JP2007335699A - Substrate treating equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
In power supply to a heater provided in a substrate processing apparatus, a contact failure caused by a temperature rise in a power supply connection portion is prevented, and a stable and highly reliable substrate processing apparatus is provided.
[Solution]
A processing chamber 24 for storing and processing the substrate 12, a processing gas supply system 14 for introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, a processing gas discharge system 15 for exhausting the processing chamber, and a heating element 1 that generates heat when energized. A heating means 17 for heating the substrate; and a heating power source connected to the heating means via a fastening portion for supplying electric power to the heating means, wherein the fastening portion is connected continuously to the heating element. An end portion and a connection terminal continuous to the heating power supply, and when the connection end portion and the connection terminal are fitted together and the fastening portion is heated, the connection end portion and the connection terminal Is configured such that the contact surface is pressed by a difference in thermal expansion.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that generates a high-density plasma or heats to activate a processing gas to process a substrate.

  When the substrate processing is performed, the substrate is heated by a required means. For example, the substrate mounted on the substrate mounting table is heated by a heater embedded in the mounting table. Alternatively, there are various methods such as storing the substrate in a processing chamber and heating it with a heater provided so as to surround the processing chamber. As a heat source, power is supplied to a heating element wire (heating element). It is common to generate heat.

  In FIG. 9, a connection structure between a conventional heating element wire and a power cable for supplying power to the heating element wire will be described.

  The connecting end portion 2 of the heating element wire 1 is processed into a flat plate shape, and a fastening hole 3 for fastening is formed.

  Further, the connection terminal 5 is fixed to the end of the power supply cable 4 by a necessary means such as caulking. The connection terminal 5 is provided with a fixing hole 6 equivalent to the retaining hole 3.

  The connection end 2 and the connection terminal 5 are formed by inserting a fastening bolt 7 through the fixing hole 6 and the retaining hole 3 and screwing and fastening a nut 9 to the fastening bolt 7 via a washer 8. Was connected.

  Here, as the material of the heating element wire 1, carbon, silicon carbide or the like is used, and as the material of the fastening bolt 7, stainless steel or the like is used.

By supplying power to the heating element wire 1 from the power supply cable 4 to generate heat, the fastening portion between the connection end 2 and the connection terminal 5 is also heated. If the material of the heating element 1 is, for example, carbon, the coefficient of thermal expansion is 3-6 × 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C., and if the material of the fastening bolt 7 is stainless steel, the coefficient of thermal expansion is 17.2 × 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C., the fastening bolt 7 is larger than the exothermic element wire 1, and there is a large difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the two.

  For this reason, when the fastening portion becomes high temperature, the tightening force by the fastening bolt 7 is reduced, and the heat generation state of the heater cannot be controlled due to poor contact, or the contact resistance due to the reduction of the tightening force is increased, and the local portion Cause heat generation and may cause damage to the fastening part due to heat generation.

  In view of such circumstances, the present invention provides a stable and highly reliable substrate processing apparatus that prevents contact failure due to temperature rise of a power supply connecting portion in power supply to a heater provided in the substrate processing apparatus. To do.

  The present invention includes a processing chamber for storing and processing a substrate, a processing gas supply system for introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, a processing gas exhaust system for exhausting the processing chamber, and a heating element that generates heat when energized, Heating means for heating the substrate, and a heating power source connected to the heating means via a fastening portion and supplying power to the heating means, wherein the fastening portion is connected to the heating element. And the connection terminal connected to the heating power source, the connection end and the connection terminal are fitted together, and when the temperature of the fastening portion rises, the connection end and the connection terminal are heated. The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus configured such that a contact surface is pressed by an expansion difference.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a processing chamber for storing a substrate, a processing gas supply system for introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, a processing gas exhaust system for exhausting the processing chamber, and a heating element that generates heat when energized. And heating means for heating the substrate, and a heating power source connected to the heating means via a fastening portion for supplying electric power to the heating means, wherein the fastening portion is connected continuously to the heating element. An end portion and a connection terminal continuous to the heating power supply, and when the connection end portion and the connection terminal are fitted together and the fastening portion is heated, the connection end portion and the connection terminal Is configured so that the contact surface is pressed due to a difference in thermal expansion, so that the temperature of the power supply connection portion increases the electrical connection more reliably, preventing poor contact, local heat generation due to poor contact, Excellent effect of enabling stable and reliable substrate processing Exhibit.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  The present invention can be implemented in any substrate processing apparatus provided with a heater. As an example, an outline of a single wafer processing apparatus 11 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The substrate processing apparatus 11 includes a plasma processing furnace including a modified magnetron type plasma source, generates high-density plasma by an electric field and a magnetic field, and plasma-processes a substrate such as a wafer.

