JP3098320B2 - Sputtering equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus,
In particular, the present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus for forming a thin film on a semiconductor substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sputter apparatus comprises a sputter etch chamber and a sputter chamber. When a film is formed on a semiconductor substrate, first, a natural oxide film on the surface of the semiconductor substrate is removed by etching in the sputter etch chamber. ,
The film is formed in a sputtering chamber.

[0003]

In a conventional sputtering apparatus, etching is performed with a constant RF power and a constant etching time in a sputter etch chamber prior to film formation.

[0004] Therefore, since the etching conditions are the same with respect to variations in the thickness of the natural oxide film on the semiconductor substrate and the amount of gas generated during the etching, if the etching is insufficient, the surface of the semiconductor substrate is sputtered. No conduction with the membrane,
Since this results in malfunction of the semiconductor device, the etching time must be set to a long time.
Therefore, there is a problem that it takes a long time to manufacture a semiconductor substrate.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a sputtering apparatus for appropriately judging the timing of completion of etching.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a sputtering apparatus according to the present invention comprises a semiconductor device before sputtering.
In order to have a function to etch the substrate surface layer,
An analyzer and a controller connected to the mass analyzer
In the sputtering apparatus provided with the mass analyzer , the mass analyzer
As a result, at the start of the etching, the moisture and
And the lower layer component of the oxide film and the oxide film component are detected.
Is judged to be the end point, and the controller
The end command is output .

[0007]

At the start of the etching, the oxide film component gas and moisture of the semiconductor substrate are detected by the mass analyzer. When the etching proceeds and the lower layer component of the oxide film is detected, and the oxide film component is no longer detected by the mass analyzer, this is determined as the end of etching and an etching end command is output from the controller.

[0008]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a sputtering apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a sputter etch chamber 1
Inside, a lower electrode 2 and an upper electrode 3 are provided.
3 is connected to an RF power supply (high-frequency power supply) 6.

In the present invention, a mass analyzer 4 is communicated with the sputter etch chamber 1 and an RF output terminal is provided at the output end thereof.
A controller 5 for controlling a power supply 6 is connected.

The mass analyzer 4 detects and analyzes components generated from the surface of the semiconductor substrate by the etching process. The controller 5 controls the data such as the types and amounts of the physical properties of the components detected and analyzed by the mass analyzer 4. Then, an etching end timing is determined, and an etching end instruction is output to the RF power source 6.

In the embodiment, a semiconductor substrate 7 is provided on the lower electrode 2 as an evaporation source, and an RF power source 6 is turned on to start a sputter etching process.

At the start of the etching, moisture and gas components of the natural oxide film on the semiconductor substrate 7 are generated and detected by the mass analyzer 4. As the etching proceeds, the semiconductor component in the lower layer of the natural oxide film is detected by the mass analyzer 4, and the gas component generated from the oxide film of the semiconductor substrate 7 is not detected. When the lower layer component of the oxide film and the oxide film component are no longer detected by the mass analyzer 4, the controller 5 determines a timing to end the etching based on the detection result and issues a power-off command to the RF power source 6, The sputter etching is terminated.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, during sputter etching, components generated in the etching chamber are detected and analyzed, and the end point of the etching is specified from the detection and analysis results. An appropriate etching time can be set, so that an extra time is not spent for the etching process, and the semiconductor substrate can be manufactured efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a sputtering apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sputter etch chamber 2 Lower electrode 3 Upper electrode 4 Mass analyzer 5 Controller 6 RF power supply 7 Semiconductor substrate

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A semiconductor substrate surface layer is etched before sputtering.
Mass analyzer and the
In a sputtering apparatus provided with a controller connected to a gas analyzer, the mass analyzer automatically starts the etching at the start of the etching.
However, the moisture and gas in the oxide film are detected, and the lower layer components of the oxide film are detected.
And when the oxide film component is no longer detected
A sputter device for outputting an end command to the controller .