# US 12,112,921 B2 · Plasma processing method and plasma processing apparatus

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- Number: US 12,112,921 B2
- Document ID: US12112921B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/277,188
- Filed: 2019-07-17
- Published: 2022-07-14
- Granted: 2024-10-08
- Earliest claimed: 2018-09-20
- Assignees: Tokyo Electron Limited
- Applicants: Tokyo Electron Limited
- Inventors: Hiroyuki Ikuta; Hirokazu Ueda; Yutaka Fujino
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12112921B2

## CPC

- H01J 37/32201: {Generating means}
- H01J 37/32091: {the radio frequency energy being capacitively coupled to the plasma}
- H01J 37/32449: {Gas control, e.g. control of the gas flow}
- H01J 37/32724: {Temperature}
- H01J 37/32834: {Exhausting}
- H05H 1/46: using applied electromagnetic fields, e.g. high frequency or microwave energy (H05H1/26 takes precedence)
- H10P 50/242: {of Group IV materials}
- H01J 2237/334: Etching
- H01J: ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS (spark-gaps H01T; electric arc lamps H05B31/00; particle accelerators H05H)
- H05H: PLASMA TECHNIQUE (apparatus or processes specially adapted for producing X-rays H05G2/00); PRODUCTION OF ACCELERATED ELECTRICALLY-CHARGED PARTICLES OR OF NEUTRONS; PRODUCTION OR ACCELERATION OF NEUTRAL MOLECULAR OR ATOMIC BEAMS
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

This plasma processing method comprises: arranging a substrate in a region away from a microwave plasma generation region in a chamber; setting the pressure in the chamber to 1 Torr or higher; introducing microwaves from a microwave plasma source in the chamber, generating microwave plasma by introducing a processing gas containing a reducing gas, and diffusing active species from the microwave plasma in the microwave plasma generation region to the substrate side; and applying high-frequency power to the substrate to generate cathode-coupled plasma near the substrate and attract ions near the substrate to the substrate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A plasma processing method for generating microwave plasma in a chamber and performing plasma processing on a substrate, comprising:
arranging the substrate in a region away from a microwave plasma generation region in the chamber;
setting a pressure in the chamber to 1 Torr (133.3 Pa) or higher;
introducing microwaves from a microwave plasma source and a processing gas containing a reducing gas into the chamber to generate microwave plasma, and diffusing active species from the microwave plasma in the microwave plasma generation region to the substrate; and
applying a radio frequency (RF) power to the substrate to generate cathode-coupled plasma near the substrate and attractions near the substrate to the substrate,
wherein the substrate has a TiN film on a surface thereof, and the plasma processing is surface modification for reducing a resistivity of the TiN film using a hydrogen gas as the reducing gas.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The plasma processing method of claim 1, wherein the pressure in the chamber is 1.5 Torr (200 Pa) or higher.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The plasma processing method of claim 1, wherein a power density of the microwaves is 10 kW/m2 or less.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The plasma processing method of claim 1, wherein the microwave plasma source has a plurality of microwave radiation units configured to radiate microwaves into the chamber.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The plasma processing method of claim 1, wherein a power density of the RF power is within a range of 0.3 kW/m2 to 2.3 kW/m2.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The plasma processing method of claim 1, wherein a distance from a microwave introducing unit of the microwave plasma source to the substrate in the chamber is within a range of 40 mm to 200 mm.