Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi-High-Technologies Corporation

Hironobu Kawahara

Yoshiaki Sato

Ryooji Fukuyama

Yoshimi Torii

Yoshinao Kawasaki

Kazuo Nojiri

Kazue Takahashi

Ken Yoshioka

Masayuki Kojima

Takashi Yamada

Saburou Kanai

Kazuyuki Suko

Michimasa Hunabashi

Keizo Kuroiwa

Yutaka Ohmoto

Yutaka Kakehi

Mitsuru Suehiro

Makoto Nawata

Ichiro Sasaki

Akira Kawaraya

Yoshie Sato

Hideyuki Kazumi

Hideyuki Yamamoto

Seiichiro Kanno

Kenji Maeda

Takashi Fujii

Saburo Kanai

Tsutomu Tetsuka

Katsuya Watanabe

Katsuyoshi Kudo

Kotaro Fujimoto

Tatehito Usui

Toshio Masuda

Motohiko Yoshigai

Noriaki Yamamoto

Minoru Soraoka

Hideki Kihara

Tadamitsu Kanekiyo

Masato Ikegawa

Youichi Itou

Masanori Kadotani

Masaharu Nishiumi

Yutaka Omoto

Tsuyoshi Yoshida

Kazuo Takata

Ryouji Hamasaki

Masatoshi Oyama

Yoshie Tanaka

Kado Hirobe

Yoshiyuki Ohta

Mitsuru Katamoto

Tsuyoshi Umemoto

Tooru Yukimasa

Hirofumi Kakutani

A plasma processing apparatus includes a high-frequency power source for applying bias power to an electrode on which a substrate is disposed, an insulating layer formed on a surface of the electrode, a conductive material buried within the insulating layer, a feeder line connecting the high-frequency power source and the conductive material, a variable capacitor provided in the feeder line, and a direct current power source connected to the electrode at a position between the electrode and the high-frequency power source. One portion of the insulating layer where the conductive material is buried formed on an outer part of the electrode has a thickness which is greater than a thickness of another portion of the insulating layer where the conducting material is not buried and which extends from a central part of the electrode to the one portion of the insulating layer.

Plasma processing apparatus and method

For a surface processing apparatus using a plasma, a mixed gas of a fluorine-containing gas and an oxygen gas is used as an ashing gas. A mixed gas of an oxygen gas and a fluorine-containing gas is introduced as an ashing gas. This allows the following steps to be carried out at the same time: removal of the silicon component left on the mask material surface and the mask material in the area including the cured mask layer and the like; and the removal of the carbon-based, and silicon-based deposits deposited on the inner wall of a vacuum chamber. In addition, the removal of the mask material is performed under low pressure, and in the subsequent step to a step using a mixed gas of a fluorine-containing gas and an oxygen gas, a plasma of only an oxygen gas is used. As a result, it becomes possible to reduce the damages (etching) to the film layer after etching.

Specimen surface processing apparatus and surface processing method

A plasma processing apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes an apparatus for applying bias powers to a substrate to be processed and a material adjacent to the substrate, an apparatus for adjusting a feeding impedance for the bias power applied to the material, and an apparatus for adjusting feeding impedances for the bias powers to a plurality of positions on the substrate so as to make electrons projected to the substrate from the plasma uniform within a surface of the substrate.

Plasma processing apparatus

Disclosed is apparatus for treating samples, and a method of using the apparatus. The apparatus includes processing apparatus (a) for treating the samples (e.g., plasma etching apparatus), (b) for removing residual corrosive compounds formed by the sample treatment, (c) for wet-processing of the samples and (d) for dry-processing the samples. A plurality of wet-processing treatments of a sample can be performed. The wet-processing apparatus can include a plurality of wet-processing stations. The samples can either be passed in series through the plurality of wet-processing stations, or can be passed in parallel through the wet-processing stations.

Method and apparatus for processing samples

A plasma etching method of a wafer includes the steps of electrostatically attracting the wafer which has a gate oxide film onto a wafer mounting electrode in a vacuum processing chamber, introducing a mixed gas into the vacuum processing chamber on the basis of an etching recipe, generating a magnetic field inside the vacuum processing chamber, generating a plasma in the vacuum processing chamber, applying a bias power to the wafer to accelerate ions in the plasma toward the wafer, and setting an impedance of a portion of the wafer mounting electrode which corresponds to an outer periphery of the wafer as viewed from a bias power supply to a value which is greater than that of a center portion of the wafer mounting electrode using an electrode arranged within the wafer mounting electrode at a position corresponding to the outer periphery of the wafer and formed under an insulating film for electrostatically attracting the wafer.

