JP2007266297A - Plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

A plasma processing apparatus capable of efficiently generating plasma and maintaining high uniformity of in-plane and in-plane uniformity of plasma processing on an object to be processed is provided.
In a plasma processing apparatus that performs plasma processing on an object to be processed W by active species generated by plasma, a vertical cylindrical processing container 14 that can be evacuated and a plurality of objects to be processed are provided. A holding means 22 for holding the sheet and accommodating it in the processing vessel, a plasma chamber 58 provided on the side wall of the processing vessel along the length direction for generating plasma, and supplying a plasma gas to the plasma chamber A plasma gas supply unit 38, a plasma forming unit 60 for generating plasma in the plasma chamber, and a partition between the processing chamber and the plasma chamber are provided, and the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing chamber. And a partition plate 78 formed with a predetermined gas flow path 76 through which gas passes into the processing vessel while generating a pressure difference.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus and a plasma processing method in which plasma processing such as plasma film formation and plasma etching is performed on an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer.

  Generally, in order to manufacture a semiconductor integrated circuit, various processes such as a film formation process, an etching process, an oxidation process, a diffusion process, a modification process, and a natural oxide film removal process are performed on a semiconductor wafer made of a silicon substrate or the like. Is done. When these processes are performed by a so-called batch type processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 or the like, first, a semiconductor wafer is taken from a cassette that can accommodate a plurality of, for example, about 25 semiconductor wafers. It is transferred to a vertical wafer boat and is supported in multiple stages. This wafer boat can place about 30 to 150 wafers, for example, depending on the wafer size. After the wafer boat is loaded (loaded) into the evacuable processing container from below, the inside of the processing container is kept airtight. Then, for example, predetermined heat treatment is performed while controlling various process conditions such as the flow rate of the process gas, the process pressure, and the process temperature.

  Recently, there has been a strong demand for further integration and miniaturization of semiconductor integrated circuits, and in addition to improving the characteristics of circuit elements, the thermal history in the manufacturing process of semiconductor integrated circuits is also reduced. It is hoped that. Under such circumstances, even in a vertical type, so-called batch type vertical processing apparatus, the target processing is possible without exposing the wafer to such a high temperature. There is known a method of repeatedly forming a film one to several layers at the atomic level or one to several layers at the molecular level while supplying (Patent Documents 2, 3, etc.).

Here, as a conventional film forming method, a case where a silicon nitride film (SiN) is formed using dichlorosilane (hereinafter also referred to as “DCS”) which is a silane-based gas and NH ₃ gas which is a nitriding gas will be described. . FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional general vertical film forming apparatus, and FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between each gas supply sequence and the operation of the exhaust valve. As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality of semiconductor wafers W supported in multiple stages on a wafer boat 4 are accommodated in a vertical processing container 2 of the film forming apparatus. For example, DCS (dichlorosilane) as a raw material gas and NH ₃ as a reactive gas can be supplied into the processing container 2. An exhaust opening / closing valve 8 and a vacuum pump 10 are sequentially provided in the exhaust system 6 of the processing container 2 so that the atmosphere in the container can be evacuated.

When a silicon nitride film is formed using such a film forming apparatus, as shown in FIG. 8, DCS gas and NH ₃ gas are alternately supplied at different timings, and the raw material is supplied when DCS gas is supplied. The gas is adsorbed on the wafer surface, and this is nitrided when NH ₃ gas is supplied in the next process to form a silicon nitride film having a very thin atomic level or molecular level so that deposition is repeated. It has become.
In this case, when supplying the DCS gas, which is a raw material gas, the pressure in the processing vessel 2 is increased by reducing the opening of the exhaust on-off valve 8, and the amount of the raw material gas adsorbed on the wafer surface at this time is increased as much as possible. Throughput is being improved.

JP 2004-6801 A JP-A-6-45256 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-87341

  In the film forming apparatus as described above, relatively good step coverage can be obtained, and the in-plane and inter-surface uniformity of the film thickness can be increased. However, recently, due to the characteristics of film types used in semiconductor integrated circuits, there is a demand for further lowering the temperature during process processing such as film formation temperature. For this reason, even in a vertical batch processing apparatus. There has been proposed a plasma processing apparatus that can obtain a desired reaction even when the wafer temperature is low by receiving plasma assistance (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-49808).

