Microwave introducing mechanism, microwave plasma source and microwave plasma processing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9281154-B2
Application number	US-201313789115-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2013
Priority date	Sep 9, 2010
Publication date	Mar 8, 2016
Grant date	Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

The microwave introducing mechanism includes an antenna unit having a planar antenna radiating a microwave into a chamber; a tuner for performing impedance matching; and a heat dissipation device for dissipating a heat from the antenna unit. The tuner has a tuner main body including a tubular outer conductor and a tubular inner conductor to serve as a part of a microwave transmission line; slugs provided between the outer conductor and the inner conductor to be movable along a longitudinal direction of the inner conductor; and a driving device for moving the slugs. The heat dissipation device has a heat pipe configured to transfer the heat of the antenna unit from its heat input end to its heat dissipation end.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A microwave introducing mechanism, provided in a microwave transmission line through which a microwave outputted from a microwave output unit of a microwave plasma source is transmitted, for introducing the microwave into a chamber, the microwave plasma source being configured to generate a microwave plasma in the chamber, the mechanism comprising:
an antenna unit including a planar antenna configured to radiate the microwave into the chamber through the microwave transmission line;
a tuner provided in the microwave transmission line to adjust an impedance of the microwave transmission line; and
a heat dissipation device configured to dissipate a heat from the antenna unit,
wherein the tuner includes:
a tuner main body having a tubular outer conductor and a tubular inner conductor coaxially provided in the outer conductor, the tuner main body serving as a part of the microwave transmission line;
a slug provided between the outer conductor and the inner conductor to be movable along a longitudinal direction of the inner conductor, the slug having an annular shape and being made of a dielectric material; and
a driving device configured to move the slug, wherein the driving device includes a sliding member being inserted into the slug and sliding along the inside of the inner conductor while being brought into contact with an inner circumference surface of the inner conductor, the sliding member having a screw hole, and
wherein the heat dissipation device includes:
a heat pipe, having a heat input end and a heat dissipation end, configured to transfer the heat of the antenna unit from the heat input end to the heat dissipation end by disposing the heat input end in the antenna unit; and
a heat dissipation unit provided at the heat dissipation end of the heat pipe to dissipate the heat transferred to the heat dissipation end.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the heat pipe is provided in the inner conductor.

3. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the heat dissipation unit is formed of a heat sink or a cooling member.

4. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the driving device includes:
a driving unit configured to supply a driving force;
a driving delivery unit configured to deliver the driving force supplied from the driving unit to the slug;
a driving guide unit configured to guide a movement of the slug; and
a supporting unit configured to support the slug in the driving delivery unit,
wherein the driving delivery unit, the driving guide unit and the supporting unit are accommodated inside the inner conductor.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 , wherein, in the driving device, the driving delivery unit employs a screw mechanism including the sliding member and a slug moving shaft formed of a screw bar which is extended inside the inner conductor in a longitudinal direction thereof and is screwed into the screw hole of the sliding member; the driving guide unit serves as a sliding guide mechanism which is formed by the sliding member and the inner circumference surface of the inner conductor; the supporting unit is formed of the sliding member and the slug moving shaft; and the driving unit has a motor rotating the slug moving shaft, the driving unit rotating the slug moving shaft by using the motor to drive the slug in a state where the sliding member slides along the inner circumference surface of the inner conductor.

6. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the sliding member is made of a resin having a sliding characteristic.

7. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the sliding member is fixed to the slug by using a fixing screw.

8. The mechanism of claim 7 , wherein threads are not formed at a portion corresponding to an area, in the screw hole of the sliding member, pressed by the fixing screw.

9. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the sliding member has protrusions at outer peripheries of opposite ends thereof and is fixed to the slug by the protrusions press-fitted into the slug, and threads are not formed at portions, in the screw hole of the sliding member, corresponding to the protrusions.

10. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the heat pipe is inserted through the sliding member inside the inner conductor.

11. The mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the antenna unit and the tuner are integrally formed.

12. A microwave plasma source which converts a gas supplied into a chamber to a plasma by introducing a microwave into the chamber, the microwave plasma source comprising:
a microwave output unit configured to output a microwave;
a microwave transmission line through which the outputted microwave is transmitted; and
a microwave introducing mechanism provided in the microwave transmission line to introduce the transmitted microwave into the chamber,
wherein the microwave introducing mechanism includes:
an antenna unit including a planar antenna configured to radiate the microwave into the chamber through the microwave transmission line;
a tuner provided in the microwave transmission line to adjust an impedance of the microwave transmission line; and
a heat dissipation device configured to dissipate a heat from the antenna unit,
wherein the tuner has:
a tuner main body including a tubular outer conductor and a tubular inner conductor coaxially provided in the outer conductor, the tuner main body serving as a part of the microwave transmission line;
a slug provided between the outer conductor and the inner conductor to be movable along a longitudinal direction of the inner conductor, the slug having an annular shape and being made of a dielectric material; and
a driving device configured to move the slug, wherein the driving device includes a sliding member being inserted into the slug and sliding along the inside of the inner conductor while being brought into contact with an inner circumference surface of the inner conductor, the sliding member having a screw hole, and wherein the heat dissipation device has:
a heat pipe, having a heat input end and a heat dissipation end, configured to transfer the heat of the antenna unit from the heat input end to the heat dissipation end by disposing the heat input end in the antenna unit; and
a heat dissipation unit provided at the heat dissipation end of the heat pipe to dissipate the heat transferred to the heat dissipation end.

13. The microwave plasma source of claim 12 , wherein the driving device includes:
a driving unit configured to supply a driving force;
a driving delivery unit configured to deliver the driving force supplied from the driving unit to the slug;
a driving guide unit configured to guide a movement of the slug; and
a supporting unit configured to support the slug in the driving delivery unit,
wherein the driving delivery unit, the driving guide unit and the supporting unit are accommodated inside the inner conductor.

14. The mechanism of claim 13 , wherein, in the driving device, the driving delivery unit employs a screw mechanism including the sliding member and a slug moving shaft formed of a screw bar which is extended inside the inner conductor in a longitudinal direction thereof and is screwed into the screw hole of the sliding member; the driving guide unit serves as a sliding guide mechanism which is formed by the sliding member and the inner circumference surface of the inner conductor; the supporting unit is formed of the sliding member and the slug moving shaft; and the driving unit has a motor rotating the slug moving shaft, the driving unit rotating the slug moving shaft by using the motor to drive the slug in a state where the sliding member slides along the inner circumference surface of the inner conductor.

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Ikeda Taro
• Osada Yuki
• Kasai Shigeru
• Miyashita Hiroyuki

Classifications

• H10P50/242

  of Group IV materials · CPC title

• H05H1/46 Primary

  using applied electromagnetic fields, e.g. high frequency or microwave energy (H05H1/26 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C23C16/511

  using microwave discharges · CPC title

• C23C16/45565 Primary

  Shower nozzles · CPC title

• H01J37/32256

  Tuning means · CPC title