Tokyo Electron Limited

Tohoku University

Masayuki Kohno

Toshio Nakanishi

Tatsuo Nishita

Minoru Honda

Naoki Matsumoto

Yusuke Yoshida

Tetsuo Endoh

Jun Yoshikawa

Yoshihiro Hirota

Michitaka Aita

Ryou Son

Ippei Shimizu

Eiji Suzuki

Jozef Brcka

Peter L G Ventzek

Masaru Sasaki

Hiroto Ohtake

Akinori Kitamura

Koji Koyama

Song Yun Kang

Naoki Mihara

Takahiro Senda

Yusuke Takino

Junya Miyahara

Yuji Otsuka

Yoshikazu Azumaya

Tomiko Kamada

Yutaka Osada

Junsuke Hoshiya

Masami Sudayama

Yukiyoshi Aramaki

Syuichiro Otao

A plasma processing apparatus is provided that is configured to supply a gas into a chamber, generate a plasma from the gas using a power of an electromagnetic wave, and perform a predetermined plasma process on a substrate that is held by a mounting table. The plasma processing apparatus includes a dielectric window through which the electromagnetic wave that is output from an electromagnetic wave generator is propagated and transmitted into the chamber, a support member that supports the dielectric window, a partition member that separates a space where the support member is arranged from a plasma generation space and includes a protrusion abutting against the dielectric window, and a conductive member that is arranged between the partition member and the dielectric window and is protected from being exposed to the plasma generation space by the protrusion.

Plasma processing apparatus

A plasma processing apparatus includes a processing chamber, a table disposed in the processing chamber, a dielectric window provided at the processing chamber, and a surrounding body made of a dielectric material surrounding a processing space between the table and the dielectric window. The dielectric window and the surrounding body are separated from each other in a vertical direction with a predetermined gap therebetween.

An isotropic etching process can be performed with high uniformity. A plasma etching method of etching an etching target layer containing silicon includes preparing a processing target object having the etching target layer in a processing chamber; removing an oxide film on a surface of the etching target layer by generating plasma of a first processing gas that contains a fluorocarbon gas or a fluorohydrocarbon gas but does not contain oxygen; removing a carbon-based reaction product generated when the removing of the oxide film by generating plasma of a second processing gas that does not contain oxygen; and etching the etching target layer without applying a high frequency bias power to a lower electrode serving as a mounting table configured to mount the processing target object thereon by generating plasma of a third processing gas containing a fluorocarbon gas or a fluorohydrocarbon gas with a microwave.

Plasma etching method

A temperature measuring method for measuring a temperature of a member corresponding to a measuring object arranged within a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus is provided. The temperature measuring method involves obtaining a function (f) for correcting a correction target temperature (T) according to a measurement window temperature (T), the function (f) being computed based on the correction target temperature (T) corresponding to a temperature of the measuring object measured via a measurement window arranged at the chamber, a reference temperature (T) corresponding to a temperature of the measuring object measured without using the measurement window, and the measurement window temperature (T) corresponding to a temperature of the measurement window. The temperature measuring method further involves measuring the correction target temperature (T), measuring the measurement window temperature (T), and correcting the correction target temperature (T) according to the measurement window temperature (T) based on the obtained function (f).

Temperature measuring method and plasma processing system

A plasma processing apparatus generates plasma by introducing microwaves into a processing chamber by using a planar antenna having a plurality of slots. By using the plasma processing apparatus, a nitrogen containing gas and a silicon containing gas introduced into the processing chamber are brought into the plasma state, and at the time of depositing by using the plasma a silicon nitride film on the surface of the a substrate to be processed, stress to the silicon nitride film to be formed is controlled by the combination of the type and the processing pressure of the nitrogen containing gas.

Plasma CVD method, method for forming silicon nitride film and method for manufacturing semiconductor device

A plasma cleaning method is performed in a plasma CVD apparatus for depositing a silicon nitride film on a surface of a target substrate, and includes a stage (S) of supplying a cleaning gas containing NFgas into a process container, thereby removing extraneous deposits formed on portions inside the process container; a stage (S) of supplying a gas containing hydrogen gas into the process container and generating plasma thereof, thereby removing residual fluorine inside the process container; and a stage (S) of supplying a gas containing a rare gas into the process container and generating plasma thereof, thereby removing residual hydrogen inside the process container.

