Tokyo Electron Limited

Telmec Co., Ltd.

Issei Imahashi

Nobuo Ishii

Jiro Hata

Kiichi Hama

Chishio Koshimizu

Satoru Kawakami

Teruo Iwata

Towl Ikeda

Yoshinobu Kawai

Teruo Asakawa

Takayuki Fukasawa

Yoko Ueda

The present invention aims to decrease reflected waves in a vacuum chamber to suppress standing waves, thereby easily controlling a plasma density so that uniform treatment can be performed. An electromagnetic wave absorber composed of a resistor such as carbon, a dielectric having a large dielectric loss, such as water, or a magnetic material such as ferrite-based ceramic, or a combination of these, is provided on an inner wall surface of a first vacuum chamber . Microwaves introduced from a waveguide into the first vacuum chamber via a transmissive window are absorbed to the electromagnetic wave absorber to suppress reflected waves, whereby a plasma density distribution with a nearly planned pattern is easily formed at an ECR point.

Method and apparatus for plasma processing

A plasma polishing apparatus has a table which holds a wafer and is rotated at a high speed by a drive base. The drive base is supported on a horizontal drive stage, so that the table is linearly and reciprocally movable. A plasma generator for converting a process gas into a plasma by high-frequency inductive coupling is arranged above the table. The plasma generator has an outlet port from which the plasma flows out toward the target surface of the wafer. The plasma from the outlet port is drawn upon high-speed rotation of the wafer, diffused as a laminar flow on the target surface of the wafer, and uniformly polishes the entire target surface.

Plasma polishing method

A multi-chamber type process system for processing semiconductor wafers is constituted such that a plurality of units selected from process units, transfer units, interconnection units and in/out units are connected via gate valves. Each of the units has a casing with one or more openings through which each of the wafers passes. The gate valve is attached to a flange provided at the opening, thereby connecting the openings openably and air-tightly. The openings are situated such that the units are connected in a direction defined in units of substantially 90.degree., and the direction of transfer of the wafers is defined in units of substantially 90.degree.. Those of the openings of the casings of the units, which are not connected to the other openings of the casings, are air-tightly closed by blind plates such that the casings of the units form a vacuum chamber. The internal pressure of each of the casings of the units can be independently controlled.

Semiconductor processing system

A plasma process apparatus includes a high-vacuum container in which a semiconductor wafer is horizontally mounted on a susceptor, and into which a process gas such as an etching gas is supplied. Between the susceptor and the container a high-frequency voltage is applied. Around the outer periphery of the container, four high-frequency coils are arranged at given intervals in a circumferential direction. The coils apply a high-frequency power having phase difference of .pi./2 between the adjacent coils, into the container, so that a high-frequency rotating electromagnetic field rotating on a horizontal plane is formed in the container thereby generating a plasma of the process gas. The surface of the semiconductor wafer is processed by the plasma.

Plasma processing apparatus with a rotating electromagnetic field

A plasma processor includes a cylindrical processing chamber storing a semiconductor wafer to be processed, a slot antenna, wound around the outside of a peripheral wall of the processing chamber, for feeding an electromagnetic wave of several tens MHz to the chamber, and an electromagnetic coil, provided on the outside of the processing chamber, for generating plasma in a plasma generating section due to electron cyclotron resonance by applying a magnetic field of 30 gausses or less to said processing chamber. The slot antenna has an elongated conductive plate having a length of about 1/2 of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave, and an elongate slot formed in the conductive plate.

Low frequency electron cyclotron resonance plasma processor

An amorphous silicon film is formed on a glass substrate by a CVD method, and then the island regions of the amorphous silicon film is changed to a plurality of polycrystalline silicon regions which are arranged in a line and apart with each other in a predetermined distanced by intermittently irradiating laser pulses each having the same dimensions as those of the island region onto the amorphous silicon film, using a laser beam irradiating section. Switching elements including the island regions as semiconductor regions are formed by etching and film-forming process to constitute a driving circuit section. The section is divided to gate driving circuit sections and source driving circuit sections for driving thin film transistors formed in a pixel region.

Apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display substrate, and

Method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display substrate

A heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes a process tube which heat rays are able to penetrate, a holding member for holding an object to be treated in the process tube, two temperature regulation plates arranged opposite and close to the object held by the holding member, for regulating an amount of heat rays reaching to the object, a heating unit for heating the object in the process tube, a cooling unit for cooling the object heated by the heating unit, a temperature sensor for sensing temperatures of the two temperature regulation plates, and a controller for controlling the heating unit based on the temperature profile acquired in advance and the temperatures detected by the temperature sensor.

