Plasma processing apparatus and method

Abstract

A plasma processing apparatus that passes a microwave, which is introduced into a waveguide, through a slot and propagates the microwave to a dielectric, converts a predetermined gas supplied into a processing chamber into plasma, and applies plasma processing to a substrate, in which a plurality of the waveguides are disposed side by side, a plurality of dielectrics are provided for each of the waveguides, and one slot, or two or more slots is or are provided for each of the dielectrics, is provided. The area of each of the dielectrics can be made extremely small, and a microwave can be reliably propagated into the entire surface of the dielectric. A thin support member that supports the dielectric can be used, a uniform electromagnetic field can be formed in an entire area above the substrate, and uniform plasma can be generated in the processing chamber.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a plasma processing apparatus and method for generating plasma and performing processing such as film formation on a substrate. Background technique [0002] For example, in the manufacturing process of LCD devices and the like, microwaves are used to generate plasma in a processing chamber to perform CVD processing, etching processing, etc. on an LCD substrate. As a plasma processing apparatus, a device in which a plurality of waveguides are arranged in parallel above a processing chamber is known (see JP-A-2004-200646 and JP-A-2004-152876). A plurality of grooves are arranged in parallel on the lower surface of the waveguide, and a flat dielectric body is provided along the lower surface of the waveguide. The equipment is configured such that microwaves are propagated to the surface of the dielectric body through the grooves, and the processing gas (rare gas for plasma excitation and / or gas for plasma processing) sup...

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Problems solved by technology

[0003] However, as the size of the substrate increases, the processing equipment also becomes larger. In particular, it is difficult to manufacture a large-sized dielectric body, and the manufacturing cost is high.

In addition, when the dielectric body is large and heavy, the supporting member supporting it must have a strong structure, but thus, the problem of unevenness of the plasma generated in the processing chamber is likely to occur.

That is, the enlarged support member becomes an obstacle, preventing the formation of a uniform electromagnetic field over the entire substrate

In addition, due to the large area of ​​the dielectric itself, it is difficult to uniformly propagate microwaves over the entire surface of the dielectric due to various conditions such as the type of processing gas or the pressure in the processing chamber.

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