Plasma processing apparatus
First Claim
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1. A plasma processing apparatus, comprising:
- a processing chamber having a vacuum, a gas being supplied to said processing chamber;
a support electrode provided inside said processing chamber and supporting a processing-target object;
an introduction window disposed on an upper side of the processing chamber through which a μ
-wave is introduced into the processing chamber;
a cavity unit disposed above the introduction window such that a bottom surface thereof contacts the introduction window;
a circular waveguide connected to an upper surface of the cavity unit and extending substantially vertically, the circular waveguide being configured to propagate the μ
-wave into the cavity unit and toward the introduction window;
a reflection suppressor coupled to the circular waveguide for suppressing a reflective wave propagated upward into the circular waveguide, the reflection suppressor comprising a chamber having a larger diameter than that of the circular waveguide;
a tuning box disposed above and connected to said reflection suppressor; and
two μ
-wave waveguides connected to said tuning box and disposed such that each of the two p-wave waveguides have axes that are on a flat plane which is substantially parallel to said tuning box or perpendicular to an axis of said waveguide and are set with an angle of substantially 90°
therebetween, said two μ
-wave waveguides introducing said μ
-waves which are set a phase difference therebetween of substantially 90°
in respective electric fields from said two directions to said tuning box,wherein said tuning box superimposes said respective μ
-wave and generates a circularly polarized wave in a predetermined mode that is propagated inside the circular waveguide toward the introduction window.
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Abstract
A plasma processing apparatus for generating highly-uniform and stable plasma. In an apparatus for generating plasma by using a μ wave, concerning a method for rotating the μ wave in terms of time, a plurality of (larger than two and smaller than four) waveguides are used, then forming an angle between the respective waveguides, and setting a phase difference between respective electric fields therein. This configuration allows introduction of the circularly polarized wave into a processing chamber. At this time, there are provided configuration components such as a waveguide locating method, a unit therefor, a μ-wave merging box, and a reflective-wave control unit using a reflection control chamber.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A plasma processing apparatus, comprising:
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a processing chamber having a vacuum, a gas being supplied to said processing chamber; a support electrode provided inside said processing chamber and supporting a processing-target object; an introduction window disposed on an upper side of the processing chamber through which a μ
-wave is introduced into the processing chamber;a cavity unit disposed above the introduction window such that a bottom surface thereof contacts the introduction window; a circular waveguide connected to an upper surface of the cavity unit and extending substantially vertically, the circular waveguide being configured to propagate the μ
-wave into the cavity unit and toward the introduction window;a reflection suppressor coupled to the circular waveguide for suppressing a reflective wave propagated upward into the circular waveguide, the reflection suppressor comprising a chamber having a larger diameter than that of the circular waveguide; a tuning box disposed above and connected to said reflection suppressor; and two μ
-wave waveguides connected to said tuning box and disposed such that each of the two p-wave waveguides have axes that are on a flat plane which is substantially parallel to said tuning box or perpendicular to an axis of said waveguide and are set with an angle of substantially 90°
therebetween, said two μ
-wave waveguides introducing said μ
-waves which are set a phase difference therebetween of substantially 90°
in respective electric fields from said two directions to said tuning box,wherein said tuning box superimposes said respective μ
-wave and generates a circularly polarized wave in a predetermined mode that is propagated inside the circular waveguide toward the introduction window. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5)
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2. A plasma processing apparatus, comprising:
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a processing chamber having a vacuum, a gas being supplied to said processing chamber; a support electrode provided inside said processing chamber and supporting a processing-target object; an introduction window disposed on an upper side of the processing chamber through which a μ
-wave is introduced into the processing chamber;a cavity unit disposed above the introduction window such that a bottom surface thereof contacts the introduction window; a circular waveguide connected to an upper surface of the cavity unit and extending substantially vertically, the circular waveguide being configured to propagate the μ
-wave into the cavity unit and toward the introduction window;a reflection suppressor coupled to the circular waveguide for suppressing a reflective wave propagated upward into the circular waveguide, the reflection suppressor comprising a chamber having a larger diameter than that of the circular waveguide; a tuning box disposed above and connected to said reflection suppressor; and a plurality of μ
-wave waveguides which are connected to said tuning box and disposed such that each of the plurality of μ
-wave waveguides have axes that are on a flat plane which is substantially parallel to said tuning box or perpendicular to an axis of said waveguide, said plurality of p-wave waveguides introducing said μ
-waves from different directions respectively to said tuning box,wherein said tuning box superimposes said respective μ
-waves and generates a circularly polarized wave in a predetermined mode that is propagated inside the circular waveguide toward the introduction window, andwherein said μ
-wave is introduced from n (>
2) directions, with an angle of substantially 360/n°
set between said respective introduction directions, and with a phase difference of substantially 360/n°
being set between said respective electric fields.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeHitachi High-Tech Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
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Original AssigneeHitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
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InventorsKazumi, Hideyuki, Sano, Akihiro, Makino, Akitaka, Tamura, Hitoshi, Sakaguchi, Masamichi
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Primary Examiner(s)DHINGRA, RAKESH KUMAR
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Application NumberUS11/447,011Publication NumberTime in Patent Office2,226 DaysField of Search156/345.41, 118/723.MWUS Class Current156/345.41CPC Class CodesH01J 37/32192 Microwave generated dischar...H01J 37/32256 Tuning meansH01J 37/32302 Plural frequencies
