Plasma processing equipment and methods, control devices and storage media

Abstract

This disclosure provides plasma processing equipment and methods, control devices, and storage media. The equipment includes: a cavity, a support device, a filter device, a gas inlet device, and a plasma excitation device. The filter device includes a first ion filter unit and a second ion filter unit. The gas inlet device includes an auxiliary gas input component connected to the plasma generation region and a reactive gas input component connected to the plasma indirect excitation region. The plasma excitation device excites the auxiliary gas entering the plasma generation region to form plasma. The first ion filter unit filters out ions and electrons from the plasma. The remaining excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas are used to excite the reactive gas in the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited-state atoms of the reactive gas. The second ion filter unit filters the excited-state atoms of the reactive gas and allows them to enter the reaction region, thereby reducing the energy and density of high-energy particles and minimizing damage to the wafer substrate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of semiconductor technology, and in particular to a plasma process apparatus, a plasma processing method, a control device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Technology

[0002] In semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes, plasma is used in many procedures. These procedures include, for example, plasma etching, plasma resist removal, and plasma thin film deposition.

[0003] Commonly used plasma sources include inductively coupled plasma (ICP) sources and capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) sources. Taking an ICP source as an example, plasma is generated by the electromagnetic field produced when current passes through a coil, exciting the reactive gas. ICP sources are characterized by high plasma density and good etching directionality. Taking a CCP source as another example, plasma is generated by the voltage applied between electrode plates, exciting the reactive gas. CCP sources are characterized by large-area uniformity and high ion energy.

[0004] In some processes, the process requirements for plasma damage are high. Plasma with excessive density or high energy can bombard the substrate of the wafer and cause significant damage. It can also cause the substrate to break down due to excessive charge accumulation. These are technical problems that need to be avoided and overcome. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of the shortcomings of the above-mentioned related technologies, the purpose of this disclosure is to provide a plasma process equipment, a plasma processing method, a control device, and a computer-readable storage medium to solve the various problems in the related technologies.

[0006] The first aspect of this disclosure provides a plasma process apparatus, comprising:

[0007] cavity;

[0008] A support device, located at the bottom of the cavity, is used to support the wafer;

[0009] The filtration device includes a first ion filtration unit and a second ion filtration unit, which are spaced apart vertically within the cavity and located above the support device; the first ion filtration unit and the second ion filtration unit divide the cavity into a plasma generation region, a plasma indirect excitation region, and a reaction region.

[0010] The gas intake device includes a reactant gas input component and an auxiliary gas input component. The reactant gas input component includes a reactant gas source, a reactant gas delivery pipeline, a reactant gas intake valve, and a reactant gas intake module, which is connected to the plasma indirect excitation region. The auxiliary gas input component includes an auxiliary gas source, an auxiliary gas delivery pipeline, an auxiliary gas intake valve, and an auxiliary gas intake module, which is connected to the plasma generation region.

[0011] A plasma excitation device is located at the upper part of the cavity and corresponding to the plasma generation area, and is used to excite the auxiliary gas that enters the plasma generation area through the auxiliary gas inlet module to form plasma.

[0012] In this process, as the plasma moves from the plasma generation region toward the plasma indirect excitation region, it passes through the first ion filtering unit to filter out ions and electrons, retaining the excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas. The excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas are used to excite the reaction gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited-state atoms of the reaction gas. The excited-state atoms of the reaction gas are then filtered through the second ion filtering unit and enter the reaction region from the plasma indirect excitation region.

[0013] In some examples of the first aspect, the first ion filtration unit includes one or more first filter plates, each of which is provided with a plurality of first filter holes; the second ion filtration unit includes one or more second filter plates, each of which is provided with a plurality of second filter holes.

[0014] In some examples of the first aspect, when the first ion filtering unit includes a plurality of first filter plates, the first filter holes between the plurality of first filter plates are staggered; when the second ion filtering unit includes a plurality of second filter plates, the second filter holes between the plurality of second filter plates are staggered.

[0015] In some examples of the first aspect, the first filter plate is provided with a first filter through-hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the first filter through-hole on the first filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each first filter through-hole on the first filter plate; and / or, the second filter plate is provided with a second filter through-hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the second filter through-hole on the second filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each second filter through-hole on the second filter plate.

[0016] In some examples of the first aspect, the first filter orifice adjustment mechanism employs any one of a movable baffle, a rotating baffle, and a sliding baffle disposed outside the first filter orifice and capable of partially or completely covering the first filter orifice; or, it employs any one of an elastic diaphragm, an elastic valve plate, a valve core structure, and a throttling structure disposed inside the first filter orifice and capable of partially or completely blocking the first filter orifice. The second filter orifice adjustment mechanism employs any one of a movable baffle, a rotating baffle, and a sliding baffle disposed outside the second filter orifice and capable of partially or completely covering the second filter orifice; or, it employs any one of an elastic diaphragm, an elastic valve plate, a valve core structure, and a throttling structure disposed inside the second filter orifice and capable of partially or completely blocking the second filter orifice.

[0017] In some examples of the first aspect, the reactant gas includes oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, or any mixture thereof, and the auxiliary gas includes helium, argon, or a mixture thereof.

[0018] In some examples of the first aspect, the height of the plasma indirect excitation region ranges from 20 mm to 200 mm.

