Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited

Mitsubishi Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Masayoshi Murata

Yoshiaki Takeuchi

Hirohisa Yoshida

Tetsuro Shigemizu

Keisuke Kawamura

Hiroshi Mashima

Satoshi Uchida

Hideo Yamakoshi

Tatsufumi Aoi

Akemi Takano

Masaru Kodama

Koji Satake

Tatsuji Horioka

Kazutoshi Hamamoto

Shozo Kaneko

Tadashi Gengo

Tatsuyuki Nishimiya

Takashi Yamamoto

Joji Ichinari

Shoji Morita

Yoshikazu Nawata

Yoshio Kayumi

Satoshi Kokaji

Masatoshi Hisatome

Kengou Yamaguchi

Syouji Morita

Hiroshi Fujiyama

Hideo Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd Yamakoshi

Hiroshi Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd Mashima

Koji Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd Satake

Tatsufumi Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd Aoi

Yoshiaki Mitsubishi Heavy Industriesltd Takeuchi

A discharge plasma generating method includes (a) opposing a discharge electrode having a substantially plane discharge portion to a substrate to be processed in a vacuum reaction vessel such that the discharge electrode and the substrate are substantially parallel to each other, (b) evacuating the vacuum reaction vessel and supplying a process gas to a space between the discharge electrode and the substrate, and (c) applying HF power to the discharge electrode such that an envelope representing the spatial distribution of a HF voltage &phgr; on the discharge electrode in a split second changes in accordance with a function including time as a parameter, thereby generating a discharge plasma of the process gas between the discharge electrode and the substrate, with substantially no standing wave of the HF voltage &phgr; generated on the discharge electrode.

Discharge plasma generating method, discharge plasma generating apparatus, semiconductor device fabrication method, and semiconductor device fabrication apparatus

Disclosed is a plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus for forming an amorphous thin film, a microcrystalline thin film or a polycrystalline thin film on a surface of a target substrate by utilizing a glow discharge generated by an electric power supplied from a power source, comprising a reaction vessel, means for supplying a reactant gas into the reaction vessel, discharge means for discharge a waste gas of the reactant gas out of the reaction vessel, a ladder-shaped electrode for discharge generation arranged within the reaction vessel, a power source for supplying a high frequency power of 30 MHz to 200 MHz to the ladder-shaped electrode for a glow discharge generation, a heater for heating and supporting a target substrate, the heater being arranged within the reaction vessel in parallel to the ladder-shaped electrode for discharge generation, and a power distributor for uniformly distributing a high frequency power to the ladder-shaped electrode for discharge generation through a power supply wire.

Plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus

A plurality of electrode bars are arranged in parallel with each other, and side electrode bars are connected to the corresponding opposite ends of the electrode bars, thereby forming a ladder-like RF discharge electrode. Power supply points are arranged axisymmetrically with respect to a reference line, which is a bisector which bisects one side of the RF discharge electrode, while being spaced a predetermined distance from the reference line, thereby suppressing voltage distribution on the ladder electrode, which has an effect on uniformity of discharge distribution, to a sufficiently low level of nonuniformity. Thus, uniform distribution of film deposition rate can be obtained, thereby enabling uniform deposition even in large-area applications.

Discharge electrode, RF plasma generation apparatus using the same, and power supply method

An apparatus and method for treating exhaust gases. In this apparatus, a plurality of stages of reactor chambers (R , R , . . . R ) are connected in series in the direction of an exhaust gas flow. Further, high-voltage power supplies (V , V , . . . and V ) are connected to the reactor chambers (R , R , . . . and R ), respectively. Moreover, in each of these reactor chambers, a streamer discharger plasma is generated. Furthermore, the more downstream a reactor chamber of a stage is placed, the lower energy to be cast into the reactor chamber becomes. The density of electrons generated in a gas decomposition unit is high in a portion thereof on the upstream side of the exhaust gas flow and the electron density is low in a portion thereof on the downstream side. Additionally, the present invention further provides a pulse generator in which a high voltage, which is an output voltage of a D.C. charger (V ), is simultaneously applied to a plurality of distributed constant lines (or transmission lines) (1 , 1 , 2 , 2 , . . . , N and N ), which are connected in parallel with one another, by means of a signal shortcircuit switch (S ).

Pulse generator for treating exhaust gas

An amorphous silicon solar cell includes a substrate, a transparent electrode formed on this substrate, a power-generating film formed on this transparent electrode, and a back-side electrode formed on this power-generating film. The power-generating film is formed by sequentially stacking p-type/i-type/n-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon layers. The defect density of the i-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer is less than 10,defects/cc.

