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AssigneesTokyo Electron Limited, Tohoku University
InventorsTadahiro Ohmi, Masaki Hirayama, Tetsuya Goto, Yasuyuki Shirai, Masafumi Kitano, Kohei Watanuki, Takaaki Matsuoka, Shigemi Murakawa
Estimating the term…
A conventional microwave plasma processing apparatus, even when krypton (Kr) is used as a plasma-generation gas, can only obtain an oxide film or a nitride film having the same level of characteristics as those obtained when a rare gas such as argon (Ar) is used as a plasma-generation gas. Accordingly, instead of forming a dielectric window of a microwave plasma processing apparatus with only a ceramic member, a planarization film capable of obtaining a stoichiometric SiO2 composition by thermal treatment is coated on one of a plurality of surfaces of the ceramic member, the surface facing a process space, and then thermally-treated, thereby forming a planarization insulation film having a very flat and dense surface. A corrosion-resistant film is formed on the planarization insulation film.
A microwave plasma processing apparatus comprising:
A dielectric window which is used in microwave plasma processing apparatuses and transmits microwaves, the dielectric window comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
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Arrangements for generation of plasma specially adapted for examination or treatment of objects, e.g. plasma sources: microwave generated discharge
Means for coupling power to the plasma: windows
Electric discharge tubes or discharge lamps
About 4 years 5 months of term left · ends 17 Mar 2031 (estimated)
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-048063, filed on Feb. 28, 2008, in the Japan Patent Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave plasma processing apparatus which generates plasma by using microwaves passing through a dielectric plate and/or a shower plate and plasma-processes an object which is to be processed, and more particularly, to a ceramic member that forms a dielectric plate and/or a shower plate, and a method for manufacturing the ceramic member.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dielectric window according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a microwave plasma processing apparatus using the dielectric window illustrated in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment of the present invention;
The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dielectric window 10 for use in a microwave plasma processing apparatus, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the dielectric window 10 according to the current embodiment of the present invention includes a ceramic member 12 formed of alumina (Al2O3), a planarization insulation film 14 formed on one surface (here, a surface on the side of a processing space) of the ceramic member 12, and a corrosion-resistant film (here, a Y2O3 film) 16 formed on the planarization insulation film 14. In this structure, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the corrosion-resistant film 16 faces a plasma excitation space, that is, the processing space.
One of a plurality of surfaces of the alumina ceramic member 12 that result from cutting and polishing, that is, the surface of the alumina ceramic member 12 on the side of the processing space, has irregularities with a peak-to-valley (P-V) height of 1.78 μm and an average roughness (Ra) of 0.232 μm.
The planarization insulation film 14 is formed on the surface of the ceramic member 12 on the side of the processing space. The planarization insulation film 14 may be formed of a SiCO coating film which contains Si, C, and, O in an atomic ratio of O>Si>½C.