Inductively coupled plasma apparatus
AssigneeFujitsu Limited
InventorYuichi Tachino
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An inductively coupled plasma apparatus which is capable of performing etching processing steps in a stable manner and consecutively. Shield plates are provided in a reaction tube in the vicinity of an inner surface thereof. The shield plates prevent a conductive material generated by etching a wafer from sticking to the overall inner surface of the reaction tube. A portion of the inner wall covered by the shield plate, that is, a region where no conductive material is deposited serves as a high-frequency window, through which high-frequency electric power is efficiently fed from a coil antenna into the reaction tube. The conductive materials thus stuck separately from each other exhibit the Faraday shield effect, thereby stabilizing plasma potential.
Claims18
An inductively coupled plasma apparatus comprising:
- a reaction tube made of a dielectric material and having at least curved outer and inner surfaces;
- a high-frequency antenna arranged around the reaction tube, for generating plasma inside the reaction tube;
- and
- at least one shield plate arranged in the reaction tube for splitting a deposition layer composed of reaction product particles to be attached on the reaction tube.
A plasma etching apparatus comprising:
- a cylindrical reaction tube made of a dielectric material;
- a high-frequency antenna arranged to face an outer peripheral surface of the reaction tube, for generating plasma inside the reaction tube;
- a plurality of shield plates which are arranged to be near an inner peripheral surface of the reaction tube so as to face at least part of the high-frequency antenna and are arranged separate from each other;
- and
- a driving device for moving at least one of the high frequency antenna and the reaction tube relative to the other.
A plasma etching apparatus comprising:
- a cylindrical reaction tube made of a dielectric material;
- a high-frequency antenna arranged to face an outer peripheral surface of the reaction tube, for generating plasma inside the reaction tube;
- and
- a plurality of shield plates arranged to face a plurality of first regions on the inner peripheral surface of the reaction tube for splitting a deposition layer composed of etching product particles to be attached on the reaction tube into a plurality of first deposition layers deposited over the shield plates and a plurality of second deposition layers deposited over a plurality of second regions of the reaction tube except for the first regions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.