Electrostatic chuck, wafer processing apparatus and plasma processing method

• US 20060291132A1
• Filed: 03/08/2006
• Published: 12/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Aramaki, Tooru, Isozaki, Masakazu, Miya, Go, Kanno, Seiichiro, Tsubone, Tsunehiko, Masuda, Toshio, Kitada, Hiroho
• Application Number:
  US11/370,102
• Publication Number:
  US 20060291132A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 361/234
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67103 mainly by conduction
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/67109 mainly by convection
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/6831 using electrostatic chucks

Abstract

An electrostatic chuck which is built in a heater and can change, at a high speed, the temperature distribution of a wafer being processed by a plasma is provided at low cost. Also, there is provided a processing method which realizes uniform etching by suppressing CD variations in the plane of the wafer even when etching conditions change. The electrostatic chuck includes a base material in which multiple coolant grooves are formed, a high resistance layer which is formed on the base material, multiple heaters which are formed by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer, multiple electrostatic chuck electrodes which are formed similarly by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer, and temperature measuring means, and adjusts outputs of the heaters on the basis of temperature information of the temperature measuring means.

Claims

1. An electrostatic chuck used in a wafer processing apparatus which processes a semiconductor wafer by use of a plasma, comprising:

a base material in which multiple coolant grooves are formed;

a high resistance layer which is formed on the base material;

multiple heaters which are formed by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer; and

multiple electrostatic chuck electrodes which are formed similarly by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer.

2. The electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, wherein the heaters and the electrostatic chuck electrodes are formed to have an equal height within the high resistance layer.

3. The electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, wherein the heaters and the electrostatic chuck electrodes are formed to have different heights within the high resistance layer and the electrostatic chuck electrodes are formed above the heaters.

4. The electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, wherein each of the coolant grooves, heaters and electrodes is concentrically formed.

5. The electrostatic chuck according to claim 4, further comprising temperature measuring means within the base material below a heater on an outer circumferential side.

6. The electrostatic chuck according to claim 1, further comprising means of measuring the resistance of the heaters.

7. An electrostatic chuck used in a wafer processing apparatus which processes a semiconductor wafer by use of a plasma, comprising:

a base material in which multiple coolant grooves are formed;

a high resistance layer which is formed on the base material;

a heater which is formed by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer; and

multiple electrostatic chuck electrodes which are formed similarly by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer,

wherein the heater is formed on a circumference, the heater has, on both ends thereof, connection terminals which are connected to a power source, the connection terminals are disposed in a row along a radial direction of the base material, and a heater line which connects the connection terminals together is formed so as to have a turnaround point near places where the connection terminals are disposed.

8. An electrostatic chuck used in a wafer processing apparatus which processes a semiconductor wafer by use of a plasma, comprising:

a base material in which multiple coolant grooves are formed;

a high resistance layer which is formed on the base material;

a heater which is formed by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer; and

multiple electrostatic chuck electrodes which are formed similarly by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer,

wherein the heater is formed on a circumference, the heater has, on both ends thereof, connection terminals which are connected to a power source, and a heater line which connects the connection terminals together is formed in sine wave form.

9. A wafer processing apparatus which processes a semiconductor wafer by use of a plasma and has an electrostatic chuck for placing the semiconductor wafer thereon,

wherein the electrostatic chuck comprises a base material in which multiple coolant grooves through which a coolant is flowed are formed, a high resistance layer which is formed on the base material, multiple heaters which are formed by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer, multiple electrostatic chuck electrodes which are formed similarly by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer, and temperature measuring means,

wherein the electrostatic chuck further comprises temperature adjusting means which adjusts outputs of the heaters on the basis of information on temperatures measured by the temperature measuring means.

10. The wafer processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein within the electrostatic chuck there is provided a gas supply flow passage which discharges a cooling gas to between the electrostatic chuck and the semiconductor wafer.

11. The wafer processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein data which shows a correlation between temperature information obtained by the temperature measuring means and the temperature of the semiconductor wafer is provided and the temperature adjusting means adjusts outputs to the heaters by using the data.

12. A plasma processing method which uses a plasma processing apparatus having an electrostatic chuck for placing a semiconductor wafer thereon, which comprises a base material in which multiple coolant grooves through which a coolant is flowed are formed, a high resistance layer which is formed on the base material, multiple heaters which are formed by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer, multiple electrostatic chuck electrodes which are formed similarly by thermally spraying conductors within the high resistance layer, and temperature measuring means,

wherein power applied to the heaters, flow rate of the cooling gas and power applied to the electrostatic chuck electrodes are adjusted according to a film layer of the semiconductor wafer.

13. The plasma processing method according to claim 12, wherein the multiple heaters are disposed by being divided into a heater on an inner circumferential side and a heater on an outer circumferential side and the inner circumferential side and the outer circumferential side of the heaters are independently temperature controlled according to a film layer of the semiconductor wafer.

14. The plasma processing method according to claim 12, wherein outputs of the heaters are adjusted by using temperature information obtained by the temperature measuring means.