KR100942094B1 - Plasma processing apparatus and driving method thereof, plasma processing method, and manufacturing method of electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a technique capable of cleaning deposits in a processing chamber with a simple configuration requiring no remote chamber, a dedicated microwave source, or the like. To this end, the plasma processing apparatus, in which a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is made into plasma by microwaves propagated through the waveguide and propagated to the dielectric disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, is subjected to plasma treatment on the processing target object disposed in the processing chamber. As a waveguide, a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material is formed in the waveguide, and a cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber is provided through the space portion.

Description

PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DRIVING METHOD THEREOF, PLASMA PROCESSING METHOD, AND MANUFACTURING METHOD OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus and a method for operating the same, which plasma-treat gas by microwaves to plasma-process a target object, and also to a plasma processing method and a manufacturing method of an electronic device.

For example, in a manufacturing process such as an LCD device, a plasma processing apparatus that generates plasma in a processing chamber using microwaves and performs a CVD process or an etching process on an LCD substrate is used. As such a plasma processing apparatus, a waveguide is disposed above the processing chamber. A plurality of slots are opened in the lower surface of the waveguide, and a flat dielectric is provided along the lower surface of the waveguide. The dielectric material is disposed on the entire upper surface of the processing chamber, and the microwaves propagated through the waveguide are propagated through the slots to the dielectric material so that the predetermined gas (process gas) supplied into the processing chamber is converted into plasma by the power of the microwaves.

In such a plasma processing apparatus, a film forming material or the like is deposited not only on the surface of the LCD substrate as the processing target object, but also on the inner surface of the processing chamber, the surface of other components exposed in the processing chamber, and the like. The sediment generated in this way may cause contamination if left untreated, and may adversely affect the plasma treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to clean the inside of the processing chamber at a suitable time to remove the deposits.

Conventionally, as a technique for cleaning deposits generated in the processing chamber in this way, by supplying a cleaning gas containing fluorine or the like into the processing chamber and generating a plasma in the processing chamber, fluorine or the like in the cleaning gas is activated to produce a fluorine radical or the like. By so called action, a so-called in-situ cleaning technique is known which etches and removes deposits in a process chamber.

By the way, when trying to generate fluorine radicals etc. by the plasma in a process chamber, there exist the following problems. In other words, in order to generate a sufficient amount of fluorine radicals required for cleaning, it is necessary to make the power (output) of the microwave considerably high, but if the power is made too high, there is a fear of damaging various components existing in the processing chamber. As a result, work such as replacement of parts increases, and the maintainability deteriorates.

Therefore, in order to avoid the damage of various components existing in such a processing chamber, a method has been proposed in which a remote chamber is provided separately from the processing chamber, and fluorine radicals generated in the remote chamber are supplied into the processing chamber and cleaned ( Patent Document 1).

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-149989

However, in the cleaning method of Patent Document 1, a remote chamber for generating fluorine radicals and the like and a dedicated microwave source for generating fluorine radicals and the like require an apparatus cost. In addition, the apparatus is also enlarged, and the footprint is deteriorated.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of cleaning deposits in a processing chamber with a simple configuration in which a remote chamber, a dedicated microwave source, or the like is unnecessary.

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM In order to solve the said subject, according to this invention, the predetermined gas supplied in the process chamber was made into plasma by the microwave propagated by the waveguide and propagated to the dielectric arrange | positioned on the inner surface of the process chamber, and the feature arrange | positioned in the said process chamber A plasma processing apparatus in which a plasma is subjected to plasma treatment, a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material is formed in the waveguide, and a cleaning gas flow path is provided through which the cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber. There is provided a plasma processing apparatus.

According to this plasma processing apparatus, since the cleaning gas is activated by using the power of microwaves propagating through the waveguide originally provided in the plasma processing apparatus, a special remote chamber, a dedicated microwave source, or the like are unnecessary.

In this plasma processing apparatus, the waveguide may be provided in a cover for opening and closing the processing chamber, and a part of the space portion and the cleaning gas flow path may be disposed inside the cover. Further, the space portion is, for example, an internal space of a tube made of a dielectric material.

A cleaning gas supply source may be connected to an upstream side of the flow path, and an opening / closing valve may be provided in the flow path between the cleaning gas supply source and the space portion. In this case, the space portion may be maintained at the same pressure as in the treatment chamber.

A cleaning gas supply source and an exhaust means may be connected to an upstream side of the flow path, and an opening / closing valve may be provided in the flow path between the space portion and the processing chamber.

In addition, a reflecting member for reflecting microwaves may be provided freely in the waveguide in the rear end side of the waveguide rather than the space. In that case, a slot for propagating microwaves to the dielectric may be formed on the side of the waveguide at a rear end side of the space portion, and the reflective member may be disposed between the space portion and the slot. Further, the reflective member may be disposed at a position spaced apart from the space portion by λg / 4 + λg · n / 2.

λg: in-wavelength of microwave

n: integer greater than or equal to 0

In addition, according to the present invention, the predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is made into plasma by microwaves propagated through the waveguide and propagated through the dielectric placed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. A method of operating a plasma processing apparatus, in which a predetermined gas supplied into a processing chamber is converted into a plasma, and a plasma processing is performed on a target object disposed in the processing chamber, and a cleaning gas is supplied into the processing chamber to clean the inside of the processing chamber. In the cleaning step, the cleaning gas is activated by passing the cleaning gas into a space surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of the dielectric material, and the activated cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber. The process room I cleaned The operation method is provided that a.

