Etching apparatus using neutral beam and method thereof
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsYun Kwang JEON, Jin Seok Lee, Yung Hee Lee, Gi Tae Kim
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Abstract
An etching apparatus using a neutral beam includes an electron emission unit to convert an ion beam, extracted from plasma by a plurality of grids, into a neutral beam by colliding the ion beam with electrons to prevent the ion beam from physically colliding with the electron emission unit, thus preventing the damage to a neutralization unit and generation of foreign substances with a simple structure. Further, the etching apparatus converts the ion beam into the neutral beam at a high neutralizing efficiency without causing directionality and energy losses, and generates a neutral beam having a large area, thus uniformly etching a semiconductor wafer.
Claims25
An etching apparatus to etch a target object in a chamber unit, comprising:
- an ion extraction unit to extract an ion beam from plasma generated in the chamber unit;
- an electron emission unit to convert the extracted ion beam into a neutral beam by a collision of the ion beam with electrons;
- and
- a chuck to fix and support a target object to be etched by the neutral beam.
An etching apparatus to etch a target object in a chamber unit, comprising:
- a plurality of first electrodes to extract an ion beam from plasma generated in the chamber unit;
- a second electrode having a surface coated with an electron emission layer, to convert the extracted ion beam into the neutral beam by a collision of the ion beam with electrons;
- a third electrode provided between the plurality of first electrodes and the second electrode to control an emission amount of the electrons;
- and
- a chuck to fix and support the target object to be etched by the neutral beam.
An etching apparatus divided into a source chamber and a process chamber to etch a target object using an ion beam from plasma generated in the source chamber, comprising:
- a grid of ion extraction electrodes to extract the ion beam and to control characteristics of the ion beam;
- and
- an electron emission electrode to divide the source chamber and the process chamber to convert the ion beam extracted by the grid of ion extraction electrodes into a neutral beam, and including a plurality of through holes.
A method of an etching apparatus to etch a target object in a chamber unit, the method comprising:
- extracting an ion beam from plasma generated in the chamber unit;
- converting the extracted ion beam into a neutral beam by a collision of the ion beam with electrons;
- and
- fixing and supporting the target object to be etched by the neutral beam.
A method of an etching apparatus to etch a target object in a chamber unit, the method comprising:
- extracting the ion beam from the plasma generated in the chamber unit;
- converting the extracted ion beam into the neutral beam by a collision of the ion beam with electrons;
- controlling an emission amount of the electrons;
- and
- fixing and supporting the target object to be etched by the neutral beam.
A method of an etching apparatus to etch a target object in a chamber unit, the method comprising:
- extracting the ion beam;
- controlling characteristics of the ion beam;
- and
- converting the extracted ion beam into a neutral beam by emitting electrons such that the electrons collide with the ion beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.