阅读说明：本技术 半导体处理装备的单极天线阵列源 (Monopole antenna array source for semiconductor processing equipment ) 是由 梁奇伟 斯里尼瓦斯·D·内曼尼 于 2018-05-25 设计创作，主要内容包括：等离子体反应器包括腔室主体、气体分配口、工件支撑件、天线阵列、和AC功率源,腔室主体具有提供等离子体腔室的内部空间,气体分配口用于将处理气体输送到等离子体腔室,工件支撑件用于保持工件,天线阵列包括部分延伸到等离子体腔室中的多个单极天线,AC功率源用于将第一AC功率供应到多个单极天线。(The plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space providing a plasma chamber, a gas distribution port for delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber, a workpiece support for holding a workpiece, an antenna array including a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber, and an AC power source for supplying a first AC power to the plurality of monopole antennas.)

1. A plasma reactor, comprising:

a chamber body having an interior space providing a plasma chamber;

a gas distribution port for delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber;

a workpiece support for holding a workpiece;

an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber; and

an AC power source to supply a first AC power to the plurality of monopole antennas.

2. The plasma reactor of claim 1 wherein said plurality of monopole antennas extend in parallel into said plasma chamber.

3. The plasma reactor of claim 1 or 2 wherein a portion of each monopole antenna extending into the plasma chamber is cylindrical or conical.

4. The plasma reactor of any of claims 1-3, wherein the plurality of monopole antennas extend through a plate portion of the chamber body.

5. The plasma reactor of claim 4 wherein said plate portion is electrically conductive and includes a plurality of insulative sheaths, each sheath surrounding a portion of a monopole antenna extending through said plate portion to insulate said monopole antenna from said plate portion.

6. The plasma reactor of claim 4 wherein said plurality of monopoles extend through said plate portion an equal distance into said chamber, or wherein at least some of said plurality of monopoles extend further into the chamber than other monopoles of said plurality of monopoles.

7. The plasma reactor of claim 4 wherein said monopole antennas are evenly spaced across said plate portion.

8. The plasma reactor of any of claims 1-7 comprising a plurality of microwave or RF transparent window sheaths, each window sheath surrounding a portion of a monopole antenna protruding into the plasma chamber.

9. The plasma reactor of any of claims 1-8, wherein the workpiece support is configured to hold the workpiece such that a front surface of the workpiece faces the antenna array and such that the front surface of the workpiece is perpendicular to a long axis of the plurality of monopole antennas.

10. The plasma reactor of claim 9 wherein said plurality of monopole antennas face said workpiece support without an intermediate barrier.

11. The plasma reactor of any of claims 1-10, wherein the AC power source is configured to apply microwave power to the plurality of monopole antennas to generate a plasma in the plasma chamber.

12. A method of plasma processing a workpiece, comprising:

supporting a workpiece in a plasma chamber;

delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber; and

generating a plasma in the chamber by applying AC power to an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber.

13. A plasma reactor, comprising:

a chamber body having an interior space providing a plasma chamber;

a process gas distribution system for delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber, the process gas distribution system comprising a first gas distribution plate having a first plurality of gas injection orifices, a first process gas plenum overlying the gas distribution plate, and a first process gas supply conduit coupled to the first process gas plenum;

a workpiece support for holding a workpiece; and

an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending through the first gas distribution plate and partially into the plasma chamber.

14. The plasma reactor of claim 13 wherein said plurality of gas injection orifices are positioned in a portion of said first gas distribution plate separating said monopole antenna.

15. The plasma reactor of claim 13 or 14, wherein the process gas distribution system comprises a gas plenum plate having a recess on a surface facing the first gas distribution plate, the recess providing the plenum.

16. The plasma reactor of claim 15 wherein said plurality of monopole antennas extend through said gas plenum plate.

17. The plasma reactor of any of claims 13-16, comprising an AC power source configured to apply microwave or RF power to the plurality of monopole antennas to generate a plasma in the plasma chamber.

