Hitachi, Ltd.

Nissan Motor Company Limited

Hitachi-High-Technologies Corporation

Jidosha Denki Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kokusan Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Ichiro Sasaki

Toshio Masuda

Hironobu Kawahara

Toru Otsubo

Kenji Maeda

Tetsunori Kaji

Tsutomu Tetsuka

Katsuya Watanabe

Hideyuki Kazumi

Tatehito Usui

Hideyuki Yamamoto

Makoto Koizumi

Hitoshi Tamura

Masato Ikegawa

Katsuhiko Mitani

Muneo Furuse

Hideshi Fukumoto

Takashi Kamimura

Hirotoshi Namazue

Masaru Inoue

Yutaka Omoto

Yujiro Tsutsui

Shigeru Shirayone

Jyunichi Tanaka

Jun'ichi Tanaka

Mitsuko Imatake

Toru Kase

The present apparatus comprises a vacuum process chamber that contains an upper electrode having a conductive plate with gas supply holes for supplying a process gas and a lower electrode having a platform on which a sample is to be mounted; process gas supply means for supplying the process gas to the gas supply holes in the upper electrode and exhaust means for exhausting the vacuum process chamber; a high frequency power supply for applying a high frequency power to the upper electrode to generate a plasma between the upper and lower electrodes; a high frequency bias power supply for applying a high frequency power to the upper electrode to generate a direct current bias potential in the upper electrode; and abnormal discharge determination means for determining whether an abnormal discharge has occurred or not based on the direct current bias potential generated in the upper electrode.

Apparatus and method for monitoring plasma processing apparatus

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.

Plasma processing apparatus

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

In the plasma processing device for supplying electromagnetic waves to the first plate, generating plasma in the vacuum atmosphere between the first plate and the second plate which is arranged opposite to it, and processing the board loaded on the second plate, wherein the dielectric window for propagating electromagnetic waves is installed in the outer periphery of the first plate and in the window, the electromagnetic wave distribution corrector composed of an electrical conductor or a dielectric is embedded away from the first plate so that at least the side and bottom of the electromagnetic wave distribution corrector are not exposed in the aforementioned vacuum atmosphere. The electromagnetic wave distribution corrector corrects one-siding of the plasma density distribution at the center.

Plasma processing device and plasma processing method

A plasma processing apparatus has plasma generating means including a means for generating capacitive coupled discharge and a means for radiating electromagnetic waves, so that the energy state of electrons is independently controlled by a combination of a plasma due to capacitive coupled discharge and a plasma due to radiation of electromagnetic waves of a high-frequency, to thereby control the occurrence of radical species, and thereby establishing a compatibility, for example, between high selective etching and high accuracy and high speed in etching or between film quality and film formation rate. Since the density distribution of the plasma can be controlled without any change in hardware configuration by adjusting distributions of the power for capacitive coupled discharge and the power for radiation of electromagnetic waves, the entire surface of a large-sized substrate can be etched at a high accuracy into a fine pattern. The apparatus is also intended to prevent the occurrence of dust caused by plasma processing and changes in characteristics of plasma processing, and hence to enhance productivity of semiconductor devices and/or liquid crystal display elements.

Plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method

A plasma processing apparatus and a method therefor which can achieve a preferred process rate, a fine pattern process capability, a selectivity and uniformity of processing at the same time compatibly for a large size wafer, which effects are achieved by controlling the plasma state and the dissociation state of etching gas through control of the electron resonance through application of a magnetic field thereto. A high frequency power at 20-300 MHz is applied across a pair of electrodes in a vacuum process chamber, and a magnetic field is formed parallel to the plane of the electrodes in the space between the electrodes. By controlling the intensity of the magnetic field in a range of 100 gauss or smaller, formation of electron cyclotron resonance and electron sheath resonance occurring from interaction between the electrical field and the magnetic field in the electrode sheath portion is controlled. Thereby, the plasma state, i.e., the electron density, electron energy distribution and dissociation state of the process gas in the plasma, can be controlled. The magnetic field is generated by a plurality of coils, an outer shield, and pendant yoke to form magnetic field parallel to the plane of the electrodes in the space between the upper and the bottom electrodes.

Plasma processing system and plasma processing method

A plasma processing apparatus is provided with a processing chamber having at least a pair of opposing windows to allow observation of the interior thereof, a plasma generation unit for generating a plasma in the processing chamber, a plasma light emission monitoring unit arranged externally of the processing chamber for monitoring the light emission of the plasma through one of the pair of opposing windows, a reference light irradiation unit for irradiating a reference light to the plasma light emission monitoring unit from that window of the pair of opposing windows which is opposite to the plasma light emission monitoring unit through the pair of opposing windows, and a control for controlling a plasma processing state of the substrate to be processed by comparing the data on the light emission of the plasma monitored by the plasma light emission unit and the reference light.

Plasma processing apparatus and processing method

A door lock/unlock system for an automotive vehicle having a safety means for preventing a driving unit for electrically driving a door lock mechanism between a door lock position and an unlock position from being damaged by mis-operation. The safety means inhibits power supply to the driving unit when the door locking operation is made while the door lock mechanism is in the lock position and when the door unlocking operation is made while the door lock mechanism is in the unlock position.

Automatic door locking/unlocking device for an automotive vehicle

A motor vehicle interior light control system wherein actuation of outside door handle does not cause the interior light to illuminate, but the interior light is illuminated for a predetermined period such as 10-50 seconds only after full return of the door handle from its once actuated position to its normal position, said operation control being accomplished by a CR-timer and a multi-stage transistor amplifier in combination.

Vehicle interior light control system

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Ichiro Sasaki