In this plasma processing apparatus, a plasma chamber for forming plasma is provided on the side of a vertical processing container 2 as shown in FIG. The active species generated in the chamber are directly introduced into the wafer region of the processing container 2 to perform, for example, a film forming process. In this case, DCS (dichlorosilane) and NH ₃ gas are alternately and intermittently supplied. The NH ₃ gas is introduced into the plasma chamber, and at the same time, RF (radio frequency) is applied to generate plasma to produce active species. The gas is introduced into the processing container 2. Then, DCS gas is adsorbed on the wafer surface in one or more layers at the molecular level, and excess DCS gas is purged with inert gas or removed by evacuation, followed by nitriding at low temperature with NH ₃ active species. Is promoted to form a nitride film. Then, this series of steps is repeated to form a silicon nitride film having a desired thickness.

  By the way, in the plasma processing apparatus, in general, the pressure in the processing container is set so that the in-plane uniformity and the inter-surface uniformity of the film thickness deposited on the wafer are both high, In the above-described conventional plasma processing apparatus, the pressure in the plasma chamber is too low because the pressure in the processing chamber containing the wafer and the pressure in the plasma chamber for forming the plasma are substantially the same. There has been a problem that the efficiency of plasma generation is significantly reduced.

Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the supply amount of NH ₃ gas, which is a plasma gas, in order to increase the pressure in the plasma chamber, but both are in a state where the conductance of the gas between the plasma chamber and the processing vessel is very large. Since they are communicated, the pressure in the plasma chamber cannot be increased so much, or the pressure in the processing vessel may increase excessively and the in-plane and inter-surface uniformity of the film thickness may be deteriorated. Further, in this case, there is a problem that the amount of NH ₃ gas to be supplied is considerably increased and the running cost is significantly increased.

  The present invention has been devised to pay attention to the above problems and to effectively solve them. An object of the present invention is to generate a plasma efficiently by generating a pressure difference between the plasma chamber and the inside of a processing container containing an object to be processed without increasing the supply amount of the plasma gas. Another object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing apparatus and a plasma processing method capable of maintaining high uniformity of both the inter-surface uniformity and the in-plane uniformity of the plasma processing on the object to be processed.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing apparatus for performing predetermined plasma processing on an object to be processed by active species generated by plasma, and a vertical cylindrical processing container that is evacuated, A holding means for holding a plurality of objects to be processed and accommodating them in the processing vessel, a plasma chamber provided along the length of the side wall of the processing vessel for generating plasma, and the plasma chamber A plasma gas supply means for supplying a plasma gas; a plasma forming means for generating plasma in the plasma chamber; and a partition between the processing chamber and the plasma chamber; A partition plate formed with a predetermined gas flow path for allowing gas to pass into the processing container while generating a pressure difference so that the pressure is higher than in the processing container. It is a plasma processing apparatus according to symptoms.

  As described above, the partition plate is provided so as to partition the inside of the processing container that accommodates the object to be processed and the plasma chamber, and a pressure difference is set on the partition plate so that the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing container. Since a gas flow path for allowing gas (including active species) to pass through is formed, the plasma chamber and the inside of the processing container that accommodates the object to be processed are not increased without increasing the supply amount of the plasma gas. As a result, a plasma can be efficiently generated, and both the uniformity between the surfaces of the plasma treatment and the uniformity within the surface can be maintained high.

In this case, for example, as defined in claim 2, the plasma chamber is maintained at a pressure for efficiently generating plasma, and the inside of the processing container increases the uniformity of the plasma processing for the object to be processed. For the pressure to be maintained.
For example, as defined in claim 3, the pressure in the plasma chamber is in the range of 0.7 to 4.0 Torr, and the pressure in the processing vessel is 1.0 Torr or less.
For example, as defined in claim 4, an opening ratio of the gas flow path with respect to a surface of the plasma chamber facing the processing vessel is 7.3% or less.
Further, for example, as defined in claim 5, the gas flow path is composed of a plurality of circular cross-sectional diffusion holes provided so as to be distributed along the length direction of the partition plate.
For example, as defined in claim 6, the gas flow path comprises a plurality of groove-shaped diffusion holes.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, a plurality of objects to be processed are accommodated in a vertical cylindrical processing container that can be evacuated, and a predetermined gas flow path is formed on a side wall of the processing container. The object to be processed is subjected to plasma processing while supplying active species generated by plasma from the plasma chamber for generating plasma provided through the partition plate to the processing vessel through the gas flow path. In the plasma processing method, a plasma gas is allowed to flow into the plasma chamber while generating a pressure difference so that the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing container. .

In this case, for example, as defined in claim 8, the plasma chamber is maintained at a pressure for efficiently generating plasma, and the inside of the processing container increases the uniformity of the plasma processing for the object to be processed. For the pressure to be maintained.
Alternatively, for example, as defined in claim 9, the pressure in the plasma chamber is in the range of 0.7 to 4.0 Torr, and the pressure in the processing vessel is 1.0 Torr or less.

