Plasma processing equipment, gas spray head and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to a gas spray head and its manufacturing method, and a plasma processing device. The gas spray head (4) installed on the top of the vacuum reaction chamber (1) of the plasma processing device includes a spray head base (401) and a nozzle assembly (44) installed in a large-diameter through hole (402) in the spray head base (401). The spray head base (401) is manufactured by coating the surface of an aluminum material with yttrium oxide paint. By adding the nozzle assembly (44), the original fine hole in the spray head base (401) is changed into a large-diameter through hole (402) for mounting the nozzle assembly (44). After using the large-diameter through hole (402), it is easy to coat the inner surface of the large-diameter through hole (402) with anticorrosion paint, and the anticorrosion paint is uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the large-diameter through hole (402), and the anticorrosion paint is adhered to the inner surface of the large-diameter through hole (402).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of semiconductors, and more particularly to plasma processing equipment, gas spray heads and methods of manufacture thereof. [Background technology]

[0002] The plasma processing equipment includes a reaction chamber, a gas spray head is installed as an upper electrode on the top of the reaction chamber, and a substrate holder is installed as a lower electrode inside the reaction chamber, and the upper and lower electrodes access a high frequency source to generate a high frequency electromagnetic field between the upper and lower electrodes, and the reaction gas that enters the reaction chamber by the gas spray head is ionized into plasma by the high frequency electromagnetic field, and the plasma performs a treatment process on the substrate installed on the substrate holder. In order to obtain a uniformly distributed gas, a large number of fine holes are usually installed in the gas spray head. In addition, since the gas spray head, which is the upper electrode, needs to access high frequency, the material of the gas spray head is often a metal conductive material or a semiconductor material such as single crystal silicon or silicon carbide. However, gas spray heads made of single crystal silicon or silicon carbide are expensive. In order to reduce costs, currently, a process is generally adopted in which an aluminum-based matrix is ​​used to process micro-holes, and then the aluminum-based matrix is ​​coated with yttrium oxide paint to make a gas spray head. Such a gas spray head can greatly reduce the manufacturing cost of the parts, but it is difficult for the yttrium oxide coating to completely cover the micropores of the gas spray head, and the bonding effect between the yttrium oxide coating and the aluminum-based matrix in these micropores is very poor. During the plasma etching reaction, these yttrium oxide coating particles are easily dropped off from the micropores, causing process pollution.

[0003] It should be noted that what has been described herein provides only background art related to the present invention and does not necessarily constitute prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention aims to provide a plasma processing equipment and a gas spray head thereof, and a manufacturing method thereof, which can distribute the anticorrosive coating uniformly on the surface of the spray head base, and not only ensure excellent processability without increasing costs, but also prevent the anticorrosive coating from falling off and reduce process contamination.

[0005] In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a spray head base having a plurality of through holes; A gas spray head for use with a plasma processing device is provided, the gas spray head including a plurality of nozzle assemblies including a nozzle and a plug, one of the nozzle assemblies being housed within one of the through holes, the nozzle being disposed within the through hole and having a recess, the plug being disposed within the recess, and a bottom of the nozzle having a plurality of exhaust holes, and a gas passage communicating with the exhaust holes being formed between the nozzle and the plug.

[0006] The bottom surface of the nozzle is an arc surface, the exhaust hole is located on the arc surface, and the bottom shape of the plug matches with the recess.

[0007] The nozzle and the plug are both made of a ceramic material.

[0008] The outer surface of the plug has at least one protrusion, and when the plug is placed in the recess, the protrusion abuts an inner wall of the recess, forming the gas passage between the outer wall of the plug and the inner wall of the recess.

[0009] The nozzle uses yttrium oxide ceramics.

[0010] The plug is a solid ceramic material, and protrusions are provided on both the outer wall and the bottom of the plug, so that the gas passages are formed between the outer wall of the plug and the inner wall of the recess, and between the bottom of the plug and the bottom of the recess.

[0011] A connecting groove is provided on the inner wall of the recess, the number of the connecting grooves is the same as the number of the protrusions provided on the outer wall of the plug, the installation positions of the connecting grooves correspond to the protrusions provided on the outer wall of the plug, and the depth of the connecting grooves is smaller than the protruding height of the protrusions on the outer wall of the plug.

[0012] The connecting groove includes a through groove and a locking groove which communicate with each other, one end of the through groove is closed and the other end extends to the top of the recess, both ends of the locking groove are closed ends, and the length of the locking groove matches the length of the protrusion installed on the outer wall of the plug.

