Plasma generating device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a plasma generating device, which comprises a dielectric cylinder, a coil and a lining, and is characterized in that the axial first end part of the dielectric cylinder is connected with a cover plate, and the second end part of the dielectric cylinder is communicated with a cavity; the coil is wound outside the medium cylinder; the lining is arranged on the inner side of the medium cylinder and extends along the inner wall of the medium cylinder, so that at least part of the inner wall of the medium cylinder is shielded by the lining in the radial direction. According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the invention, the service life of the medium cylinder can be prolonged, the consumption and maintenance requirements of equipment are reduced, and the high etching rate is ensured and maintained.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of semiconductor equipment, and in particular to a plasma generating device. Background Art

[0002] The dielectric material has excellent dielectric properties, mechanical strength and corrosion resistance. In order to reduce the contamination of the wafer by the byproducts generated in the chamber during the process, the dielectric tube is generally made of dielectric material. When the coil is fed with energy, the plasma concentration is the highest in the area corresponding to the coil. The ions will bombard the dielectric tube, and the strong chemical activity of the excited free radicals will increase the corrosion of the dielectric tube. Especially in the process using hydrogen, the dielectric tube will be consumed quickly, resulting in increased costs and long equipment downtime for maintenance. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a plasma generating device to solve or alleviate one or more technical problems in the prior art.

[0004] As one aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a plasma generating device, comprising:

[0005] A medium cylinder, wherein a first axial end of the medium cylinder is connected to the cover plate, and a second axial end of the medium cylinder is communicated with the chamber;

[0006] A coil, wound around the dielectric cylinder;

[0007] The liner is arranged on the inner side of the medium cylinder and extends along the inner wall of the medium cylinder so that the inner wall of the medium cylinder is at least partially shielded by the liner in the radial direction.

[0008] In one embodiment, the liner is a cylindrical structure formed by stacking a plurality of annular parts in sequence along the axial direction of the medium cylinder, and the diameter of the annular parts is smaller than the inner diameter of the medium cylinder.

[0009] In one embodiment, two axial ends of the annular part are respectively provided with protrusions or notches of matching shapes; any two annular parts are connected by the protrusion of one of them matching with the notch of the other.

[0010] In one embodiment, the chamber is connected to the medium cylinder via a first sinker, and a sealing ring is provided between the first sinker and the medium cylinder.

[0011] In one embodiment, the chamber is connected to the liner via a second sinking platform, and the sinking depth of the second sinking platform is greater than the sinking depth of the first sinking platform.

[0012] In one embodiment, the protrusion or the notch is arranged on a side close to the center of the medium cartridge.

[0013] In one embodiment, the liner is made of ceramic.

[0014] In one embodiment, the thickness of the annular part is between 1 and 10 mm.

[0015] In one embodiment, the gap between the annular component and the inner wall of the dielectric cylinder is smaller than the thickness of the plasma sheath.

[0016] As one aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a plasma etching device, including the plasma generating device provided by any one of the embodiments.

[0017] The disclosed embodiment adopts the above technical solution to protect the dielectric cylinder, reduce equipment consumption, and ensure and maintain a high etching rate.

[0018] The above summary is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments and features described above, further aspects, embodiments and features of the present disclosure will be readily apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In the accompanying drawings, unless otherwise specified, the same reference numerals throughout the multiple drawings represent the same or similar parts or elements. These drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. It should be understood that these drawings only depict some embodiments provided according to the present disclosure and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of a plasma generating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 2 A partial enlarged view of a plasma generating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Description of reference numerals:

[0023] 1. Inlet pipe; 2. Cover plate; 3. Sealing ring; 4. Medium cylinder; 5. Coil; 6. Chamber; 61. Edge part; 7. Wafer; 8. Vacuum pump; 9. Lining; 91. Ring part; 92. Protrusion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In the following, only some exemplary embodiments are briefly described. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the described embodiments may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the drawings and descriptions are considered to be exemplary and non-restrictive in nature.

[0025] Figure 1 FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a plasma generating device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 As shown, the device comprises:

[0026] A medium cylinder 4, wherein a first axial end of the medium cylinder 4 is connected to the cover plate 2, and a second axial end of the medium cylinder 4 is connected to the chamber 6;

[0027] The coil 5 is wound around the dielectric cylinder 4;

[0028] The liner 9 is disposed on the inner side of the medium cylinder 4 , and extends along the inner wall of the medium cylinder 4 , so that the inner wall of the medium cylinder 4 is at least partially shielded by the liner 9 in the radial direction.