According to this operation method, the plasma processing is performed on the target object in the processing step, and the inside of the processing chamber is cleaned in the cleaning step. In the cleaning process, the cleaning gas is activated using the power of microwaves that propagate the waveguide originally provided in the plasma processing apparatus.

In the said processing process, the gas which produces a plasma does not need to exist in the space part. In this case, in the processing step, the space portion may be substantially vacuum.

In the cleaning process, the space portion may be maintained at substantially the same pressure as the inside of the processing chamber.

In the cleaning step, a reflecting member for reflecting microwaves may be inserted in the waveguide on the rear end side of the waveguide rather than the space portion. In this case, a slot for propagating microwaves to the dielectric may be formed on the side of the waveguide at the rear end side of the wave section, and the reflective member may be disposed between the space section and the slot. Further, the reflective member may be disposed at a position spaced apart from the space portion by λg / 4 + λg · n / 2.

λg: in-wavelength of microwave

n: integer greater than or equal to 0

In addition, in the present invention, the cleaning gas contains any one of chlorine gas, fluorine gas, chlorine compound gas, and fluorine gas compound.

Moreover, it is preferable that the power of the microwave output to the said space part is 2.7 kPa or less with respect to the space part of 0.25 liter in the said cleaning process. In this case, it is preferable to have a plurality of waveguides, the space portion is formed in all or part of the waveguides of the plurality of waveguides, and the power of the microwaves output to the space portion is 15 kW or more in total.

In addition, according to the present invention, as a method of operating the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention described above, a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber by being propagated through the waveguide and the microwaves disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber is propagated through the dielectric. Is converted into a plasma, plasma processing is performed on the object to be disposed in the processing chamber, and a cleaning gas is activated by passing a cleaning gas into the space, and the activated cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber so that the processing chamber is supplied. An operating method is provided, which has a process of cleaning the inside.

In addition, according to the present invention, in the above-described plasma processing method using the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention, a cleaning gas is activated by passing a cleaning gas into the space portion, and the activated cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber so that the processing chamber is supplied. The process of cleaning the inside and the microwaves propagated through the waveguide propagate through the dielectric placed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, whereby a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is plasmatized, and the plasma processing is performed on the object to be disposed in the processing chamber. There is provided a plasma processing method characterized by having a processing step performed.

In addition, according to the present invention, in the method for manufacturing an electronic device using the plasma processing apparatus of the present invention described above, a cleaning gas is activated by passing a cleaning gas into the space portion, and the activated cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber. The process of cleaning the inside of the processing chamber and the microwaves propagated through the waveguide propagate to the dielectric placed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, whereby a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is converted into plasma, and the target body disposed in the processing chamber is plasma-processed. A manufacturing method of an electronic device is provided, which has a processing step in which plasma processing is performed.

According to the present invention, the cleaning gas can be activated using the power of microwaves propagating through the waveguide originally provided in the plasma processing apparatus. As a result, a special remote chamber, a dedicated microwave source, or the like for activating the cleaning gas are unnecessary, so that the apparatus cost can be kept low, and a compact and excellent cost performance plasma processing apparatus can be provided.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on a plasma processing apparatus 1 that performs a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process, which is an example of plasma processing. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a plasma processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a bottom view of the lid 3 included in the plasma processing apparatus 1. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the lid 3 at X-X in FIG. 2. In addition, in this specification and an accompanying drawing, duplicate description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol about the component which has the same structure and function.

This plasma processing apparatus 1 is provided with the bottomed cubical processing container 2 which opened the upper part, and the cover 3 which covers the upper part of this processing container 2. An O-ring 4 is disposed on the joining surface of the outer peripheral portion of the lower surface of the lid 3 and the upper peripheral portion of the upper surface of the processing container 2. By closing the top of the processing container 2 with the lid 3, the processing chamber 5, which is a sealed space, is formed inside the processing container 2. These processing containers 2 and the lid 3 are made of, for example, aluminum, and are in an electrically grounded state.

Inside the processing chamber 5, the susceptor 10 which is a mounting table for mounting the glass substrate (henceforth "substrate") G as a to-be-processed object is provided, for example. The susceptor 10 is made of, for example, aluminum nitride, and therein, a power supply unit 11 for electrostatically adsorbing the substrate G and applying a predetermined bias voltage to the interior of the processing chamber 5, and a substrate. The heater 12 which heats G to predetermined temperature is provided. The high frequency power supply 13 for bias application provided in the exterior of the process chamber 5 is connected to the power supply part 11 via the matcher 14 provided with a capacitor | condenser, etc., and the high voltage | voltage high voltage direct current power supply for electrostatic adsorption | 15 is connected via the coil 16. Similarly, an AC power supply 17 provided outside of the processing chamber 5 is connected to the heater 12.

Around the susceptor 10, a baffle plate 18 is provided for controlling the flow of gas in the processing chamber 5 in a preferable state.

The susceptor 10 is supported on the elevating plate 20 provided on the outer lower side of the processing chamber 5 with the box 21 therebetween, and the elevating plate 20 is integrated with the elevating plate 20 to thereby elevate the processing chamber 5. The height of the susceptor 10 in the inside is adjusted. However, since the bellows 22 is attached between the bottom surface of the processing container 2 and the elevating plate 20, the airtightness in the processing chamber 5 is maintained.