[0013] The plug is made of a porous ceramic material, the protrusion is provided at the bottom of the plug, the gas passage is formed between the bottom of the plug and the bottom of the recess, the outer wall of the plug is in close contact with the inner wall of the recess, and voids in the porous ceramic material communicate with the gas passage.

[0014] The exhaust holes are symmetrically and uniformly distributed on the bottom arc surface of the nozzle.

[0015] The inner diameter of the through hole is greater than 10 mm.

[0016] The spray head base is made of an aluminum material, and the surface of the aluminum material is coated with a corrosion-resistant paint.

[0017] The material of the corrosion-resistant coating includes yttrium oxide.

[0018] The exhaust hole has a diameter of 0.3 mm to 2 mm.

[0019] The outer diameter of the nozzle is equal to the inner diameter of the through hole.

[0020] The width of the gas passage is 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

[0021] A seal ring is disposed between the nozzle and the spray head base.

[0022] The present invention further provides a method for manufacturing the gas spray head, A spray head base is machined using an aluminum material, a plurality of through holes are machined in the spray head base, and a yttrium oxide coating is applied to all surfaces of the spray head base; fabricating a nozzle and a plug using a ceramic material and assembling the nozzle and the plug into a nozzle assembly; Mounting each nozzle assembly within a through hole in the spray head base.

[0023] The present invention further provides a plasma processing apparatus including a vacuum reaction chamber having a base mounted therein for supporting a substrate and further having the gas spray head mounted therein, the gas spray head being connected to a gas source by a mounting base.

[0024] The mounting base is connected to a spray head base, and a gap is formed between the mounting base and the plug, and both ends of the gap communicate with a gas source and a gas passage, respectively.

[0025] The plasma processing equipment is a capacitively coupled plasma etching equipment.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0027] In the gas spray head and its manufacturing method provided by the present invention, the spray head base is manufactured by coating / depositing yttrium oxide coating on the surface of an aluminum alloy. By adding a gas nozzle assembly and attaching it to the large-diameter through-hole of the spray head base, the characteristics of the fine holes of the conventional gas spray head can be avoided. By using a spray head base with a large-diameter through-hole, the anticorrosive coating can be easily coated / deposited within the hole diameter, and the anticorrosive coating can be uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the large-diameter through-hole, and the anticorrosive coating can be adhered to the inner surface of the large-diameter through-hole. Such a novel gas spray head not only ensures excellent processability, but also avoids the problem that the anticorrosive coating in the fine holes is easily dropped off, and reduces process pollution. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0028] [Figure 1] 1 is a structural schematic diagram of a capacitively coupled plasma etching equipment in one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the gas spray head in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the gas spray head in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the gas spray head in FIG. 2. [Diagram 5] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the nozzle in FIG. 2. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a gas spray head in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 7 is a cross-sectional view of the CC plane in FIG. 6. [Figure 8] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the plug in FIG. 6. [Figure 9] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the nozzle in FIG. 6. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a gas spray head in another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the DD plane in FIG. [Figure 12]FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the plug structure in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention provides a capacitively coupled plasma etching apparatus including a vacuum reaction chamber 1 having a base 3 therein for supporting a substrate 2 and further having a gas spray head 4 on top connected to a gas source 6 by a mounting base 5.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5, the gas spray head 4 includes a spray head base 401 connected to the mounting substrate 5. The spray head base 401 is made of an aluminum material and has a plurality of through holes 402. The entire surface of the aluminum material of the spray head base 401 (including the inner surface of the through holes 402) is coated with a corrosion-resistant coating, for example, a yttrium oxide coating. The inner diameter of the through hole 402 is larger than 10 mm, which makes it easy to coat the inner surface of the through hole 402 with a corrosion-resistant coating, and the corrosion-resistant coating is uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the through hole 402, which makes the corrosion-resistant coating adhere to the inner surface of the through hole 402, thereby avoiding the contamination problem caused by the fall-off of the corrosion-resistant coating. Each nozzle assembly 44 is accommodated in each of the through holes 402 in the spray head base 401. The nozzle assembly 44 includes a nozzle 403 and a plug 404 installed in the nozzle 403. The nozzle 403 is disposed in the through hole 402, the outer diameter of the nozzle 403 is equal to the inner diameter of the through hole 402, and a rubber seal ring 408 is disposed between the nozzle 403 and the spray head base 401, the rubber seal ring 408 can ensure that the reaction gas does not flow out of the through hole 402 and all of the reaction gas is ejected from the nozzle 403, and the compressed rubber seal ring 408 can press the nozzle 403 to fix the nozzle 403 to the spray head base 401. The nozzle 403 has a recess 405, the plug 404 is disposed in the recess 405, a gas passage 407 is formed between the plug 404 and the nozzle 403, and the bottom of the nozzle 403 has a number of exhaust holes 406, and the gas passage 407 is connected to the exhaust hole 406. A gap 409 is formed between the plug 404 and the mounting substrate 5, and both ends of the gap 409 are connected to a gas source 6 and a gas passage 407, respectively, so that the reaction gas from the gas source 6 is introduced into the gas passage 407 in the gas spray head through the gap 409. Finally, the reaction gas is discharged into the vacuum reaction chamber 1 through the exhaust hole 406 connected to the gas passage 407.The bottom surface of the nozzle 403 is arranged like an arc surface, and the exhaust holes 406 are arranged on the arc surface (see FIG. 5), and the exhaust holes 406 are symmetrically and uniformly distributed on the bottom of the arc surface of the nozzle 403. By arranging the exhaust holes 406 on the arc surface, the reactive gas discharged from the exhaust holes 405 can be more uniformly distributed around the circumference, and the uniformity of the gas distribution in the vacuum reaction chamber can be improved. The diameter range of the exhaust holes 406 is 0.3 mm to 2 mm, and preferably 0.5 mm. The exhaust holes 406 are fine holes with a small hole diameter, so that the reactive gas discharged from the exhaust holes 406 can be controlled and the uniformity of the reactive gas discharge can be guaranteed. The shape of the bottom of the plug 404 and the shape of the recess 405 in the nozzle 403 match (correspond), so that a gas passage 407 with a uniform width is formed between the plug 404 and the nozzle 403. If the gap between the plug 404 and the nozzle 403 is too large, plasma arcs are likely to occur, destroying the device structure, so it is necessary to control the width of the gas passage 407 formed between the plug 404 and the nozzle 403. The width of the gas passage 407 is usually set to 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm, and within this narrow width range, it is possible to avoid plasma arcs occurring between the plug 404 and the nozzle 403. The nozzle 403 and the plug 404 are both made of ceramic materials, and the nozzle 403 is often made of yttrium oxide ceramics, and the thickness of the nozzle 403 is generally processed to 1 mm to 5 mm. The nozzle 403 of such a thickness size is easy to process and satisfies the requirement of rigidity, and less material is used for the nozzle 403 with a thin wall thickness, which can save costs.