Apparatus and method for plasma processing high-speed semiconductor circuits with increased yield

A plasma processing apparatus and a plasma processing method for processing a wafer of a large diameter to produce a high speed semiconductor circuit at a high yield are provided. A thickness of an insulating film formed on a surface of an electrode opposing to a substrate to be processed is locally changed, an electrode is provided in the insulating film and a bypassed bias current is supplied to the electrode. An electrode is provided in an insulating film on a surface of the electrode opposing to a material adjacent to the substrate to be processed and a bypassed bias current is supplied to the electrode.

A plasma processing apparatus has a vacuum vessel, a processing chamber arranged in the vacuum vessel and supplied with gas, a support electrode arranged in the processing chamber to support an object to be processed, a radio frequency providing unit for supplying a radio frequency in UHF or VHF band, and a magnetic field generating unit for generating a magnetic field in the processing chamber, wherein the radio frequency providing unit includes an antenna having a groove or step formed in its surface opposing the process object, whereby plasma of high density and high uniformity can be generated in a wide parameter region.

A wafer processing apparatus comprising a wafer stage, wherein a semiconductor wafer is mounted on the wafer stage so as to process the semiconductor wafer, wherein a holding mechanism of the wafer stage is commonly used for a plurality of wafer stages, and accordingly, the wafer stage can be changed into a wafer stage having a different function so as to process the semiconductor wafer.

Wafer processing apparatus and a wafer stage and a wafer processing method

Apparatus for processing samples

A plasma processing apparatus processes high-speed semiconductor circuits by using plasma with an increased yield. The plasma processing apparatus has a vacuum vessel including an exhaust device, a starting material gas supplying device, an electrode for installing a workpiece (wafer) and a device for applying radio frequency power to the wafer. This apparatus converts the starting material gas to plasma inside the vacuum vessel and plasma-processes a wafer surface, wherein an insulating film is interposed between the electrode for installing the wafer and the wafer and has a conductive material at a part thereof, and the conductive material is electrically grounded through an impedance regulating circuit.

In plasma processing equipment having a vacuum processing chamber, a plasma generation means, a stage for loading a wafer to be processed in the vacuum processing chamber, an opposing electrode having an area almost equal to or wider than the aforementioned wafer which is installed opposite to the stage, and a bias power source for applying a high frequency bias to the wafer, a current path correction means is provided for correcting the current path part in the neighborhood of the outer periphery of the wafer among the high frequency current paths produced by the high frequency bias so as to be directed toward the wafer opposing surface of the opposing electrode.

Plasma processing equipment and plasma processing method using the same

The vacuum processing apparatus has an atmospheric loader having a plurality of cassette tables and a transport unit for carrying wafers, a vacuum loader equipped with vacuum wafer-processing chambers and a vacuum transport chamber communicating with the processing chambers via gate valves, and a locking unit provided with a loading lock chamber and unloading lock chambers that have gate valves for connecting the atmospheric transport unit and vacuum transport chamber; wherein two etching chambers, formed by UHF-ECR reactors, are arranged symmetrically with respect to an axial line passing through the middle of the vacuum transport chamber and locking unit, only at the opposite side of the locking unit across the vacuum transport chamber, and at an acute angle with respect to the vacuum transport chamber, and UHF-ECR antennas, almost parallel to the foregoing axial line, are opened at the opposite side to that of the vacuum transport chamber.

Vacuum processing apparatus and a vacuum processing system

A wafer stage for holding a semiconductor wafer in a plasma treatment apparatus by setting the wafer on the wafer stage, said wafer stage comprising a base material equipped with refrigerant flow paths for allowing a refrigerant for temperature adjustment to flow; a stress-reducing member provided on the wafer setting side of said base material and having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than does said base material; a dielectric film provided on the wafer setting side of said stress-reducing member; and a deflection-preventing member provided on the wafer non-setting side of said base material and having a smaller thermal expansion coefficient than does said base material. When the wafer stage is used, the temperature of the wafer as a substrate to be processed can be controlled uniformly and very accurately.

Semiconductor wafer processing apparatus and method

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Kudamatsu, Japan

Hironobu Kawahara