Plasma processing method and apparatus for performing uniform plasma processing on a linear portion of an object

• US 7,022,937 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2003
• Issued: 04/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Okumura, Tomohiro, Saitoh, Mitsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): HOANG, TU BA
• Application Number:
  US10/747,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20050040145A1
• Time in Patent Office: 826 Days
• Field of Search: 219/121.36, 219/121.39, 219/121.4, 219/121.41, 219/121.42, 219/121.43, 219/121.44, 219/121.54, 219/121.55, 219/121.56, 219/121.58, 219/121.59, 118/723.ME, 118/718, 315/111.21, 427/122, 427/577, 378/119, 378/122
• US Class Current: 219/121.56
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 1/48 using an arc H05H1/26 takes precedence

Abstract

A plasma processing method is used to process a linear portion of an object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object to be processed while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in the neighborhood of the object to be processed and making activated particles generated by the plasma act on the object to be processed. The method includes detecting an inclination of the plasma source along a direction of an x-axis when the x-axis is taken in a linear direction of the linear portion of the object to be processed, and

processing the linear portion of the object to be processed by the generated linear plasma by moving the plasma source along the x-axis direction while maintaining relative positions of the plasma source and the object to be processed so that the detected inclination of the plasma source becomes approximately zero.

Claims

1. A plasma processing method for processing a linear portion of an object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object, the method comprising:

detecting an inclination of the plasma source along a direction of an x-axis when the x-axis is taken in a linear direction of the linear portion of the object; and

processing the linear portion of the object with the generated linear plasma by moving the plasma source along the x-axis direction while maintaining relative positions of the plasma source and the object with respect to a distance between the plasma source and the object so that the detected inclination of the plasma source becomes approximately zero.

2. The plasma processing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

when the linear portion of the object is processed,

the detecting of the inclination of the plasma source comprises measuring the distance between the plasma source and the object in two different x-coordinate positions to detect the inclination of the plasma source along the x-axis direction, and

the processing of the linear portion of the object comprises moving the plasma source along the x-axis direction while maintaining the relative positions of the plasma source and the object so that the distance between the plasma source and the object in the two different x-coordinate positions becomes almost equalized.

3. The plasma processing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the processing of the linear portion of the object comprises maintaining the relative positions of the plasma source and the object so that light emission intensities of the linear plasma in two different x-coordinate positions become almost equalized while monitoring the light emission intensities of the linear plasma in the two different x-coordinate positions in order to detect the inclination of the plasma source along the x-axis direction.

4. The plasma processing method as claimed in claim 1, wherein

the processing of the linear portion of the object is carried out at a pressure within a range of 10000 Pa to three atmospheric pressures.

5. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a plasma source that is provided with an electrode, for generating a linear plasma;

a gas supply unit for supplying gas to the plasma source;

a power supply for supplying an electric power to the electrode or an object to be processed;

a detection unit for detecting an inclination of the plasma source along a direction of an x-axis when the x-axis is taken in a linear direction of a linear portion of the object; and

a transport unit for moving the plasma source along the x-axis direction while maintaining relative positions of the plasma source and the object with respect to a distance between the plasma source and the object so that the inclination of the plasma source detected by the detection unit becomes almost zero,

wherein the plasma source processes the linear portion of the object with the generated linear plasma while the transport unit moves the plasma source along the x-axis direction.

6. The plasma processing apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the detection unit is a length measuring unit for measuring the distance between the plasma source and the object in two different x-coordinate positions, and

the transport unit moves the plasma source along the x-axis direction by maintaining the relative positions of the plasma source and the object so that the distance between the plasma source and the object in the two different x-coordinate positions measured by the length measuring unit becomes almost equalized.

7. The plasma processing apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein

the length measuring unit comprises two laser length measuring units fixed to the plasma source in the two different x-coordinate positions.

8. The plasma processing apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the detection unit comprises two light emission monitors for monitoring light emission intensities of the plasma in the two different x-coordinate positions.

9. The plasma processing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the light emission monitor is a photodiode.

10. A plasma processing method comprising:

carrying out plasma processing for processing a surface of an object to be processed for a test by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object for a test while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object for a test with relative positions of the plasma source and the object for a test fixed and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object for a test;

measuring a processing speed in a processed portion on the surface of the object for a test;

calibrating a length measuring unit for measuring a distance between the plasma source and an object to be processed, which is different from the object for a test and to be subjected to plasma processing, based on a measurement result of the measuring; and

carrying out plasma processing for processing a surface of the object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to the electrode provided at the plasma source or the object to be processed while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object to be processed, measuring the distance between the plasma source and the object to be processed and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object to be processed.

11. A plasma processing method comprising:

processing a linear portion of an object to be processed for a test by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object for a test while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object for a test with relative positions of the plasma source and the object for a test fixed and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object for a test;

measuring a distribution in a linear direction of a processing speed in the processed linear portion of the object for a test;

calibrating a length measuring unit for measuring a distance between the plasma source and an object to be processed, which is different from the object for a test and to be subjected to plasma processing, in two different x-coordinate positions based on a measurement result of the measuring when an x-axis is taken in the linear direction; and

carrying out plasma processing for processing the object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to the electrode provided at the plasma source or the object to be processed while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object to be processed, measuring the distance between the plasma source and the object to be processed in the two different x-coordinate positions and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object to be processed.