[0032] By adding a nozzle assembly, the present invention changes the original fine holes in the spray head base to large-diameter through holes for mounting the nozzle assembly. After using the large-diameter through holes, it is easy to coat the inner surface of the large-diameter through holes with anti-corrosion coating, the anti-corrosion coating is uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the large-diameter through holes, and the anti-corrosion coating is adhered to the inner surface of the large-diameter through holes, thereby preventing the anti-corrosion coating from falling off inside the through holes and reducing process contamination.

[0033] The plug 404 may be made of different ceramic materials depending on the needs of the process environment, for example a solid ceramic material, or may be made of a porous ceramic material, for example, with voids in the porous ceramic material itself forming gas passageways.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 9, in one embodiment of the present invention, the plug 404 is made of a solid ceramic material, such as aluminum oxide, yttrium oxide, aluminum nitride, etc., and any material that is resistant to plasma corrosion may be used to fabricate the plug 404. The plug 404 has protrusions 410 on both its outer wall and bottom, for example, two protrusions 410 may be symmetrically arranged on the outer wall of the plug 404, or three protrusions 410 may be arranged at intervals from each other, but one protrusion 410 is arranged in the middle of the bottom of the plug. Accordingly, a connecting groove 411 is arranged on the inner wall of the recess 405 of the nozzle 403, the number of the connecting grooves 411 is the same as the number of the protrusions 410 arranged on the outer wall of the plug 404, and the arrangement positions of the connecting grooves 411 correspond to the protrusions 410 arranged on the outer wall of the plug 404. The connecting groove 411 includes a through groove 411-1 and a locking groove 411-2 that communicate with each other. The through groove 411-1 has one end closed and the other end extending to the top of the recess 405, both ends of the locking groove 411-2 are closed ends, and the length of the locking groove 411-2 matches (corresponds to) the length of the protrusion 410 installed on the outer wall of the plug 404. When the plug 404 is placed in the recess 405 of the nozzle 403, the protrusion 410 on the outer wall of the plug 404 slides from the through groove 411-1 on the inner wall of the recess 405 to the connection groove 411, and then the plug 404 is rotated to engage the protrusion 410 on the outer wall of the plug 404 with the locking groove 411-2, at which time the plug 404 and the nozzle 403 are securely connected. By making the protruding height of the protruding portion 410 on the outer wall of the plug 404 larger than the depth of the connecting groove 411, the gas passage 407 can be formed between the outer wall of the plug 404 and the inner wall of the recess 405 and between the bottom of the plug 404 and the bottom of the recess 405. The gas passage 407 is formed between the plug 404 and the nozzle 403 by the protruding portion 410, and it is possible to prevent local clogging due to direct contact between the nozzle 403 and the plug 404.