[0029] In the disclosed embodiment, the dielectric cylinder 4 may be a cylinder made of quartz, and a layer of lining 9 is installed on the inner wall of the dielectric cylinder 4, and the lining 9 completely blocks the inner wall of the cylinder in the radial direction. The lining 9 may extend from the first end of the dielectric cylinder 4 to the second end to completely block the inner wall of the dielectric cylinder 4 in the radial direction. The lining 9 may also be slightly shorter than the inner wall height of the dielectric cylinder 4 to block most of the inner wall of the dielectric cylinder 4. Quartz may be corroded in high temperature and chemical reaction environments, and the lining 9 provides a layer of protection, which can prevent plasma from directly contacting the quartz cylinder and reduce the loss and corrosion of the quartz material.

[0030] The cover plate 2 is connected to the medium cylinder 4 via a sealing ring 3 , and the cover plate 2 can be connected to the air intake pipeline 1 .

[0031] According to the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the service life of the medium cartridge 4 can be extended and the maintenance requirements of the equipment can be reduced.

[0032] In one embodiment, the liner 9 is a cylindrical structure formed by stacking a plurality of annular parts 91 in sequence along the axial direction of the medium cylinder 4 , and the diameter of the annular parts 91 is smaller than the inner diameter of the medium cylinder 4 .

[0033] In the disclosed embodiment, multiple annular parts 91 are stacked at a time to form an inner liner 9 tube, and the inner liner 9 tube is arranged inside the dielectric tube 4. By using a structure in which multiple annular parts 91 are stacked, the device can better manage heat. The high-temperature annular part 91 close to the coil 5 can quickly transfer heat to the adjacent low-temperature annular part 91, thereby achieving uniform heat distribution and avoiding local overheating.

[0034] According to the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, it is ensured that the temperature of the liner 9 is kept uniform during the entire etching process, which reduces the fluctuation of equipment performance caused by uneven temperature and improves the stability and repeatability of the process.

[0035] Since the annular parts 91 are independent, they can be installed or removed one by one, which simplifies the installation and maintenance process of the liner 9. The gaps between the annular parts 91 can alleviate the stress concentration caused by thermal expansion and reduce the risk of structural damage caused by temperature changes. The gaps between the annular parts 91 allow the etching gas to flow between the liner 9 and the inner wall of the dielectric cylinder 4, thereby improving the gas exchange efficiency during the etching process.

[0036] In one embodiment, two axial ends of the annular component 91 are respectively provided with protrusions 92 or notches of matching shapes; any two annular components 91 are connected by the protrusion 92 of one and the notch of the other.

[0037] In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the protrusions 92 or notches with matching shapes can be referred to as "maze structures". Any two annular parts 91 have matching maze structures, such as Figure 2 Through the cooperation between the protrusion 92 and the notch, the connection between the annular parts 91 is tighter, which reduces the chance of plasma leaking from the gap between the liner 9 and the medium cylinder 4 to the surface of the medium cylinder 4, and protects the medium cylinder 4 from direct bombardment of plasma.

[0038] The cooperation between the protrusion 92 and the notch can provide additional mechanical support, thereby enhancing the overall structural stability of the liner 9 .

[0039] This structure increases the contact surface between two adjacent annular parts 91, which can help disperse heat and avoid local overheating. Through the cooperation of the protrusion 92 and the notch, heat can be transferred between the annular parts 91 more quickly and evenly.

[0040] The tight connection reduces the risk of particles or contaminants entering the chamber 6 from the gap between the liner 9 and the medium cartridge 4 .

[0041] Possible implementations of the maze structure:

[0042] Protrusion-notch fit:

[0043] Each annular part 91 has a protrusion 92 and a notch with matching shapes at both axial ends. The cross section of the protrusion 92 can be square, hemispherical, triangular, trapezoidal or other suitable shapes, and the notch is correspondingly designed to accommodate the protrusion 92.

[0044] Screw connection:

[0045] The annular part 91 can be designed with a spiral groove or a spiral protrusion so that adjacent parts can be tightly connected through spiral motion, thereby providing better mechanical support.

[0046] Labyrinth grooves:

[0047] Labyrinth grooves are designed at the axial ends of the annular part 91, and adjacent parts are nested with each other through these grooves to form a labyrinth structure.

[0048] Tongue and groove connection:

[0049] A tongue-shaped protrusion and a groove-shaped notch are designed at the axial end of the annular part 91, which is similar to the tongue-and-groove connection method in carpentry, to ensure a tight fit between the parts.

[0050] Locking connection:

[0051] The design is similar to a lock structure, and the annular parts 91 are buckled together by the lock to ensure a tight and stable connection.