  The substrate processing apparatus 11 contains a substrate, for example, a wafer 12, a substrate processing container 13 for processing, a processing gas supply system 14 for supplying a processing gas into the substrate processing container 13, and a processing gas from the substrate processing container 13. A processing gas discharge system 15 for discharging gas, plasma generating means 16 for generating plasma in the substrate processing container 13, substrate heating means 17 for heating the wafer 12 in the substrate processing container 13, and at least the substrate At least a cooling system (not shown) for cooling the processing container 13 and a control means 19 for controlling the substrate processing are provided.

  The substrate processing container 13 includes an upper container 21 and a lower container 22 that are hermetically combined via a connecting member 23, and a processing chamber 24 is defined therein.

  The material of the upper container 21 is a non-metallic material, and quartz that prevents metal contamination is used. Note that aluminum oxide may be used as the material of the upper container 21 instead of quartz.

  The connecting member 23 is made of fluororesin, and the lower container 22 is made of a required metal material such as aluminum.

  A shower head 25 is provided on the ceiling of the upper container 21, a processing gas supply pipe 26 is connected to the shower head 25, the processing gas supply pipe 26 is connected to a processing gas supply source (not shown), and The processing gas supply pipe 26 is provided with a supply side valve 27 and a mass flow controller 28 as flow rate control means.

  The processing gas whose flow rate is adjusted by the mass flow controller 28 is distributed and supplied in a shower form from the shower head 25 to the processing chamber 24.

  The shower head 25, the processing gas supply pipe 26, the supply side valve 27, the mass flow controller 28, etc. constitute the processing gas supply system 14.

  A gas exhaust pipe 29 communicates with the wall surface of the lower container 22, and the gas exhaust pipe 29 communicates with a vacuum pump 31 that is an exhaust device. The gas exhaust pipe 29 includes a pressure regulator 32 and an exhaust side valve 33. Is provided. The gas exhaust pipe 29, the vacuum pump 31, the pressure regulator 32, the exhaust side valve 33, etc. constitute the process gas exhaust system 15.

  A susceptor 34 as a substrate mounting table is provided in the processing chamber 24 so as to face the shower head 25, and the susceptor 34 is supported by an elevating device 36 via an elevating shaft portion 35 so as to be movable up and down. The shaft 35 penetrates the bottom of the lower container 22 in an airtight manner.

  A cylindrical electrode 37 and ring-shaped magnets 38 that are permanent magnets are provided above and below the electrode 37 so as to surround the upper container 21. A high frequency power supply 41 for supplying high frequency power is connected to the electrode 37 via a matching unit 39 that performs impedance matching.

  A high-frequency power is applied to the electrode 37 by the high-frequency power source 41 to generate an electric field, and a magnetic field is generated by the magnet 38, and the processing gas supplied to the processing chamber 24 is excited by discharge by the electric and magnetic fields. As a result, high-density plasma is generated.

  The electrode 37, the magnet 38, the matching unit 39, the high-frequency power source 41, etc. constitute the plasma generating means 16.

  A gate valve 42 is provided on the wall surface of the lower container 22 so as to open the opening and close the airtightly. Through the gate valve 42, the wafer 12 is loaded into the processing chamber 24 by a substrate transfer machine (not shown), is further placed on the susceptor 34, and the wafer 12 placed on the susceptor 34 is unloaded through the gate valve 42. It is supposed to do.

  Next, the substrate heating means 17 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The susceptor 34 also serves as a substrate mounting table on which the wafer 12 is mounted, and the material is quartz or aluminum nitride. A heating element wire 1 is embedded in the susceptor 34, and the heating element wire 1 is wired so as to uniformly heat the upper surface of the susceptor 34, and the lifting shaft portion extends from the substrate heating section 45. The lead portion 46 extends downward along the lead 35, and a connecting end portion 47 described later is formed at the tip of the lead portion 46. Further, a temperature detector, for example, a thermocouple 48, is provided in the elevating shaft portion 35 so that the upper end portion is positioned in the vicinity of the substrate mounting surface of the susceptor 34.

  As the material of the heating element wire 1, carbon, silicon carbide, or the like is used.

  A connection terminal 51 (described later) of the power supply cable 4 is fixed to the connection end portion 47 to constitute a fastening portion 52, and the lead portion 46 and the power supply cable 4 are electrically connected via the fastening portion 52. It is connected to the. The power supply cable 4 is connected to a heater power supply (not shown).

