, and reducing the acceleration in the plasma processing system reduces the possibility of damaging the wafers and dies and thus increases the yield.

FIG. 7 illustrates a wafer loading system for plasma processing system 110 . The loading system includes two shuttles 710 - 1 , 710 - 2 moving on respective parallel rails 714 - 1 , 714 - 2 . Each shuttle 710 includes a vertical support that contains a lower portion 720 L and an upper portion 720 U. In each shuttle, one end of horizontal arm 730 is attached to the top of the upper support portion 720 U. Horizontal wafer-holding platform 734 is attached to the other end of arm 730 . Each platform 734 holds the same number of wafers as carrousel 124 (five wafers in FIG. 7 ) in the same relative position as the carrousel. Arm 730 can rotate in a horizontal plane around an axis passing through or near the vertical support portion 720 U.

One or more rods (not shown) pass through portions 720 L, 720 U of each shuttle, and the upper portion 720 U can slide up and down the rods to raise or lower the respective platform 734 . The sliding motion is controlled by a motor (not shown). The capability to move the support portions 720 U up or down is used, among other things, to position the platforms 734 of shuttles 710 - 1 , 710 - 2 at different heights when they move past each other so that the platforms and the arms 730 would not collide.

The system of FIG. 7 , including the plasma processing system 110 , the shuttles 710 , robot 750 , and the chamber door (not shown), are controlled by a computer-based control system 154 which includes appropriate sensors and transducers. Making and using such a control system is within the skill of the art.

Plasma processing system 110 is located in a chamber (not shown) separated from the shuttles by a door (not shown). During plasma processing, one of the shuttles, for example, shuttle 710 - 1 , waits behind the door ready to unload the wafers from system 110 . The other shuttle ( 710 - 2 in the example being described) is loaded with wafers from cassettes 740 in cassette holder 744 . The loading operation is performed by a robot 750 which loads five unprocessed wafers one by one onto platform 734 of shuttle 710 - 2 . (The wafers are loaded by the robot arm 750 A.) When the plasma processing terminates, the door (not shown) separating the system 110 from the shuttles opens. Shuttle 710 - 1 moves its empty platform 734 under and up towards carrousel 124 so that each wafer carrier 754 of the platform becomes positioned below one of wafer holders 130 of system 110 . The wafers are dropped onto the platform 734 of shuttle 710 - 1 . Shuttle 710 - 1 moves on rail 714 - 1 towards cassette holder 744 , and robot 750 starts unloading the processed wafers. Meanwhile, shuttle 710 - 2 moves on rail 714 - 2 towards system 110 . Platform 734 of shuttle 710 - 2 gets positioned below the carrousel 124 so that each wafer 134 on shuttle 710 - 2 is positioned under one of wafer holders 130 (about 3 mm under the wafer holders for some non-contact wafer holders). The wafers get loaded into the wafer holder 130 , shuttle 710 - 2 moves away, the door of the plasma processing chamber closes, and the plasma processing begins. Plasma processing proceeds in parallel with shuttle 710 - 1 being unloaded and then reloaded with unprocessed wafers. Then the shuttles 710 - 1 , 710 - 2 switch roles. The productivity of the plasma processing system is therefore increased. In some embodiments, the system 110 is used 90% of the time, and idle only 10%.

In some embodiments, each holder 130 holds an individual die or some other article rather than a wafer.

The above embodiments illustrate but do not limit the invention. The invention is not limited by any particular shape or type of platforms 734 , carrousel 124 , cassettes 740 , cassette holder 744 , robot 750 , articles 130 , plasma source 114 , or any other equipment. The invention is not limited to any particular shape or size of opening 114 -O or plasma footprint 120 F. In some embodiments, the shape and dimensions of opening 114 -O vary during processing. In some embodiments, the velocity W 1 varies during processing. In some embodiments, drive 140 is omitted. Plasma source 114 moves radially along a rotation radius of drive 150 , and the opening 114 -O rotates at the same time so that the plasma footprint 120 F moves relative to the wafer as shown in FIG. 5 . Some embodiments are used to process articles other than semiconductor dies or wafers, for example, surgical instruments or machine tools. Other embodiments and variations are within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