At the bottom of the processing container 2, an atmosphere in the processing chamber 5 is exhausted by an exhaust device 23 such as a vacuum pump provided outside the processing chamber 5, and the pressure inside the processing chamber 5 is substantially reduced in vacuum. The exhaust port 24 for making it is provided.

Inside the lid 3, a plurality of waveguides (square waveguides) 35 having a rectangular cross-sectional shape are arranged horizontally. 1 to 3, the longitudinal direction of the waveguide 35 is defined as the Y axis, and the direction orthogonal to the Y axis in the horizontal plane is defined as the X axis and the vertical direction as the Z axis. Each waveguide 35 is disposed so that the long side direction of the cross-sectional shape (rectangular shape) becomes vertical on the H plane (Z-axis direction), and the short side direction is horizontal on the E plane (X-axis direction). The waveguides 35 are filled with dielectric members 36 such as fluorine resin (eg, Teflon (registered trademark)), Al ₂ O ₃ , and quartz, respectively.

In this embodiment, inside the lid 3, the two end waveguides 35 'of the waveguides 35 face each other, and the two waveguides 35 are arranged in series in the Y-axis direction, The two waveguides 35 arranged in series are arranged in eight rows in parallel. Between the longitudinal cross-sections 35 'of the two waveguides 35 arrange | positioned in series with each other, it is partitioned by the partition wall 37 formed in the cover 3 inside. The partition wall 37 is formed integrally with the lid 3, and is made of, for example, aluminum and is in an electrically grounded state.

The start end of the waveguide 35 protrudes to the side of the lid 3. In this way, the microwave generator 41 is connected to the start end of the waveguide 35 protruding to the side of the lid 3 with the tuner 40 interposed therebetween. The tuner 40 (for example, a stub tuner) matches (matches) the variation of the impedance of the plasma in the processing chamber 5. The microwaves generated by each microwave generator 41 are bifurcated into two branches at the Y branch 42, and are supplied to two waveguides 35, respectively, so that the longitudinal section of the waveguide 35 disposed at the ceiling center of the processing chamber 5 is provided. It propagates up to 35 '.

The lower surface of the cover 3 is made of a slot antenna 45 that serves as the bottom surface of the waveguide 35. The slot antenna 45 is integrally formed with the lid 3 made of a conductive material such as aluminum, and is electrically grounded.

On the lower surface of the slot antenna 45 (lower surface of the lid 3), a plurality of tile dielectrics 46 are attached. In this embodiment, all 13 dielectrics 46 are attached to the lower surface of each waveguide 30. On the ceiling surface of the processing chamber 5, 13 x 16 = 208 dielectrics 46 are provided in total. The dielectric 46 is made of a dielectric material such as quartz glass, AlN, Al ₂ O ₃ , sapphire, SiN, ceramics, or the like.

In the bottom surface (slot antenna 40) of the waveguide 35, a plurality of slots 47 for propagating microwaves from the waveguide 35 to the dielectric 46 are opened. In this embodiment, two slots 47 are opened for each dielectric 46, and therefore, 13 x 2 = 26 slots 47 are opened in the lower surface of each waveguide 30, respectively. Inside each of the slots 47, dielectric members such as fluorine resin, alumina (Al ₂ O ₃ ), and quartz are filled. The interval in the Y-axis direction of each slot 47 is set to be approximately 1/2 of the wavelength? G in the tube of microwaves propagating in the waveguide 30.

Each dielectric 46 is supported by a girder 48 formed in a lattice shape, respectively. The girders 48 are made of a conductive material which is a nonmagnetic material such as aluminum. As shown in FIG. 1, the girder 48 has a plurality of gas introduction pipes 49 penetrating therein. The gas introduction pipe 49 is opened in a plurality of places on the ceiling surface of the processing chamber 5 so as to surround the dielectric 46, so that the gas is uniformly distributed and sprayed on the entire upper surface of the processing chamber 5. It is.

Inside the lid 3, a gas pipe 50 for processing gas supply and a coolant pipe 51 for cooling water supply are provided. The gas pipe 50 communicates with the gas introduction pipe 49 passing through the girder 48.

The gas pipe 50 is connected to a processing gas supply source 55 arranged outside the processing chamber 5 with a valve 53 and a mass flow controller 54 interposed therebetween. The processing gas supply source 55 supplies a predetermined gas such as an argon gas as a plasma generating gas and a carrier gas, a silane gas as a film forming gas, a hydrogen gas, or the like, and is injected into the processing chamber through the gas introduction pipe 49.

The cooling water supply source 56 arranged outside the processing chamber 5 is connected to the cooling water piping 51. The cooling water is circulated and supplied from the cooling water supply source 56 to the cooling water pipe 51, so that the lid 3 is maintained at a predetermined temperature.

As shown in Fig. 3, the plasma processing apparatus 1 is provided from a cleaning gas supply source 60 disposed outside the processing chamber 5, for example, chlorine gas, fluorine gas, chlorine compound gas, fluorine gas compound (e.g., g., NL _3, dilute _{F 2, CF 4, C 2} F 6, C 3 F 8, SF 8, Cl and ClF _3), the cleaning gas for supplying a cleaning gas containing any inside of the treatment chamber (5) of the The flow path 61 is provided. NF ₃ is illustrated as an example of the cleaning gas. In addition, the cleaning gas may contain a carrier gas such as Ar or a plasma generating gas. An opening / closing valve 62 is provided in the cleaning gas flow path 61. When the opening / closing valve 62 is opened, the cleaning gas is supplied into the processing chamber 5 via the cleaning gas flow path 61.

