Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide a plasma processing device and a working method thereof, wherein the plasma processing device jointly monitors the included angle and the concentricity between a movable upper electrode assembly and a movable lower electrode assembly through a plurality of observation windows arranged on a reaction cavity body and a movable monitor, has a simple structure, is easy to realize an observation method, is convenient for daily maintenance and use of workers, and further ensures the effect of wafer etching.
In order to achieve the purpose, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:
a plasma processing apparatus, comprising:
the vacuum reaction cavity is formed by surrounding a reaction cavity body and a cavity body end cover;
a lower electrode assembly disposed within the vacuum reaction chamber;
a movable upper electrode assembly disposed opposite the lower electrode assembly, a plasma environment being between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly;
the reaction cavity body is provided with a plurality of observation windows, a plurality of movable monitors are arranged outside the observation windows and used for monitoring the included angle and the concentricity between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly.
Optionally, the mobile monitor comprises:
an autocollimator which emits signal light to the sides of the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly, respectively, to measure an included angle therebetween;
a laser displacement sensor that emits signal light to sides of the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly, respectively, to measure concentricity therebetween.
Optionally, a reflecting mirror or a coating process is disposed at a position where the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly receive the signal light.
Optionally, the cavity end cover is provided with a through hole, the movable upper electrode assembly penetrates through the through hole of the cavity end cover, the top of the movable upper electrode assembly is mounted above the cavity end cover through a plurality of first adjusting assemblies, and the bottom of the movable upper electrode assembly is located in the vacuum reaction chamber.
Optionally, the first adjusting component includes:
the first horizontal piece is connected with the movable upper electrode assembly, and a porous structure is formed in the first horizontal piece;
and the bottom of the first stud is connected with the cavity end cover, and the top of the first stud penetrates through the hole structure of the first horizontal piece and is fixed by a nut.
Optionally, a contact portion of the cavity end cover and the movable upper electrode assembly is an arc-shaped structure.
Optionally, the lower electrode assembly is a movable lower electrode assembly, and the plasma processing apparatus further includes:
the lifting device is connected with the lower electrode assembly to lift the lower electrode assembly, and comprises a supporting structure and a driving mechanism;
the support structure includes:
the connecting bridge, actuating mechanism through a plurality of coupling assembling with the connecting bridge is connected, electrode subassembly pass through mechanical fastening device down with the connecting bridge is connected, the actuating mechanism drive the connecting bridge goes up and down in order to drive electrode subassembly goes up and down.
Optionally, the method further includes:
the connecting bridge is correspondingly provided with a plurality of through holes, one end of each guide rod is connected with the bottom of the cavity of the reaction cavity, and the other end of each guide rod penetrates through the through hole of the connecting bridge to ensure the verticality of the connecting bridge in vertical movement.
Optionally, the method further includes:
one end of each adjustable screw component is connected with the lower electrode component, the other end of each adjustable screw component is connected with the connecting bridge, and the adjustable screw components can enable the lower electrode component to horizontally displace.
Optionally, the adjustable screw assembly includes:
a second stud connected to the lower electrode assembly;
and the vertical part is connected with the connecting bridge, a transverse through hole is formed in the vertical part, and the second stud penetrates through the transverse through hole and is fixed by adopting a nut.
Optionally, the adjustable screw assemblies are symmetrically and uniformly distributed along the connecting bridge.
Optionally, the method further includes:
the movable monitors are arranged on the sliding supports so as to be displaced;
and/or a plurality of movable baffles are arranged at the position of an observation window in the vacuum reaction cavity;
and/or one end of the sealing structure is connected with the cavity end cover, the other end of the sealing structure is connected with the movable upper electrode assembly, and/or one end of the sealing structure is connected with the lower electrode assembly, and the other end of the sealing structure is connected with the bottom of the cavity of the reaction cavity.
Optionally, the sealing structure is a bellows.
Optionally, the driving mechanism is a cylinder or a motor.