Semiconductor wafer heat treatment apparatus

HBr and Cl.sub.2 are used as etching gases and Ar is used as a carrier gas in an ECR etching apparatus in which a semiconductor wafer is processed. Light emitted from plasma generated is dispersed by first and second spectroscopes to detect intensities of those spectra of the plasma which have first and second wavelengths. Both of these spectra are selected from those of an Ar atom. A CPU compares a present value, which represents a ratio of the spectral intensities detected, with a selected value of the ratio previously stored, and adjusts the intensity of a magnetic field such that the present value becomes closer to the selected value. The adjustment of the magnetic field intensity is carried out by changing the value of a current applied to magnetic coils. The magnetic field intensity is a parameter for adjusting an electron temperature of the plasma, and thus, the electron temperature of the plasma is adjusted by adjusting the magnetic field intensity.

Plasma processing method

In a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon film in a process of manufacturing an LCD, a hydrogenated amorphous silicon film is formed on a glass substrate by plasma CVD throughout areas serving as the pixel portion and driver unit of the LCD. A laser beam is radiated on a selected region of the film on the area serving as the driver unit. The energy of the laser beam is set such that hydrogen in the film is discharged without crystallizing the film and damaging the film. The energy of the laser beam is gradually increased to gradually discharge hydrogen from the film. The energy of the laser beam is finally set such that the film is transformed into a polycrystalline silicon film. The amorphous silicon film can be poly-crystallized without damaging the film by the discharge of hydrogen.

Method of forming polycrystalling silicon film in process of

Microwave inlet ports are formed on a microwave transmission window above a plasma generation chamber. The distance from the microwave inlet ports to a support surface of a wafer support table is set to be an integer multiple of 1/2 the wavelength of the microwave. Upper and lower magnetic poles opposite to each other are arranged above and below the chamber to form a magnetic field having a uniform strength in the chamber. The strength of the magnetic field is set to be 865 Gauss as a value slightly deviating from 875 Gauss as a value satisfying ideal conditions of an electron cyclotron resonance at a microwave wavelength of 2.45 GHz. The electron energy is suppressed, and damage to the surface of a wafer can be suppressed in wafer surface processing using a plasma.

Plasma processing apparatus

An apparatus for forming a CVD film on semiconductor wafers includes a process chamber in which a rotary table capable of loading five wafers is provided. The interior of the process chamber is divided into six compartments by radially arranged partitions. The compartments comprise a wafer exchanging room for loading and unloading wafers, a first process room for forming a silicon film on the wafers, a second process room for oxidizing the silicon film into silicon oxide film and three exhaust rooms provided between the wafer exchanging room, the first process room and the second process room. The wafers are processed on the continuously rotating table. As the table is rotated, the wafers are processed in the first and second process rooms and unnecessary products produced in them are successively removed in the exhaust rooms.

Apparatus for processing semiconductor wafer comprising continuously

A probe apparatus has a quartz probe formed of a quartz probe body and a metallic pattern layer formed thereon, the quartz probe body including a plurality of probe portions having a large number of probes corresponding to an electrode array of an object of examination, lead pattern portions continuous individually with the probe portions, and a supporting portion supporting all the lead pattern portions, the quartz probe body being designed so that the longitudinal direction of each probe is inclined with respect to a crystal axis X or Y of a quartz plate by etching a Z plane of the quartz plate perpendicular to a crystal axis Z of the quartz plate, and a tester fitted with the quartz probe by means of an adapter.

Probe apparatus

A plasma generating appartus according to the present invention generates a plasma by cyclotron movement of electrons. The apparatus features microwave introducing guides for introducing microwaves, a reaction chamber in which a plasma is generated based on introduced microwaves, a magnetic field generating section, and solenoid coils. The magnetic field generating section features at least a pair of magnetic poles having mutually facing concave surfaces, and a yoke for coupling the magnetic poles to constitute a loop of magnetic force lines. The magnetic poles are arranged to face each other with the microwave introducing guides and the reaction chamber interposed, and the magnetic poles generate a magnetic field of a predetermined magnetic flux density consisting of magnetic force lines directed vertically to a major surface of a sample placed on a support table in the reaction chamber. The solenoid coils can vary the magnetic field of a predetermined magnetic flux density generated by the magnetic field generating section to a magnetic field of a desired magnetic flux density.

Plasma generating apparatus

A wafer transport apparatus for an ion implantation apparatus includes means for successively transferring wafers from a wafer cassette, inserting the wafers into an auxiliary vacuum chamber, transferring the wafers into a specific position within a vacuum processing chamber, transferring a wafer from that position to a position for ion implantation processing while at the same time transferring a processed wafer to a second position within the vacuum processing chamber, with the wafers being held retained during this transfer, successively transferring the processed wafers into a second auxiliary vacuum chamber, and transporting the wafers from the second auxiliary vacuum chamber to be inserted into a cassette, e.g. the cassette from which the wafers were originally removed. The wafers are supported or held retained by the transfer and transport means during the entire process, so that problems resulting from gravity feed of wafers along inclined surfaces, which arise with prior art apparatus of this type, are eliminated.

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Yamanashi, Japan

Issei Imahashi