[0019] A second aspect of this disclosure provides a plasma treatment method applied in the plasma process equipment described above, the plasma treatment method comprising the following steps:

[0020] Provide a wafer, and carry the wafer using a carrier device;

[0021] Operate the auxiliary gas inlet valve to introduce the auxiliary gas from the auxiliary gas source into the plasma generation area through the auxiliary gas delivery pipeline and the auxiliary gas inlet module; operate the reaction gas inlet valve to introduce the reaction gas from the reaction gas source into the plasma indirect excitation area through the reaction gas delivery pipeline and the reaction gas inlet module.

[0022] Plasma is formed by exciting the auxiliary gas in the plasma generation region using a plasma excitation device.

[0023] The plasma moving toward the plasma indirect excitation region is filtered by a first ion filtering unit in a filtering device to remove ions and electrons while retaining excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas; the excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas are used to excite the reactant gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited-state atoms of the reactant gas; and

[0024] After the excited-state atoms of the reactant gas are filtered by the second ion filtration unit in the filtration device, the excited-state atoms of the reactant gas enter the reaction region from the plasma indirect excitation region.

[0025] In some examples of the second aspect, the plasma processing method further includes: adjusting the aperture size of the first filter through-hole in the first ion filter unit or adjusting the arrangement density of each first filter through-hole on the first filter plate; and / or, adjusting the aperture size of the second filter through-hole in the second ion filter unit or adjusting the arrangement density of each second filter through-hole on the second filter plate.

[0026] A third aspect of this disclosure provides a control device, comprising: a processor; and a memory storing a plasma processing program; wherein the plasma processing program is executed by the processor to perform the plasma processing method as described above.

[0027] The fourth aspect of this disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium having a plasma processing program stored thereon, the plasma processing program being executed by the processor as described above in the plasma processing method.

[0028] This disclosure provides a plasma processing apparatus, a plasma processing method, a control device, and a computer-readable storage medium. The plasma processing apparatus includes: a cavity, a support device, a filtering device, a gas inlet device, and a plasma excitation device. The filtering device includes a first ion filtering unit and a second ion filtering unit, spaced vertically within the cavity, dividing the cavity into a plasma generation region, a plasma indirect excitation region, and a reaction region. The gas inlet device includes a reaction gas input component and an auxiliary gas input component. The reaction gas input component includes a reaction gas source, a reaction gas delivery pipeline, a reaction gas inlet valve, and a reaction gas inlet module connected to the plasma indirect excitation region. The auxiliary gas input component includes an auxiliary gas source, an auxiliary gas delivery pipeline, and an auxiliary gas inlet. The system includes a valve and an auxiliary gas intake module connected to the plasma generation region. The plasma excitation device excites the auxiliary gas entering the plasma generation region to form plasma. As the plasma moves from the plasma generation region towards the plasma indirect excitation region, it passes through a first ion filter unit to filter out ions and electrons, retaining excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas. These excited-state atoms are then used to excite the reactant gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form reactant gas excited-state atoms. These reactant gas excited-state atoms are then filtered through a second ion filter unit and enter the reaction region from the plasma indirect excitation region. This significantly reduces the energy and density of high-energy particles, minimizing damage to the wafer substrate within the reaction region and improving subsequent semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes and yield. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 The diagram shown is a structural schematic of a plasma process apparatus provided in this disclosure in one embodiment.

[0030] Figure 2 The diagram shown is a structural schematic of a filtration device in a plasma processing apparatus in one embodiment.

[0031] Figure 3 The diagram shown is a structural schematic of a filtration device in a plasma processing apparatus in another embodiment.

[0032] Figures 4a to 4f The diagram shows the structure of the filter holes of the filter plate in the filter device in different embodiments.

[0033] Figure 5 The diagram shown is a schematic flow chart of one embodiment of the plasma processing method provided in this disclosure.

[0034] Figure 6 The diagram shown is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of the control device provided in this disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0035] The following specific examples illustrate the implementation of this disclosure. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of this disclosure from the information disclosed herein. This disclosure can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and various details in this disclosure can be modified or changed according to different viewpoints and application modules without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of this disclosure can be combined with each other.

[0036] The embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that those skilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains can readily implement it. This disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

[0037] In this disclosure, references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic represented in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of this disclosure. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics represented may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or a group of embodiments or examples. Moreover, without contradiction, those skilled in the art can combine and integrate the different embodiments or examples represented in this disclosure, as well as the features of those different embodiments or examples.

[0038] Furthermore, the terms "first" and "second" are used for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. In the representation of this disclosure, "a set" means two or more, unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0039] For the purpose of clarity, devices unrelated to the description are omitted, and the same or similar components throughout the specification are given the same reference numerals.

[0040] Throughout this specification, when it is said that a device is "connected" to another device, this includes not only "direct connection" but also "indirect connection" by placing other components in between. Furthermore, when it is said that a device "comprises" a certain constituent element, unless otherwise stated otherwise, this does not exclude other constituent elements, but rather implies that other constituent elements may be included.

[0041] While the terms first, second, etc., are used in some examples herein to refer to various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element from another. For example, first interface and second interface, etc., are used. Furthermore, as used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to also include the plural forms unless the context indicates otherwise. It should be further understood that the terms “comprising,” “including,” indicate the presence of the stated feature, step, operation, element, module, item, kind, and / or group, but do not exclude the presence, occurrence, or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, modules, items, kinds, and / or groups. The terms “or” and “and / or” as used herein are interpreted as inclusive, or mean any one or any combination thereof. Thus, “A, B, or C” or “A, B, and / or C” means “any one of: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B, and C.” Exceptions to this definition will only occur if the combination of elements, functions, steps, or operations is inherently mutually exclusive in some way.

