Film forming apparatus and film forming method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12428721-B2
Application number	US-202217956562-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2022
Priority date	Sep 30, 2021
Publication date	Sep 30, 2025
Grant date	Sep 30, 2025

Abstract

A film forming apparatus comprising: a processing container for accommodating a plurality of substrates, a substrate holder provided in the processing container and configured to hold the substrates such that the plurality of substrates are arranged along a circumferential direction; a rotating and revolving mechanism configured to rotate the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder and revolve the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder along the circumferential direction; and a sputtered particle emitting mechanism configured to emit sputtered particles to the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder. Sputtering film formation is performed by emitting the sputtered particles from the sputtered particle emitting mechanism while rotating and revolving the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder using the rotating and revolving mechanism.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A film forming apparatus comprising:
a processing container for accommodating a plurality of substrates,
a substrate holder horizontally disposed in the processing container and configured to hold the substrates, wherein a plurality of stages are arranged along a circumferential direction on the substrate holder, the stages supporting the substrates, and wherein a separation wall and an exhaust slit are provided between adjacent stages on the substrate holder, and the adjacent stages are physically separated by the separation wall;
a rotating and revolving mechanism configured to rotate the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder and revolve the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder along the circumferential direction; and
a sputtered particle emitting mechanism configured to emit sputtered particles to the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder,
wherein sputtering film formation is performed by emitting the sputtered particles from the sputtered particle emitting mechanism while rotating and revolving the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder using the rotating and revolving mechanism.

2. The film forming apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sputtered particle emitting mechanism has a plurality of cathodes each having a target that emit sputtered particles.

3. The film forming apparatus of claim 2 , further comprising:
a reaction treatment area provided between the cathodes adjacent to each other, where reaction treatment is performed on a film formed on the substrate by the sputtering film formation.

4. The film forming apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the reaction treatment is oxidation treatment or nitriding treatment.

5. The film forming apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the sputtered particle emitting mechanism has a shutter configured to open and close the target, and the shutter is opened during the sputtering film formation.

6. The film forming apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the shutter has an opening, the opening is located at a position corresponding to the target during the sputtering film formation and is shifted from the target during the reaction treatment.

7. The film forming apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the cathodes perform pre-sputtering in a state where the shutter is closed.

8. A film forming apparatus comprising:
a processing container for accommodating a plurality of substrates;
a substrate holder horizontally disposed in the processing container and configured to hold the substrates, wherein a plurality of stages are arranged along a circumferential direction on the substrate holder, the stages supporting the substrates, and wherein a separation wall and an exhaust slit are provided between adjacent stages on the substrate holder, and the adjacent stages are physically separated by the separation wall;
a rotating and revolving mechanism configured to rotate the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder and revolve the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder along the circumferential direction;
a sputtered particle emitting mechanism having a plurality of cathodes each having a target that emit Si as sputtered particles to the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder, and configured to form an Si film on the substrates;
an oxidation treatment area provided between the cathodes adjacent to each other, where oxidation treatment is performed on the Si film on the substrate; and
a nitriding treatment area provided between the cathodes adjacent to each other, where nitriding treatment is performed on the Si film on the substrate,
wherein a laminated film of SiO 2 films and SiN films is formed by sequentially and repeatedly performing, on each of the substrates, the formation of the Si film using the cathodes, the oxidation treatment of the Si film in the oxidation treatment area, the formation of the Si film using the cathodes, and the nitriding treatment of the Si film in the nitriding treatment area while rotating and revolving the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder using the rotating and revolving mechanism.

9. The film forming apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the sputtered particle emitting mechanism has a shutter configured to open and close the target, and the shutter is opened during the sputtering film formation.

10. The film forming apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the shutter has an opening, and the opening is located at a position corresponding to the target during the sputtering film formation, and is shifted from the target during the oxidation treatment and the nitriding treatment.

11. The film forming apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the cathode has a magnet provided to oscillate on a back surface of the target.

12. The film forming apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the magnet oscillates in synchronization with the revolution of the plurality of substrates.

13. The film forming apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the target is disposed obliquely with respect to the substrates.

14. The film forming apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the target has a cylindrical shape, is arranged with its axis parallel to the substrate, and is configured to rotate about the axis.

15. A film forming method for forming a film using a film forming apparatus including a processing container for accommodating a plurality of substrates; a substrate holder horizontally disposed in the processing container and configured to hold the substrates, wherein a plurality of stages are arranged along a circumferential direction on the substrate holder, the stages supporting the substrates, and wherein a separation wall and an exhaust slit are provided between adjacent stages on the substrate holder, and the adjacent stages are physically separated by the separation wall; a rotating and revolving mechanism configured to rotate the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder and revolve the plurality of substrates on the substrate holder along the circumferential direction; and a sputtered particle emitting mechanism configured to emit sputtered particles to the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder,
the method comprising:
loading the plurality of substrates into the processing container and holding the substrates on the substrate holder;
rotating and revolving the plurality of substrates held by the substrate holder using the rotating and revolving mechanism; and
performing sputtering film formation by emitting sputtered particles from the sputtered particle emitting mechanism while rotating and revolving the plurality of substrates.

16. The film forming method of claim 15 , wherein the sputtered particle emitting mechanism includes a plurality of cathodes each having a target that emit sputtered particles, and a reaction treatment area where reaction treatment is performed on a film formed on the substrate by the sputtering film formation is provided between the cathodes adjacent to each other,
the method further comprising:
performing reaction treatment on the film in the reaction treatment area after the sputtering film formation.

17. The film forming method of claim 16 , wherein the reaction treatment is oxidation treatment or nitriding treatment.

18. The film forming method of claim 15 , wherein the sputtered particle emitting mechanism includes a plurality of cathodes each having a target that emit sputtered particles,
the film formed by said performing the sputtering film formation is an Si film,
an oxidation treatment area and a nitriding treatment area are provided as the reaction treatment area between the cathodes adjacent

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Watanabe Naoki
• Hatano Tatsuo

Classifications

• H10P14/69433

  the material being a silicon nitride not containing oxygen, e.g. SixNy or SixByNz · CPC title

• H10P14/69215

  the material being a silicon oxide, e.g. SiO2 · CPC title

• H10P14/6329

  using physical ablation of a target, e.g. physical vapour deposition or pulsed laser deposition · CPC title

• H10P14/6309

  of silicon in uncombined form, i.e. pure silicon · CPC title

• H10P14/6316

  Formation by nitridation, e.g. nitridation of the substrate · CPC title