Microwave emission mechanism, microwave plasma source and surface wave plasma processing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9520272-B2
Application number	US-201214373589-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 14, 2012
Priority date	Jan 27, 2012
Publication date	Dec 13, 2016
Grant date	Dec 13, 2016

Abstract

A microwave emission mechanism includes: a transmission path through which a microwave is transmitted; and an antenna section that emits into a chamber the microwave transmitted through the transmission path. The antenna section includes an antenna having a slot through which the microwave is emitted, a dielectric member through which the microwave emitted from the antenna is transmitted and a closed circuit in which a surface current and a displacement current flow. A surface wave is formed in a surface of the dielectric member. The closed circuit has at least: an inner wall of the slot; and the surface and an inner portion of the dielectric member. When a wavelength of the microwave is λ 0 , a length of the closed circuit is nλ 0 ±δ, where n is a positive integer and δ is a fine-tuning component including 0.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A microwave emission mechanism for emitting into a chamber a microwave generated by a microwave generation mechanism, in a plasma processing apparatus for performing plasma processing by generating a surface wave plasma in the chamber, the microwave emission mechanism comprising:
a transmission path through which the microwave is transmitted, the transmission path comprising a cylindrical outer conductor and an inner conductor coaxially disposed within the outer conductor; and
an antenna section configured to emit into the chamber the microwave transmitted through the transmission path,
wherein the antenna section comprises: an antenna having a slot through which the microwave is emitted; and a dielectric member through which the microwave emitted from the antenna is transmitted, a surface wave being formed on a surface of the dielectric member;
wherein a closed circuit is operable to form with current flowing in an inner wall of the slot and the dielectric member, wherein the current comprises surface current and displacement current, and
wherein, when a wavelength of the microwave is λ 0 , a length of the closed circuit is configured to equal nλ 0 ±δ, wherein n is a positive integer and δ is a fine-tuning component including 0, wherein the length of the closed circuit is based on a height of the slot, a thickness of the dielectric member, and a lateral distance between the slot and the dielectric member.

2. The microwave emission mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the height of the slot corresponds to a thickness of the antenna and is determined such that the length of the closed circuit is nλ 0 ±δ.

3. The microwave emission mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the slot is filled with a solid dielectric material.

4. A microwave plasma source, comprising:
a microwave generation mechanism configured to generate a microwave; and
a microwave emission mechanism configured to emit the generated microwave into a chamber,
wherein the microwave is emitted into the chamber to generate a surface wave plasma of a gas supplied into the chamber,
wherein the microwave emission mechanism comprises:
a transmission path through which the microwave is transmitted, the transmission path comprising a cylindrical outer conductor and an inner conductor coaxially disposed within the outer conductor; and
an antenna section configured to emit into the chamber the microwave transmitted through the transmission path,
wherein the antenna section comprises: an antenna having a slot through which the microwave is emitted; and a dielectric member through which the microwave emitted from the antenna is transmitted, a surface wave being formed on a surface of the dielectric member;
wherein a closed circuit is operable to form with current flowing in an inner wall of the slot, and the dielectric member, wherein the current comprises surface current and displacement current, and
wherein when a wavelength of the microwave is λ 0 , a length of the closed circuit is configured to equal nλ 0 ±δ, wherein n is a positive integer and δ is a fine-tuning component including 0, wherein the length of the closed circuit is based on a height of the slot, a thickness of the dielectric member, and a lateral distance between the slot and the dielectric member.

5. The microwave plasma source of claim 4 , wherein the microwave emission mechanism is provided in plural numbers.

6. The microwave plasma source of claim 4 , wherein in the microwave emission mechanism, the height of the slot is determined such that the length of the closed circuit becomes nλ 0 ±δ.

7. The microwave plasma source of claim 4 , wherein the slot of the microwave emission mechanism is filled with a solid dielectric material.

8. A surface wave plasma processing apparatus, comprising;
a chamber configured to accommodate a substrate to be processed;
a gas supply unit configured to supply a gas into the chamber; and
a microwave plasma source configured to emit a microwave into the chamber to generate a surface wave plasma of the gas supplied into the chamber, the microwave plasma source comprising a microwave generation mechanism for generating the microwave and a microwave emission mechanism for emitting the generated microwave into the chamber,
wherein the substrate in the chamber is processed by the surface wave plasma,
wherein the microwave emission mechanism comprises:
a transmission path through which the microwave is transmitted, the transmission path comprising a cylindrical outer conductor and an inner conductor coaxially disposed within the outer conductor; and
an antenna section configured to emit into the chamber the microwave transmitted through the transmission path,
wherein the antenna section comprises: an antenna having a slot through which the microwave is emitted; and a dielectric member through which the microwave emitted from the antenna is transmitted, a surface wave being formed on a surface of the dielectric member;
wherein a closed circuit is operable to form current flowing in an inner wall of the slot and the dielectric member, wherein the current comprises a surface current and a displacement current, and
wherein when a wavelength of the microwave is λ 0 , a length of the closed circuit is configured to equal nλ 0 ±δ, wherein n is a positive integer and δ is a fine-tuning value comprising 0, wherein the length of the closed circuit is based on a height of the slot, a thickness of the dielectric member, and a lateral distance between the slot and the dielectric member.

9. The surface wave plasma processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the microwave plasma source comprises a plurality of microwave emission mechanisms.

10. The surface wave plasma processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein in the microwave emission mechanism, the thickness of the slot is in the range of 20˜35 mm.

11. The surface wave plasma processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the slot of the microwave emission mechanism is filled with a solid dielectric material.

12. The microwave emission mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the height of the slot is in the range of 20˜35 mm.

13. The microwave emission mechanism of claim 1 , wherein the antenna section further comprises a wave retardation member, the current flowing in the inner wall of the slot and the dielectric member further flows in the wave retardation member, and the length of the closed circuit is further determined based on a thickness of the wave retardation member.

14. The microwave plasma source of claim 4 , wherein the antenna section further comprises a wave retardation member, the current flowing in the inner wall of the slot and the dielectric member further flows in the wave retardation member, and the length of the closed circuit is further determined based on a thickness of the wave retardation member.

15. The surface wave plasma processing apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the antenna section further comprises a wave retardation member, the current flowing in the inner wall of the slot and the dielectric member further flows in the wave retardation member, and the length of the closed circuit is determined based on a thickness of the wave retardation member.

Assignees

• Tokyo Electron Ltd

Inventors

• Ikeda Taro
• Miyashita Hiroyuki
• Osada Yuki
• Fujino Yutaka
• Komatsu Tomohito

Classifications

• H01J37/32201 Primary

  Generating means · CPC title

• H01J37/3222

  Antennas · CPC title

• H05H1/46

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

• H01J37/32266 Primary

  Means for controlling power transmitted to the plasma · CPC title

• H01J37/32192

  Microwave generated discharge (H01J37/32357, H01J37/32366, H01J37/32394, H01J37/32403 take precedence) · CPC title