[0042] The technical terms used herein are for reference only to specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. The singular form used herein includes the plural form unless the statement explicitly indicates otherwise. The word "comprising" as used in this specification means to specify a particular characteristic, region, integer, step, operation, element, and / or component, and does not exclude the presence or addition of other characteristics, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components.

[0043] Although not explicitly defined, all terms, including technical and scientific terms used herein, shall have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries shall be further interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the relevant technical literature and the message of the present disclosure, and shall not be over-interpreted as having an ideal or overly formulaic meaning unless otherwise defined.

[0044] In certain semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes, there are high requirements for plasma damage. Plasma with excessive density or high energy can bombard the wafer substrate, causing significant damage. It can also cause substrate breakdown due to excessive charge accumulation, which has a significant adverse impact on the process results.

[0045] This disclosure provides a plasma processing apparatus that can filter out as many ions and electrons as possible from the plasma, thereby reducing damage to the wafer.

[0046] Please see Figure 1 The diagram shown is a schematic representation of the plasma process apparatus of this disclosure in one embodiment.

[0047] The plasma process equipment involves applying plasma to perform corresponding processing on semiconductor wafers. Such plasma process equipment can be, for example, plasma etching equipment, plasma resist stripping equipment, and plasma thin film deposition equipment. Taking plasma thin film deposition equipment as an example, this equipment can be used to deposit thin films on semiconductor wafers. Thin film deposition techniques typically include PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition). In the following description, the semiconductor wafer can be, for example, a wafer on which multiple chips are arranged.

[0048] like Figure 1 As shown, the plasma process equipment in this embodiment may include: a cavity 10, a support device 11, a filter device, an air inlet device, and a plasma excitation device.

[0049] The cavity 10 includes a sealed cavity with sidewalls, and a support device 11 is provided in the central region of the sealed cavity.

[0050] The support device is located within the process cavity and is used to support the wafer. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the carrier device 11 is disposed within the cavity 10 and is used to carry the wafer 100. In some embodiments, only one wafer is subjected to a thin film deposition process at a time within the cavity 10; therefore, the carrier device 11 is located in the center of the cavity 10.

[0051] In some embodiments, the carrier device 11 is further provided with a wafer adsorption structure for adsorbing the wafer 100. Exemplarily, the wafer adsorption structure may include, for example, an adsorption groove and an adsorption pump. In some embodiments, the carrier device 11 may be, for example, an electrostatic chuck, which uses electrostatic attraction to fix the wafer 100.

[0052] In some embodiments, the carrier device 11 may also be provided with a heating device for heating the supported wafer 100 to reach the required temperature. Using a heating device can increase the activity of the plasma reaction with the wafer surface, thereby improving the reaction efficiency and quality of the process.

[0053] In some embodiments, the carrier device 11 may also be provided with a rotating mechanism for rotating the carrier device 11 and the wafer 100 it carries.

[0054] The filtration device includes a first ion filtering unit and a second ion filtering unit for filtering ions and electrons from the plasma. The first and second plasma filtering units are arranged vertically at intervals within the cavity and above the supporting device. Figure 1 As shown, the first plasma filter unit is positioned above and the second plasma filter unit is positioned below. Thus, by using the first and second plasma filter units positioned at an interval, the space of the cavity 10 can be divided into a plasma generation region, a plasma indirect excitation region, and a reaction region. The height of the plasma indirect excitation region formed between the first and second plasma filter units ranges from 20 mm to 200 mm.

[0055] Among them, such as Figure 1 As shown, the first plasma filtration unit includes one or more first filter plates 131, each of which has a plurality of first filter holes 1310. The second ion filtration unit includes one or more second filter plates 133, each of which has a plurality of second filter holes 1330. In practical applications, the first filter plates 131 and the second filter plates 133 may be made of insulating materials or of metals with insulating materials coated on their surfaces. The insulating materials include, but are not limited to, ceramics, quartz, etc.

[0056] In some embodiments, both the first plasma filtering unit and the second plasma filtering unit are single-layer designs. That is, the first plasma filtering unit includes a first filter plate and the second plasma filtering unit includes a second filter plate. The space between the first filter plate in the first plasma filtering unit and the second filter plate in the second plasma filtering unit is the plasma indirect excitation region.

[0057] In some embodiments, the first plasma filtering unit and the second plasma filtering unit are multi-layered structures. For example, as shown... Figure 1 As shown, both the first and second plasma filtering units are double-layered designs. Specifically, the first plasma filtering unit includes two first filter plates, and the second plasma filtering unit includes two second filter plates. The two first filter plates in the first plasma filtering unit are spaced apart, and the two second filter plates in the second plasma filtering unit are also spaced apart. The distance between the two first filter plates or the distance between the two second filter plates is smaller than the distance between the lower first filter plate in the first plasma filtering unit and the upper second filter plate in the second plasma filtering unit. The space between the lower first filter plate in the first plasma filtering unit and the upper second filter plate in the second plasma filtering unit constitutes the plasma indirect excitation region. This double-layered design of the first and second plasma filtering units allows for more effective filtering of ions and electrons from the plasma.