  The connection end portion 47 is a part of the exothermic element wire 1, but may be electrically continuous to the exothermic element line 1. Similarly, the connection terminal 51 only needs to be electrically continuous to the heater power supply.

  The substrate heating unit 17 includes the susceptor 34, the heating element wire 1 (the substrate heating unit 45, the lead unit 46), the power supply cable 4, a heater power supply (not shown), and the like.

  4 and 5 show an example of the fastening portion 52. FIG.

  The connecting end portion 47 having a flat plate shape is formed at the tip end portion of the lead portion 46, the stopper hole 3 is formed in the connecting end portion 47, and a pair of fitting slits 53 are formed from the tip end side of the connecting end portion 47. 53 are formed in parallel, and a tongue piece 54 is formed between the slits 53.

  The connection terminal 51 is fixed to the end of the power supply cable 4 by a required method such as caulking. The connection terminal 51 includes a fitting portion 55 having a concave cross section and a screw stop portion 56 extending from the fitting portion 55, and a fixing hole 6 is formed in the screw stop portion 56.

  In a normal temperature state, the width dimension a of the fitting portion 55 is slightly smaller than the width dimension b of the slits 53 and 53.

  When the fitting portion 55 is fitted between the slits 53, 53, the fixing hole 6 and the stopper hole 3 are matched, and the fastening bolt 7 is inserted into the fixing hole 6 and the stopper hole 3. Then, the nut 9 is screwed onto the fastening bolt 7 through the washer 8, and the nut 9 is fastened to fix the connection terminal 51 and the connection end portion 47, whereby the fastening portion 52 is configured. The lead part 46 and the power supply cable 4 are connected.

  The control means 19 controls the flow rate of the processing gas supplied to the processing chamber 24 through the mass flow controller 28 and controls the pressure in the processing chamber 24 through the pressure regulator 32. The matching unit 39 is controlled to supply high frequency power from the high frequency power supply 41 to the electrode 37. Further, the heating temperature of the wafer 12 is detected by the thermocouple 48, and a heater power source (not shown) is controlled so that the wafer 12 is maintained at a predetermined processing temperature.

  Further, the driving of the lifting device 36 is controlled with respect to opening / closing of the gate valve 42 and lifting / lowering of the susceptor 34 accompanying loading / unloading of the substrate.

  Next, substrate processing for the substrate processing apparatus 11 described above will be described.

  Electric power is supplied to the heating element wire 1 to heat the connection end 47 to a predetermined temperature. The wafer 12 is loaded into the processing chamber 24 via the gate valve 42 and the wafer 12 is placed on the susceptor 34. The lifting device 36 raises the susceptor 34 to a predetermined height.

  The vacuum pump 31 is driven and the processing chamber 24 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure (for example, a predetermined pressure in the range of 0.1 to 100 Pa). The processing gas supply system 14 supplies a processing gas (for example, O2 and N2) at a required flow rate (for example, a predetermined flow rate in the range of 10 to 500 sccm).

  Simultaneously with supplying the processing gas, high-frequency power is supplied from the high-frequency power source 41 to the electrode 37 via the matching unit 39 to generate plasma.

  The processing gas is activated by the plasma, and a thin film such as a nitride film or an oxide film is generated on the surface of the wafer 12.

  When the predetermined substrate processing is completed, the processing of the processing gas, the power supply to the electrode 37, the power supply to the exothermic element wire 1 and the like are performed, and then the processed wafer 12 from the gate valve 42 is processed. Is carried out.

  Unprocessed wafers 12 are carried into the processing chamber 24, and substrate processing is repeated.

  Next, the operation of the fastening portion 52 will be described.

  In the process of supplying power to the heating element wire 1 and heating the susceptor 34, the connecting end 47 portion also generates heat, or heat from the susceptor 34 is transmitted. For this reason, the said fastening part 52 also becomes high temperature.

  Here, as the material of the heating element wire 1, carbon, silicon carbide or the like is used. The connecting terminal 51 and the fastening bolt 7 are made of stainless steel or the like.

As described above, if the material of the heating element 1 is, for example, carbon, the coefficient of thermal expansion is 3-6 × 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C., and if the material of the fastening bolt 7 is stainless steel, the coefficient of thermal expansion is Is 17.2 × 10 ⁻⁶ / ° C.

  For this reason, when the said fastening part 52 becomes high temperature, the said connection end part 47, the said fitting part 55, and the said fastening bolt 7 each thermally expand.

  Due to the expansion of the fastening bolt 7, the fastening force of the fastening bolt 7 is reduced, and the surface pressure between the plane of the connection end portion 47 and the screw stop portion 56 is reduced.

