JP4090156B2 - Vacuum processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus and a vacuum processing method for performing a process such as ashing on a target substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal display substrate.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As shown in FIG. 7, the conventional vacuum processing apparatus has a plasma generation vacuum container 31 and a process processing vacuum container 33 in which a substrate to be processed 32 is installed, and a vacuum pump 34 performs vacuum evacuation. By introducing the reaction gas through the gas supply port 35, the reaction gas is held inside the containers 31 and 33 at an appropriate pressure. In this state, the high frequency power is supplied from the high frequency power source 36 to excite the plasma 37 in the plasma generating vacuum vessel 31, and the plasma 37 flowing from the plasma generating vacuum vessel 31 into the process processing vacuum vessel 33, The surface of the substrate to be processed 32 is processed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the downflow type apparatus configuration in which the plasma generating part such as the gas inlet 35 is positioned above the substrate to be processed 32 as shown in the figure, radical ions in the plasma are transported by the gas flow to be processed. Since the substrate 32 is directly irradiated, there is a problem that charge-up damage is likely to occur at the center of the substrate 32 to be processed.
[0004]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce charge-up damage of a substrate to be processed in a downflow type vacuum processing apparatus.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention comprises a plasma generating mechanism to which high-frequency power is supplied along an outer wall surface, and a reactive gas supply means for supplying a reactive gas. And a second vacuum container having a susceptor that is disposed below the first vacuum container and that holds a substrate to be processed at a position facing the gas supply port of the reaction gas supply means. In a vacuum processing apparatus comprising: a through-hole columnar shape in which a porous ceramic is filled in a quartz case in which an opening is formed at one end that covers the gas supply port and a plurality of openings are formed on a side surface The body is disposed .
According to this configuration, the reactive gas is dispersed in various directions when passing through the porous material ceramic in the quartz case, diffuses by flowing out to the side through the side opening, and flows down to the substrate to be processed. Therefore, irradiation of the substrate to be processed with radical ions in the plasma carried by the reaction gas can be mitigated, and charge-up damage to the substrate to be processed can be reduced.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention has substantially the same configuration as that of the conventional apparatus described with reference to FIG. 7, and accommodates a substrate 1 to be processed. A process processing vacuum vessel 2 that performs processing, and a plasma generation vacuum vessel 4 that communicates with an upper portion of the process processing vacuum vessel 2 through a communication opening 3 to generate plasma and supply the plasma to the process processing vacuum vessel 2 are provided.
[0013]
In the process processing vacuum vessel 2, an exhaust unit 6 connected to the vacuum pump 5 is formed on the side, and a susceptor 7 that holds the substrate 1 to be processed is installed below the communication opening 3 and grounded. Reference numeral 8 denotes a gate for the transfer arm 9 that moves in the horizontal direction and transfers the substrate 1 to be processed. Reference numeral 10 denotes a gate that is moved up and down by the elevating mechanism 11 to move between the transfer arm 9 and the susceptor 7. It is a raising / lowering pin that delivers the processing substrate 1.
[0014]
The plasma generating vacuum vessel 4 has a cylindrical shape in the vertical direction, and a reaction gas supply means 14 is provided so that the gas supply port 13 faces the gas introduction port 12 at the top of the vessel and is coupled at the flanges 12a and 13a. A power supply device 16 for supplying high-frequency power to the plasma generation mechanism 15 inside and outside the container is provided outside the container.
Here, the vacuum processing apparatus in this embodiment is different from the conventional one in that one end of a columnar porous ceramic 17 as a reaction gas diffusion means is inserted into the gas introduction port 12 of the plasma generating vacuum vessel 4, It is a point that covers the gas supply port 13 of the reactive gas supply means 14.
[0015]
The operation in the above configuration will be described.
Prior to the processing, the substrate 3 to be processed is transported into the process processing vacuum vessel 2 through the gate 8 by the transfer arm 9 that moves in the horizontal direction, and the substrate 3 to be processed on the transfer arm 9 is moved by the lifting mechanism 11. It is installed on the susceptor 7 by a lifting operation.
[0016]
Then, after the transfer arm 9 and the lift pin 10 are returned to the standby position and the gate 8 is closed, the vacuum pump 5 evacuates and the reaction gas supply means 14 reacts through the gas supply port 13 and the gas introduction port 12. Gas is supplied, and the reaction gas is held at an appropriate pressure inside both containers 2 and 4.
In this state, high frequency power is applied from the power supply device 16 to the plasma generation mechanism 15 to excite the plasma in the plasma generation vacuum vessel 4, and radical ions present in the plasma are passed through the communication opening 3 by the flow of the reaction gas. It is carried into the process processing vacuum vessel 2 and irradiated on the surface of the substrate 1 to be processed, and the substrate 1 to be processed is etched.
[0017]
At this time, since the gas supply port 13 is covered with the porous ceramic 17, the reaction gas is divided and flows out from the respective holes of the porous ceramic 17 in various directions. Diffuses within. Then, since it flows into the process processing vacuum vessel 2 through the communication opening 3, irradiation of the substrate 1 to be processed with radical ions in plasma carried by the reaction gas is alleviated, and the substrate 1 to be processed is spread over the entire surface. Contact with radical ions is made almost even, and the charge-up damage of the substrate 1 to be processed hardly occurs.