[0058] In some embodiments, the first plasma filtering unit has a multi-layer structure and the second plasma filtering unit has a single-layer structure. Exemplarily, the first plasma filtering unit is a double-layer design and the second plasma filtering unit is a single-layer design; that is, the first plasma filtering unit includes two first filter plates and the second plasma filtering unit includes one second filter plate. The two first filter plates in the first plasma filtering unit are spaced apart, and the space between the lower first filter plate in the first plasma filtering unit and the second filter plate in the second plasma filtering unit is the plasma indirect excitation region. The double-layer design of the first plasma filtering unit can effectively filter out the vast majority of ions and electrons in the plasma.

[0059] The first filter plate is provided with a plurality of first filter holes and the second filter plate is provided with a plurality of second filter holes.

[0060] The arrangement of the first filter holes on the first filter plate and the arrangement of the second filter holes on the second filter plate can be different.

[0061] In some embodiments, the first filter holes on the first filter plate or the second filter holes on the second filter plate are uniformly distributed.

[0062] In some embodiments, the first filter holes on the first filter plate and the second filter holes on the second filter plate can be designed to be non-uniformly distributed according to the configuration of the air intake device, process requirements, etc. For example, for the first filter plate, when the required process rate or gas flow rate is high, the density of the first filter holes in the corresponding area of ​​the first filter plate is increased; when the required process rate or gas flow rate is low, the density of the first filter holes in the corresponding area of ​​the first filter plate is decreased. Similarly, for the second filter plate, when the required process rate or gas flow rate is high, the density of the second filter holes in the corresponding area of ​​the second filter plate is increased; when the required process rate or gas flow rate is low, the density of the second filter holes in the corresponding area of ​​the second filter plate is decreased.

[0063] In addition, the aperture of the first filter hole on the first filter plate or the aperture of the second filter hole on the second filter plate can be set differently.

[0064] In some embodiments, the apertures of the filter holes on the filter plate are the same. For example, the apertures of all first filter holes on the first filter plate are the same, the apertures of all second filter holes on the second filter plate are the same, and the apertures of the first and second filter holes are the same. Alternatively, for example, the apertures of all first filter holes on the first filter plate are the same, the apertures of all second filter holes on the second filter plate are the same, but the apertures of the first and second filter holes are different.

[0065] In some embodiments, the apertures of the filter holes on the same filter plate are not the same. For example, whether it is the first filter plate or the second filter plate, filter holes with different aperture sizes can be provided in different areas of the same filter plate according to the configuration of the air intake device, process requirements, etc., and even filter holes with different aperture sizes can be mixed and provided in the same area of ​​the same filter plate.

[0066] Furthermore, the arrangement of filter holes can be adjusted in real time according to process requirements. In some embodiments, the first filter plate is equipped with a first filter hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the first filter holes on the first filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each first filter hole on the first filter plate. In some embodiments, the second filter plate is equipped with a second filter hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the second filter holes on the second filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each second filter hole on the second filter plate. In some embodiments, the first filter plate is equipped with a first filter hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the first filter holes on the first filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each first filter hole on the first filter plate, and the second filter plate is equipped with a second filter hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the second filter holes on the second filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each second filter hole on the second filter plate.

[0067] In some examples, the first filter orifice adjustment mechanism may employ a movable baffle, a rotating baffle, or a sliding baffle disposed outside the first filter orifice. By moving the movable baffle, selecting the rotating baffle, or sliding the sliding baffle, it actuates relative to the first filter orifice, thereby partially or completely covering the first filter orifice. When the movable baffle, rotating baffle, or sliding baffle partially covers the first filter orifice, the aperture size of the first filter orifice can be adjusted. When the movable baffle, rotating baffle, or sliding baffle completely covers the first filter orifice, the first filter orifice can be completely covered, and the arrangement density of each first filter orifice on the first filter plate can be adjusted. Similarly, the second filter orifice adjustment mechanism may employ a movable baffle, a rotating baffle, or a sliding baffle disposed outside the second filter orifice. By moving the movable baffle, selecting the rotating baffle, or sliding the sliding baffle, it actuates relative to the second filter orifice, thereby partially or completely covering the second filter orifice. When the movable baffle, rotating baffle, or sliding baffle partially covers the second filter through-hole, the diameter of the second filter through-hole can be adjusted. When the movable baffle, rotating baffle, or sliding baffle completely covers the second filter through-hole, the second filter through-hole can be completely covered, and the arrangement density of each second filter through-hole on the second filter plate can be adjusted.

[0068] In some examples, the first filter orifice adjustment mechanism may employ an elastic diaphragm, elastic valve, valve core structure, or throttling structure disposed inside the first filter orifice. Through the operation of the elastic diaphragm, elastic valve, valve core structure, or throttling structure, the first filter orifice can be partially reduced or completely blocked, adjusting the orifice size or the density of the various first filter orifices on the first filter plate. Similarly, the second filter orifice adjustment mechanism may employ an elastic diaphragm, elastic valve, valve core structure, or throttling structure disposed inside the second filter orifice. Through the operation of the elastic diaphragm, elastic valve, valve core structure, or throttling structure, the second filter orifice can be partially reduced or completely blocked, adjusting the orifice size or the density of the various second filter orifices on the second filter plate.

[0069] Furthermore, when an ion filtration unit includes multiple filter plates, the filter holes between the filter plates can be configured differently.

