871results about "Vacuum gauge using ionisation effects" patented technology

A plasma reactor for processing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer has a housing defining a process chamber, a workpiece support configured to support a workpiece within the chamber during processing and comprising a plasma bias power electrode. The reactor further includes plural gas sources containing different gas species, plural process gas inlets and an array of valves capable of coupling any of said plural gas sources to any of said plural process gas inlets. The reactor also includes a controller governing said array of valves and is programmed to change the flow rates of gases through said inlets over time. A ceiling plasma source power electrode of the reactor has plural gas injection zones coupled to the respective process gas inlets. In a preferred embodiment, the plural gas sources comprise supplies containing, respectively, fluorocarbon or fluorohydrocarbon species with respectively different ratios of carbon and fluorine chemistries. They further include an oxygen or nitrogen supply and a diluent gas supply. The controller is programmed to produce flow of different process gas species or mixtures thereof through different ones of said plural gas injection zones. The controller is further programmed to change over time the species content of the gases flowing through different ones of said plural gas injection zones.

A method of fabricating an electronic chip on a wafer in which a first mask at a predetermined lower resolution is developed on the wafer and then etched under a first set of conditions for a predetermined period to achieve a mask that is below the resolution limit of current lithography. The etched mask is then used as a hard mask for etching material on a lower layer.

In an oxide film etching process, a plasma having a suitable ratio of CF3, CF2, CF, and F is necessary, and there is a problem in that the etching characteristic fluctuates in accordance with a temperature fluctuation of the etching chamber. Using a UHF type ECR plasma etching apparatus having a low electron temperature, a suitable dissociation can be obtained, and by maintaining the temperature of a side wall of the etching chamber in a range from 10° C. and 120° C., a stable etching characteristic can be obtained. Since oxide film etching using a low electron temperature and a high density plasma can be obtained, an etching result having a superior characteristic can be obtained, and, also, since the side wall temperature adjustment range is low, a simplified apparatus structure and a heat resistant performance countermeasure can be obtained easily.

A gapfill process is provided using cycling of HDP-CVD deposition, etching, and deposition step. The fluent gas during the first deposition step includes an inert gas such as He, but includes H2 during the remainder deposition step. The higher average molecular weight of the fluent gas during the first deposition step provides some cusping over structures that define the gap to protect them during the etching step. The lower average molecular weight of the fluent gas during the remainder deposition step has reduced sputtering characteristics and is effective at filling the remainder of the gap.

An object is to provide a plasma processing device capable of rightly monitoring existence of plasma discharge and also rightly monitoring existence of abnormal discharge. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of monitoring a state of plasma discharge in the plasma processing device.A discharge detection sensor 23, in which a dielectric member 21 and a probe electrode unit 22 are combined with each other, is attached to an opening portion 2a provided in a lid portion 2 composing a vacuum chamber. A change in the electric potential induced in the probe electrode 22b according to a change in plasma discharge is received, electric potential change wave-forms of specific patterns are respectively detected by an N-type wave-form detecting portion 34 and V-type wave-form detecting 35, and a discharge state judgment including a judgment of whether the electric discharge exists or does not exist and whether the electric discharge is normal or abnormal is made according to a counted value of counting the number of times of appearance of these electric potential change wave forms for each type of wave-form by a discharge ON wave-form counter 36, a discharge OFF wave-form counter 37, an abnormal discharge wave-form counter 38 and a leak discharge wave-form counter 39.

A method for in-line monitoring of via / contact etching process based on a test structure is described. The test structure is comprised of via / contact holes of different sizes and densities in a layout such that, for a certain process, the microloading or RIE lag induced non-uniform etch rate produce under-etch in some regions and over-etch in others. A scanning electron microscope is used to distinguish these etching differences in voltage contrast images. Image processing and simple calibration convert these voltage contrast images into a “fingerprint” image characterizing the etching process in terms of thickness over-etched or under-etched. Tolerance of shifting or deformation of this image can be set for validating the process uniformity. This image can also be used as a measure to monitor long-term process parameter shifting, as well as wafer-to-wafer or lot-to-lot variations. Advanced process control (APC) can be performed in-line with the guidance of this image so that potential electrical defects are avoided and process yield ramp accelerated.

A plasma cleaning method is performed in a plasma CVD apparatus for depositing a silicon nitride film on a surface of a target substrate, and includes a stage (S1) of supplying a cleaning gas containing NF3 gas into a process container, thereby removing extraneous deposits formed on portions inside the process container; a stage (S2) of supplying a gas containing hydrogen gas into the process container and generating plasma thereof, thereby removing residual fluorine inside the process container; and a stage (S3) of supplying a gas containing a rare gas into the process container and generating plasma thereof, thereby removing residual hydrogen inside the process container.