Plasma treatment apparatus having a workpiece-side electrode grounding circuit
AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited
InventorsYoichi Deguchi, Satoru Kawakami, Shiro Koyama, Kenji Ishikawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A static chuck and a workpiece push-up pin are disposed on a susceptor which is one of opposed electrodes generating plasma. The push-up pin and the susceptor are electrically connected. A grounding circuit which discharges electric charges remaining on the susceptor is disposed in parallel with an RF power supply circuit which supplies RF power to the susceptor. Thus, electric charges remaining in the power supply circuit can be discharged and an abnormal discharging between the push-up pin and the susceptor can be prevented.
Claims13
A plasma treatment apparatus, comprising:
- a chamber;
- plasma generating means for generating plasma in said chamber;
- a workpiece-side electrode disposed in said chamber, for holding a workpiece;
- a pin straightly penetrating said workpiece-side electrode, after a treatment is completed, said pin being in contact with said workpiece so as to detach said workpiece from said workpiece-side electrode;
- and
- a conductive rubber member disposed at the distal end of said pin, said conductive rubber member having a lower hardness than said workpiece.
A plasma treatment apparatus, comprising:
- a chamber;
- plasma generating means for generating plasma in said chamber;
- a workpiece-side electrode, disposed in said chamber, for holding a workpiece;
- a conductive pin straightly penetrating said workpiece-side electrode, after a treatment is completed, said pin being in contact with said workpiece so as to detach said workpiece from said workpiece-side electrode;
- a connecting circuit electrically connecting said pin to said workpiece-side electrode;
- a grounding circuit electrically connected to said workpiece-side electrode;
- and
- a conductive rubber member fixed to an end of said pin, said conductive rubber member having a lower hardness than said workpiece.
A plasma treatment method for discharging electric charges remaining in a workpiece by using a plasma treatment apparatus comprising:
- providing a chamber;
- generating plasma in said chamber by a plasma generating means;
- holding a workpiece with a workpiece-side electrode disposed in said chamber;
- and
- penetrating straightly said workpiece-side electrode with a conductive pin, after a treatment is completed, said conductive pin being in contact with said workpiece so as to detach said workpiece from said workpiece-side electrode,
- wherein said conductive pin is electrically connected to said workpiece-side electrode,
- wherein said workpiece-side electrode is connected to a grounding circuit, and
- wherein a conductive rubber member is disposed at a forward end of said pin, said conductive rubber member having a lower hardness than said workpiece.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.