  In a tenth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of objects to be processed are accommodated in a vertical cylindrical processing container that can be evacuated, and a predetermined gas flow path is formed on a side wall of the processing container. Using the plasma processing apparatus, the active species generated by the plasma is supplied from the plasma chamber for generating the plasma provided through the partition plate into the processing container through the gas flow path. When performing a predetermined plasma process on the body, the plasma processing apparatus is controlled to flow a plasma gas into the plasma chamber while generating a pressure difference so that the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing container. A storage medium for storing a program.

According to the plasma processing apparatus and the plasma processing method of the present invention, the following excellent operational effects can be exhibited.
A partition plate is provided so as to partition the inside of the processing container containing the object to be processed and the plasma chamber, and the gas is generated on the partition plate while generating a pressure difference such that the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing container. Since a gas flow path for passing (including active species) is formed, there is no pressure difference between the plasma chamber and the inside of the processing container containing the object to be processed without increasing the supply amount of the plasma gas. As a result, plasma can be generated efficiently, and both the uniformity between the surfaces of the plasma treatment and the uniformity within the surface can be maintained high.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a plasma processing apparatus and a plasma processing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a plasma processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view showing a plasma processing apparatus (heating means is omitted), FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a partition plate, and FIG. These are figures which show the modification of a partition plate. In this case, dichlorosilane (DCS), which is one of silane-based gases, is used as a source gas, ammonia gas (NH ₃ ), which is one of nitriding gases, is used as a plasma gas, and the NH ₃ gas is converted into plasma. A case where a silicon nitride film (SiN) is formed by activation to produce active species will be described as an example.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plasma processing apparatus 12 capable of forming plasma has a ceiling-shaped cylindrical processing container 14 having an open lower end. The entire processing container 14 is made of, for example, quartz, and a ceiling plate 16 made of quartz is provided and sealed on the ceiling in the processing container 14. Further, a manifold 18 formed in a cylindrical shape from, for example, stainless steel is connected to a lower end opening of the processing container 14 via a seal member 20 such as an O-ring. The manifold 18 may be integrally formed with the processing container 14 of, for example, quartz made of the same material as the processing container 14.

  The lower end of the processing vessel 14 is supported by the manifold 18, and a quartz wafer boat 22 as a holding means on which a plurality of semiconductor wafers W as processing objects are placed in multiple stages from below the manifold 18. Is made detachable so that it can be raised and lowered. In the case of the present embodiment, for example, about 50 to 100 wafers having a diameter of 300 mm can be supported in multiple stages at substantially equal pitches on the support 22A of the wafer boat 22.

The wafer boat 22 is placed on a table 26 via a quartz heat insulating cylinder 24, and the table 26 penetrates a lid portion 28 made of, for example, stainless steel that opens and closes the lower end opening of the manifold 18. It is supported on the rotating shaft 30.
A magnetic fluid seal 32, for example, is interposed in the penetrating portion of the rotating shaft 30, and the rotating shaft 30 is rotatably supported while hermetically sealing. In addition, a sealing member 34 made of, for example, an O-ring is interposed between the peripheral portion of the lid portion 28 and the lower end portion of the manifold 18 to maintain the sealing performance in the processing container 14.

  The rotating shaft 30 is attached to the tip of an arm 36 supported by an elevating mechanism (not shown) such as a boat elevator, for example, and moves up and down integrally with the wafer boat 22 and the lid portion 28. 14 can be inserted and removed. Note that the table 26 may be fixed to the lid portion 28 and the wafer W may be processed without rotating the wafer boat 22.

The manifold 18 has a plasma gas supply means 38 for supplying, for example, ammonia (NH ₃ ) gas, which is one of the nitriding gases, as a plasma gas that is converted into plasma toward the inside of the processing container 14, and a source gas, for example, A raw material gas supply means 40 for supplying DCS (dichlorosilane) gas, which is one of silane-based gases, and a purge gas supply means 42 for supplying an inert gas such as N ₂ gas as a purge gas are provided. Specifically, the plasma gas supply means 38 has a plasma gas dispersion nozzle 44 made of a quartz tube that extends inwardly through the side wall of the manifold 18. In the plasma gas dispersion nozzle 44, a plurality of (many) gas injection holes 44A are formed at predetermined intervals along the length direction, and the gas injection nozzles 44A are substantially horizontally directed from the gas injection holes 44A. Ammonia gas can be injected uniformly.