Plasma cleaning method and plasma CVD method

A Plasma processing apparatus () introduces microwaves into a chamber () by a plane antenna () which has a plurality of holes. A material gas, which contains a nitrogen-containing compound and a silicon-containing compound, is introduced into the chamber () by using the plasma processing apparatus, and plasma is generated by the microwaves. Then, a silicon nitride film is deposited by the plasma on a surface of an object to be processed. The trap density of the silicon nitride film is controlled by adjusting the conditions of the plasma CVD process.

Method for forming silicon nitride film, method for manufacturing nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, nonvolatile semiconductor memory device and plasma apparatus

The invention provides a MOS semiconductor memory device that achieves excellent data retention characteristics while also achieving high-speed data write performance, low-power operation performance, and high reliability. A MOS semiconductor memory deviceincludes a first insulating filmand fifth insulating filmhaving large bandgapsand, a third insulating filmhaving the smallest bandgap, and a second insulating filmand fourth insulating filminterposed between the third insulating filmand the first and fifth insulating filmsand, respectively, and having intermediate bandgapsand

MOS semiconductor memory device having charge storage region formed from stack of insulating films

To manufacture a MOS memory device having a dielectric film laminate in which adjacent dielectric films have band-gaps of different magnitudes, a plasma processing device which transmits microwaves to a chamber by means of a planar antenna having a plurality of holes is used to perform plasma CVD under pressure conditions that differ from at least pressure conditions used when forming the adjacent dielectric films, and the dielectric films are sequentially formed by altering the band-gaps of the adjacent dielectric films that constitute the dielectric film laminate.

Forming a MOS memory device having a dielectric film laminate as a charge accumulation region

Provided is a plasma CVD device. In the plasma CVD device, in producing a silicon nitride film while controlling the size of a band gap by CVD, microwaves are introduced into a treatment vessel by a flat antenna having a plurality of holes. The plasma CVD is carried out under a given treatment pressure selected from a pressure range of not less than 0.1 Pa and not more than 1333 Pa at a flow ratio between a silicon-containing compound gas and a nitrogen gas (silicon-containing compound gas flow rate/nitrogen gas flow rate) selected from a range of not less than 0.005 and not more than 0.2, whereby the Si/N ratio in the film is controlled to form a silicon nitride film having a band gap size of not less than 2.5 eV and not more than 7 eV.

Forming a silicon nitride film by plasma CVD

A plasma processing apparatus includes a process chamber configured to be vacuum-exhausted; a worktable configured to place a target substrate thereon inside the process chamber; a microwave generation source configured to generate microwaves; a planar antenna including a plurality of slots and configured to supply microwaves generated by the microwave generation source through the slots into the process chamber; a gas supply mechanism configured to supply a film formation source gas into the process chamber; and an RF power supply configured to apply an RF power to the worktable. The apparatus is preset to turn a nitrogen-containing gas and a silicon-containing gas supplied in the process chamber into plasma by the microwaves, and to deposit a silicon nitride film on a surface of the target substrate by use of the plasma, while applying the RF power to the worktable.

Plasma CVD method, silicon nitride film formation method, semiconductor device manufacturing method, and plasma CVD apparatus

A plasma processing method of carrying out curing processing on a low dielectric constant film produced on a to-be-processed substrate by applying plasma thereto in a processing chamber of a plasma processing apparatus, includes the steps of: a) introducing, in the plasma processing chamber, a first gas having a function of stabilizing plasma and a second gas generating active hydrogen, and, after that; b) generating plasma, and carrying out curing processing on the low dielectric constant film.

Plasma processing method and film forming method

Film thickness uniformity and stoichiometry are controlled and deposition rate is increased in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of silicon nitride from complex gas mixtures in microwave plasmas. In SiH+NH+Ar gas mixtures using a radial line slot antenna (RLSA) microwave plasma to deposit SiN by CVD, deposition rate and film uniformity are improved by limiting the amounts of atomic or molecular hydrogen from the gas mixture during the deposition process. A halogen, for example, fluorine, is added to a gas mixture of silane or disilane, ammonia and argon. The halogen scavenges hydrogen from the mixture, and prevents the hydrogen from blocking the nitrogen and silicon atoms and their fragments from bonding to the surface atoms and to grow stoichiometric silicon nitride. Adding the halogen generates free halogen radicals that react with hydrogen to create hydrogen halide, for example, HF or HCl, thereby scavenging the hydrogen.

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Amagasaki, Japan

Masayuki Kohno