[0070] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2 As shown, when the first ion filtering unit includes a plurality of first filter plates 131a ( Figure 2 (Displayed as two first filter plates), the first filter holes 1310a between the multiple first filter plates 131a are arranged vertically aligned, for example... Figure 2 The first filter through-hole 1310a in the upper first filter plate 131a is vertically aligned with the first filter through-hole 1310a in the lower first filter plate 131a; when the second ion filtration unit includes a plurality of second filter plates 133a ( Figure 2 (Displayed as two second filter plates), the second filter through holes 1330a between the multiple second filter plates 133a are arranged vertically aligned, for example... Figure 2 The second filter through hole 1330a in the upper second filter plate 133a is vertically aligned with the second filter through hole 1330a in the lower second filter plate 133a.

[0071] In some embodiments, such as Figure 3 As shown, when the first ion filtering unit includes a plurality of first filter plates 131b ( Figure 3 (Displayed as two first filter plates), the first filter holes 1310b between the multiple first filter plates 131b are staggered, for example, Figure 3 The first filter holes 1310b in the upper first filter plate 131b and the first filter holes 1310b in the lower first filter plate 131b are staggered vertically; when the second ion filtration unit includes multiple second filter plates 133b ( Figure 3 (Displayed as two second filter plates), the second filter through-holes 1330b between the multiple second filter plates 133b are staggered, for example... Figure 3 The second filter through-hole 1330b in the upper second filter plate 133b and the second filter through-hole 1330b in the lower second filter plate 133b are staggered vertically.

[0072] It is worth noting that, in Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 In the illustrated embodiment, the first and second filter through holes are vertical through holes, but this is not a limitation. In practical applications, both the first and second filter through holes can be designed in other ways. Figure 4a As shown, the filter orifice can be a slanted straight orifice running from top to left and bottom to right. For example... Figure 4b As shown, the filter orifice can be a slanted straight orifice running from top to right to bottom to left. Alternatively, the filter orifice can be a combination of slanted straight orifices running from top to left to bottom to right and from top to right to bottom to left. Figure 4c As shown, the filter orifice can be a curved orifice. For example... Figure 4d As shown, the filter orifice can be a bent orifice. For example... Figure 4e As shown, the filter pores can adopt a frustum-shaped structure with a vertical cross-section that is narrower at the top and wider at the bottom. For example... Figure 4f As shown, the filter through-hole can adopt an inverted frustum structure with a vertical cross-section that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.

[0073] Furthermore, the first filter hole on the first filter plate and the second filter hole on the second filter plate are not limited to circular holes; they can also be square holes, rectangular holes, elliptical holes, regular polygonal holes, or other irregularly shaped holes.

[0074] The air intake device includes a reactant gas input component and an auxiliary gas input component. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the reactive gas input assembly includes a reactive gas source 151, a reactive gas delivery pipeline 153, a reactive gas inlet valve 155, and a reactive gas inlet module 157, wherein the reactive gas inlet module 157 is connected to the plasma indirect excitation region. The auxiliary gas input assembly includes an auxiliary gas source 152, an auxiliary gas delivery pipeline 154, an auxiliary gas inlet valve 156, and an auxiliary gas inlet module 158, wherein the auxiliary gas inlet module 158 is connected to the plasma generation region.

[0075] In some embodiments, the reaction gas provided by the reaction gas source 151 may include, but is not limited to, oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2), hydrogen (H2), or any mixture thereof, such as a mixture of oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2), a mixture of hydrogen (H2) and nitrogen (N2), a mixture of oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2), or a mixture of oxygen (O2), nitrogen (N2), and hydrogen (H2). Therefore, in practical applications, the reaction gas source 151 may include one or more reaction gas input components.

[0076] A reaction gas inlet valve 155 is provided on the reaction gas delivery line 153 for opening / closing the reaction gas delivery line 153. In some embodiments, a mass flow controller (MFC) may also be provided on the reaction gas delivery line 153 to achieve accurate measurement and control of the mass flow rate of the reaction gas.

[0077] The reactant gas inlet module 157 is connected to the plasma indirect excitation region. In some embodiments, the reactant gas inlet module 157 may include one or more lower inlets, all of which are connected to the reactant gas delivery pipeline 153, allowing the reactant gas delivered via the reactant gas delivery pipeline 153 to be delivered to the plasma indirect excitation region of the cavity 10. Exemplarily, the reactant gas inlet module may include one lower inlet located on the side of the cavity and corresponding to the plasma indirect excitation region. Exemplarily, the reactant gas inlet module may include multiple lower inlets, which are uniformly distributed on the side of the cavity and corresponding to the plasma indirect excitation region, increasing the uniformity of the gas intake.

[0078] Auxiliary gas source 152 provides auxiliary gas. In some embodiments, the auxiliary gas may be an inert gas, such as helium (He), argon (Ar), or a mixture thereof. Therefore, in practical applications, auxiliary gas source 152 may include one or more auxiliary gas input components.

[0079] An auxiliary gas inlet valve 156 is provided on the auxiliary gas delivery line 154 for opening / closing the auxiliary gas delivery line 154. In some embodiments, a mass flow controller (MFC) may also be provided on the auxiliary gas delivery line 154 to achieve accurate measurement and control of the mass flow rate of the reaction gas.

[0080] The auxiliary gas intake module 158 is connected to the plasma generation region. In some embodiments, the auxiliary gas intake module 158 may include one or more upper air inlets, all of which are connected to the auxiliary gas delivery pipeline 154, allowing auxiliary gas delivered via the auxiliary gas delivery pipeline 154 to be delivered to the plasma generation region of the cavity 10. Exemplarily, the auxiliary gas intake module may include one upper air inlet located at the top of the cavity. Exemplarily, the auxiliary gas intake module may include multiple upper air inlets, which are evenly distributed at the top of the cavity to increase the uniformity of air intake. Exemplarily, the auxiliary gas intake module may include multiple upper air inlets, with some (evenly distributed) at the top of the cavity and some (evenly distributed) at the sides of the cavity corresponding to the plasma generation region, further increasing the uniformity of air intake.