The cleaning gas flow path 61 is provided so that a portion thereof penetrates the lid 3 and the inside of the processing container 2. In addition, the cleaning gas flow path 61 is disposed to penetrate the inside of the waveguide 35 provided in the lid 3 in the Z-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 4, inside the waveguide 35, the hollow circular tube 65 which opened the upper and lower end surfaces is provided. The circular tube 65 is made of, for example, a dielectric material such as fluorine resin (for example, Teflon (registered trademark)), Al ₂ O ₃ , quartz, or the like, and is formed in the waveguide 35 in the space 66. In this case, a space portion 66 surrounded by a partition wall (circular tube 65) made of a dielectric material is formed. As an example of the circular tube 65, an alumina tube having a diameter of 3/8 inch is illustrated.

A cleaning gas flow passage 61 penetrating the lid 3 is connected to the upper portion of the space portion 66, and a cleaning gas flow passage penetrating the lid 3 and the processing container 2 is provided at the lower portion of the space portion 66. 61 is connected. As a result, the cleaning gas supplied from the cleaning gas supply source 60 passes through the space portion 66 and is supplied to the processing chamber 5.

The opening / closing valve 62 mentioned above is provided in the cleaning gas flow path 61 between the cleaning gas supply source 60 and the space part 66, and the space part 66 has the cleaning gas flow path 61 interposed therebetween. It is in the state of communicating with the inside of the processing container 2. For this reason, the space part 66 is maintained at the same pressure as the inside of the process chamber 2.

The circular tube 65 and the space portion 66 provided in the waveguide 35 have a tip end of the waveguide 35 rather than a plurality of slots 47 opened in the bottom surface (slot antenna 40) of the waveguide 35. It is arranged on the side. In other words, the plurality of slots 47 are disposed on the rear end side of the waveguide 35 rather than the circular tube 65 and the space portion 66.

In the inside of the waveguide 35, a reflecting member 70 for reflecting microwaves propagated in the waveguide 35 on the rear end side of the waveguide 35 than the space portion 66 (circular tube 65) is provided. The insertion and extraction of the waveguide 35 is provided freely. The reflective member 70 is called a stub bar, and is made of a conductive material such as aluminum and is in an electrically grounded state.

In the example shown in figure, the reflecting member 70 has the circumferential shape arrange | positioned toward the X-axis direction, and is arrange | positioned perpendicularly to the H surface at the height of the center of the H surface of the waveguide 35. In addition, the reflective member 70 is movable in the X-axis direction, and as shown in FIG. 5, by moving out of the waveguide 35, a state extracted from the waveguide 35 and protrudes into the waveguide 35. To be inserted into the waveguide 35. As shown in FIG. 5, in the state where the reflection member 70 is extracted from the inside of the waveguide 35, the distal end surface of the reflection member 70 becomes coplanar with the inner surface of the waveguide 35. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, in the state where the reflection member 70 is inserted into the waveguide 35, the reflection member 70 exists between the H planes of the waveguide 35.

The reflective member 70 is disposed between the circular tube 65 and the space portion 66 and the plurality of slots 47 opened in the bottom surface (slot antenna 40) of the waveguide 35. Therefore, it is arrange | positioned in order of the space part 66, the reflection member 70, and the slot 47 toward the rear end side from the start end side of the waveguide 35 (to the right direction in FIG. 4).

The distance L in the Y-axis direction between the circular tube 65 and the space portion 66 and the reflective member 70 is set to lambda g / 4. In the illustrated example, the distance L in the Y-axis direction between the space 66 and the reflective member 70 is defined as the distance in the Y-axis direction between the central axes of both. (lambda) g is the wavelength (wave | tube wavelength) of the microwave propagating in the waveguide 35. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, when the microwaves generated by the microwave generator 41 propagate in the waveguide 35, standing waves are synthesized by combining the microwaves propagating in the waveguide 35 and the reflected waves generated in the waveguide 35. Occurs. The wavelength of the standing wave is substantially equal to the wavelength λg of the microwave propagating in the waveguide 35, and the standing wave generated in the waveguide 35 has a period of about λg / 2, and the maximum and minimum values of the amplitude are repeated. . Thus, the position where the standing wave shows the maximum value and the minimum value of the amplitude (the position of the portion of the double wave of the standing wave waveform) varies depending on the position of the reflecting member 70 and the rear end side of the waveguide 35 from the space portion 66. When the reflecting member 70 is inserted at a position spaced by λg / 4 toward, the position of the double portion of the standing wave waveform coincides with the position of the space portion 66, so that the power of the microwave is most efficiently applied to the space portion 66. ) Can be spread. Therefore, as will be described later, in the cleaning process for cleaning the inside of the processing chamber 5, the waveguide 35 is positioned in the waveguide 35 at a position spaced apart from the space 66 by the λg / 4 toward the rear end side of the waveguide 35. The reflective member 70 is inserted. Thereby, the position of the double part of the standing wave waveform generated by the interference between the microwave propagating in the waveguide 35 and the reflected wave reflected by the reflecting member 70 coincides with the position of the space portion 66, It is set as the state which propagates the power of a microwave to the space part 66 most efficiently.

