PLASMA PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD

• US 20110174778A1
• Filed: 07/07/2009
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Kang, Songyun, Sawada, Ikuo, Kasai, Shigeru
• Granted Patent: US 8,419,960 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 216/68
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32091 the radio frequency energy being capacitively coupled to the plasma
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/321 the radio frequency energy being inductively coupled to the plasma
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32165 Plural frequencies
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 1/46 using applied electromagnetic fields, e.g. high frequency or microwave energy H05H1/26 takes precedence

Abstract

A plasma processing apparatus performs a process on a substrate by using plasma. The plasma processing apparatus includes a processing chamber; a mounting table which is located in the processing chamber and on which a substrate is mounted; a gas shower head formed of a conductive material provided to face the mounting table and having at the bottom surface thereof a plurality of gas injection openings for supplying a processing gas into the processing chamber; an induction coil to which a high frequency current is supplied to generate an inductively coupled plasma in a region surrounding a space below the gas shower head; a negative voltage supplying unit for applying a negative DC voltage to the gas shower head to allow an electrical field, which is induced by the induction coil, to be drawn to a central portion of the processing region; and a unit for evacuating the processing chamber.

Claims

1. A plasma processing apparatus for processing a substrate by using a plasma, comprising:

a processing chamber;

a mounting table, provided in the processing chamber, for mounting thereon a substrate;

a gas shower head formed of a conductive material provided to face the mounting table, the gas shower head having at a bottom surface thereof a plurality of gas injection openings for supplying a processing gas into the processing chamber;

an induction coil to which a high frequency current is supplied to generate an inductively coupled plasma in a region surrounding a space below the gas shower head;

a negative voltage supply unit for applying a negative DC voltage to the gas shower head to allow an electric field induced by the induction coil to be drawn to a central portion in a processing region; and

a unit for evacuating the processing chamber.

2. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the induction coil is wound around an axis extending in a direction parallel with the substrate and perpendicular to a diametrical direction of the processing chamber.

3. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the induction coil is provided in a plural number along a circumferential direction of the processing chamber.

4. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the induction coil is wound in an angular shape having a side parallel with the substrate.

5. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the induction coil is provided above the processing chamber, and a ceiling wall of the processing chamber around the gas shower head is formed of a dielectric material.

6. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the induction coil is buried in a dielectric material and forms a part of a ceiling wall of the processing chamber.

7. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least a bottom surface portion of the gas shower head is formed of silicon.

8. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a storage unit storing, in corresponding relationship, recipes of processes to be performed on the substrate, values of the negative DC voltage, and values of the high frequency current supplied to the induction coil; and

a control unit for outputting a control signal by reading out a value of the negative DC voltage and a value of the high frequency current in accordance with a specific recipe from the storing unit.

9. A plasma processing method for processing a substrate by a plasma, comprising:

mounting a substrate on a mounting table in a processing chamber;

forming an electric field in a region surrounding a space below a gas shower head formed of a conductive material and disposed to face the mounting table by supplying a high frequency current to an induction coil positioned outwardly of the gas shower head in a diametrical direction of the processing chamber;

supplying a processing gas into the processing chamber through gas injection openings formed at a bottom surface of the gas shower head to allow the processing gas to be converted into a plasma by the electric field; and

applying a negative DC voltage to the gas shower head to allow the electric field induced by the induction coil to be drawn to the central portion of a processing region.

10. The plasma processing method of claim 9, wherein the induction coil is wound around an axis extending in a direction parallel with the substrate and perpendicular to the diametrical direction of the processing chamber.

11. The plasma processing method of claim 9, wherein the induction coil is provided in a plural number along the circumferential direction of the processing chamber.

12. The plasma processing method of claim 9, wherein the induction coil is wound in an angular shape having a side parallel with the substrate.

13. The plasma processing method of claim 9, further comprising reading out a value of a negative DC voltage and a value of a high frequency current supplied to the induction coil in accordance with a specific recipe from a storage unit storing, in corresponding relationship, recipes of processes to be performed on the substrate, values of the negative DC voltage and values of the high frequency current supplied to the induction coil.

14. A plasma processing apparatus for processing a substrate by a plasma, comprising:

a mounting table, provided in a processing chamber, for mounting thereon a substrate;

a gas shower head formed of a conductive material provided to face the mounting table, the gas shower head having at a bottom surface a plurality of gas injection openings for supplying a processing gas into the processing chamber;

a microwave supply unit to which microwaves are supplied to convert a processing gas into a plasma in a region surrounding a space below the gas shower head;

a negative voltage supply unit for applying a negative DC voltage to the gas shower head to allow an electric field induced by the microwave to be drawn to a central portion of a processing region; and

a unit for evacuating the processing chamber.

15. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the microwave supply unit is provided in a plural number along the circumferential direction of the processing chamber.

16. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein a ceiling wall of the processing chamber around the gas shower head is formed of a dielectric material, and the microwave supply unit is provided above the ceiling wall.

17. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein an opening is formed at a ceiling wall of the processing chamber, the opening being positioned below the microwave supply unit and around the gas shower head, and the microwave supply unit is airtightly provided at the processing chamber to block the opening.

18. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

a storage unit storing, in corresponding relationship, recipes of processes to be performed on the substrate and values of the negative DC voltage;

a control unit for outputting a control signal by reading out a value of the negative DC voltage in accordance with a specific recipe from the storing unit.

19. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

a storage unit storing, in corresponding relationship, recipes of processes to be performed on the substrate, values of the negative DC voltage, and values of the microwave power supplied to the microwave supply unit; and

a control unit for outputting a control signal by reading out a value of the negative DC voltage and a value of the microwave power in accordance with a certain recipe from the storing unit.

20. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the microwave supply unit is provided in a plural number along the circumferential direction of the processing chamber;

the storage unit stores, in corresponding relationship, recipes and values of the microwave power supplied to each of the microwave supply units; and

the control unit outputs a control signal by reading out a value of the microwave power supplied to each of the microwave supply units in accordance with the recipe.