[0081] The plasma excitation device is located at the upper part of the cavity and corresponds to the plasma generation region, and is used to excite the gas in the plasma generation region to form plasma.

[0082] Commonly used plasma excitation devices include inductively coupled plasma (ICP) excitation devices and capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) excitation devices. ICP excitation devices generate a changing magnetic field within the coil by connecting the coil electrodes to an RF power source, which in turn induces an electric field, ionizing the gas to produce plasma. CCP excitation devices, on the other hand, connect two parallel electrode plates to an RF power source, applying RF energy between the plates to create an electric field in the region between them, ionizing the gas entering the space between the plates to generate plasma.

[0083] In such Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the plasma excitation device is described using an ICP excitation device as an example. Figure 1As shown, the ICP excitation device includes an RF source 171 and an inductor 173. The inductor 173 is located in the upper part of the cavity and corresponds to the plasma generation region. That is, the inductor 173 is arranged around the upper outer wall of the cavity corresponding to the plasma generation region and can be electrically connected to the RF source 171 through an RF matching component (not shown in the figure). The RF source 171 is grounded and is used to output RF power to the inductor 173 to excite the gas in the plasma generation region of the cavity 10 to form plasma. Exemplarily, the RF frequency of the RF source 171 can be, for example, 13.56MHz. Or the high frequency can be extended to 27.12MHz, 40.68MHz, or higher frequencies. Of course, the RF frequency can also be, for example, 4MHz, 2MHz, or lower frequencies.

[0084] Of course, the plasma process equipment in this embodiment may also include other devices. For example, the plasma process equipment may also include an exhaust device, which may include an exhaust valve assembly and an exhaust pump, etc.

[0085] In some embodiments, the exhaust valve assembly includes an exhaust valve.

[0086] In some embodiments, the exhaust valve assembly includes a combination of an exhaust valve and a throttle valve. Exemplarily, the exhaust valve may be, for example, a standard exhaust valve. Exemplarily, the exhaust valve may be, for example, a combination of a fast exhaust valve and a slow exhaust valve, wherein the slow exhaust valve is used to establish an initial vacuum environment, and the fast exhaust valve is used to more quickly expel remaining gas to achieve a lower vacuum level. The throttle valve may be, for example, a butterfly valve, capable of opening from 0% to 100%.

[0087] The following combination Figure 1 The plasma processing equipment in the text provides a detailed explanation of the plasma treatment process:

[0088] Operate the auxiliary gas inlet valve 156 to transport the auxiliary gas from the auxiliary gas source 152 through the auxiliary gas delivery pipeline 154 and into the plasma generation region of the cavity 10 from the auxiliary gas inlet module 158. Operate the reaction gas inlet valve 155 to transport the reaction gas from the reaction gas source 151 through the reaction gas delivery pipeline 153 and into the plasma indirect excitation region of the cavity 10 from the reaction gas inlet module 157. Plasma is formed by exciting an auxiliary gas in the plasma generation region using a plasma excitation device. The plasma formed by the excitation of the auxiliary gas has a relatively low density but is more uniform. As the plasma moves from the plasma generation region toward the plasma indirect excitation region, it passes through a first ion filtering unit (one or more first filter plates 131) in a filtering device, which filters out most (e.g., greater than 99.99%) of the ions and electrons, while retaining the excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas. These excited-state atoms further excite the reactant gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited-state atoms of the reactant gas. The excited-state atoms of the reactant gas then pass through a second ion filtering unit from the plasma indirect excitation region into the reaction region. The small amount of plasma remaining is then filtered out by a second ion filtering unit (one or more second filter plates 133) to remove the ions and electrons. In this way, the energy and density of high-energy particles are significantly reduced by indirectly exciting the reactant gas with the auxiliary gas, thereby achieving lower substrate damage.

[0089] The plasma process equipment provided in this embodiment includes: a cavity, a support device, a filter device, an inlet device, and a plasma excitation device. The filter device includes a first ion filter unit and a second ion filter unit, which are spaced apart vertically within the cavity and divide the cavity into a plasma generation region, a plasma indirect excitation region, and a reaction region. The inlet device includes a reaction gas input component and an auxiliary gas input component. The reaction gas input component includes a reaction gas source, a reaction gas delivery pipeline, a reaction gas inlet valve, and a reaction gas inlet module connected to the plasma indirect excitation region. The auxiliary gas input component includes an auxiliary gas source, an auxiliary gas delivery pipeline, an auxiliary gas inlet valve, and an auxiliary gas inlet module connected to the plasma generation region. Thus, the plasma excitation device excites the auxiliary gas entering the plasma generation region to form plasma. As the plasma moves from the plasma generation region toward the plasma indirect excitation region, it passes through the first ion filter unit to filter out ions and electrons, retaining the excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas. The excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas are used to excite the reaction gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited-state atoms of the reaction gas. The excited-state atoms of the reaction gas are then filtered through the second ion filter unit and enter the reaction region from the plasma indirect excitation region. In this technical solution, the use of indirect excitation to form excited-state atoms of the reactive gas can significantly reduce the energy and density of high-energy particles, thereby reducing damage to the wafer substrate. The staged excitation energy of first exciting the auxiliary gas and then indirectly exciting the reactive gas makes the plasma distribution more uniform, which is more friendly to materials that are susceptible to plasma damage and more conducive to subsequent semiconductor wafer manufacturing processes, thus improving yield.

