Magnetron plasma processing apparatus

A magnetron plasma processing apparatus comprising:

• a chamber configured to accommodate a target substrate;
• a pair of electrodes arranged in said chamber to face each other, the target substrate being mounted on one of said electrodes to be position between said electrodes;
• an electric field generator configured to generate an electric field between said electrodes to have an electric field direction in a first direction connecting said electrodes to each other;
• an exhaust mechanism configured to exhaust and set said chamber to a vacuum;
• a process gas supply mechanism configured to supply a process gas into said chamber;
• and
• a magnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field between said electrodes to have a magnetic field direction in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction, electrons being caused to drift in a drift direction perpendicular to said first and second directions, in cooperation with said electric field and said magnetic field,
• wherein said magnetic field has, on a plane perpendicular to said first direction between said electrodes, has a gradient of a magnetic field intensity such that the magnetic field intensity is higher on an upstream side and is lower on a downstream side in said drift direction, and has a plurality of peaks of a magnetic field intensity in an upstream end area in said chamber in said drift direction.

A magnetron plasma processing apparatus comprising:

• a chamber configured to accommodate a target substrate;
• a pair of electrodes arranged in said chamber to face each other, the target substrate being mounted on one of said electrodes to be position between said electrodes;
• an electric field generator configured to generate an electric field between said electrodes to have an electric field direction in a first direction connecting said electrodes to each other;
• an exhaust mechanism configured to exhaust and set said chamber to a vacuum;
• a process gas supply mechanism configured to supply a process gas into said chamber;
• and
• a magnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field between said electrodes to have a magnetic field direction in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction, electrons being caused to drift in a drift direction perpendicular to said first and second directions, in cooperation with said electric field and said magnetic field,
• wherein said magnetic field has, on a plane perpendicular to said first direction between said electrodes, a gradient of a magnetic field intensity such that the magnetic field intensity is higher on an upstream side and is lower on a downstream side, and has a gradient of a magnetic field intensity at a position outside said upstream end of the target substrate in said drift direction that is steeper than a gradient of a magnetic field on a surface of the target substrate in said drift direction.

A magnetron plasma processing apparatus comprising:

• a chamber configured to accommodate a target substrate;
• a pair of electrodes arranged in said chamber to face each other, the target substrate being mounted on one of said electrodes to be position between said electrodes;
• an electric field generator configured to generate an electric field between said electrodes to have an electric field direction in a first direction connecting said electrodes to each other;
• an exhaust mechanism configured to exhaust and set said chamber to a vacuum;
• a process gas supply mechanism configured to supply a process gas into said chamber;
• and
• a magnetic field generator configured to generate a magnetic field between said electrodes to have a magnetic field direction in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction, electrons being caused to drift in a drift direction perpendicular to said first and second directions, in cooperation with said electric field and said magnetic field,
• wherein said magnetic field generator comprises a dipole ring magnet formed such that a plurality of anisotropic magnet segments are arranged in a ring-like format around said chamber to form said magnetic field, and wherein said anisotropic magnet segments are provide with cavities, respectively, formed therein and extending in said first direction, and said cavities have sizes set in accordance with positions of said segments to cause said magnetic field to have a profile.