In addition, when the reflecting member 70 is inserted into the waveguide 35, in order to show the maximum value of the amplitude at the position of the space portion 66, the circular tube 65 and the space portion 66 and the reflection The distance in the Y-axis direction from the member 70 is not limited to λg / 4. As described above, the standing wave generated in the waveguide 35 repeats the maximum value and the minimum value of the amplitude at a period of about λg / 2, so that when n is an integer of 0 or more, the circular tube 65 and the space portion 66 ) And the distance in the Y-axis direction from the reflective member 70 may be set to λg / 4 + λg · n / 2.

By the way, in the plasma processing apparatus 1 which concerns on the Example of this invention comprised as mentioned above, the operation method of the plasma processing apparatus 1 in the case of forming amorphous silicon, for example is demonstrated. In the processing step of performing the plasma treatment on the substrate G, the substrate G is mounted on the susceptor 10 in the processing chamber 5, and the gas piping 50 and the gas introduction pipe 49 are provided from the processing gas supply source 55. Through the exhaust device 23, the inside of the processing chamber 5 is reduced to a predetermined pressure while supplying a predetermined processing gas, for example, a mixed gas of argon gas / silane gas / hydrogen into the processing chamber 5. In this case, the opening / closing valve 62 provided in the cleaning gas flow path 61 is closed, and the supply of the cleaning gas is stopped.

In addition, while processing gas is supplied into the process chamber 5 in this way, the heater 12 heats the board | substrate G to predetermined temperature. In addition, for example, 2.45 GHz of microwaves generated by the microwave supply device 41 are introduced into the waveguides 35 through the Y branch pipe 42.

In addition, in this processing process, as shown in FIG. 5, the reflection member 70 is moved out of the waveguide 35, and it is set as the state extracted from the inside of the waveguide 35. As shown in FIG. As a result, the microwaves introduced into the waveguide 35 are not reflected by the reflection member 70, but propagate to the rear end of the waveguide 35. In this way, the microwaves introduced to the rear end side of the waveguide 35 propagate to the dielectrics 46 through the respective slots 47. In this way, an electromagnetic field is formed in the processing chamber 5 on the surface of each dielectric material 46 by the power of microwaves propagated to each dielectric material 46, and the processing gas is plasma-formed by the electric field energy to form a plasma on the substrate G. Amorphous silicon film formation is performed on the surface.

In addition, in the process process of performing a plasma process on the board | substrate G, inside the process chamber 5, by the low electron temperature of 0.7 eV-2.0 eV, high density plasma of 10 <^11> -10 <^13> cm <^-3> , Uniform film formation with little damage to the substrate G is performed. Conditions for amorphous silicon film formation are, for example, 5 to 100 Pa, preferably 10 to 60 Pa and the temperature of the substrate G with respect to the pressure in the processing chamber 5, preferably 250 to 380 ° C. It is suitable. In addition, G4.5 or more is suitable for the size of the processing chamber 5, for example, G4.5 (the dimension of the board | substrate G: 730 mm x 920 mm, the internal dimension of the processing chamber 5: 1000 mm x 1190 mm), It is G5 (dimension of board | substrate G: 1100 mm x 1300 mm, internal dimension of the processing chamber 5: 1470 mm x 1590 mm), About the output of the power of the microwave supply apparatus 41, it is 1-8 W / cm <2>, Preferably 3W / cm 2 is appropriate.

In addition, as described above, the space portion 66 formed inside the waveguide 35 communicates with the interior of the processing container 2 with the cleaning gas flow path 61 interposed therebetween. By the exhaust of the exhaust device 23, the space portion 66 is also substantially maintained in vacuum as in the process chamber 5. For this reason, there is no object to be plasma-formed in the space portion 66, and the power of the microwaves propagating through the waveguide 35 is not consumed at the position of the circular tube 65. For this reason, microwave power can be efficiently consumed for plasma generation in the processing chamber 5.

On the other hand, if the processing step is carried out continuously, amorphous silicon, which is a film forming material, is deposited not only on the surface of the substrate G but also on the inner surface of the processing chamber 5 and the surfaces of various components exposed in the processing chamber 5. Throw it away. The sediment thus generated is a cause of contamination if left untreated, which may adversely affect the plasma treatment.

Therefore, the cleaning process which cleans the inside of the process chamber 5 at an appropriate time is performed. That is, when performing a cleaning process, in the state which took out the board | substrate G from the process chamber 5, the opening / closing valve 62 is opened and the cleaning gas flow path 61 and the space part 66 are opened from the cleaning gas supply source 60. The cleaning gas is supplied to the process chamber 5 through the process chamber 5. In addition, the cleaning gas contains any one of chlorine gas, fluorine gas, chlorine compound gas, and fluorine gas compound, and NF ₃ is illustrated as an example.

In this way, in the cleaning process, the cleaning gas passes through the space portion 66 inside the circular tube 65. In the space portion 66, the cleaning gas is activated by the power of the microwaves propagating in the waveguide 35 to generate a highly etchable component such as fluorine radical or chlorine radical.

The cleaning gas containing the activated fluorine radicals and chlorine radicals is supplied into the processing chamber 5 to etch away the deposits in the processing chamber 5. In this way, the so-called in-situ cleaning can be performed to clean the inside of the processing chamber 5.

