Resonant structure for electron cyclotron resonant (ECR) plasma ionization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11037765-B2
Application number	US-201816027123-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2018
Priority date	Jul 3, 2018
Publication date	Jun 15, 2021
Grant date	Jun 15, 2021

Abstract

Described herein is a technology related to a method for generating a high density plasma ionization on a plasma processing system. Particularly, the high density plasma ionization may include an electron cyclotron resonant (ECR) plasma that is utilized for semiconductor fabrication such as an etching of a substrate. The ECR plasma may be generated by a combination of electromagnetic fields from a resonant structure, radiated microwave energy from a radio frequency (RF) microwave source, and presence of a low-pressure plasma region (e.g., about 1 mTorr or less) on the plasma processing system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of semiconductor fabrication comprising:
receiving a semiconductor substrate on a substrate chuck disposed within a plasma processing chamber;
flowing gas into the plasma processing chamber;
radiating microwave energy from a transmission element coupled to the plasma chamber towards a source component disposed between the substrate chuck and the transmission element, the source component comprising an array of resonant elements and an array of magnets proximate to the array of resonant elements;
forming a resonant circuit between the transmission element and the resonant elements based, at least in part, on an impedance of the resonant elements and frequency of the microwave energy provided by the transmission element;
generating an electromagnetic field from the array of resonant elements and a magnetic field from the array of magnets based, at least in part, on forming the resonant circuit;
forming plasma proximate to the source component, the plasma is formed based, at least in part, on the electromagnetic field and the magnetic field interacting with the gas in the plasma processing chamber; and
treating the substrate using the plasma.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is formed based, at least in part, on the microwave energy from the transmission element.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein array of magnets comprise groups of two or more magnets with at least one magnet having a different magnetic orientation from the other magnets.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the array of magnets comprise groups of two or more magnets having the same magnetic orientation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resonant elements comprise a coil and/or an inductor capacitor (LC) resonant circuit.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the microwave energy from the transmission element comprises an amplitude being less than an amplitude of the electromagnetic energy from the array of resonant elements.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the impedance is based, at least in part, on material composition and/or geometry of the resonant element.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low-pressure environment comprises a pressure of below 1 mTorr.

9. A device for semiconductor fabrication comprising:
a process chamber comprising an interior volume and a substrate holder disposed within the interior volume;
a gas supply network fluidly coupled to the interior volume;
a microwave energy transmission network coupled to the process chamber;
a transmission element, disposed within the interior volume, coupled to the microwave energy transmission network, wherein the transmission element comprises an antenna coupled to the microwave energy transmission network; and
a resonant structure, disposed within the interior volume, comprising an array of resonant elements and an array of magnets proximate to a corresponding resonant element,
wherein the array of magnets comprises groups of magnets distributed and/or positioned within and around an outer perimeter of the corresponding resonant element.

10. The device of claim 9 , wherein the resonant structure comprises a liquid cooling channel proximate to at least one magnet of the array of magnets.

11. The device of claim 9 , wherein the resonant structure is disposed between the substrate holder and the transmission element within the interior volume.

12. The device of claim 9 , wherein the resonant elements are embedded in a ceramic material, and the resonant element comprises a metal or conductive structure.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the ceramic material comprises yttrium oxide or aluminum oxide.

14. The device of claim 9 , wherein the array of magnets comprise groups of two or more magnets having the same magnetic orientation.

15. The device of claim 9 , wherein the array of magnets comprise groups of two or more magnets with at least one magnet having a different magnetic orientation from the other magnets.

16. A device, comprising:
a source component for generating electromagnetic fields and magnetic fields comprising a ceramic material;
an array of resonant elements disposed within the source component, the resonant element(s) comprising a metal structure comprising a loop or half-loop feature; and
an array of magnets disposed within the source component, the array of magnets comprising groups of two or more magnets distributed around a corresponding resonant element,
wherein two or more magnets are distributed and/or positioned within and around an outer perimeter of the corresponding resonant element.

17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the source component comprises a heat transfer element.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the heat transfer component comprises a distribution network for a fluid mixture, the distribution network comprising fluid channels disposed within the source component.

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Lane Barton

Classifications

• H10P72/7604

  the wafers being placed on a susceptor, stage or support · CPC title

• H01J37/32678 Primary

  Electron cyclotron resonance · CPC title

• H05H1/461

  Microwave discharges · CPC title

• H01J37/321

  the radio frequency energy being inductively coupled to the plasma · CPC title

• H01J2237/3341

  Reactive etching · CPC title