Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Differential fluid etching apparatus – Having glow discharge electrode gas energizing means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-07
2004-01-13
Mills, Gregory (Department: 1763)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Differential fluid etching apparatus
Having glow discharge electrode gas energizing means
C156S345430, C118S7230ER
Reexamination Certificate
active
06676803
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2001-33475, filed on Jun. 14, 2001 in the name of Jong-Hee Kim, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor device fabricating equipment using radio frequency energy, and more particularly, to semiconductor device fabricating equipment using radio frequency energy which is capable of preventing a chamber's respective portions containing a wafer from being polluted and damaged by various kinds of polymers deposited indiscriminately on the respective portions within the chamber.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In general, a semiconductor device is obtained by selectively and repetitively performing such processes as photolithography, etching, diffusion, chemical vapor deposition, ion injection and metallic depositions etc. on a wafer.
In semiconductor device fabricating equipment performing processes such as the etching, diffusion, chemical vapor deposition and metallic deposition, etc., the process is performed by converting a supplied process gas, through the use of radio frequency energy, into a plasma state, and by causing it to react on an upper surface of a wafer, or on a portion exposed from a pattern mask.
In such processes procedures of the semiconductor device fabricating equipment, a residual product, namely, polymer, is generated by a reaction of the process gas, and these polymers are consecutively deposited on an overall area provided under the processes, thus causing an obstruction in the process and, in the case that the polymer comes out of its deposited surface and moves onto the wafer, further reacting as a particle which causes a defect.
Before describing such polymer's deposition relation and its influence, a conventional technical configuration of the semiconductor device fabricating equipment using the radio frequency energy will be described with reference to the accompanied drawings.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, in the conventional construction of the semiconductor device fabricating equipment using the radio frequency energy, there is a housing
10
which divides a given space, and an inner wall portion of this housing
10
is also divided into an upper housing
10
a
and a lower housing
10
b
, and these upper and lower housings
10
a
,
10
b
are formed as a fixing structure connected to another construction.
In the inner wall of the upper housing
10
a
, a shield
12
for covering a given area of the inner wall in the vertical direction is installed so that polymer P generated in the process procedure is not deposited on the inner wall of the upper housing
10
a.
Further, on an opened top of the housing
10
, namely, an upper side ending portion of the upper housing
10
a
, an upper electrode part
14
is set, the upper electrode part
14
being assembled in a plate shape based on a constant thickness and applying the radio frequency energy. The inside of the upper and lower housings
10
a
,
10
b
have a closed atmosphere by the combination installation of the upper electrode part
14
.
In the housing
10
beneath the upper electrode part
14
, a chuck assembly is installed so as to be ascendible and descendible, the chuck assembly being for selectively fixing a provided and positioned wafer W and, containing a lower electrode part
16
which is confronted with the upper electrode part
14
and also applies the radio frequency energy.
Describing the construction of the chuck assembly more in detail, as shown in
FIG. 1
, in such a configuration, an upper surface edge portion of the lower electrode part
16
for closely supporting a lower surface of the wafer W is placed at a given distance from and centered with respect to a lower surface edge portion of the wafer W, and an outer upper surface edge of the lower electrode part
16
forms a stepped shape, based on a given thickness from an upper surface to a lower surface.
At this time, the lower electrode part
16
selectively absorption-fixes a lower surface of the wafer W close-supported on the upper face thereof by using static electricity force or vacuum pressure. As shown in
FIG. 1
or
FIG. 2
, in the stepped portion of the lower electrode part
16
, a focus ring
18
of a given shape is positioned so as to closely support a lower surface edge portion of the wafer W exposed by the upper surface of the lower electrode part
16
, wherein the focus ring
18
is made of material the same as, or similar to, the wafer W and enlarges a distribution area so that the wafer W is positioned in a central portion of a radio frequency energy area from the lower electrode part
16
.
Additionally, an insulation ring
20
for supporting a lower surface portion of the focus ring
18
is installed on an outer wall of the lower electrode part
16
, extended and projected from the outside of the stepped portion of the lower electrode part
16
. In a lower side portion of this insulation ring
20
, a baffle plate
22
, having numerous slits S formed therein, is set to control flow of the polymer into a lower part of the housing
10
, the polymer being generated in the midst of executing the processes.
An outer ending portion of such installed baffle plate
22
is provided as a state closely positioned to an inner wall of the upper and lower housings
10
,
10
b
with a given interval therebetween. In a lower portion of the baffle plate
22
, a support member
24
, made of dielectric material, is installed so as to shield a lower side portion of the chuck assembly containing the lower electrode part
16
from deposition of the polymer, and the baffle plate
22
is supported by an upper face of the support member
24
.
Accordingly, during a process, the baffle plate
22
is positioned so as to ascend and descend by a driving of the chuck assembly so that an outer side portion of the baffle plate
22
becomes close to the side wall of the upper and lower housings
10
,
10
b.
Describing the progression of a process in the above construction, when the wafer W is provided inside the housing
10
and is adhesion-fixed to an upper part of the chuck assembly, namely, an upper surface of the lower electrode part
16
and an inner portion of the upper surface of the focus ring
18
, the chuck assembly is driven to ascend/descend so that an upper surface of the wafer becomes near to the upper electrode part
14
with a given interval therebetween.
The process gas is supplied into a gap between the upper and lower electrode parts
14
,
16
, namely, an upper side of the wafer W from a given side portion of the housing
10
. Under such condition, when the radio frequency energy is applied to the upper and lower electrode parts
14
,
16
, the process gas provided therebetween is converted into a plasma state.
The process gas converted into plasma state reacts on an overall upper surface of the wafer W, or on a portion exposed from a formed photoresist pattern mask.
However, polymers in various forms or shapes generated by the above-mentioned reaction are indiscriminately deposited on the whole exposed area inside the housing
10
, and such polymers' deposition thickness gradually becomes serious by continuous or repetitive process execution. In other words, the polymer becomes in a state in which it may easily be separated from the surface inside the housing, and when this detached polymer flows inside the housing
10
and is positioned on the surface of the wafer W, the polymer reacts as a particle which causes a defect, etc.
Describing such problems on the polymer more in detail as shown in
FIG. 2
, it can be first seen that a hard polymer is continuously penetrated and deposited on the chuck assembly, despite a gap between the focus ring
18
and the insulation ring
20
for supporting a lower part of the focus ring
18
being under a close-stuck and covered state.
Such polymer deposited in the gap between the focus ring
18
and the insulation ring
20
Crowell Michelle
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
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