18. A plasma reactor, comprising:

a chamber body having an interior space providing a plasma chamber;

a grid filter extending across the interior space and dividing the plasma chamber into an upper chamber and a lower chamber;

a gas distribution port for delivering process gas to the upper chamber;

a workpiece support for holding a workpiece in the lower chamber;

an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the upper chamber; and

an AC power source to supply a first AC power to the plurality of monopole antennas.

19. The plasma reactor of claim 18 wherein said grid filter comprises a gas distribution plate having a first plurality of gas injection orifices and a gas plenum plate covering said gas distribution plate, a plenum being provided in a recess in a bottom surface of said gas plenum plate for flowing a second process gas to said gas injection orifices, and wherein said grid filter comprises a plurality of apertures through said gas plenum plate and said gas distribution plate for flowing plasma or electrons from said upper chamber to said lower chamber.

20. The plasma reactor of claim 18 or 19, wherein the AC power source is configured to apply microwave power to the plurality of monopole antennas to generate a plasma in the upper chamber.

21. A plasma reactor, comprising:

a chamber body having an interior space providing a plasma chamber;

a gas distribution port for delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber;

a workpiece support for holding a workpiece;

an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber, wherein the plurality of monopole antennas are divided into a plurality of groups of monopole antennas; and

an AC power source for supplying a first AC power to the plurality of monopole antennas, wherein the AC power source is configured to produce a plurality of AC powers of different phases on a plurality of power lines, and different sets of monopole antennas are coupled to different power lines.

22. The plasma reactor of claim 21 wherein the monopole antennas of each group are defined by a spatially continuous region of adjacent monopole antennas.

23. The plasma reactor of claim 22 wherein the monopole antennas in spatially adjacent regions are coupled to power lines providing AC power in sequentially adjacent phases.

24. The plasma reactor of claim 23 wherein said spatially continuous region is a plurality of linear rows or a plurality of sectors angularly disposed about a central axis.

25. The plasma reactor of any of claims 21-24 wherein the plurality of monopole antennas are divided into N groups and the AC power source is configured to generate AC power on N power lines at phases 360/N apart.

26. The plasma reactor of claim 25 wherein said AC power source is configured to apply a common phase shift to the phases on said N power lines.

27. The plasma reactor of claim 26 wherein said AC power source is configured to linearly increase phase shift over time.

28. The plasma reactor of claim 27 wherein said AC power source is configured such that the phase on each power line has a phase shifted frequency between 1 to 1000 Hz.

29. The plasma reactor of any of claims 21-28, wherein the AC power source is configured to apply microwave or RF power to the plurality of monopole antennas to generate a plasma in the plasma chamber.

30. A method of plasma processing a workpiece, comprising:

supporting a workpiece in a plasma chamber;

delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber; and

generating a plasma in the chamber by generating a plurality of different phases of AC power on a plurality of power lines and applying the plurality of different phases of AC power from the power lines to respective different sets of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber.

Technical Field

The present description relates to wafer processing systems and related methods.

Background

For example, processing of a workpiece (such as a semiconductor wafer) may be performed using a form of electromagnetic energy (such as RF power or microwave power). For example, power may be employed to generate a plasma for performing a plasma-based process, such as Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) or plasma enhanced reactive ion etching (perrie). Some processes require extremely high plasma ion densities and extremely low plasma ion energies. This is true for processes such as the deposition of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films, where the time required to deposit some types of DLC films can be hours, depending on the desired thickness and plasma ion density. Higher plasma densities require higher source powers and generally translate into shorter deposition times.

Microwave sources typically produce very high plasma ion densities while producing plasma ion energies that are less than those of other sources (such as inductively coupled RF plasma sources or capacitively coupled RF plasma sources). Therefore, a microwave source is desirable. However, microwave sources do not meet the stringent uniformity required for deposition rate or etch rate distribution across the entire workpiece. The minimum uniformity may correspond to a process rate variation across a 300mm diameter workpiece of less than 1%.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect, a plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space providing a plasma chamber, a gas distribution port for delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber, a workpiece support for holding a workpiece, an antenna array including a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber, and an AC power source for supplying a first AC power to the plurality of monopole antennas.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a plasma reactor according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a schematic bottom view of the top plate of the plasma reactor of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a plasma chamber according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an illustration of a different embodiment of the portion in fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a schematic top view of an antenna array according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic top view of an antenna array according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a schematic top view of an antenna array according to a third embodiment.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features.

