Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Kabushiki Kaisha Sharp

Katsushi Kishimoto

Yusuke Fukuoka

Katsuhiko Nomoto

Yasushi Fujioka

Akira Shimizu

Yuhsuke Fukuoka

Hiroyuki Fukuda

Kazuo Yamada

Takanori Nakano

Hitoshi Sannomiya

Nobuhiro Fuke

Takashi Fukushima

Noriyoshi Kohama

Takashi Ouchida

Yusuke Ozaki

Yuhsuke Hukuoka

In a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus, a cathode electrode and an anode electrode are disposed at a distance from each other. The cathode electrode is supplied with electric power from an electric power supply portion. The anode electrode is electrically grounded and a substrate is placed thereon. The anode electrode contains a heater. In an upper wall portion of the chamber, an exhaust port is provided and connected to a vacuum pump through an exhaust pipe. In a lower wall portion of a wall surface of the chamber, a gas introduction port is provided. A gas supply portion is provided outside the chamber.

Plasma processing apparatus with an exhaust port above the substrate

Provided are a semiconductor layer manufacturing method and a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus capable of forming a high quality semiconductor layer even by a single chamber system, with a shortened process time required for reducing a concentration of impurities that exist in a reaction chamber before forming the semiconductor layer. A semiconductor device manufactured using such a method and apparatus is also provided. The present invention relates to a semiconductor layer manufacturing method of forming a semiconductor layer inside a reaction chamber () capable of being hermetically sealed, including an impurities removing step of removing impurities inside the reaction chamber () using a replacement gas, and a semiconductor layer forming step of forming the semiconductor layer, the impurities removing step being a step in which a cycle composed of a replacement gas introducing step of introducing the replacement gas into the reaction chamber () and an exhausting step of exhausting the replacement gas is repeated a plurality of times, the impurities removing step being performed at least before the semiconductor layer forming step.

Semiconductor layer manufacturing method, semiconductor layer manufacturing apparatus, and semiconductor device manufactured using such method and apparatus

A substrate transfer apparatus comprising: a plurality of floating-transfer guide plates adjacent to each other, each of guide plates having a plurality of floating gas ejecting holes; a gas supplying source; a tray to mount a substrate to be transferred, and that is floated by the floating gas; and a transfer arm for transferring the floated tray from the guide plate to the adjacent other guide plate, wherein the tray includes both side edges, and a contact/engagement portion formed at the respective both side edges for the transfer arm, each of the transfer arms including a base portion that can horizontally reciprocate along a rail provided so as to be parallel to the transfer direction, a guide portion provided to the base portion, that can horizontally reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction, and an arm portion provided to the guide portion, that can horizontally reciprocate in the direction parallel to the transfer direction.

Substrate transfer apparatus and substrate transfer method

There is provided a plasma processing device capable of forming a film in a favorable manner irrespective of deflection generated in an anode electrode and a cathode electrode in the case where an area of the electrodes is increased. A plasma processing deviceincludes a chamber, a gas introducing portion, an exhaust unit, and a high-frequency power supply unit. In the chamber, there are provided an anode electrode (first electrode)having a flat-plate shape, a cathode electrode (second electrode)having a flat-plate shape, and first supporting membersand second supporting membersfor slidably supporting the two electrodesandin parallel with each other. The cathode electrodeis provided so as to face the anode electrode. The anode electrodeand the cathode electrodeare not fixed with screws or the like but are merely placed on the first supporting membersand the second supporting members. In the anode electrodeand the cathode electrode, deflection amounts when they are freely deflected under their own weights are equal to each other, and maximum deflection amounts of the two electrodesandare also equal to each other.

Plasma processing apparatus and plasma processing method

A plasma processing apparatus of this invention includes a sealable chamber, a gas supply source of reactive material gas, placed outside the chamber, a gas introduction pipe connected to the gas supply source, for introducing the material gas into the chamber, and a plurality of sets of cathode-anode bodies for forming a plurality of discharge spaces which perform plasma discharge of the material gas in the chamber. Herein, the gas introduction pipe includes a gas branch section arranged in the chamber, a main pipe for connecting the gas supply source to the gas branch section, and a plurality of branch pipes connected from the main pipe to each of the discharge spaces via the gas branch section. The branch pipes are configured so that conductances thereof are substantially equivalent to each other.

Plasma processing apparatus and semiconductor device manufactured by the same apparatus

The invention relates to a generation facility management system using natural energy, and an object of the invention is to promote introduction of a generation facility by giving a consideration for generated and consumed power. The generation facility management system is characterized in including a generation facility using natural energy and a management server for managing power information on the generation facility, wherein the generation facility includes: an energy obtaining section for obtaining natural energy; a power generating section for generating power from the obtained natural energy; an information control section for creating generated power information on the power generated by the power generating section; and a communication section for transmitting the power information to the management server, and the management server includes an information management section for determining a consideration for the power information transmitted from the generation facility by using predetermined consideration information.

Generation facility management system

A plasma processing apparatus including a sealable chamber that is sealable, a gas supply section that supplies a reactive material gas into the chamber, and a plurality of cathode and anode electrode pairs provided within the chamber, connected to an external power supply, and producing plasma discharges through the material gas, respectively, wherein the plurality of cathode and anode electrode pairs are provided at a distance from one another at which the plasma discharges are prevented from interfering with one another.