Amorphous silicon solar cell

An apparatus and method for treating exhaust gases. A plurality of stages of reactor chambers are connected in series in the direction of an exhaust gas flow. High-voltage power supplies are connected to the reactor chambers In each of these reactor chambers, a streamer discharger plasma is generated. The more downstream a reactor chamber of a stage is placed, the lower energy to be cast into the reactor chamber becomes. The density of electrons generated in a gas decomposition unit is higher on the upstream side of the exhaust gas flow and the electron density is lower on the downstream side. A pulse generator is provided in which a high voltage, which is an output voltage of a D.C. charger (V,), is simultaneously applied to a plurality of distributed constant lines, which are connected in parallel with one another, by a signal shortcircuit switch (S,).

Apparatus and method for treating exhaust gas and pulse generator used therefor

An apparatus and method for treating exhaust gases. In this apparatus, a plurality of stages of reactor chambers (R.sub.1, R.sub.2, . . . . and R.sub.n) are connected in series in the direction of an exhaust gas flow. Further, high-voltage power supplies (V.sub.1, V.sub.21 . . . and V.sub.n) are connected to the reactor chambers (R.sub.1, R.sub.2, . . . . and R.sub.n), respectively. Moreover, in each of these reactor chambers, a streamer discharger plasma is generated. Furthermore, the more downstream a reactor chamber of a stage is placed, the lower energy to be cast into the reactor chamber becomes. The density of electrons generated in a gas decomposition unit is high in a portion thereof on the upstream side of the exhaust gas flow and the electron density is low in a portion thereof on the downstream side. Additionally, the present invention further provides a pulse generator in which a high voltage, which is an output voltage of a D.C. charger (V.sub.0), is simultaneously applied to a plurality of distributed constant lines (or transmission lines) (1.sub.-1, 1.sub.-2, 2.sub.-1, 2.sub.-2, . . . , N.sub.-1 and N.sub.-2), which are connected in parallel with one another, by means of a signal shortcircuit switch (S.sub.1).

Apparatus and method for treating exhaust gas and pulse generator used

This invention provides a plasma CVD method aimed at forming an amorphous silicon thin film on a large-area substrate at a high speed and also an apparatus therefor. The method and apparatus are characterized by a reaction vessel, means for feeding a reactant gas to the reaction vessel and discharging the same, discharging electrodes accommodated in the reaction vessel, a source for supplying power for glow discharge to the discharging electrodes, two pairs of solenoid coils arranged on opposite sides of said reaction vessel and so disposed that the axes thereof perpendicularly intersect each other as well as perpendicularly the electric field formed between the discharging electrodes, and an AC source for supplying power to said solenoid coils for magnetic field generation, whereby an amorphous silicon thin film is formed on a substrate held to intersect perpendicularly the electric field between the discharging electrodes.

Plasma CVD apparatus including rotating magnetic field generation means

A plasma CVD apparatus whose discharge electrode is a single line member bent in a U shape in an alternating manner and in which a substrate to be processed is held substantially in parallel to the discharge electrode. The electric field around the electrode becomes stronger and the intensity distribution of this field becomes even. As a result, a product film formed on the substrate surface has a uniform thickness, and the film can be formed at high speeds.

Plasma CVD apparatus

A plasma-chemical vapor-phase epitaxy system or a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system can produce a large thin film of good quality. The CVD system includes a vacuum container having a quartz glass window, a substrate disposed within the vacuum container as opposed to the window, an antenna type discharge electrode disposed outside of the vacuum container as opposed to the window, and a high-frequency power supply for feeding electric power to the same electrode. In this way, by disposing an electrode outside of a container and exciting the reaction gas with high-frequency electromagnetic waves, a large thin film of good quality can be formed.

Plasma-chemical vapor-phase epitaxy system comprising a planar antenna

The present invention is directed to a method for forming a thin film on a substrate by the use of a glow discharge plasma which comprises generating a magnetic field in a direction which crosses an electric field for discharge at right angles and fluctuating the magnetic field. The present invention is also directed to an apparatus for practicing the above method, which apparatus is composed of a reaction vessel, means for reducing the pressure in the reaction vessel and means for introducing the feed of reaction gases to the reaction vessel, electrodes for discharge disposed face to face in the reaction vessel, a power source from which a voltage for causing a glow discharge is fed to the electrodes for discharge, a coil surrounding the electrodes for discharge, for generating a magnetic field in a direction crossing at right angles to an electric field generated between the electrodes for discharge, and an AC power source for generating a magnetic field fed to the coil, whereby a thin film is formed on a base plate supported outside the range of the discharge electric field and in parallel with the direction of the electric field.

Method and apparatus for forming thin film

Growing community of inventors

Nagasaki, Japan

Masayoshi Murata