The workpiece support may be configured to hold the workpiece such that the front surface of the workpiece faces the antenna array. A plurality of monopole antennas may extend in parallel into the plasma chamber. The portion of each monopole antenna extending into the plasma chamber may be cylindrical. The portion of each monopole antenna extending into the plasma chamber may be conical.

A plurality of monopole antennas may extend through the plate portion of the chamber body. The plate portion may provide a ceiling of the plasma chamber. Each monopole antenna may include an outwardly extending flange located distally of the plate portion from the plasma chamber. The plate portion may be electrically conductive. Each of the plurality of insulating sheaths may surround a portion of the monopole antenna extending through the plate portion to insulate the monopole antenna from the plate portion. Each monopole antenna may have an outwardly extending flange located distally of the plate portion from the plasma chamber, and each insulating sheath may have an outwardly extending flange to separate the flange of the monopole antenna from the plate portion.

The workpiece support may be configured to hold the workpiece such that a front surface of the workpiece is perpendicular to a long axis of the plurality of monopole antennas. The workpiece support may be configured to hold the workpiece such that the front surface of the workpiece faces the antenna array. The plurality of monopole antennas face the workpiece support without an intervening barrier.

There may be a plurality of microwave or RF transparent window sheaths, and each window sheath may surround the portion of the monopole antenna that protrudes into the plasma chamber. The plurality of window jackets comprise a material selected from the group consisting of ceramic and quartz.

The monopole antennas may be evenly spaced across the plate portion. The monopole antenna may have a uniform size and shape. The monopole antenna may have a non-uniform size or shape. The plurality of monopole antennas may be arranged in a hexagonal pattern.

The first gas distribution plate may have a first plurality of gas injection orifices (gas injection orifices), a first process gas plenum (first process gas plenum) covering the first gas distribution plate, and a first process gas supply conduit coupled to the first process gas plenum. A plurality of monopole antennas may extend through the gas distribution plate. A plurality of gas injection orifices may be positioned in the space between the monopole antennas.

The second gas distribution plate may have a second plurality of gas injection orifices coupled to the third plurality of gas injection orifices in the first gas distribution plate, a second process gas plenum overlying the second gas distribution plate, and a second process gas supply conduit coupled to the second process gas plenum. The plurality of monopole antennas may extend through the first gas distribution plate and the second gas distribution plate.

The AC power source may be configured to apply microwave power to the plurality of monopole antennas. The AC power source is configured to apply microwave power to the plurality of monopole antennas to generate a plasma in the plasma chamber. The AC power source may include a plurality of auto-tuners, each coupled to a different monopole antenna.

The AC power source may be configured to generate a plurality of AC powers of different phases on a plurality of power lines, the plurality of monopole antennas may be divided into a plurality of groups, and different groups of monopole antennas may be coupled to different power lines. The number of different power supply lines may be at least 4. The monopole antennas of each group may be defined by a spatially continuous region of adjacent monopole antennas. The monopole antennas in spatially adjacent regions may be coupled to power lines that provide AC power in sequentially adjacent phases. The plurality of monopole antennas may be divided into N groups and the AC power source configured to generate AC power on the N power lines at phases 360/N apart. N may be 4 or 6 or 8. The spatially continuous region may be a plurality of linear rows. The spatially continuous area may be a plurality of circular sectors.

In another aspect, a method of plasma processing a workpiece includes: the method includes supporting a workpiece in a plasma chamber, delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber, and generating a plasma in the chamber by applying AC power to an antenna array comprising a plurality of monopole antennas extending partially into the plasma chamber.

In another aspect, a plasma reactor includes a chamber body having an interior space providing a plasma chamber, a process gas distribution system for delivering a process gas to the plasma chamber, a workpiece support for holding a workpiece, and an antenna array including a plurality of monopole antennas. The process gas distribution system includes a first gas distribution plate having a first plurality of gas injection orifices, a first process gas plenum overlying the gas distribution plate, and a first process gas supply conduit coupled to the first process gas plenum. The plurality of monopole antennas extend through the first gas distribution plate and partially into the plasma chamber.