Similarly, the source gas supply means 40 also has a source gas dispersion nozzle 46 made of a quartz tube that extends through the side wall of the manifold 18 inward and is bent upward. A plurality (a large number) of gas injection holes 46A are formed at predetermined intervals along the length direction of the source gas dispersion nozzle 46, and are substantially uniform from the gas injection holes 46A in the horizontal direction. It is possible to inject DCS gas as a raw material gas. Similarly, the purge gas supply means 42 also has a purge gas dispersion nozzle 48 made of a quartz tube that extends inwardly through the side wall of the manifold 18. A plurality (many) of gas injection holes 48A (see FIG. 2) are formed at predetermined intervals along the length direction of the purge gas dispersion nozzle 48, and the gas injection holes 48A are arranged in the horizontal direction. The N ₂ gas can be injected almost uniformly toward the head.

Respective gas passages 52, 54 and 56 are connected to the nozzles 44, 46 and 48. The gas passages 52, 54, 56 are provided with on-off valves 52A, 54A, 56A and flow controllers 52B, 54B, 56B such as a mass flow controller, respectively, and NH ₃ gas, DCS gas, and N _{The two} gases can be supplied while controlling their flow rates.

  A plasma chamber 58 for generating plasma along the length direction (height direction) is formed on the side wall of the processing chamber 14, and plasma for generating plasma in the plasma chamber 58 is formed. Forming means 60 is provided. Further, on the opposite side of the processing chamber 14 facing the plasma chamber 58, an elongated exhaust port 62 formed by scraping the side wall of the processing chamber 14 in the vertical direction, for example, in order to evacuate the internal atmosphere is provided. ing. Specifically, the plasma chamber 58 forms a vertically long and narrow opening 64 (see FIG. 2) by scraping the side wall of the processing chamber 14 with a predetermined width along the vertical direction. A plasma partition wall 66 made of quartz, for example, made of quartz, which has a concave cross section so as to cover 64 from the outside, is formed by airtightly welding and bonding to the outer wall of the container. The opening 64 is formed long enough in the vertical direction so as to cover all the wafers W held by the wafer boat 22 in the height direction.

  A pair of elongated plasma electrodes 68 forming a part of the plasma forming means 60 on the outer side surfaces of both side walls of the plasma partition wall 66 so as to face each other along the length direction (vertical direction). Is provided. A plasma generating high frequency power source 70 is connected to the plasma electrode 68 via a power supply line 72. By applying a high frequency voltage of, for example, 13.56 MHz to the plasma electrode 68, plasma can be generated. ing. The frequency of the high-frequency voltage is not limited to 13.56 MHz, and other frequencies such as 400 kHz may be used.

  Then, the plasma gas dispersion nozzle 44 extending upward in the processing container 14 is bent outward in the radial direction of the processing container 14 in the middle, so that the innermost part of the plasma partition wall 66 (the processing container 14). It is located at the furthest part from the center) and is erected upward along this innermost part. Accordingly, when the high frequency power supply 70 is turned on, the ammonia gas injected from the gas injection hole 44A of the plasma gas dispersion nozzle 44 is activated here to generate active species toward the center of the processing vessel 14. It is designed to flow while spreading.

An insulating protective cover 74 made of quartz, for example, is attached to the outside of the plasma partition wall 66 so as to cover it. In addition, a refrigerant passage (not shown) is provided in an inner portion of the insulating protective cover 74 so that the plasma electrode 68 can be cooled by flowing a cooled nitrogen gas.
The source gas dispersion nozzle 46 and the purge gas dispersion nozzle 48 are erected on each side near the outside of the opening 64 of the plasma partition wall 66, that is, on both sides outside the opening 64 (inside the processing vessel 14). The DCS gas and the N ₂ gas can be injected from the gas injection holes 46A and 48A provided in the nozzles 46 and 48 toward the center of the processing container 14, respectively.

  Then, the opening 64 of the plasma chamber 58 is closed by a partition plate 78 having a predetermined gas flow path 76 formed by a feature of the present invention by welding the periphery thereof to the partition wall of the opening 64. The plasma chamber 58 and the inside of the processing container 14 (within the wafer storage area) are partitioned and partitioned. The gas flow path 76 allows gas (including active species) to pass from the plasma chamber 58 into the processing container 14 while generating a pressure difference so that the pressure in the plasma chamber 58 is higher than that in the processing container 14. It is communicated as such.

