Plasma CVD film-forming device

• US 6,740,367 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2002
• Issued: 05/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: ASM Japan K.K. (ASM International NV)
• Original Assignee: ASM Japan K.K. (ASM International NV)
• Inventors: Matsuki, Nobuo, Morisada, Yoshinori
• Primary Examiner(s): Hassanzadeh, Parviz
• Application Number:
  US10/328,331
• Publication Number:
  US 20030089314A1
• Time in Patent Office: 519 Days
• Field of Search: 427/585, 427/569, 427/573, 427/581, 118/723.E, 118/728, 156/345.47, 156/345.51
• US Class Current: 427/585
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/45565 Shower nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/5096 Flat-bed apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32009 Arrangements for generation of plasma specially adapted for examination or treatment of objects, e.g. plasma sources plasma generation in general H05H1/24
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32541 Shape

Abstract

A plasma CVD film-forming device forms a film on a semiconductor substrate in such as way that the film quality and film thickness of a thin film becomes uniform. The plasma CVD film-forming device to form a thin film on a semiconductor substrate includes a vacuum chamber, a showerhead positioned within the vacuum chamber, and a susceptor positioned substantially in parallel to and facing the showerhead within the vacuum chamber and on which susceptor the object to be processed is loaded and the central part of the showerhead and/or the susceptor constitutes a concave surface electrode.

Claims

1. A method for forming a thin film on a substrate by using a plasma CVD film-forming device, comprising:

loading and supporting a single flat substrate on a concave susceptor, wherein the substrate contacts said susceptor only at a lower rim of the substrate while forming the film;

controlling the atmosphere in a vacuum chamber, wherein a reaction gas is substantially uniformly supplied through a showerhead toward the substrate on the susceptor;

applying energy between the showerhead and the susceptor to generate a plasma

adjusting a distribution of electric field intensity over the flat substrate to minimize non-uniform thickness of a film formed on the substrate by adjusting a distance between the showerhead surface and the susceptor surface, said distance satisfying the following relation;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the showerhead supplies a source gas containing a compound selected from the group consisting of compounds which can be expressed by Si_xO_yC_zN₁H_m, wherein x, y, z, 1, and m are independently zero or an integer, including SiH₄, Si(OC₂H₅)₄, (CH₃)₂Si(OCH₃)₂, and C₆H₆.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the susceptor has a diameter sufficient to support a substrate having a diameter of 300 mm or larger.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein an radiofrequency power is applied between the showerhead and the susceptor.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the susceptor is heated with a heater embedded in the susceptor.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surface of said susceptor is concave to have a distance between the substrate when loaded and the susceptor in the range of 0.1 mm to 10 mm at the susceptor'"'"'s center.