[0035] As shown in FIGS. 10-12, in another embodiment of the present invention, the plug 404 uses a porous ceramic material, such as aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, and the like. When the plug 404 is made of a porous ceramic material, the voids naturally present in the plug 404 can be used as internal gas passages. Therefore, in this embodiment, the protrusion 410 installed on the outer wall of the plug 404 may be omitted, and the protrusion 410 may be installed only on the bottom of the plug 404. One end of the internal gas passage naturally present in the plug 404 communicates with the gap 409 between the mounting substrate 5 and the other end communicates with the gas passage 407 formed between the bottom of the plug 404 and the bottom of the recess 405. Accordingly, the outer wall of the plug 404 and the inner wall of the recess 405 can be directly attached to each other and installed, thereby eliminating the gas passage 407 formed between the outer wall of the plug 404 and the inner wall of the recess 405. Thus, the processing difficulty of the plug 404 can be reduced, and the processing time of the plug 404 can be shortened.

[0036] In the gas spray head provided by the present invention, the spray head base still uses the manufacturing method of coating the surface of aluminum material with yttrium oxide coating, and the nozzle assembly is added to change the original fine hole in the spray head base into a large-diameter through hole for mounting the nozzle assembly, and after using the large-diameter through hole, it is easy to coat the inner surface of the large-diameter through hole with anticorrosion coating, and the anticorrosion coating is uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the large-diameter through hole, and the anticorrosion coating is adhered to the inner surface of the large-diameter through hole. This novel gas spray head not only ensures good processability without increasing costs, but also avoids the fall-off of the anticorrosion coating in the through hole and reduces process pollution.

[0037] The present invention further provides a method for manufacturing a gas spray head, which includes first processing a spray head base using an aluminum material, and then processing a number of through holes in the spray head base, the inner diameter size of the through holes being greater than 10mm, and the large diameter hole is easy to coat the inner surface of the through holes with anti-corrosion coating, and after the processing of all the through holes is completed, the entire surface of the spray head base is coated with yttrium oxide coating, and the anti-corrosion coating is uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the large diameter through holes, and the anti-corrosion coating can be adhered to the inner surface of the large diameter through holes. The nozzle assembly can be manufactured while the spray head base is manufactured, and the nozzle and plug are formed by machining and molding after sintering using yttrium oxide ceramics, and the plug is then inserted into the nozzle accordingly to be combined with the nozzle assembly. Finally, each nozzle assembly is installed in the through hole in the spray head base, and a rubber seal ring is installed between the nozzle and the spray head base, thereby completing the manufacture of the entire gas spray head.

[0038] In the gas spray head and its manufacturing method provided by the present invention, the spray head base is manufactured by coating / depositing yttrium oxide coating on the surface of an aluminum alloy. By adding a gas nozzle assembly and attaching it to the large-diameter through-hole of the spray head base, the characteristics of the fine holes of the conventional gas spray head can be avoided. By using a spray head base with a large-diameter through-hole, the anticorrosive coating can be easily coated / deposited within the hole diameter, and the anticorrosive coating can be uniformly distributed on the inner surface of the large-diameter through-hole, and the anticorrosive coating can be adhered to the inner surface of the large-diameter through-hole. Such a novel gas spray head not only ensures excellent processability, but also avoids the problem that the anticorrosive coating in the fine holes is easily dropped off, and reduces process pollution.

[0039] In the embodiments of the present invention, the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", "axial", "radial", "circumferential" and the like are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings and are for ease of explanation of the embodiments, but do not indicate or suggest that such devices or elements have a particular orientation or must be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore should not be construed as steps that limit the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", and "third" are used for explanatory purposes only and cannot be understood as steps that indicate or suggest relative importance.

[0040] In the present invention, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "attached", "connected", "coupled", "fixed" and the like should be understood in a broad sense, for example, may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection, may be a mechanical connection, may be an electrical connection, may be a direct connection, may be an indirect connection via an intermediate medium, may be a communication inside two elements, or may be an interactive relationship between two elements. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention according to the specific situation.

