PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS

• US 20080170969A1
• Filed: 02/28/2007
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Tsubone, Tsunehiko, Yoshioka, Ken, Yakushiji, Mamoru, Omoto, Yutaka, Nakamoto, Kazunori
• Application Number:
  US11/680,118
• Publication Number:
  US 20080170969A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 422/109
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1932 to control the temperature of a plurality of spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/22 the sensing element being a thermocouple
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67109 mainly by convection
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67276 Production flow monitoring, e.g. for increasing throughput program-control systems per se G05B19/00, e.g. total factory control G05B19/418
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/6831 using electrostatic chucks

Abstract

It is possible to provide a plasma etching apparatus that controls the temperature of a sample at a higher speed and with more accuracy to improve the efficiency of processing the sample. A plasma processing apparatus includes a processing chamber to be depressurized and exhausted, a sample placement electrode provided in the processing chamber and having a sample placement surface on which a substrate to be processed is placed, an electromagnetic generation device to generate plasma in the processing chamber, a supply system that supplies processing gas to the processing chamber, a vacuum exhaust system that exhausts inside the processing chamber, a heater layer and a base temperature monitor that are disposed on the sample placement electrode, a wafer temperature estimating unit that estimates a wafer temperature from the base temperature monitor and plasma forming power supply, and a controller that regulates the heater corresponding to output from the temperature estimating unit.

Claims

1. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a processing chamber to be depressurized and exhausted;

a sample stage provided in the processing chamber and having a sample placement surface on which a substrate to be processed is placed;

a plasma generating device for generating plasma in the processing chamber;

a heat transfer gas supply system for supplying heat transfer gas to the sample placement surface; and

a coolant channel portion provided inside the sample stage and through which a coolant circulates;

wherein the apparatus further comprising;

a heater layer provided between the sample placement surface and the coolant channel portion inside the sample stage, wherein the heater layer being formed so as to be divided into a plurality of regions in a radius direction of the sample placement surface;

a plurality of temperature monitors provided near the heater layer in the sample stage and in a position corresponding to each of the division regions of the heater layer; and

a temperature controller for estimating a temperature of a position corresponding to each of the division regions of the substrate placed on the sample placement surface base on temperature data from the plurality of temperature monitors and controls power supply to each of the division regions of the heater layer according to the estimated temperature value.

2. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the heater layer is divided into plural regions so as to correspond to each of regions obtained by dividing the substrate placed on the sample placement surface into plural regions where area is equal in a radius direction, and

the temperature controller has a function of estimating a temperature of a position corresponding to each of the division regions of the substrate based on heat balance of the substrate per se and heat balance of the sample stage.

3. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the temperature controller has a wafer temperature estimating unit that estimates a temperature of a position corresponding to each of the division regions of the substrate by a first order lag computation using temperatures detected by the temperature monitors, input power to each of the division regions of the heater layer, and heat input from the plasma to the substrate as inputs.

4. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the temperature controller has:

a function for controlling a temperature of the coolant circulating inside the sample stage so that the temperature of the coolant is a value lower than a minimum of a control target temperature value of the substrate; and

a function for obtaining heat balance of heat that enters and leaves each of the division regions of the heater layer based on temperature data from the temperature monitors and estimating a temperature of a position of the substrate to be processed corresponding to each of the division regions.

5. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the temperature controller has a feedback control unit controls input power to each of the division regions of the heater layer based on a difference between the estimated temperature and target temperature.

6. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the temperature controller performs any one of an on/off control computation and a proportional-integral control computation on a signal representing a difference between the target value and the estimated value of the substrate in order to generate an instruction value of input power to the heater layer.

7. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the apparatus further comprising:

a high frequency bias power supply that applies bias high frequency power to the sample stage,

wherein the wafer temperature estimating unit performs a first order lag computation on a linear combination signal of the signal using input power to the heater layer, electromagnetic field input power to the plasma, the bias high frequency power, and signals from the temperature monitors as inputs, and thereby outputs an estimated temperature value of the substrate.

8. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a processing chamber to be depressurized and exhausted;

a processing gas supply system for supplying processing gas to the processing chamber;

a sample stage provided in the processing chamber and having a sample placement surface on which a substrate to be processed is placed, the sample stage including;

a base member;

a heater layer provided above the base member, being formed so as to be divided into a plurality of regions in a radius direction of the sample placement surface; and

a dielectric material film covering the heater layer and including the sample placement surface,

a bias power supply for applying bias power to the sample stage;

an electromagnetic generation device for generating plasma in the processing chamber;

a heat transfer gas supply system for supplying heat transfer gas to the sample placement surface; and

a coolant channel portion provided inside the sample stage and through which a coolant circulates;

wherein the apparatus further comprising;

a plurality of base temperature monitors provided near a surface of the base member for measuring a temperature of a position corresponding to each of the division regions of the heater layer; and

a temperature controller for estimating a temperature of a position corresponding to each of the division regions of the substrate placed on the sample placement surface base on temperature data from the base temperature monitors using electromagnetic field input power to the plasma and the bias power as inputs and controls power supply to each of the division regions of the heater layer according to the estimated temperature value of the substrate.

9. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the heater layer is disposed so as to correspond to the approximately entire sample placement surface and divided so as to have approximately equal areas in a radius direction.

10. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein each of the division regions formed by dividing the heater layer in the radius direction is divided into a plurality of blocks in a circumferential direction, and the plurality of division blocks are connected in series.