In addition, in the cleaning process, as shown in FIG. 6, the reflective member 70 is inserted into the waveguide 35, and the reflective member 70 is disposed between the H planes at a height almost at the center of the waveguide 35. ) Is present. As a result, the microwaves propagated in the waveguide 35 are reflected by the reflection member 70.

In this case, the distance in the Y-axis direction of the space portion 66 and the reflective member 70 is set to λg / 4 + λg · n / 2. For this reason, when the reflecting member 70 is inserted into the waveguide 35 in this manner, standing waves generated by the interference between the microwaves propagating in the waveguide 35 and the reflected waves reflected from the reflecting member 70, The maximum value of the amplitude is shown at the position of the space portion 66, and the position of the double portion of the standing wave waveform coincides with the position of the space portion 66. As a result, the power of the microwave can be propagated most efficiently to the space portion 66, and the cleaning gas can be efficiently activated in the space portion 66 to ensure a high etching component such as fluorine radical or chlorine radical. Can be generated.

In addition, in this cleaning process, the output of the microwave supply apparatus 41 is set so that the power of the microwave output to one space part 66 (volume 0.25 liter) may be set to 2.7 kW or less. As the power of the microwave output to the space portion 66 increases, the components having high etching properties such as fluorine radicals and chlorine radicals generated in the space portion 66 also tend to increase. However, when the power of the microwave is about 2.7 kW, almost 100% of the active ingredients in the cleaning gas are activated, and even if microwaves with a power exceeding 2.7 kW are output to the space portion 66, waste of energy occurs. In addition, in order to produce enough highly etchable components such as fluorine radicals and chlorine radicals in the space portion 66, it is preferable that the power of the microwaves outputted to one space portion 66 is 1 kW or more.

In the case where the plurality of waveguides 35 are provided, as in the plasma processing apparatus 1 shown in this embodiment, all or part of the waveguides 35 of the plurality of waveguides 35 are circular tubes made of a dielectric material. 65 may be arrange | positioned, and two or more space parts 66 may be provided. In the case where the plurality of space portions 66 are thus provided, it is preferable that the power of the microwaves output to the plurality of space portions 66 is 15 kW or more in total. For example, like the plasma processing apparatus 1 shown in this embodiment, by arranging two waveguides 35 arranged in series in eight rows in parallel, a total of sixteen waveguides 35 are arranged and the sixteen waveguides 35 are arranged. In the case where the circular tubes 65 are arranged on each of the waveguides 35 and 16 space portions 66 are provided, the outputs of the microwave generators 41 are adjusted to adjust the output of the microwaves output to the respective space portions 66. The power is controlled to be 15 kW or more in total. As a result, the power of the microwaves output to each of the spaces 66 becomes an average of 1 kW or more, and in each of the spaces 66, the highly etchable components such as fluorine radicals and chlorine radicals are sufficiently generated. Will be.

In the cleaning process, since the space portion 66 communicates with the interior of the processing container 2 with the cleaning gas flow path 61 interposed therebetween, the space 66 is maintained at substantially the same pressure as the inside of the processing chamber 5. Since the space portion 66 has a sufficiently small volume compared with the inside of the processing container 2, even under a high pressure of 1 Torr or more, the cleaning gas can be stably generated in plasma to generate fluorine radicals or chlorine radicals.

By operating the plasma processing apparatus 1 by alternately performing the above-described processing process and cleaning process, it is possible to perform desirable plasma processing on the surface of the substrate G while always maintaining the inside of the processing chamber 5 in a normal state. In particular, according to the plasma processing apparatus 1, since the cleaning gas is activated using the power of microwaves propagating through the waveguide 35 provided in the plasma processing apparatus 1, the remote chamber or the dedicated microwave source Etc. are unnecessary. Therefore, the deposit in the process chamber 5 can be cleaned with a simple structure, the apparatus cost can be made low, and the apparatus can also be miniaturized. In addition, although the example of having provided 2x8 = 16 waveguides 35 inside the cover 3 was shown in figure, the circular pipe 65 is attached to each waveguide 35, and activation of a cleaning gas is carried out, respectively. By performing the process, a large amount of fluorine radicals and chlorine radicals can be generated, and extremely efficient cleaning can be performed.

As mentioned above, although an example of the preferable Example of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the form of illustration. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications or modifications can be made within the scope of the spirit described in the claims, and they are naturally understood to belong to the technical scope of the present invention. For example, the reflection member 70 which reflects the microwaves propagated in the waveguide 35 is not limited to what is called a stub bar shown in FIG. 4, and is, for example, a plate-shaped reflection as shown in FIG. 8. The member 70 may be provided freely in the waveguide 35 to be inserted and extracted.

9 and 10, in addition to the cleaning gas supply source 60, exhaust means 80 such as a vacuum pump is connected to an upstream side of the cleaning gas flow path 61, and a space portion ( It is preferable to provide the on-off valve 62 in the cleaning gas flow path 61 between the 66 and the processing chamber 5. In this plasma processing apparatus 1 ′, in the processing step of performing plasma processing on the substrate G, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the opening / closing valve 62 is closed and the space portion ( 66) is vacuumed. As a result, there is no object to be plasma-formed in the space portion 66, and the power of microwaves propagating through the waveguide 35 is not consumed at the position of the circular tube 65.