Optionally, a method for operating a plasma processing apparatus includes:
providing a plasma processing apparatus as described;
and monitoring the included angle and the concentricity between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly by adopting a movable monitor.
Optionally, the method further includes:
when the movable monitor monitors that an included angle exists between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly, the nut of the first stud at the high position or the low position of the movable upper electrode assembly is adjusted until no included angle exists between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly.
Optionally, the method further includes:
and when the movable monitor monitors that the axes of the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly are not overlapped, adjusting the nut at the second stud to enable the lower electrode assembly to horizontally displace until the axes of the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly are overlapped.
Optionally, the connecting bridge is driven to lift by the driving mechanism so as to drive the lower electrode assembly to vertically move.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages:
in the plasma processing device and the working method thereof provided by the invention, the plasma processing device realizes the monitoring of the included angle and the concentricity between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly through the plurality of observation windows arranged on the cavity of the reaction cavity and the combination of the movable monitor, and is convenient for workers to know the position relation of each component in the vacuum reaction cavity.
Furthermore, the device realizes horizontal adjustment of the movable upper electrode assembly through the first horizontal piece and the first stud of the first adjusting assembly, no included angle is formed between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly without cavity opening, the occupied time of a machine table is reduced without cavity opening, and the wafer etching effect is easier to ensure; in addition, the contact part of the cavity end cover and the movable upper electrode assembly is of an arc-shaped structure, so that the friction force of the movable upper electrode assembly during adjustment is greatly reduced, the movable upper electrode assembly can be flexibly adjusted, the loss of the plasma processing device is reduced, the cost is saved, and the use efficiency of the machine table is improved.
Furthermore, the device realizes the up-and-down displacement of the lower electrode assembly through the combined action of the driving device and the connecting bridge, realizes the adjustment of the distance between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly, avoids the design difficulty of changing the distance between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly through driving the upper electrode assembly, can improve the precision of vertical motion by driving the lower electrode assembly at the center, and is convenient for developing the wafer etching process.
Furthermore, the device realizes the adjustment of the horizontal position of the lower electrode assembly through the second stud and the vertical part of the adjustable screw assembly, the concentricity between the movable upper electrode assembly and the wafer and between the movable upper electrode assembly and the lower electrode assembly can be maintained more easily in the use process of the device, the process effect of wafer etching is ensured, and the energy and time loss of workers is reduced.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
It should be noted that, in this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," "including," "has" or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or terminal. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrases "comprising … …" or "comprising … …" does not exclude the presence of additional elements in a process, method, article, or terminal that comprises the element.
It is to be noted that the drawings are in a very simplified form and employ non-precise ratios for the purpose of facilitating and distinctly facilitating the description of one embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in fig. 1, a plasma processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: thevacuum reaction chamber 100 is formed by enclosing areaction chamber body 101 and a chamberbody end cover 102, wherein a wafer transfer port (not shown) is arranged on thereaction chamber body 101, and the wafer transfer port is used for realizing wafer transfer between the inside and the outside of thevacuum reaction chamber 100. Thevacuum reaction chamber 100 includes alower electrode assembly 110 disposed at a bottom of thevacuum reaction chamber 100, thelower electrode assembly 110 having a carrying surface, and a wafer W to be processed introduced into thevacuum reaction chamber 100 is placed on the carrying surface. Thevacuum reaction chamber 100 further includes a movableupper electrode assembly 120 disposed opposite to thelower electrode assembly 110, at least one rf power source is applied to thelower electrode assembly 110 through a matching network to dissociate the process gas into plasma, so that a plasma environment is formed between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and the edge region of thelower electrode assembly 110, the plasma environment contains a large amount of active particles such as electrons, ions, excited atoms, molecules, and radicals, and the active particles can react with the surface of the wafer to be processed in various physical and/or chemical reactions, so that the shape of the edge of the wafer to be processed is changed, thereby completing the edge processing of the wafer to be processed.