  The partition plate 78 is made of, for example, quartz, which is the same material as that of the processing container 14, and the gas flow path 76 has a partition plate 78 as shown in FIG. 3 in order to reduce the gas conductance. A plurality of circular diffusion holes 76A provided so as to be dispersed and arranged along the length direction. A schematic view of a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the plasma chamber 58 at this time and a plan view of the partition plate 78 that partitions the plasma chamber 58 is also shown in FIG. Here, the diffusion holes 76A are arranged vertically in two rows, and the pitch P1 of the diffusion holes 76A is set to be the same as the pitch of the wafers W accommodated in multiple stages in the wafer boat 22 and is horizontal. Each diffusion hole 76A is formed so as to be between the wafers in the direction so that the active species can be efficiently supplied to the surface of the wafer W.

  In this case, as described above, the gas flow path 76 formed of the diffusion hole 76A prevents the inside of the plasma chamber 58 from being the same pressure as the inside of the processing container 14, and the pressure in the plasma chamber 58 is increased in the processing container 14. It is provided to make it higher than that. Accordingly, although depending on the gas flow rate of each gas to be supplied and the evacuation capability of vacuuming, the plasma chamber 58 is pressure for generating plasma efficiently, for example, 0.7 to 4.0 Torr (93 to 533 Pa). The inside of the processing container 14 in which the wafer W is accommodated can be maintained within a certain extent, and the plasma processing for the wafer W, that is, here, the in-plane uniformity and inter-surface uniformity of the film thickness in the plasma film forming process can be maintained high. Such pressure is maintained at, for example, 1.0 Torr (133 Pa) or less.

  Therefore, here, the opening ratio of the diffusion hole 76A, which is the gas flow path 76, is preferably set to 7.3% or less. Here, the aperture ratio is defined by the ratio of the total area of the diffusion holes 76A to the area of the surface of the plasma chamber 58 facing the processing vessel 58 (substantially the same as the area of the partition plate 78).

  On the other hand, an exhaust port cover member 80, which is formed in a U-shaped cross section made of quartz so as to cover the exhaust port 62 provided to face the plasma chamber 58, is attached by welding. The exhaust port cover member 80 extends upward along the side wall of the processing container 14 and communicates with a gas outlet 82 above the processing container 14. A cylindrical heating means 84 for heating the processing container 14 and the wafer W therein is provided so as to surround the outer periphery of the processing container 14. An evacuation system 86 is connected to the gas outlet 82. The vacuum exhaust system 86 has an exhaust passage 88 connected to the gas outlet 82, and a pressure control valve 90 including a gate valve and a vacuum pump 92 are sequentially provided in the middle of the exhaust passage 88. ing.

  The supply of each gas, supply stop, gas flow rate control, high frequency on / off control, pressure control by the pressure control valve 90, and the like are performed by a control means 94 made of, for example, a microcomputer. The control means 94 also controls the overall operation of the plasma processing apparatus 12. The control means 94 includes a storage medium 96 such as a floppy disk, a flash memory, or a hard disk driver that stores a program for controlling the operation of the entire apparatus.

Next, a plasma film forming method performed using the plasma processing apparatus configured as described above will be described. As described above, the operation described below is performed based on the program stored in the storage medium 96. Here, the case where a silicon nitride film (SiN) is formed on the wafer surface using plasma intermittently at a low temperature will be described as an example. The supply of each gas is the same as that shown in FIG. 8, and plasma is generated when NH ₃ gas is supplied to form NH ₃ active species.

First, the wafer boat 22 in a state where a large number of normal temperature wafers, for example, 50 to 100 wafers 300 mm in size are placed, is loaded into the processing container 14 that has been set to a predetermined temperature by raising it from below. The inside of the container is sealed by closing the lower end opening of the manifold 18 with the lid 28. Then, the inside of the processing vessel 14 is evacuated and maintained at a predetermined process pressure, and the power supplied to the heating means 84 is increased to increase the wafer temperature and maintain the process temperature. The DCS gas and NH ₃ Gas is alternately and intermittently supplied from the source gas supply means 40 and the plasma gas supply means 38 to form a silicon nitride film (SiN) on the surface of the wafer W supported by the rotating wafer boat 22. To do. At this time, when the NH ₃ gas is supplied alone, plasma is generated by turning on the high frequency power source (RF power source) 70 over the entire supply time or during a part of the total supply time.