[0090] Please see Figure 5 The diagram shown is a schematic flowchart of a plasma processing method provided in this disclosure in one embodiment.

[0091] Step S201: Provide a chip and carry the chip using a carrier device.

[0092] Step S203: The auxiliary gas from the auxiliary gas source is introduced into the plasma generation region through the auxiliary gas delivery pipeline and the auxiliary gas inlet module, and the reaction gas from the reaction gas source is introduced into the plasma indirect excitation region through the reaction gas delivery pipeline and the reaction gas inlet module.

[0093] Step S205: The auxiliary gas in the input plasma generation region is excited by the plasma excitation device to form plasma.

[0094] Step S207: The plasma moving toward the plasma indirect excitation region is filtered by the first ion filtering unit in the filtering device to filter out ions and electrons and retain the excited state atoms of the auxiliary gas. The excited state atoms of the auxiliary gas are used to excite the reaction gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited state atoms of the reaction gas.

[0095] In some embodiments, step S207 further includes the following step: adjusting the aperture size of the first filter holes on the first filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of the first filter holes on the first filter plate, thereby improving the filtration effect or increasing the uniformity of filtration. In practical applications, adjusting the aperture size of the first filter holes on the first filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of the first filter holes on the first filter plate can be achieved by a first filter hole adjustment mechanism provided on the first filter plate.

[0096] In step S207, the energy and density of high-energy particles are significantly reduced by indirectly exciting the reactant gas with an auxiliary gas.

[0097] Step S209: After filtering the excited-state atoms of the reaction gas using the second ion filtering unit in the filtering device, the excited-state atoms of the reaction gas enter the reaction region from the plasma indirect excitation region.

[0098] In some embodiments, step S209 further includes the following step: adjusting the aperture size of the second filter holes on the second filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of the second filter holes on the second filter plate, thereby improving the filtration effect or increasing the uniformity of filtration. In practical applications, adjusting the aperture size of the second filter holes on the second filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of the second filter holes on the second filter plate can be achieved by a second filter hole adjustment mechanism provided on the second filter plate.

[0099] In step S209, the second filter plate is used to further filter out the residual ions and electrons in the plasma.

[0100] This disclosure provides a plasma processing method applied in the plasma process equipment described above. By introducing an auxiliary gas into the plasma generation region and exciting it to form plasma, the plasma passes through a first ion filtering unit to remove ions and electrons, retaining the excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas. These excited-state atoms then enter the plasma indirect excitation region, exciting the reactive gas to form excited-state atoms. After passing through a second ion filtering unit, the excited-state atoms of the reactive gas enter the reaction region for wafer processing. This indirect excitation method significantly reduces the energy and density of high-energy particles, avoiding direct bombardment of the substrate by high-energy ions, thereby achieving lower substrate damage.

[0101] This disclosure also provides a control device, which in some embodiments may be, for example, a host computer connected to an air intake device and a plasma excitation device.

[0102] Please see Figure 6 The diagram shown is a schematic block diagram of the control device provided in this disclosure in one embodiment.

[0103] like Figure 6 As shown, the control device includes a processor 61 and a memory 63. The processor 61 and the memory 63 can communicate via a bus 62. The memory 63 can store plasma processing programs. The processor 61 executes the various steps of the plasma processing method by running the plasma processing programs stored in the memory 63.

[0104] Bus 62 can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. Buses can be categorized as address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of representation, although only one thick line is used in the diagram, this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0105] In some embodiments, processor 61 may be implemented as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a system-on-chip (SoC), or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). Memory 63 may include volatile memory for temporary data storage during program execution, such as random access memory (RAM). Memory 63 may also include non-volatile memory (NVM) for data storage, such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), or solid-state drive (SSD).

[0106] In practical applications, the control device can be associated with the carrier device, the reactive gas input component and the auxiliary gas input component in the gas inlet device, the plasma excitation device, and the exhaust device, etc., to control the components in the carrier device, the reactive gas inlet valve in the reactive gas input component, the auxiliary gas inlet valve in the auxiliary gas input component, the plasma excitation device, and the exhaust device, thereby completing the plasma process of the wafer. Through the sequential filtration of the first ion filter unit and the second ion filter unit in the filter device, the energy and density of high-energy particles are significantly reduced, so that the damage of plasma to the wafer substrate in the reaction area is minimized, which is more conducive to the subsequent semiconductor wafer manufacturing process and improves the yield.

[0107] This disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program or instructions, which, when run, implement the method flow or function of any of the previous embodiments.

[0108] That is, the method steps in the above embodiments are implemented as software or computer code that can be stored in a recording medium (such as CD ROM, RAM, floppy disk, hard disk or magneto-optical disk), or implemented as computer code that is originally stored in a remote recording medium or a non-transitory machine-readable medium and will be stored in a local recording medium after being downloaded via a network, so that the method represented herein can be stored on such software processing on a recording medium using a general-purpose computer, a special processor or programmable or special hardware (such as ASIC or FPGA).

[0109] This disclosure may also provide a computer program product, comprising multiple computer programs or instructions, which, when run, perform all or part of the processes or functions in the plasma processing method of this disclosure. The computer program product includes multiple computer programs or instructions.

