Frontec Incorporated

Other

Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Masami Aihara

Hirofumi Fukui

Yasuhiko Kasama

Koichi Fukuda

Tadahiro Ohmi

Makoto Sasaki

Chisato Iwasaki

Masanori Miyazaki

A sealing structure for an airtight chamber includes a first division member and a second division member being repeatedly joined and disjoined. The first and second chamber members are joined together to define the chamber between them and disjoined to allow access to the chamber. The structure also includes a sealing member pressed between the first and second division members to keep the chamber airtight against a pressure difference between the exterior and the interior of the chamber while the first and second division members are joined. The first and second division members are made of a material with hardness lower than that of the sealing member and are formed with a groove. The structure also includes seat members being embedded in the grooves and pressed against the sealing member while the first and second division members are joined. The seat member is made of a material harder than the division member and welded in said groove only along its contacting surfaces with the groove.

Sealing structure for an airtight chamber

An apparatus which allows a first film to be formed on a substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and a second film to be formed on the substrate by sputtering, wherein the processes are performed sequentially in the same deposition chamber without exposing the substrate to an oxidative atmosphere. The deposition chamber includes a first electrode and a second electrode located under the first electrode. A transfer mechanism loads a dummy target onto the first electrode and the substrate onto the second electrode prior to a CVD process. The dummy target is resistant to sputtering and thus does not contaminate the film deposited on the substrate during CVD. After CVD and prior to sputtering, the transfer mechanism unloads the dummy target and replaces it with a sputtering target for film formation by sputtering. Both the dummy target and sputtering target can be loaded and unloaded from a single pressurized storage chamber. Thus, film formation by both sputtering and CVD can be accomplished by using a single deposition chamber without removing the substrate between processes.

Single chamber for CVD and sputtering film manufacturing

A method for manufacturing thin films in which a first film is formed on a substrate using chemical-vapor deposition (CVD), and a second film is formed on the substrate using sputtering, wherein the processes are sequentially performed in the same deposition chamber without exposing the substrate to an oxidative atmosphere. The deposition chamber includes a first electrode, and a second electrode located under the first electrode. During the CVD process, a dummy target is mounted on the first electrode and the substrate is mounted on the second electrode, a reactive gas is introduced into the chamber, and high frequency electrical power is applied to both the first and second electrodes, thereby causing the constituents of the reactive gas to deposit on the substrate to form the first film. Subsequently, any remaining reactive gas is removed from the chamber and an automated mechanism removes the dummy target from the first electrode and stores the dummy target in a storage chamber. A sputtering electrode is then mounted on the first electrode and a sputtering gas is introduced into the reaction chamber. High frequency electrical power is then applied to both the first and second electrodes, thereby causing the sputtering gas and sputtering target to deposit the second film on the substrate.

Film manufacturing method using single reaction chamber for

An object of the present invention is to increase the energy efficiency of a plasma apparatus and provide a high-frequency magnetron plasma apparatus which can precisely control plasma. The plasma apparatus has a susceptor electrode, a plasma exciting electrode, magnets mounted on the plasma exciting electrode, and a magnetic shield provided around the plasma exciting electrode, all of which are arranged in a vacuum chamber. The magnetic shield has a high impedance for a high frequency. The magnetic shield is preferably earthed with a direct current, more preferably earthed through an inductance.

High frequency magnetron plasma apparatus

There is provided a surface potential measuring apparatus cable of accurately measuring the potential of a substrate regardless of the material of the substrate, and a plasma equipment capable of accurately measuring and controlling ion energy. The substrate surface potential measuring apparatus measures the surface potential of a substrate in a plasma processing apparatus and includes a terminal electrically connected to a suscepter electrode for holding the substrate, a first condenser disposed between the terminal and the ground and a potential measuring device for measuring the potential of the terminal. The surface potential of the substrate is found from the potential of the suscepter electrode measured by the potential measuring means.

Growing community of inventors

Sendai, Japan

Masami Aihara