APPENDIX

$$ W2 ⁡ ( t ) = ∂ Θ / ∂ t ∫ 0 T ⁢ W2 ⁡ ( t ) ⁢   ⁢ ⅆ t = 2 ⁢ π P ⁡ ( r1 ) = ( 1 / 2 ) * π * r1 * ∫ 0 T ⁢ ∫ 0 2 ⁢ π ⁢ p ⁡ ( ρ ⁡ ( β ) , φ ⁡ ( t , β ) ) ⁢   ⁢ ⅆ t ⁢ ⅆ β , R1 ≤ r1 ≤ LS ρ ⁡ ( β ) = ( R2 2 + r1 2 - 2 * R2 * r1 * cos ⁡ ( β ) ) 1 / 2 φ ⁡ ( t , β ) = Θ ⁡ ( t ) + cos - 1 ⁡ ( ( R2 2 + ρ 2 ⁡ ( β ) - r1 2 ) / ( 2 * R2 * ρ ⁡ ( β ) ) )

where:

t is time; T is the duration of one revolution of second drive 150;

P(r1) is the desired process result on the surface of the wafer 134 along the radius r1 of the first drive 140;

p(ρ(β), φ(t, β)) is the distribution of the plasma treatment intensity within the plasma footprint 120F at the surface of wafer 134 at a point having polar coordinates (ρ, φ) in the polar coordinate system having an origin on the axis 150X;

β is the angular position of the arm 140A relative to any predetermined direction in the plane of wafer 130 (i.e. perpendicular to rotation axes 140X, 150X).

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:a first loading device for taking articles to a plasma processing system and loading articles into the plasma processing system, and for unloading processed articles from the plasma processing system and taking them away from the plasma processing system; a second loading device for taking articles to the plasma processing system and loading them into the plasma processing system, and for unloading processed articles from the plasma processing system and taking the processed articles away from the plasma processing system; and a control system for controlling the first and second loading devices to accomplish at least a first operation and a second operation, wherein the first operation consists in: the first loading device loading one or more first articles into the plasma processing system, and the plasma processing system processing the first articles; wherein the second operation consists in: the second loading device taking one or more second articles processed by the plasma processing system away from the plasma processing system, then the second articles being unloaded from the second loading device, and the second loading device being reloaded with one or more third articles which are to be processed by the plasma processing system; wherein at least part of the first operation occurs concurrently with at least part of the second operation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each article is a semiconductor die or wafer.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:the first loading device comprises a plurality of article carriers; the second loading device comprises a plurality of article carriers; the plasma processing system comprises a plurality of article holders; an operation of the first loading device loading articles into the plasma processing system comprises the first loading device positioning its article carriers below the respective article holders of the plasma processing system; wherein after the article carriers of the first loading device have been positioned below the respective article holders, the apparatus is operable to load articles from the article carriers of the first loading device into the article holders; an operation of the second loading device loading articles into the plasma processing system comprises the second loading device positioning its article carriers below the respective article holders of the plasma processing system; wherein after the article carriers of the second loading device have been positioned below the respective article holders, the apparatus is operable to load articles from the article carriers of the second loading device into the article holders.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein each article holder is a non-contact holder.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the article holders generate gas vortex flows to hold the articles.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the plasma processing system processes the articles at atmospheric pressure.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein:the first loading device comprises a plurality of article carriers; the second loading device comprises a plurality of article carriers; the plasma processing system comprises a plurality of article holders; an operation of the first loading device unloading processed articles from the plasma processing system comprises the first loading device positioning its article carriers below the respective article holders of the plasma processing system; wherein after the article carriers of the first loading device have been positioned below the respective article holders, the apparatus is operable to drop articles from the holders into the article carriers of the first loading device; an operation of the second loading devices unloading processed articles from the plasma processing system comprises the second loading device positioning its article carriers below the respective article holders of the plasma processing system; wherein after the article carriers of the second loading device have been positioned below the respective article holders, the apparatus is operable to drop articles from the holders into the article carriers of the second loading device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein each article holder is a non-contact holder.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the article holders generate gas vortex flows to hold the articles.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the plasma processing system processes the articles at atmospheric pressure.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control system is operable to accomplish at least a third operation and a fourth operation,wherein the third operation consists in: the second loading device loading one or more fourth articles into the plasma processing system, and the plasma processing system processing the fourth articles; wherein the fourth operation consists in: the first loading device taking one or more fifth articles processed by the plasma processing system away from the plasma processing system, then the fifth articles being unloaded from the first loading device, and the first loading device being reloaded with one or more sixth articles which are to be processed by the plasma processing system; wherein at least part of the third operation occurs concurrently with at least part of the fourth operation.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control system is operable to accomplish at least a third operation,wherein the third operation consists in: the first loading device loading one or more fourth articles into the plasma processing system, and the plasma processing system processing the fourth articles; wherein at least part of the third operation occurs concurrently with at least part of the second operation.