[0041] Although the contents of the present invention have been described in detail in the above preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above. After reading the above contents, various modifications and replacements to the present invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be limited by the appended claims.

Claims

1. a spray head base having a plurality of through holes; a plurality of nozzle assemblies including a nozzle and a plug, wherein one nozzle assembly is housed within one of the through holes, the nozzle is disposed within the through hole and has a recess, the plug is disposed within the recess, and a bottom of the nozzle has a plurality of exhaust holes, and a gas passage communicating with the exhaust holes is formed between the nozzle and the plug.

2. The bottom surface of the nozzle is an arc surface, The exhaust hole is disposed on the arc surface, 2. The gas spray head of claim 1, wherein the bottom shape of the plug matches the recess.

3. 3. The gas spray head according to claim 2, wherein the nozzle and the plug are both made of a ceramic material.

4. the outer surface of the plug has at least one protrusion; 4. The gas spray head of claim 3, wherein when the plug is positioned in the recess, the protrusion abuts an inner wall of the recess, and the gas passage is formed between an outer wall of the plug and an inner wall of the recess.

5. 4. The gas spray head of claim 3, wherein the nozzle uses yttrium oxide ceramics.

6. the plug being a solid ceramic material; The plug has a protrusion on both the outer wall and the bottom thereof; 5. The gas spray head of claim 4, wherein the gas passages are formed between an outer wall of the plug and an inner wall of the recess and between a bottom of the plug and a bottom of the recess.

7. A connecting groove is provided on the inner wall of the recess; The number of the connecting grooves is equal to the number of the protrusions on the outer wall of the plug; The connecting groove is located at a position corresponding to a protrusion on the outer wall of the plug; The gas spray head according to claim 6, wherein the depth of the connecting groove is smaller than the protruding height of the protrusion on the outer wall of the plug.

8. The connection groove includes a through groove and a locking groove that communicate with each other, The through groove has one end closed and the other end extending to the top of the recess, The gas spray head according to claim 7, characterized in that the locking groove has both closed ends and a length that matches the length of the protrusion installed on the outer wall of the plug.

9. the plug is a porous ceramic material; A protrusion is provided at the bottom of the plug; The gas passage is formed in a bottom of the plug and a bottom of the recess, the outer wall of the plug is in intimate contact with the inner wall of the recess; 5. The gas spray head according to claim 4, wherein voids in the porous ceramic material communicate with the gas passages.

10. The gas spray head according to claim 2, wherein the exhaust holes are symmetrically and uniformly distributed on the bottom of the arc surface of the nozzle.

11. The gas spray head of claim 1, wherein the inner diameter of the through hole is greater than 10 mm.

12. 2. The gas spray head according to claim 1, wherein the spray head base is made of an aluminum material, and a surface of the aluminum material is coated with a corrosion-resistant paint.

13. 13. The gas spray head of claim 12, wherein the material of the corrosion resistant coating comprises yttrium oxide.

14. 2. The gas spray head of claim 1, wherein the exhaust hole has a diameter of 0.3 mm to 2 mm.

15. 2. The gas spray head of claim 1, wherein an outer diameter of the nozzle is equal to an inner diameter of the through hole.

16. 2. The gas spray head of claim 1, wherein the width of the gas passage is 0.1 mm to 0.3 mm.

17. 2. The gas spray head of claim 1, further comprising a seal ring disposed between the nozzle and the spray head base.

18. A spray head base is machined using an aluminum material, a plurality of through holes are machined in the spray head base, and a yttrium oxide coating is applied to all surfaces of the spray head base; fabricating a nozzle and a plug using a ceramic material and assembling the nozzle and the plug into a nozzle assembly; A method of manufacturing a gas spray head according to any preceding claim, comprising the step of mounting each nozzle assembly within a through hole in the spray head base.

19. 18. A plasma processing apparatus comprising a vacuum reaction chamber having mounted therein a base for supporting a substrate and further comprising a gas spray head according to any one of claims 1 to 17 mounted therein and connected to a gas source by a mounting base.

20. The mounting substrate is connected to a spray head base, and a gap is formed between the mounting substrate and the plug; 20. The plasma processing equipment of claim 19, wherein opposite ends of the gap communicate with a gas source and a gas passage, respectively.

21. 20. The plasma processing equipment of claim 19, wherein the plasma processing equipment is a capacitively coupled plasma etching equipment.

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