In this embodiment, the plasma processing apparatus is suitable for the field of wafer edge etching. In the process of plasma etching a wafer to form various design patterns, some excess film layers, such as polysilicon layers, nitride layers, metal layers, etc., may be deposited on the outer edge area of the wafer and the outer edge area of the back surface of the wafer, and the excess film layers may contaminate subsequent processes and equipment, and thus need to be removed by an edge etching process.
As shown in fig. 1, in the plasma processing apparatus for processing the edge of a wafer in the present embodiment, a plurality ofobservation windows 103 are disposed in areaction chamber body 101, a plurality ofmovable monitors 130 are disposed outside theobservation windows 103, and themovable monitors 130 are used for monitoring an included angle α and a concentricity between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110. Theobservation window 103 is combined with themovable monitor 130, so that the levelness and the neutrality between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 are monitored, the concentricity of the upper electrode and the lower electrode can be monitored on line even in the process, the occupied time of a machine table is reduced, and the use efficiency of the machine table is improved.
Further, the plasma processing apparatus further comprises a plurality of movable baffles disposed at the position of theobservation window 103 in thevacuum reaction chamber 100. In the wafer edge etching process, if the environment in thevacuum reaction chamber 100 does not need to be monitored, the movable baffle plate can be adjusted to cover the glass of theobservation window 103, so that theobservation window 103 is prevented from being polluted by plasma in the technological process.
In addition, the plasma processing apparatus further includes a plurality of slidingbrackets 131, and themovable monitor 130 is disposed on the slidingbrackets 131 so as to be displaced, so that themovable monitor 130 can monitor the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 at different positions.
In this embodiment, twoobservation windows 103 are symmetrically disposed outside thevacuum reaction chamber 100 to monitor the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 from different directional angles. Two movable baffles are respectively arranged at theobservation window 103 to block the plasma in thevacuum reaction chamber 100 from polluting theobservation window 103.
Themoveable monitor 130 includes anautocollimator 132 and a laser displacement sensor 133 (see fig. 2 and 3). Theautocollimator 132 emits signal light to the sides of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, respectively, to measure an angle therebetween. Thelaser displacement sensor 133 emits signal light to the sides of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, respectively, to measure concentricity therebetween. Optionally, a reflectingmirror 140 or a coating process is disposed at a position where the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 receive the signal light, so as to reflect the signal light of theautocollimator 132 and thelaser displacement sensor 133, thereby reducing an error caused by signal light loss. Note that themovable monitor 130 is not limited to the above two types of devices, and may be any device that can realize the function of themovable monitor 130.
Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, a reflectingmirror 140 is disposed where the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 receive signal light. Typically, thelower electrode assembly 110 is horizontally disposed and does not require leveling. Theautocollimator 132 emits one signal light to the side of thelower electrode assembly 110 as a reference light, and theautocollimator 132 emits the other signal light to the side of the movableupper electrode assembly 120. Theautocollimator 132 analyzes the two signals fed back by the two optical signals to calculate the angle α between the uppermovable electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110.
Thelaser displacement sensor 133 emits signal light to the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, respectively (see fig. 3 and 4), so as to measure the distance between the two and the reference plane of thelaser displacement sensor 133, respectively. The monitoring of the central axes of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 is accomplished by judging the concentricity between the actually measured value and the designed value.
As shown in fig. 1, in the present embodiment, thechamber cover 102 has a through hole, the movableupper electrode assembly 120 penetrates through the through hole of thechamber cover 102, the top of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is mounted above thechamber cover 102 by a plurality offirst adjusting assemblies 150, and the bottom of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is disposed in thevacuum reaction chamber 100.
Specifically, thefirst adjustment assembly 150 includes: a firsthorizontal member 151 and afirst stud 152. The firsthorizontal member 151 is connected to the movableupper electrode assembly 120, and the firsthorizontal member 151 is provided with a hole structure. Thefirst stud 152 is connected to thechamber end cap 102 at its bottom and the firsthorizontal member 151 is threaded through its hole structure at its top and is fixed by means of a nut.
