Microwave heat treatment apparatus and impedance matching method

A microwave heat treatment apparatus comprising:

• a chamber having a treatment space defined therein;
• a power supply device configured to supply thermal energy to the chamber;
• and
• a controller configured to control the power supply device, wherein the power supply device comprises:
• a microwave power supply configured to provide thermal energy to the treatment space;
• and
• a tuner circuit comprising a plurality of impedance elements provided on a power path between the chamber and the microwave power supply,
• wherein the controller comprises:
• a processor configured to adjust an output of the microwave power supply and an impedance of the tuner circuit;
• and
• a memory configured to store data related to matching of the tuner circuit,
• wherein the processor is configured:
• to initially adjust an impedance of the tuner circuit based on pre-matching data of a heat treatment process stored in the memory;
• to apply microwave power to the chamber from the microwave power supply through the tuner circuit having the initially adjusted impedance;
• to measure process data related to an impedance of the chamber to which the microwave power has been applied;
• to determine an impedance tuning value of the tuner circuit by comparing the process data and the pre-matching data;
• and
• to adjust the impedance of the tuner circuit based on the impedance tuning value,
• wherein the pre-matching data comprises a set of impedance tuning values corresponding to process conditions related to the heat treatment process, and
• wherein the process conditions comprise a frequency of the microwave power supply, a height of a support pin configured to support a substrate in the chamber, and a temperature of the chamber.

A microwave heat treatment apparatus comprising:

• a chamber having a treatment space for a substrate defined therein;
• a power supply device configured to supply thermal energy to the chamber;
• and
• a controller configured to control the power supply device,
• wherein the power supply device comprises:
• a microwave power supply configured to provide thermal energy to the treatment space;
• and
• a tuner circuit comprising a plurality of impedance elements provided on a power path between the chamber and the microwave power supply,
• wherein the chamber comprises:
• a chuck installed at a lower part of the chamber;
• a support pin installed above the chuck, the support pin being configured to support the substrate;
• a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature in the chamber;
• and
• a height sensor configured to measure a height of the support pin, wherein the controller comprises:
• a processor configured to adjust an output of the microwave power supply and an impedance of the tuner circuit;
• and
• a memory configured to store data related to matching of the tuner circuit, and
• wherein the processor is further configured:
• to initially adjust an impedance of the tuner circuit based on pre-matching data comprising a set of impedance tuning values corresponding to process conditions related to heat treatment process stored in the memory, the process conditions comprising a frequency of the microwave power supply, a height of the support pin configured to support the substrate in the chamber, and a temperature of the chamber;
• to apply microwave power to the chamber from the microwave power supply through the tuner circuit having the initially adjusted impedance;
• to measure process data comprising the height of the support pin and the temperature of the chamber from the height sensor and the temperature sensor;
• to determine whether a point corresponding to the height of the support pin measured in the chamber and the temperature of the chamber is included in an internal division region set based on data points of the pre-matching data, wherein the data points correspond to the height of the support pin and the temperature of the chamber included in the pre-matching data, wherein the internal division region is defined by a virtual region constructed from a plurality of data points corresponding to different process conditions in a virtual two-dimensional plane;
• to determine an impedance tuning value corresponding to the process data through regression analysis of the pre-matching data if the process data is included in the internal division region of the pre-matching data;
• to determine an impedance tuning value of the tuner circuit at which reflected power is minimized by measuring the reflected power from the chamber if the process data is included in an external division region of the pre-matching data;
• to adjust the impedance of the tuner circuit based on the impedance tuning value;
• and
• to add the process data included in the external division region of the pre-matching data and the impedance tuning value of the tuner circuit at which the reflected power is minimized to the pre-matching data and to store the pre-matching data having the impedance tuning value added thereto in the memory if the process data is included in the external division region of the pre-matching data.