12. A plasma processing method comprising:

processing an object to be processed for a test by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object for a test while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object for a test with relative positions of the plasma source and the object for a test fixed and monitoring a light emission intensity of the linear plasma, and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object for a test;

calibrating a length measuring unit for measuring a distance between the plasma source and an object to be processed, which is different from the object for a test and to be subjected to plasma processing, based on a result of the monitoring of the light emission intensity in the processing; and

carrying out plasma processing for processing the object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to the electrode provided at the plasma source or the object to be processed while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object to be processed, measuring the distance between the plasma source and the object to be processed and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object to be processed.

13. A plasma processing method comprising:

processing a linear portion of an object to be processed for a test by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object for a test while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object for a test with relative positions of the plasma source and the object for a test fixed, monitoring light emission intensities of the linear plasma in two different x-coordinate positions when an x-axis is taken in a linear direction and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object for a test;

calibrating a length measuring unit for measuring a distance between the plasma source located in the two different x-coordinate positions and an object to be processed, which is different from the object for a test and to be subjected to plasma processing, based on a result of the monitoring of the light emission intensities in the processing; and

carrying out plasma processing for processing the object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to the electrode provided at the plasma source or the object to be processed while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object to be processed, and measuring the distance between the plasma source located in the two different x-coordinate positions and the object to be processed and making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object to be processed.

14. A plasma processing method for processing a linear portion of an object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object and moving the plasma source in a linear direction with a distance between the object and the plasma source maintained almost constant while making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object,

the method comprising processing the linear portion of the object by using a length measuring unit arranged at a position located apart from the plasma source in a direction in which the plasma source moves and moving the plasma source in the linear direction while maintaining the distance between the object and the plasma source almost constant based on a result of measuring the distance between the plasma source and the object measured with the length measuring unit.

15. A plasma processing method for processing a linear portion of an object to be processed by generating a linear plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object and moving the object in a linear direction with a distance between the object and the plasma source maintained almost constant while making activated particles generated by the linear plasma act on the object,

the method comprising processing the linear portion of the object by using a length measuring unit arranged at a position located apart from the plasma source in a direction opposite to a direction in which the object is moved and moving the object in the linear direction while maintaining the distance between the object and the plasma source almost constant based on a result of measuring the distance between the plasma source and the object with the length measuring unit.

16. A plasma processing method for carrying out plasma processing for processing an object to be processed by generating a plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object and making activated particles generated by the plasma act on a portion of the object while changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object,

the method comprising processing the object by feeding back a result of monitoring a light emission intensity of the plasma to a relative position change rate of the plasma source and the object while changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object.

17. A plasma processing method for carrying out plasma processing for processing an object to be processed by generating a plasma by supplying an electric power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object and making activated particles generated by the plasma act on a portion of the object while changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object,

the method comprising processing the object by feeding back a result of monitoring the electric power, a voltage, or a current supplied to the electrode or the object to a relative position change rate of the plasma source and the object while changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object.

18. A plasma processing method for processing an object to be processed by generating a plasma by supplying a high-frequency power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object via a matching circuit while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object and making activated particles generated by the plasma act on a portion of the object,

the method comprising executing end point detection of the processing of the object by monitoring a value of a variable reactance element in the matching circuit while changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object.

19. A plasma processing method for processing an object to be processed by generating a plasma by supplying a high-frequency power to an electrode provided at a plasma source or the object via a matching circuit while supplying gas to the plasma source arranged in a neighborhood of the object and making activated particles generated by the plasma act on a portion of the object while changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object,

the method comprising processing the object by feeding back a result of monitoring a value of a variable reactance element in the matching circuit to a relative position change rate of the plasma source and the object while changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object.

20. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a plasma source, which is provided with an electrode, for generating a plasma on a portion of a surface of an object to be processed;

a gas supply unit for supplying gas to the plasma source;

a power supply for supplying an electric power to the electrode or the object;

a mechanism for changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object;

a light emission monitor for monitoring a light emission intensity of the plasma; and

a mechanism for feeding back a result of the monitoring of the light emission intensity to a relative position change rate of the plasma source and the object.

21. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a plasma source, which is provided with an electrode, for generating a plasma on a portion of a surface of an object to be processed;

a gas supply unit for supplying gas to the plasma source;

a power supply for supplying an electric power to the electrode or the object;

a mechanism for changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object;

a monitor for monitoring the electric power, a voltage, or a current; and

a mechanism for feeding back a result of the monitoring of the electric power, the voltage, or the current to a relative position change rate of the plasma source and the object.

22. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a plasma source, which is provided with an electrode, for generating a plasma on a portion of a surface of an object to be processed;

a gas supply unit for supplying gas to the plasma source;

a matching circuit having a variable reactive element;

a power supply for supplying a high-frequency power to the electrode or the object via the matching circuit;

a mechanism for monitoring a value of the variable reactance element in the matching circuit; and

an end point detector for executing end point detection of the plasma processing based on a result of the monitoring of the value of the variable reactance element,

wherein the plasma processing apparatus changes relative positions of the plasma source and the object during processing.

23. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a plasma source, which is provided with an electrode, for generating a plasma on a portion of a surface of an object to be processed;

a gas supply unit for supplying gas to the plasma source;

a matching circuit having a variable reactive element;

a power supply for supplying a high-frequency power to the electrode or the object via the matching circuit;

a mechanism for changing relative positions of the plasma source and the object;

a mechanism for monitoring a value of the variable reactance element in the matching circuit; and

a mechanism for feeding back a result of the monitoring of the value of the variable reactance element to a relative position change rate of the plasma source and the object.