When theautocollimator 132 of themovable monitor 130 detects that the angle α exists between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, the movableupper electrode assembly 120 needs to be leveled. Specifically, thefirst adjusting assembly 150 at the high position is adjusted, and the nut at the high position is rotated downward, so that the portion of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 at the position moves downward until the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is kept horizontal, and no included angle exists between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, thereby completing the leveling process.
Further, the contact portion between thechamber end cap 102 and the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is an arc-shaped structure 104 (e.g., a spherical surface). The movableupper electrode assembly 120 contacts the arcuate surface of thearcuate structure 104 of thechamber end cap 102 with a small contact area, which allows the movableupper electrode assembly 120 to rotate about the contact surface. When the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is leveled, the arc surface contact prevents a large friction force between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thecavity end cover 102, which facilitates flexible leveling adjustment of the movableupper electrode assembly 120.
Optionally, thearc structure 104 and thecavity end cap 102 are two parts made of different materials, and thearc structure 104 is made of a steel material, has a relatively high hardness, and can withstand the pressure generated when the movableupper electrode assembly 120 moves. In another embodiment, thechamber end cap 102 and thearcuate structure 104 are integrally formed, and are made of the same material, which facilitates processing.
In the present embodiment, thelower electrode assembly 110 is a movablelower electrode assembly 110 that can be displaced up and down to change the distance between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and the movablelower electrode assembly 110. The plasma processing apparatus further comprises alifting device 160, wherein thelifting device 160 is connected with thelower electrode assembly 110 to lift thelower electrode assembly 110, and thelifting device 160 comprises a supporting structure and adriving mechanism 161.
Specifically, the support structure includes a connectingbridge 162. Thedriving mechanism 161 is connected to the connectingbridge 162 through a plurality of connectingcomponents 163, thelower electrode assembly 110 is connected to the connectingbridge 162 through amechanical fastening device 164, thedriving mechanism 161 drives the connectingbridge 162 to move up and down to drive thelower electrode assembly 110 to move up and down, so that the distance between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and the movablelower electrode assembly 110 can be adjusted. The connectingbridge 162 is generally centrally located below the movablebottom electrode assembly 110 to ensure the relative position of the movable bottom electrode assembly within the cavity. Optionally, thedriving mechanism 161 is an air cylinder or a motor. Of course, thedriving mechanism 161 is not limited to the above two devices, and any device can be used as long as it can provide the corresponding driving force.
Further, the plasma processing apparatus further comprises a plurality ofguide rods 165, the connectingbridge 162 is correspondingly provided with a plurality of through holes, one end of eachguide rod 165 is connected with the bottom of thereaction cavity 101, and the other end of eachguide rod 165 penetrates through the through hole of the connectingbridge 162 to ensure the verticality of the up-and-down movement of the connectingbridge 162, so that the vertical movement precision of the movablelower electrode assembly 110 is ensured, and the movablelower electrode assembly 110 is kept horizontal.
In addition, the plasma processing apparatus further includes a plurality of adjustable screw assemblies 170 (see fig. 1). Theadjustable screw assembly 170 is connected to thelower electrode assembly 110 at one end and to theconnection bridge 162 at the other end, and theadjustable screw assembly 170 can horizontally displace thelower electrode assembly 110. When the central axes of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 are not coincident, the position of thelower electrode assembly 110 in the horizontal direction can be adjusted by theadjustable screw assembly 170, so that the concentricity between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 is ensured, the wafer etching range is not dislocated, and the wafer etching effect is ensured.
In this embodiment, theadjustable screw assembly 170 includes: asecond stud 171 and avertical member 172. Thesecond stud 171 is connected to thelower electrode assembly 110, thevertical member 172 is connected to the connectingbridge 162, thevertical member 172 is provided with a transverse through hole, and thesecond stud 171 passes through the transverse through hole and is fixed by a nut. Optionally, theadjustable screw assemblies 170 are symmetrically and uniformly distributed along the connectingbridge 162.