On the other hand, in the cleaning process, as shown in FIG. 10, the opening / closing valve 62 is opened and the cleaning chamber 5 is cleaned from the cleaning gas supply source 60 through the cleaning gas flow path 61 and the space part 66. Supply gas. Thereby, the cleaning gas containing fluorine radicals and chlorine radicals can be supplied into the process chamber 5.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the amorphous silicon film formation as an example of the plasma treatment has been described. However, in the present invention, in addition to the amorphous silicon film formation, in addition to the oxide silicon film formation, the polysilicon film formation, the silane ammonia treatment, the silane hydrogen treatment, the oxide film treatment, and the silane In addition to oxygen treatment and other CVD treatments, the present invention can also be applied to etching treatments. In addition, the board | substrate G used as a process target can be applied to various board | substrates, such as a glass substrate, a silicon substrate, a square, a round substrate, and the like. Moreover, it is not limited to manufacture of an LCD apparatus, It can apply to manufacture of other flat panel display apparatuses, such as an organic electroluminescence display, and manufacture of a semiconductor device and other various electronic devices.

(Example)

As an embodiment of the present invention, an alumina tube provided inside the rectangular waveguide was activated by flowing NF ₃ as a cleaning gas to etch the SiO ₂ film. The relationship between the etching rate in this case and the flow rate of the cleaning gas NF ₃ is shown in FIG. 11. Similarly, the relationship between the etching rate in the case of using CF ₄ / O ₂ as the cleaning gas and the flow rate of the cleaning gas (CF ₄ / O ₂ ) is shown in FIG. 12. In any case, in order to activate the cleaning gas, the microwave supply device generated 2.45 GHz of microwaves so that the output of the microwaves to the space portion formed in the alumina tube was 1.5 GHz. The pressure in the processing chamber was 4 Torr, and 500 sccm of Ar was mixed with the cleaning gas.

As a comparative example, the SiO ₂ film was etched by NF ₃ remote plasma manufactured by MKS Corporation. The relationship between the etching rate in the case of using NF ₃ as a cleaning gas, and the flow volume of the cleaning gas (NF ₃ ) is shown in FIG. 13. In order to activate the cleaning gas, a 400 kPa toroidal plasma was used. The pressure in the processing chamber was 2 Torr, and 500 sccm of Ar was mixed with the cleaning gas.

As a result, in the case of NF ₃ gas, the present invention was able to confirm the etching rate equivalent to that of the remote plasma manufactured by MKS Corporation. In the case of CF ₄ gas, the etching rate was about 1/2 of that of MKS Corporation (NF ₃ gas). However, since CF ₄ gas is much cheaper than NF ₃ gas, it is possible to drastically reduce the running cost. In addition, when the waveguide has a plurality of waveguides as shown in the figure, activation of the cleaning gas in each waveguide can generate a large amount of fluorine radicals and chlorine radicals, which is equivalent to the remote plasma manufactured by MKS Corporation, Cleaning can be done several times to several tens of times.

The present invention can be applied to, for example, a CVD process and an etching process.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a bottom view of the cover,

3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lid in X-X in FIG. 2;

4 is a partially enlarged sectional view for explaining a supply mechanism of the cleaning gas;

5 is an explanatory diagram of a reflection member, illustrating a state extracted from the inside of the waveguide;

6 is an explanatory view of a reflection member, illustrating a state inserted into a waveguide;

7 is an explanatory diagram of standing waves occurring in the waveguide;

8 is an explanatory diagram of a reflection member in a plate shape;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment in which a cleaning gas supply source and an exhaust means are connected to an upstream side of a cleaning gas flow path, illustrating a processing step; FIG.

10 is an explanatory diagram of a plasma processing apparatus according to an embodiment in which a cleaning gas supply source and an exhaust means are connected to an upstream side of a cleaning gas flow path, illustrating a degree of cleaning;

11 is a graph showing the relationship between the etching rate of the SiO ₂ film and the flow rate of the cleaning gas (NF ₃ ) in the embodiment of the present invention;

12 is a graph showing the relationship between the etching rate of the SiO ₂ film and the flow rate of the cleaning gas (CF ₄ / O ₂ ) in the embodiment of the present invention;

13 is a graph showing a relationship between an etching rate of a SiO ₂ film and a flow rate of a cleaning gas (NF ₃ ) in a comparative example.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

G: substrate 1: plasma processing apparatus

2: processing container 3: cover

5: processing chamber 10: susceptor

23 exhaust device 35 waveguide

41: microwave generator 45: slot antenna

46: dielectric 47: slot

55 processing gas supply source 56 cooling water supply source

60: cleaning gas supply source 61: cleaning gas flow path

62: on-off valve 65: round tube

66: space portion 70: reflective member

Claims (23)