Specifically, NH ₃ gas is injected in a horizontal direction from each gas injection hole 44 A of the plasma gas dispersion nozzle 44, and DCS gas is injected in a horizontal direction from each gas injection hole 46 A of the source gas dispersion nozzle 46. The In this case, the above gases are not continuously supplied, but are supplied with the timing shifted from each other, for example, as shown in FIG. Gases with different timings are alternately and repeatedly supplied with an intermittent period (purge period) therebetween, and a thin film of a silicon nitride film is repeatedly stacked. Both of the above gases are supplied with a DCS gas to cause the source gas to adhere to the wafer surface, and then supplied with NH ₃ gas to nitride the source gas attached to the wafer surface to form a thin layered silicon nitride film The one-cycle process of forming is repeated a plurality of times. In this case, N ₂ gas is supplied as the purge gas in the intermittent period between the supply operations of both gases, and the discharge of the residual gas in the container is promoted. Note that, while the film forming process is being performed, the vacuum evacuation system 86 is continuously evacuated. Further, this gas supply mode is merely an example, and the gas supply mode is not particularly limited.

As specific process conditions, the supply period of DCS gas that is an adsorption process is about 1 to 120 seconds, the supply period of NH ₃ gas that is a reaction process (nitriding process) is about 1 to 120 seconds, and a purge period. The length of the intermittent period is about 1 to 30 seconds, but each of these times is merely an example and is not limited to this value. Usually, the film thickness formed in one cycle is about 0.5 to 1.1 mm / cycle, so if the target film thickness is 700 mm, for example, the process is repeated about 600 cycles.

The flow rate of DCS gas is in the range of 50 to 2000 sccm, for example, 1000 sccm (1 slm), and the flow rate of NH ₃ gas as the process gas is in the range of 100 to 5000 sccm, for example, 3000 sccm. The process temperature is lower than that of the CVD film forming process, and specifically, is in the range of 250 to 700 ° C, preferably in the range of 350 to 600 ° C. When the process temperature is lower than 250 ° C., no reaction occurs and almost no film is deposited. When the process temperature is higher than 700 ° C., not only a deposited film is formed by CVD with poor film quality, but also The metal film already formed in the process will be thermally damaged.

Regarding the process pressure, the pressure (process pressure) in the processing container 14 containing the wafer W is set to 1.0 Torr or less, and the in-plane uniformity of the film thickness and the inter-surface thickness by the plasma film forming which is the plasma processing. Optimized to maintain high uniformity.
In this case, if the process pressure in the processing container 14 exceeds 1.0 Torr, the deactivation of the active species increases rapidly, which is not preferable. Considering the film formation rate, the lower limit value of the process pressure in the processing container 14 is not preferable. Is about 0.2 Torr, and if the process pressure is lowered more than this, the throughput, which is the production efficiency, is greatly reduced.

On the other hand, the plasma chamber 58 is partitioned from the inside of the processing container 14 by the partition plate 78 in which a plurality of diffusion holes 76A are formed as the gas flow paths 76 in order to reduce the gas conductance. The inside of the plasma chamber 58 is set within a range of, for example, 0.7 to 4.0 Torr, which is a higher pressure than the inside of the processing container 14. In other words, the activated species and gas of NH ₃ gas generated by being activated by plasma in the plasma chamber 58 flow while receiving resistance from each diffusion hole 76A and reach each wafer W in the processing chamber 14. It will be.

  Thus, since the pressure in the plasma chamber 58 can be maintained relatively high, the plasma generation efficiency in the plasma chamber 58 can be improved and the plasma density can be increased. That is, in the plasma chamber 58, the pressure in the chamber can be kept relatively high so that the plasma generation efficiency here becomes high, and the inside of the processing chamber 14 is between the surface and the surface of the film thickness with respect to the wafer W here. The process pressure can be kept low so that both internal uniformity is good. In other words, the inside of the plasma chamber 58 can be maintained at a pressure suitable for high-efficiency generation of plasma, and the wafer accommodating region has a high throughput and is maintained at a pressure suitable for obtaining good inter-surface and in-plane uniformity. It will be possible.

In this case, although depending on the power supplied from the high-frequency power source 70, if the pressure in the plasma chamber 58 increases beyond 4.0 Torr, the ignition of the plasma is rapidly reduced, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if the pressure in the plasma chamber 58 exceeds 0.7 Torr, the plasma generation efficiency is drastically reduced.
In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4A, the circular diffusion holes 76A constituting the gas flow path 76 formed in the partition plate 78 are arranged in two rows in the longitudinal direction of the partition plate 78. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, it may be arranged in one row, may be arranged in a plurality of rows of three or more rows, or diffusion holes 76A having a circular cross section. For example, as shown in FIG. 4C, a plurality of elongated groove-like diffusion holes 76B may be formed so as to be linearly arranged, and furthermore, this groove-like diffusion hole 76B. May be formed as a single elongated linear groove.