When it is desired to adjust the horizontal position of thelower electrode assembly 110, themechanical fastening device 164 is removed to allow displacement between thelower electrode assembly 110 and the connectingbridge 162 for adjustment of thelower electrode assembly 110. The nuts for fixing thesecond studs 171 are loosened, thelower electrode assembly 110 is pushed until the central axis thereof coincides with the central axis of the movableupper electrode assembly 120, and the nuts are used to fix thesecond studs 171 to fix the horizontal position of thelower electrode assembly 110.
In this embodiment, the plasma processing apparatus further includes a plurality of sealingstructures 180, one end of each sealingstructure 180 is connected to thechamber end cap 102, and the other end of each sealingstructure 180 is connected to the movableupper electrode assembly 120, so as to ensure the sealing property between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thechamber end cap 102. In addition, the sealingstructure 180 may further include one end connected to thelower electrode assembly 110 and the other end connected to the bottom of thereaction chamber body 101, so as to ensure the sealing between thelower electrode assembly 110 and thereaction chamber body 101 and protect the gas environment in thevacuum reaction chamber 100. Optionally, the sealingstructure 180 is a corrugated pipe, which is convenient to install, easy to obtain materials, and convenient for workers to use.
It should be noted that the above-describedmotion monitor 130 and movable upper andlower electrode assemblies 110, 120 can also be used in plasma processing apparatuses that are not edge etching.
In addition, the present invention also provides a method of operating a plasma processing apparatus, the method comprising: providing said plasma processing apparatus; the angle and concentricity between the uppermovable electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 is monitored using amovable monitor 130.
Further, the method further comprises: when themovable monitor 130 monitors that an included angle exists between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, the nut of thefirst stud 152 at the high position or the low position of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is adjusted until no included angle exists between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110. The above method is simple to operate and facilitates the leveling of the movableupper electrode assembly 120.
Further, the method further comprises: when themovable monitor 130 monitors that the axes of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, that is, the central axes are not coincident, the nut at thesecond stud 171 is adjusted to enable thelower electrode assembly 110 to horizontally displace until the axes of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 are coincident. The method is simple to operate, avoids the misalignment of the etching range caused by the misalignment of the central axes between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, ensures the etching effect of wafer etching, and can also be applied to the field of wafer edge etching.
In addition, the method further comprises: thelower electrode assembly 110 is driven to move vertically by thedriving mechanism 161 driving the connectingbridge 162 to move up and down, so as to change the distance between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, thereby facilitating the wafer etching process (e.g., wafer edge process).
In summary, in the plasma processing apparatus and the operating method thereof of the present invention, the plasma processing apparatus implements monitoring of the included angle and the concentricity between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110 through the plurality ofobservation windows 103 disposed on thereaction chamber body 101 in combination with themovable monitor 130, so that the worker can know the position relationship of each component in thevacuum reaction chamber 100.
Further, the apparatus realizes the horizontal adjustment of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 through the firsthorizontal member 151 and thefirst stud 152 of thefirst adjustment assembly 150, so that there is no included angle between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, and the wafer etching effect is more easily ensured. In addition, the contact part of thecavity end cover 102 and the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is the arc-shapedstructure 104, so that the friction force during leveling of the movableupper electrode assembly 120 is greatly reduced, the loss of the plasma processing device is reduced, and the cost is saved.
Furthermore, the device realizes the up-and-down displacement of thelower electrode assembly 110 through the combined action of the driving device and the connectingbridge 162, realizes the adjustment of the distance between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 110, avoids the design difficulty of changing the distance between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and thelower electrode assembly 120 through driving, can improve the precision of vertical movement by driving thelower electrode assembly 110 at the center, and is convenient for developing the wafer etching process.
Further, the device jointly realizes the adjustment of the horizontal position of thelower electrode assembly 110 through thesecond stud 171 and thevertical member 172 of theadjustable screw assembly 170, so that the concentricity between the movableupper electrode assembly 120 and the wafer and thelower electrode assembly 110 can be more easily maintained during the use of the device, the process effect of wafer etching (for example, wafer bevel edge etching) is ensured, and the energy and time loss of workers is reduced.
While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the above description should not be taken as limiting the invention. Various modifications and alterations to this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined from the following claims.