  On the other hand, since the fitting portion 55 has a larger coefficient of thermal expansion than the connection end portion 47, the expansion of the width dimension a is larger than the expansion of the width dimension b of the slits 53, 53. The side surface of the fitting portion 55 is pressed against the side surfaces of the slits 53 and 53 due to a difference in thermal expansion (width dimension a−width outer dimension b), and reliable contact is made between the fitting portion 55 and the connection end portion 47. Is obtained.

  Therefore, even if the fastening part 52 becomes high temperature, contact failure does not occur in the fastening part 52, an excessive temperature rise of the contact part is avoided, and stable temperature control is possible.

  It is also possible to remove the tongue piece 54 and simply form a wide slit (notch).

  FIG. 6 shows a fastening portion 52 according to the second embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, the fitting portion 55 is formed with a refracting portion 55a. When the fitting portion 55 and the connecting end portion 47 are fitted in the width dimension a of the fitting portion 55 with respect to the outer width dimension b, the bending portion 55a facilitates deformation in the width direction. The load acting on the connection end 47 is reduced.

  FIG. 7 shows a fastening portion 52 according to the third embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, curved portions 55b are formed at both width ends of the fitting portion 55. By forming the curved portions 55b, the second embodiment is similar to the second embodiment described above. This facilitates deformation of the fitting portion 55 in the width direction.

  In the above embodiment, the width end of the fitting portion 55 may be comb-like to prevent the side surface of the fitting portion 55 and the side surfaces of the slits 53 and 53 from being biased. .

  FIG. 8 shows a fastening portion 52 according to the fourth embodiment.

  In the fourth embodiment, the connection terminal 51 has a cylindrical shape, and a base 58 and a fitting portion 59 extending from the base 58 are formed on the connection terminal 51. The fitting 59 is cylindrical. A required number of slits 61 are provided along the shape bus, and are divided into a plurality of strip-shaped contact pieces 59a.

  The connecting end portion 47 of the heating element 1 is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape, the hollow portion is a fitting hole portion 47a, the fitting portion 59 is fitted in the fitting hole portion 47a, and the connection terminal Electrical contact between 51 and the connecting end 47 is obtained.

  The contact pressure between the connection terminal 51 and the connection end 47 is obtained by elastic deformation of the contact piece 59a in the direction of decreasing diameter, and the thermal expansion of the connection terminal 51 and the connection end 47. The difference is also absorbed by the deformation in the reduction direction of the diameter of the contact piece 59a.

  Further, in order to obtain a reliable contact state at the fastening portion 52, the fastening portion 52 may be heated. As for the heating means, the connecting end 47 may be a part of the heating element wire 1 as in the above embodiment, or a separate heating means may be provided.

  Furthermore, when the expansion coefficient of the connection end portion 47 is larger than the expansion coefficient of the fitting portion 55, the connection end portion 47 may be fitted in the recess of the connection terminal 51.

It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the susceptor part of this substrate processing apparatus. It is an AA arrow line view of FIG. It is an expansion perspective view which shows the fastening part of an exothermic strand and a power supply cable. It is a B arrow view of FIG. It is a B arrow equivalent view of Drawing 4 of a conclusion part concerning a 2nd embodiment. It is a B arrow equivalent view of Drawing 4 of a conclusion part concerning a 3rd embodiment. It is an expansion perspective view of the fastening part which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is an expansion perspective view of the conventional fastening part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heating element wire 4 Power supply cable 7 Fastening bolt 12 Wafer 14 Processing gas supply system 15 Processing gas discharge system 16 Plasma generating means 17 Substrate heating means 19 Control means 24 Processing chamber 45 Substrate heating part 46 Lead part 47 Connection end part 48 Thermoelectric Pair 51 Connection terminal 52 Fastening portion 53 Slit 55 Fitting portion 55a Refraction portion 55b Bending portion 59 Fitting portion

Claims (1)

  A processing chamber for storing and processing a substrate, a processing gas supply system for introducing a processing gas into the processing chamber, a processing gas discharge system for exhausting the processing chamber, and a heating element that generates heat when energized, heat the substrate Heating means connected to the heating means via a fastening portion, and a heating power source for supplying power to the heating means, wherein the fastening portion is connected to the heating element and connected to the heating end. A connecting terminal connected to a power source, and when the connecting end and the connecting terminal are fitted to each other, and the temperature of the fastening portion rises, the connecting end and the connecting terminal contact with each other due to a difference in thermal expansion. A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the surface is pressed.

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