<Pressure relationship between plasma chamber and wafer area (inside processing chamber)>
Here, the pressure relationship between the plasma chamber 58 and the wafer region in the processing container 14 has been examined, and the examination result will be described.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the gas flow rate (NH ₃ ) supplied to the plasma gas dispersion nozzle and the pressure in each region. In FIG. 5, a curve A indicates the pressure in the wafer region (in the processing container), and a curve B indicates the pressure in the plasma chamber 58. Here, the case where the diameter D1 of the diffusion hole 76A is set to 0.7 mm and the diffusion holes 76A are formed in two rows corresponding to the respective wafer positions was examined. At this time, the aperture ratio of the diffusion hole 78A with respect to the partition plate 78 is 0.4%. Here, the processing chamber 14 is evacuated at a maximum exhaust speed of 120 liters / sec.

  As is apparent from this graph, by supplying a gas from the plasma gas dispersion nozzle 44, the pressure in the plasma chamber 14 can be made higher than the pressure in the wafer region, and as the amount of gas supplied increases, It can be seen that the pressure difference between the two can be increased. In the case of a conventional apparatus in which the opening 64 is opened without providing the partition plate 78, the pressure in the plasma chamber and the wafer region is substantially the same, as shown by the curve A.

<Evaluation of plasma generation effect>
Next, since the plasma generation efficiency was examined and evaluated, the evaluation result will be described.
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relationship between the plasma chamber pressure at 450 ° C. and the plasma density (Torr equivalent). Here, the plasma density on the vertical axis was measured in terms of plasma pressure. In FIG. 6, regarding the high frequency power source for generating plasma, a curve C1 shows a case of 150 watts, a curve C2 shows a case of 200 watts, and a curve C3 shows a case of 250 watts. In the case of the conventional apparatus in which the partition plate 78 is not provided, the pressure in the plasma chamber (same for the wafer region) is 0.6 Torr.

  Here, in the case of the curves C1 and C2, the plasma density shows a peak value when the pressure in the plasma chamber is approximately 0.9 Torr, and when the pressure becomes lower than the peak value, the plasma density rapidly decreases and becomes lower than the peak value. As the pressure increases, the plasma density gradually decreases. In the case of the curve C3, the plasma density shows a peak value when the pressure in the plasma chamber is approximately 1.1 Torr, and when the pressure is lower than the peak value, the plasma density is drastically lowered than the previous curves C1 and C2. When the pressure becomes higher than the peak value, the plasma density becomes smaller gradually than the previous curves C1 and C2.

  Here, assuming that the plasma density of 80% of each peak value is the lower limit value, in the case of curve C1 with a power of 150 watts, the pressure in the plasma chamber is preferably in the range of 0.7 to 2.0 Torr, preferably 0.8. The range of ~ 1.4 Torr is good. In the case of a curve C2 with a power of 200 watts, the plasma chamber pressure is preferably in the range of 0.7 to 2.2 Torr, and preferably in the range of 0.8 to 1.5 Torr. In the case of curve C3 with a power of 250 watts, the pressure in the plasma chamber is in the range of 0.7 to 4.0 Torr (it becomes difficult to ignite plasma if exceeding 4.0 Torr), preferably 0.8 to 2 A range of .5 Torr is good.

Thus, it can be seen that the plasma density, that is, the plasma generation efficiency fluctuates with a peak around 1 Torr depending on the high-frequency power supplied. Thus, it was confirmed that the plasma generation efficiency can be maintained high by setting the pressure in the plasma chamber 58 within the range of 0.7 to 4.0 Torr.
Further, as apparent from the graph shown in FIG. 6, the peak values of the curves C1, C2, and C3 are higher in each stage than the plasma density at 0.6 Torr used in the conventional apparatus. Thus, it can be seen that the plasma generation efficiency can be improved. In particular, in the case of the curve C3, the plasma density is approximately doubled, and it can be seen that a good result is shown.

<Examination of opening ratio of partition plate 78>
In addition, the aperture ratio for producing a pressure difference between the plasma chamber and the wafer region by variously changing the size and the like of the diffusion hole formed in the partition plate 78 has been studied, and the examination result will be described. Here, the aperture ratio means the ratio of the total area of the diffusion holes to the area of the partition plate.
As a result of supplying gas into the plasma chamber, the pressure difference hardly occurred until the aperture ratio was 100% (no partition plate) to 7.3%, but when the aperture ratio was 7.3% or less. A pressure difference has gradually occurred.

