Plasma processing apparatus

Abstract

A plasma processing apparatus has a liquid storage vessel which is formed outside of a dielectric window and in which a plasma-exciting coil or electrode is placed inside and moreover in which an electrically insulative liquid is stored in the inside of the liquid storage vessel, as well as a cooling unit and a heating unit for the liquid. Temperature of the liquid stored in the liquid storage portion is adjusted, by which temperature of the plasma-exciting coil or electrode and the dielectric window is controlled via the liquid.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to plasma processing apparatuses such as dry etching apparatuses and plasma CVD apparatuses to be used for the manufacture of semiconductor or other thin-film circuits and electronic components or boards on which those electronic circuits and others are to be mounted. [0002] Conventionally, as one of the plasma processing apparatuses to be used for the manufacture of semiconductor or other thin-film circuits, electronic components, or boards, there has been a plasma processing apparatus of the RF (Radio Frequency) plasma excitation method in which RF power is applied to a plasma-exciting coil or electrode positioned outside a vacuum vessel to excite a plasma in the vacuum vessel, and plasma processing is performed on a substrate (work piece) set within the vacuum vessel with the excited plasma. The plasma processing apparatus of this method is so designed with an RF magnetic field generated outside of the vacuum vessel...

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Benefits of technology

[0059] Further, since the liquid temperature adjusting unit is placed outside the liquid storage portion and since the plasma processing apparatus further comprises a liquid flow passage communicated with the liquid storage portion and a liquid circulating unit for circulating the electrically insulative liquid through the liquid flow passage, the degree of freedom for the installation of the liquid temperature adjusting unit can be enhanced, so that the cooling or heating performance can be enhanced. As such a liquid temperature adjusting unit shown above, applicable are commercially available articles called chiller, circulator or thermostat, producing an advantage of high availability.

[0060] Further, the liquid storage portion has a generally closed small capacity so that the storage volume of the electrically insulative liquid (e.g., electrically insulative fluorine inert oil or organic oils) to be stored in the liquid storage portion is made small, thus allowing the cost therefor to be reduced. Also, such a small capacity of the liquid storage portion makes it unlikely to occur that the stored electrically insulative liquid may leak. Further, in the heat exchange unit, the fluid to be stored so as to be separable from the electrically insulative liquid may be a fluid having no electrically insulation property, e.g. water (one other than pure water), instead of the electrically insulative liquid, allowing the cost required for the electrically insulative liquid to be reduced also from such a viewpoint.

[0061] Further, since there is no need for providing the liquid temperature adjusting unit of separate installation outside the liquid storage portion, th

Problems solved by technology

Repeated execution and halt of plasma processing shown above causes the atmosphere within the plasma processing region R to be unstable (unsteady), and increasing a thickness of the deposited film with increasing number of times of processing leads to change of the atmosphere.

This gives rise to an issue that plasma processing of high repeatability cannot be implemented.

Further, repeating such plasma processing and plasma halt causes the quartz of the bell jar 502 and the deposited fil

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