[0052] Wave Design:

[0053] The plane of the axial end of the annular part 91 is designed to be wavy, and adjacent parts are nested with each other through the wavy concave-convex structure to form a labyrinth structure.

[0054] According to the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, by increasing the connection complexity and tightness between the annular parts 91, the isolation of the plasma is ensured, the stability and gas sealing of the structure are enhanced, and the pollution and heat management problems are reduced.

[0055] In one embodiment, the chamber 6 is connected to the medium cylinder 4 via a first sinking platform, and a sealing ring 3 is provided between the first sinking platform and the medium cylinder 4 .

[0056] In the disclosed embodiment, a circular opening is provided at the upper portion of the chamber 6, the size of the opening matches the medium cylinder 4, a first sinking platform is provided at the edge portion 61 of the chamber 6 beside the opening, the second end portion of the medium cylinder 4 is connected to the first sinking platform, and a sealing ring 3 is provided between the first sinking platform and the medium cylinder 4. The first sinking platform is obtained by sinking the upper surface of the edge portion 61 to a certain depth toward the lower surface on the opposite side.

[0057] In one embodiment, the chamber 6 is connected to the liner 9 via a second sinking platform, and the sinking depth of the second sinking platform is greater than the sinking depth of the first sinking platform.

[0058] In the disclosed embodiment, the edge portion 61 of the chamber 6 is further provided with a second sinking platform, which is arranged on one side of the first sinking platform close to the opening center. The sinking depth of the second sinking platform is greater than the sinking depth of the first sinking platform, so that the lower end of the liner 9 exceeds the lower end of the dielectric tube 4, better shielding the dielectric tube 4, and further preventing the dielectric tube 4 from being bombarded by plasma.

[0059] In one embodiment, the protrusion 92 or the notch is disposed on a side close to the center of the medium cylinder 4 .

[0060] In one embodiment, the lining 9 is made of ceramic material.

[0061] The ceramic lining 9 withstands the bombardment and chemical corrosion of the plasma, thereby ensuring that the dielectric cylinder 4 is not consumed. Ceramic materials such as aluminum oxide (Al2O3), aluminum nitride (AlN), beryllium oxide (BeO) or silicon nitride (Si3N4) have excellent chemical stability. They react less with hydrogen and other reactive gases (such as oxygen, fluorine, etc.), reduce composite consumption, and maintain a high concentration of active substances in the plasma. In addition, the ceramic material has excellent electrical insulation properties, which can effectively isolate the electric field interference between the plasma and the quartz cylinder, reduce the charge loss in the plasma, and increase the concentration of active substances in the plasma.

[0062] In one embodiment, the thickness of the annular part 91 is between 1 and 10 mm.

[0063] In the disclosed embodiment, a ceramic annular part 91 (hereinafter referred to as a ceramic ring) is used as the lining 9, and its thickness directly affects the penetration of the high-frequency magnetic field and the generation efficiency of the plasma. A thinner ceramic ring can reduce the loss of the high-frequency magnetic field in the material, thereby improving the energy coupling efficiency. In order to reduce the impact on the energy coupling efficiency of the coil 5, the thickness of the ceramic ring is as small as possible, which can be between 1 and 10 mm. In this way, more energy can be transferred to the plasma, thereby improving the generation efficiency of the plasma and the etching rate.

[0064] In one embodiment, the gap between the annular part 91 and the inner wall of the dielectric cylinder 4 is smaller than the thickness of the plasma sheath.

[0065] In the disclosed embodiment, the plasma shell refers to a thin plasma region formed between the plasma and the inner wall of the dielectric tube 4. By controlling the gap between the outer wall of the ceramic ring and the inner wall of the dielectric tube 4, the thickness and stability of the plasma shell can be affected. A smaller gap can prevent the plasma shell from being too thick, reducing the direct contact between the plasma and the dielectric tube 4. The gap between the outer wall of the ceramic ring and the inner wall of the dielectric tube 4 can be smaller than the thickness of the plasma shell, for example, between 0.1 and 3 mm. The chance of direct contact of the plasma with the dielectric tube 4 can be effectively reduced, protecting the dielectric tube 4 from plasma bombardment and corrosion. On the other hand, thin ceramic rings and smaller gaps can help better manage heat and reduce the risk of local overheating. It can also ensure that under plasma conditions, after the temperature of each part changes, there will be no interference between the parts, and no particles will be generated due to friction.

[0066] According to the solution of the embodiment of the present disclosure, through the above-mentioned technical means, the dielectric tube 4 can be protected by the lining 9 without significantly affecting the energy coupling efficiency of the coil 5, thereby improving the etching efficiency, stabilizing the plasma, reducing pollution, and reducing the maintenance cost of the equipment.