Plasma processing apparatus

A semiconductor manufacturing apparatus comprising: a plurality of vacuum chambers corresponding to a plurality of processing sections necessary for manufacturing a semiconductor device; an exhaust device connected to each vacuum chamber; a plate shaped guide plate arranged at the bottom of each vacuum chamber and having a plurality of gas emission holes; and a gas supply source for supplying gas to the gas emission holes, wherein the plurality of vacuum chambers are adjacent to each other by way of a shutter, one of the two adjacent vacuum chambers includes a tray mounted on the guide plate for mounting a substrate to be performed with a predetermined process, a conveying function section having a conveying arm for moving the tray from one vacuum chamber to the other vacuum chamber along the guide plate, and a controlling function section, the controlling function section performing the control so as to open the shutter to communicate the two adjacent vacuum chambers, emit gas from the gas emission holes of the guide plate of the vacuum chambers, and move the tray in one vacuum chamber, which is floated by the emitted gas, from the guide plate of one vacuum chamber to the guide plate of the other vacuum chamber along the guide plate by means of the conveying arm.

Semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and semiconductor manufacturing method using the same

A semiconductor device manufacturing unit is provided, wherein a cathode and an anode can be placed in a simple structure; wherein excellent film deposition and film thickness distribution can be gained; and wherein no cooling devices are required to be provided. A chamberis formed so that the inside thereof can be controlled at a vacuum of an arbitrary degree. Anode supportsfor supporting an anodeare placed at the bottom of the internal structure. The anodeis made of a material having a high electrical conductivity and a high heat resistance. The temperature of the anodeis controlled by a heaterso as to be in a range of from room temperature to 600&#xb0; C. A cathodeis placed on a cathode supportso as to face the anode. The cathode supportis attached to an internal structuremade of a frame in a rectangular prism form provided within the chamber

Semiconductor device manufacturing unit and semiconductor device manufacturing method

A plasma CVD apparatus comprises an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, and is for forming a thin film on a substrate by performing plasma discharge between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, comprising: a substrate holder disposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode; and one conductive member disposed between the substrate holder and one electrode of either the anode electrode or the cathode electrode, wherein the substrate holder supports the substrate, the one conductive member is provided between the one electrode and the substrate holder so as to substantially cover an entire space between the one electrode and the substrate holder, and the one conductive member is electrically connected to the one electrode and the substrate holder.

Plasma CVD apparatus, and method for forming film and method for forming semiconductor device using the same

A plasma processing apparatus of this invention includes a sealable chamber to be introduced with reactive material gas, a plurality of pairs of cathode-anode bodies arranged in the chamber, for forming a plurality of discharge spaces for performing plasma discharge of the material gas, a power supply for plasma discharge, placed outside the chamber, a matching box placed outside the chamber, for matching impedance between the cathode-anode bodies and the power supply, and a power introduction wire extending to each of the cathodes from the power supply via the matching box. Herein, the power introduction wire is branched to the number corresponding to the number of the cathodes between the matching box and the cathodes, and the branched wires are symmetrically extended.

A thin film formation apparatus for forming a thin film on a substrate is provided, which comprises: a reaction chamber; a gas introduction section for introducing a reactant gas into the reaction chamber; an evacuation section for exhausting the reactant gas from the reaction chamber; first and second planar electrodes provided in the reaction chamber; first and second support members which respectively support the first and second electrodes in parallel relation; a high frequency power source for applying high frequency power between the first and second electrodes; and a heating section for heating one of the first and second electrodes; wherein the substrate is placed on the heated electrode, and at least one of the first and second electrodes is supported movably in the direction of thermal expansion by the corresponding support member. With this arrangement, the variation in the spacing between the first electrode (anode electrode) and the second electrode (cathode electrode) can be reduced when the first and second electrodes are heated.

Thin film formation apparatus including engagement members for support during thermal expansion

An excellent silicon-based thin-film photoelectric conversion device is manufactured simply and efficiently at a low cost. Specifically, a method of manufacturing the silicon-based thin-film photoelectric conversion device including a p-type semiconductor layer, an i-type microcrystalline silicon-based photoelectric conversion layer and an n-type semiconductor layer deposited by plasma CVD includes the steps of: successively depositing the p-type semiconductor layer, the i-type microcrystalline silicon-based photoelectric conversion layer and the n-type semiconductor layer on a substrate within the same plasma CVD film deposition chamber; transferring the substrate out of the film deposition chamber; and subsequently to the step of depositing the p-type semiconductor layer, the i-type microcrystalline silicon-based photoelectric conversion layer and the n-type semiconductor layer, eliminating influences of remaining n-type impurities on a cathode and/or within the film deposition chamber.

Silicon-based thin-film photoelectric conversion device and method of manufacturing thereof

A thin-film solar cell module of a light transmission type includes a light-transmissive substrate; a front electrode layer; a rear electrode layer, and a photovoltaic conversion layer. The rear electrode layer, front electrode layer, and photovoltaic conversion layer are sequentially laminated on the light-transmissive substrate. A heat retention member covers the rear electrode layer, and a sealing layer is provided for sealing the rear electrode layer. In certain embodiments, the heat retention member has a light absorptance of 40% or more within a near-infrared wavelength range of 1,500 to 2,000 nm.

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Katsushi Kishimoto