Accordingly, it can be seen that the aperture ratio of the gas flow path 76 (diffusion hole 76A) is desirably 7.3% or less. In addition, when the aperture ratio is excessively small, the active species (including gas) flowing into the wafer region decreases, so the lower limit is about 0.3%.
In the above embodiment, the plasma film forming process is described by taking as an example the case where the film is formed by alternately supplying the plasma gas and the source gas. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the source gas is used as the plasma gas. May be used, or both gases may be supplied simultaneously to form a film by plasma CVD. In any case, as long as the pressure in the plasma chamber 58 and the processing container 14 can be set to the respective optimum pressure ranges, the supply form of the gas is not limited.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described plasma film forming process as a plasma process, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to a plasma etching process, a plasma oxidation diffusion process, a plasma modification process, and the like.
The object to be processed is not limited to a semiconductor wafer, and the present invention can be applied to a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, and the like.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional block diagram which shows an example of the plasma processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a cross-sectional block diagram which shows a plasma processing apparatus (a heating means is abbreviate | omitted). It is a top view which shows a partition plate. It is a figure which shows the modification of a partition plate. Plasma gas dispersing nozzle supplies gas flow rate and (NH ₃₎ is a graph showing the relationship between the pressure of each region. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the pressure of the plasma chamber in 450 degreeC, and a plasma density (Torr conversion). It is a schematic block diagram which shows the conventional general vertical-type film-forming apparatus. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the supply sequence of each gas, and operation | movement of an exhaust valve.

Explanation of symbols

12 Plasma processing apparatus 14 Processing vessel 22 Wafer boat (holding means)
38 Plasma gas supply means 40 Raw material gas supply means 44 Plasma gas dispersion nozzle 58 Plasma chamber 60 Plasma forming means 66 Plasma partition wall 68 Plasma electrode 70 High frequency power supply 76 Gas flow path 76A Diffusion hole 78 Partition plate 86 Vacuum exhaust system 94 Control Means 96 Storage medium W Semiconductor wafer (object to be processed)

Claims (10)

In a plasma processing apparatus for performing a predetermined plasma processing on an object to be processed by active species generated by plasma,
A vertical cylindrical processing container made evacuated,
Holding means for holding a plurality of the objects to be processed and accommodating them in the processing container;
A plasma chamber for generating plasma provided on the side wall of the processing vessel along its length direction;
A plasma gas supply means for supplying a plasma gas to the plasma chamber;
Plasma forming means for generating plasma in the plasma chamber;
A predetermined space for partitioning between the inside of the processing chamber and the plasma chamber and allowing gas to pass into the processing chamber while creating a pressure difference so that the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing chamber. A partition plate formed with a gas flow path;
A plasma processing apparatus comprising:   The plasma chamber is maintained at a pressure for efficiently generating plasma, and the inside of the processing container is maintained at a pressure for increasing the uniformity of plasma processing on the object to be processed. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1.   3. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pressure of the plasma chamber is in a range of 0.7 to 4.0 Torr, and a pressure in the processing container is 1.0 Torr or less.   The plasma processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an opening ratio of the gas flow path with respect to a surface of the plasma chamber facing the processing container is 7.3% or less.   5. The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas flow path includes a plurality of circular diffusion holes provided in a distributed manner along a length direction of the partition plate.   The plasma processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas flow path includes a plurality of groove-shaped diffusion holes. A plurality of objects to be processed are accommodated in a vertical cylindrical processing container that can be evacuated, and provided on a side wall of the processing container via a partition plate in which a predetermined gas flow path is formed. In the plasma processing method of performing plasma processing on the object to be processed while supplying active species generated by plasma from the plasma chamber for generating plasma into the processing container through the gas flow path,
A plasma processing method, wherein a plasma gas is allowed to flow into the plasma chamber while generating a pressure difference so that the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing vessel.   The plasma chamber is maintained at a pressure for efficiently generating plasma, and the inside of the processing container is maintained at a pressure for increasing the uniformity of plasma processing on the object to be processed. The plasma processing method according to claim 7.   9. The plasma processing method according to claim 7, wherein the pressure in the plasma chamber is in a range of 0.7 to 4.0 Torr, and the pressure in the processing container is 1.0 Torr or less. A plurality of objects to be processed are accommodated in a vertical cylindrical processing container that can be evacuated, and provided on a side wall of the processing container via a partition plate in which a predetermined gas flow path is formed. A predetermined plasma process is performed on the object to be processed using a plasma processing apparatus configured to supply active species generated by plasma from a plasma chamber for generating plasma into the processing container through the gas flow path. On the occasion
A storage medium for storing a program for controlling the plasma processing apparatus so that a plasma gas flows into the plasma chamber while generating a pressure difference so that the pressure in the plasma chamber is higher than that in the processing vessel.

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