[0018]
The vacuum processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention has substantially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, but as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the reactive gas covering the gas supply port 13. As a diffusing means, the communication hole columnar body 18 is loosely fitted into the gas inlet 12 and is flanged at the flange 18a.
The through-hole columnar body 18 has a plurality of openings 20 formed on the side surface of a cylindrical quartz case 19 with one end closed at intervals along the circumferential direction and the axial direction of the case. 21 is closely packed in the direction along the case axis.
[0019]
According to this configuration, the reactive gas is divided when passing through the inside and outside of the quartz tube 21 inside the quartz case 19, and diffuses by flowing out sideways through the opening 20. Therefore, the same effect as that described in the first embodiment can be obtained.
The vacuum processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention has substantially the same configuration as that of the second embodiment, but as the reaction gas diffusion means 13 covering the gas supply port 5 of the reaction gas supply means, A communicating hole columnar body 22 as shown in FIG. 4 is provided. In the communicating porous columnar body 22, a columnar porous ceramic (which may be granular) 25 is filled in a quartz case 24 having an opening 23 on a side surface.
[0020]
According to this configuration, the reactive gas divides and flows out from each hole of the porous ceramic 25 inside the quartz case 24 and diffuses by flowing out through the opening 23 to the side. Therefore, the same effects as those described in the second embodiment can be obtained.
The vacuum processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention has substantially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, but a gas supply port 5 as shown in FIG. A difference is that a hollow hollow cylinder 27 made of quartz having a bottom opening to cover and a plurality of openings 26 formed on a side surface is provided.
[0021]
According to this configuration, the reactive gas diffuses by flowing out to the side through the opening 26. Therefore, the same effect as that described in the first embodiment can be obtained.
The vacuum processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention has substantially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, but as a reaction gas diffusion means, as shown in FIG. The difference is that a quartz porous plate 28 that covers the flow path in the container is provided below.
[0022]
According to this configuration, the reactive gas flowing out from the gas supply port 5 diffuses to some extent, and then diffuses by being divided and outflowing from each hole 29 of the porous plate 28. Therefore, the same effect as that described in the first embodiment can be obtained.
In the above description, the vacuum processing apparatus including the plasma generating vacuum container and the process processing vacuum container has been described. However, in the case of a downflow type vacuum processing apparatus, by similarly disposing the gas diffusion means, Irradiation of the substrate with radical ions in the plasma can be mitigated.
[0023]
Further, quartz or porous ceramic may be replaced with an equivalent material that is not damaged in the above processing.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention as described above, since the by diffusing a reactive gas in the vacuum chamber upper portion of the vacuum processing apparatus of the down flow type so as to flow down to the process substrate side, in the plasma to be generated in the container in the upper Irradiation of the radical ions to the substrate depending on the gas flow can be mitigated, and charge-up damage to the substrate can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic overall configuration of a downflow type vacuum processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, which is provided with a columnar porous ceramic covering a gas supply port. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a part of the downflow type vacuum processing apparatus according to the second embodiment, which is provided with a communication hole columnar body that covers a gas supply port; FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a longitudinal cross section and a horizontal cross section of a through-hole columnar body provided in a downflow type vacuum processing apparatus in a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a longitudinal section of a hollow conical body provided in a downflow type vacuum processing apparatus in a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a downflow type vacuum processing in a fifth embodiment of the present invention. Device, gas supply Explanatory view showing a schematic overall configuration of a vacuum processing apparatus diagram 7 conventional downflow scheme showing a part of a device provided with a perforated plate beneath the mouth EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate 2 Process processing vacuum vessel 3 Communication opening 4 Plasma generation vacuum vessel
13 Gas supply port
14 Reactive gas supply means
17 Columnar porous ceramic P Plasma
18 Open-hole columnar body
19 Quartz case
20 opening
21 Quartz capillaries
22 Open-hole columnar body
23 opening
24 quartz case
25 Porous ceramic
26 Opening
27 Hollow cylinder
28 perforated plate

Claims (1)

A plasma generating mechanism is a high frequency power is supplied with arranged along the outer wall surface, a first vacuum chamber having a reaction gas supply hand stage supplying a reaction gas, is disposed below the first vacuum container, and the vacuum processing apparatus and a second vacuum chamber having a susceptor for holding a process substrate in a position opposed to the gas supply port of the reaction gas supplying means, one end covering the front SL gas inlet vacuum processing apparatus being characterized in that disposed inside formed by filling the porous ceramic communication hole columnar bodies of a plurality of quartz case with an opening formed in the open port is formed and sides.

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