A plasma processing apparatus in which a predetermined gas supplied into a processing chamber is converted into plasma by microwaves propagated through a waveguide and propagated to a dielectric disposed on an inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. In the waveguide, a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material is formed, A cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber through the space portion is provided. A cleaning gas supply source is connected to an upstream side of the flow path, An opening / closing valve is provided in the flow path between the cleaning gas supply source and the space part Plasma processing apparatus, characterized in that. A plasma processing apparatus in which a predetermined gas supplied into a processing chamber is converted into plasma by microwaves propagated through a waveguide and propagated to a dielectric disposed on an inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. In the waveguide, a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material is formed, A cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber through the space portion is provided. The waveguide is provided in a cover for opening and closing the processing chamber, The space portion and a part of the cleaning gas flow path are arranged inside the lid Plasma processing apparatus, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, And said space portion is an inner space of a tube made of a dielectric material. delete The method of claim 1, And the space portion is maintained at the same pressure as the inside of the processing chamber. A plasma processing apparatus in which a predetermined gas supplied into a processing chamber is converted into plasma by microwaves propagated through a waveguide and propagated to a dielectric disposed on an inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. In the waveguide, a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material is formed, A cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber through the space portion is provided. A cleaning gas supply source and an exhaust means are connected to an upstream side of the flow path, Between the said space part and the said process chamber, the opening-closing valve is provided in the said flow path Plasma processing apparatus, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The cleaning gas includes any one of chlorine gas, fluorine gas, chlorine compound gas and fluorine gas compound. A plasma processing apparatus in which a predetermined gas supplied into a processing chamber is converted into plasma by microwaves propagated through a waveguide and propagated to a dielectric disposed on an inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. In the waveguide, a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material is formed, A cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber through the space portion is provided. And a reflecting member for reflecting the microwaves freely inserted and extracted from the inside of the waveguide at a rear end side of the waveguide from the space portion. The method of claim 8, On the side of the waveguide, a slot for propagating microwaves to the dielectric is formed at a rear end side of the space portion, The reflective member is disposed between the space part and the slot Plasma processing apparatus, characterized in that. The method of claim 9, And the reflecting member is disposed at a position spaced apart from the space portion by [lambda] g / 4 + [lambda] g.n / 2 ([lambda] g: in-wavelength of microwaves, n: integer greater than or equal to 0). " A method of operating a plasma processing apparatus in which a microwave propagated through a waveguide is propagated to a dielectric disposed on an inner surface of a processing chamber, thereby converting a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber into a plasma, and performing a plasma treatment on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. A processing step of converting a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber into a plasma, and performing a plasma processing on the target object disposed in the processing chamber; A cleaning step of supplying a cleaning gas into the processing chamber to clean the inside of the processing chamber; But have In the cleaning process, Activating the cleaning gas by passing the cleaning gas into a space surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of the dielectric material, The inside of the processing chamber is cleaned by supplying the activated cleaning gas to the processing chamber. In the cleaning process, a reflection member for reflecting microwaves is inserted into the waveguide at a rear end side of the waveguide from the space portion. The method of claim 11, In the treatment step, a gas for generating a plasma is not present in the space portion. The method of claim 11, In the processing step, the space portion is a vacuum method, characterized in that the operating method of the plasma processing apparatus. The method of claim 11, In the cleaning process, the space portion is maintained at the same pressure as the inside of the processing chamber. delete The method of claim 11, On the side of the waveguide, a slot for propagating microwaves to the dielectric is formed at a rear end side of the space portion, The reflective member is disposed between the space part and the slot An operating method of the plasma processing apparatus, characterized in that. The method of claim 11, And the reflecting member is disposed at a position spaced apart from the space portion by [lambda] g / 4 + [lambda] g.n / 2 ([lambda] g: wavelength in the tube of microwave, n: an integer greater than or equal to 0). The method of claim 11, The cleaning gas includes any one of chlorine gas, fluorine gas, chlorine compound gas, and fluorine gas compound. The method of claim 11, In the cleaning step, the power of the microwave output to the space portion is less than 2.7 kW operating method of the plasma processing apparatus. The method of claim 11, And a plurality of the waveguides, wherein the space portion is formed in all or part of the waveguides, and the power of the microwaves output to the space portion is 15 kW or more in total. Operation of the plasma processing apparatus in which a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is converted into plasma by microwaves propagated through the waveguide and propagated to the dielectric disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the processing target object disposed in the processing chamber. As a method, The plasma processing apparatus includes a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material in the waveguide, and a cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber through the space portion is provided. The operating method of the plasma processing apparatus, The propagated microwaves are propagated to the dielectric disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, whereby a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is converted into plasma, and a plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber; The cleaning gas is activated by passing the cleaning gas into the space part, and the activated cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber to clean the inside of the processing chamber. Operation method of the plasma processing apparatus characterized by having. Using a plasma processing apparatus in which a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is plasmaated by microwaves propagated through the waveguide and propagated to a dielectric disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. As a plasma treatment method, The plasma processing apparatus includes a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material in the waveguide, and a cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber through the space portion is provided. The plasma treatment method, Cleaning gas is activated by passing a cleaning gas into the space part, and the activated cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber to clean the inside of the processing chamber; The microwave propagated to the waveguide propagates to the dielectric disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, whereby a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is converted into plasma, and a plasma treatment is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. Plasma processing method comprising the. Using a plasma processing apparatus in which a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is converted into plasma by microwaves propagated through the waveguide and propagated to a dielectric disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, and plasma processing is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. As a manufacturing method of an electronic device, The plasma processing apparatus includes a space portion surrounded by a partition wall made of at least a portion of a dielectric material in the waveguide, and a cleaning gas flow path for supplying a cleaning gas to the processing chamber through the space portion is provided. The manufacturing method of the electronic device, Cleaning gas is activated by passing a cleaning gas into the space part, and the activated cleaning gas is supplied to the processing chamber to clean the inside of the processing chamber; The microwave propagated to the waveguide propagates to the dielectric disposed on the inner surface of the processing chamber, whereby a predetermined gas supplied into the processing chamber is converted into plasma, and a plasma treatment is performed on the target object disposed in the processing chamber. It has a manufacturing method of the electronic device characterized by the above-mentioned.

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