Apparatus for and method of processing an object to be processed

• US 6,514,377 B1
• Filed: 09/07/2000
• Issued: 02/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Morimoto, Tamotsu
• Primary Examiner(s): DANG, THI D
• Application Number:
  US09/657,054
• Time in Patent Office: 880 Days
• Field of Search: 156/345.43, 156/345.44, 156/345.46, 156/345.47, 118/723.E, 118/723.R, 204/298.37
• US Class Current: 156/345.46
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32623 Mechanical discharge control means
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3266 Magnetic control means
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3405 Magnetron sputtering

Abstract

A magnetron reactive ion etching apparatus comprises: an electrode unit including electrodes facing each other through a semiconductor device; a high-frequency power source forming an electric field on the electrode unit; a dipole ring magnet; and a switching mechanism. The dipole ring magnet forms the first magnetic field state, including a magnetic field in a direction perpendicular to a direction of the electric field or in a direction parallel to the semiconductor device, and the second magnetic field state, including a magnetic field whose strength at the periphery of the surface of the semiconductor device is so satisfactory that an electron Larmor radius is larger than the mean free path of electrons. The first magnetic field state is switched to the second magnetic field state at a predetermined timing by the switching mechanism which is controlled by a controller.

Claims

1. The processing apparatus comprising:

a processing container;

an electrode unit which is arranged inside said processing container and includes a first electrode and a second electrode facing each other via an object to be processed;

a processing gas supply section which supplies a processing gas into said processing container;

a gas exhaust section which exhausts said processing container of a gas;

an electric field formation section which supplies high-frequency electric power to said electrode unit and forms an electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode;

a magnetic field formation section which forms a first magnetic field state, including a magnetic field in said electrode unit in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the electric field or in a direction parallel to the object, and a second magnetic field state, including a magnetic field whose magnetic field strength at a periphery of a surface of the object is so satisfactory that an electron Larmor radius is larger than a mean free path of electrons; and

a magnetic field state switching section which switches a magnetic field state from/to the first magnetic field state to/from the second magnetic field state, said magnetic field state switching section including a switch control mechanism which switches the first magnetic field state to the second magnetic field state at a predetermined timing.

2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second magnetic field includes a magnetic field in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the electric field or in a direction parallel to the object.

3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing gas includes a gas having reactive ion species and used for performing magnetron reactive ion processing for the object.

4. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a magnetic field is uniformly formed on the object in the first magnetic field state and in the second magnetic field state.

5. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said magnetic field formation section includes a plurality of electromagnets which are so arranged that said electrode unit is sandwiched therebetween, and said magnetic field state switching section is capable of switching a flow amount of current flowing to the electromagnets from/to a first flow amount to/from a second flow amount; and

the first flow amount of current flows to the electromagnets so as to form the first magnetic field state, and the second flow amount of current flows to the electromagnets so as to form the second magnetic field state.

6. The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

said magnetic field formation section includes a plurality of electromagnets which are so arranged that the electrode unit is sandwiched therebetween, and said magnetic field state switching section is capable of switching a flow amount of current flowing to the electromagnets from/to a first flow amount to/from a second flow amount;

the first flow amount of current flows to the electromagnets so as to form the first magnetic field state, and the second flow amount of current flows to the electrodes so as to form the second magnetic field state.

7. The processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:

said magnetic field formation section includes a plurality of electromagnets which are so arranged that the electrode unit is sandwiched therebetween, and said magnetic field state switching section is capable of switching a flow amount of current flowing to the electromagnets from/to a first flow amount to/from a second flow amount;

the first flow amount of current flows to the electromagnets so as to form the first magnetic field state, and the second flow amount of current flows to the electrodes so as to form the second magnetic field state.

8. The processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:

said magnetic field formation section includes a plurality of electromagnets which are so arranged that the electrode unit is sandwiched therebetween, and said magnetic field state switching section is capable of switching a flow amount of current flowing to the electromagnets from/to a first flow amount to/from a second flow amount;

the first flow amount of current flows to the electromagnets so as to form the first magnetic field state, and the second flow amount of current flows to the electrodes so as to form the second magnetic field state.

9. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said magnetic field formation section includes a plurality of permanent magnets which are so arranged that the electrode unit is sandwiched therebetween, and said magnetic field state switching section forms the first magnetic field state by arranging the plurality of permanent magnets in dipole arrangement and also the second magnetic field state by changing directions of magnetic poles of the plurality of permanent magnets.

10. The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

said magnetic field formation section includes a plurality of permanent magnets which are so arranged that the electrode unit is sandwiched therebetween, and said magnetic field state switching section forms the first magnetic field state by arranging the plurality of permanent magnets in dipole arrangement and also the second magnetic field state by changing directions of magnetic poles of the plurality of permanent magnets.