[0067] The plasma generating device provided in any embodiment of the present disclosure can be applied to a plasma etching device, such as Figure 1 As shown, the plasma etching device also includes: an air intake pipeline 1 and a vacuum pump 8.

[0068] The air inlet pipe 1 extends into the medium cylinder 4 through the cover plate 2, and the medium cylinder 4 is sealed and connected to the cover plate 2. A support table for placing the wafer 7 is provided inside the chamber 6, and a vacuum pump 8 is provided at the bottom of the chamber 6. The cover plate 2, the medium cylinder 4, and the chamber 6 together define a vacuum chamber.

[0069] The RF energy is fed into the coil 5 antenna, coupled to the vacuum chamber through the dielectric tube 4, and the process gas in the vacuum chamber 6 is excited into plasma. For processes containing hydrogen, hydrogen will form active hydrogen atoms or hydrogen ions in the plasma. These active substances can react chemically with other gases or sample surfaces, causing the dielectric tube 4 to be consumed quickly, resulting in increased costs.

[0070] Since the plasma excitation region is far away from the wafer 7 , in order to ensure that the concentration of excited components can reach the surface of the wafer 7 , a relatively large power is used to excite and generate plasma.

[0071] Other components of the plasma etching device in the above-mentioned embodiment may be adopted from various technical solutions known to ordinary technicians in this field now and in the future, and will not be described in detail here.

[0072] In the description of this specification, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present disclosure and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the referred device or element must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present disclosure.

[0073] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present disclosure, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0074] In the present disclosure, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", "connected", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection, an electrical connection, or a communication; it can be a direct connection, or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, it can be the internal connection of two elements or the interaction relationship between two elements. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present disclosure can be understood according to specific circumstances.

[0075] In the present disclosure, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, a first feature being “above” or “below” a second feature may include that the first and second features are in direct contact, or may include that the first and second features are not in direct contact but are in contact through another feature between them. Moreover, a first feature being “above”, “above”, and “above” a second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature being “below”, “below”, and “below” a second feature includes that the first feature is directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is lower in level than the second feature.

[0076] The disclosure above provides many different embodiments or examples to realize different structures of the present disclosure. In order to simplify the disclosure of the present disclosure, the components and settings of specific examples are described above. Of course, they are only examples, and the purpose is not to limit the present disclosure. In addition, the present disclosure can repeat reference numbers and / or reference letters in different examples, and this repetition is for the purpose of simplification and clarity, and does not itself indicate the relationship between the various embodiments and / or settings discussed.

[0077] The above is only a specific implementation of the present disclosure, but the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present disclosure, which should be included in the protection scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A plasma generating device, comprising: A medium cylinder (4), wherein a first axial end of the medium cylinder (4) is connected to the cover plate (2), and a second end thereof is communicated with the chamber (6); A coil (5) wound around the dielectric cylinder (4); An inner liner (9) is arranged on the inner side of the medium cylinder (4), and the inner liner (9) extends along the inner wall of the medium cylinder (4), so that the inner wall of the medium cylinder (4) is at least partially shielded by the inner liner (9) in the radial direction.

2. The plasma generating device according to claim 1, wherein: The liner (9) is a cylindrical structure formed by stacking a plurality of annular parts (91) in sequence along the axial direction of the medium cylinder (4), and the diameter of the annular parts (91) is smaller than the inner diameter of the medium cylinder (4).

3. The plasma generating device according to claim 2, wherein: The two axial ends of the annular part (91) are respectively provided with protrusions (92) or notches of matching shapes; any two annular parts (91) are connected to each other through the protrusion (92) of one and the notch of the other.

4. The plasma generating device according to claim 1, wherein: The chamber (6) is connected to the medium cylinder (4) via a first sinking platform, and a sealing ring (3) is provided between the first sinking platform and the medium cylinder (4).

5. The plasma generating device according to claim 4, wherein: The chamber (6) is connected to the liner (9) via a second sinking platform, and the sinking depth of the second sinking platform is greater than the sinking depth of the first sinking platform.

6. The plasma generating device according to claim 1, wherein: The protrusion (92) or the notch is arranged on a side close to the center of the medium cylinder (4).

7. The plasma generating device according to claim 1, wherein: The inner lining (9) is made of ceramic material.

8. The plasma generating device according to claim 2, wherein: The thickness of the annular part (91) is between 1 and 10 mm.

9. The plasma generating device according to claim 2, wherein: The gap between the annular part (91) and the inner wall of the dielectric cylinder (4) is smaller than the thickness of the plasma shell.

10. A plasma etching device, comprising the plasma generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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