[0110] Computer programs or instructions can be stored in a readable storage medium or transferred from one readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The readable storage medium can be any available medium capable of access, or a data storage device such as a server or data center integrating multiple available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video optical disc; or a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or it can include both volatile and non-volatile types of storage media.

[0111] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of this disclosure and are not intended to limit this disclosure. Any person skilled in the art can modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concept disclosed in this disclosure should still be covered by the protection scope of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A plasma processing device, characterized in that, include: cavity; A support device, located at the bottom of the cavity, is used to support the wafer; The filtration device includes a first ion filtration unit and a second ion filtration unit, which are spaced apart vertically within the cavity and located above the support device; the first ion filtration unit and the second ion filtration unit divide the cavity into a plasma generation region, a plasma indirect excitation region, and a reaction region. The gas intake device includes a reactant gas input component and an auxiliary gas input component. The reactant gas input component includes a reactant gas source, a reactant gas delivery pipeline, a reactant gas intake valve, and a reactant gas intake module, which is connected to the plasma indirect excitation region. The auxiliary gas input component includes an auxiliary gas source, an auxiliary gas delivery pipeline, an auxiliary gas intake valve, and an auxiliary gas intake module, which is connected to the plasma generation region. A plasma excitation device is located at the upper part of the cavity and corresponding to the plasma generation area, and is used to excite the auxiliary gas that enters the plasma generation area through the auxiliary gas inlet module to form plasma. In this process, as the plasma moves from the plasma generation region toward the plasma indirect excitation region, it passes through the first ion filtering unit to filter out ions and electrons, retaining the excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas. The excited-state atoms of the auxiliary gas are used to excite the reaction gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited-state atoms of the reaction gas. The excited-state atoms of the reaction gas are then filtered through the second ion filtering unit and enter the reaction region from the plasma indirect excitation region.

2. The plasma process equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first ion filtration unit includes one or more first filter plates, each of which has a plurality of first filter holes; the second ion filtration unit includes one or more second filter plates, each of which has a plurality of second filter holes.

3. The plasma process equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, When the first ion filtering unit includes multiple first filter plates, the first filter holes between the multiple first filter plates are staggered; when the second ion filtering unit includes multiple second filter plates, the second filter holes between the multiple second filter plates are staggered.

4. The plasma process equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first filter plate is provided with a first filter hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the first filter hole on the first filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each first filter hole on the first filter plate; and / or, the second filter plate is provided with a second filter hole adjustment mechanism for adjusting the aperture size of the second filter hole on the second filter plate or adjusting the arrangement density of each second filter hole on the second filter plate.

5. The plasma process equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first filter orifice adjustment mechanism employs any one of a movable baffle, a rotating baffle, or a sliding baffle located outside the first filter orifice and capable of partially or completely covering the first filter orifice; or, it employs any one of an elastic diaphragm, an elastic valve plate, a valve core structure, or a throttling structure located inside the first filter orifice and capable of partially or completely blocking the first filter orifice. The second filter orifice adjustment mechanism employs any one of a movable baffle, a rotating baffle, or a sliding baffle located outside the second filter orifice and capable of partially or completely covering the second filter orifice; or, it employs any one of an elastic diaphragm, an elastic valve plate, a valve core structure, or a throttling structure located inside the second filter orifice and capable of partially or completely blocking the second filter orifice.

6. The plasma process equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The reactant gas includes oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, or any mixture thereof, and the auxiliary gas includes helium, argon, or a mixture thereof.

7. The plasma process equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The height of the plasma indirect excitation region ranges from 20 mm to 200 mm.

8. A plasma treatment method, characterized in that, When applied to the plasma processing equipment as described in claim 1 or 2, the plasma treatment method includes the following steps: Provide a wafer, and carry the wafer using a carrier device; Operate the auxiliary gas inlet valve to introduce the auxiliary gas from the auxiliary gas source into the plasma generation area through the auxiliary gas delivery pipeline and the auxiliary gas inlet module; operate the reaction gas inlet valve to introduce the reaction gas from the reaction gas source into the plasma indirect excitation area through the reaction gas delivery pipeline and the reaction gas inlet module. Plasma is formed by exciting the auxiliary gas in the plasma generation region using a plasma excitation device. The plasma moving toward the plasma indirect excitation region is filtered by the first ion filtering unit in the filtering device to filter out ions and electrons and retain the excited state atoms of the auxiliary gas; the excited state atoms of the auxiliary gas are used to excite the reactant gas entering the plasma indirect excitation region to form excited state atoms of the reactant gas. as well as After the excited-state atoms of the reactant gas are filtered by the second ion filtration unit in the filtration device, the excited-state atoms of the reactant gas enter the reaction region from the plasma indirect excitation region.

9. The plasma treatment method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The plasma processing method further includes: Adjust the pore size of the first filter holes on the first filter plate in the first ion filter unit, or adjust the arrangement density of each first filter hole on the first filter plate in the first ion filter unit; and / or, Adjust the aperture size of the second filter through holes on the second filter plate in the second ion filter unit, or adjust the arrangement density of each second filter through hole on the second filter plate in the second ion filter unit.

10. A control device, characterized in that, include: processor; The memory contains the plasma processing program; The plasma processing program is executed by the processor as described in claim 8 or 9.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing a plasma processing program thereon, characterized in that, When the plasma processing program is executed by the processor, it implements the plasma processing method as described in claim 8 or 9.

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