Tokyo Electron Limited

Nobutaka Sasaki

Gyeong Min Park

Shin Matsuura

Hiraku Murakami

Toshiki Akama

Norihiko Amikura

Hiroshi Tsujimoto

Masatomo Kita

Takashi Kitazawa

Takanori Banse

Ryoichi Yoshida

Akihiro Yoshimura

Wataru Shimizu

Lifu Li

Keigo Toyoda

Shigeru Senzaki

Toshiyuki Makabe

Takashi Taira

Takaharu Miyadate

Shuichi Takahashi

Atsushi Ogata

Takaaki Kikuchi

Takashi Aramaki

Shusei Kato

Ryota Koitabashi

There is a substrate support comprising: a substrate supporting portion; a first ring disposed to surround the substrate supporting portion; a second ring surrounding the first ring without overlapping the first ring in plan view; a third ring disposed below the first ring and the second ring such that an inner portion of the third ring overlaps the first ring in plan view and an outer portion of the third ring overlaps the second ring in plan view, and having a hole at the inner portion of the third ring; a lifter having a first engaging portion protruding upward from the hole of the third ring and engaged with the first ring and a second engaging portion disposed below the first engaging portion and engaged with the third ring; and an actuator configured to raise and lower the lifter.

Substrate support, plasma processing apparatus, and ring replacement method

A plasma processing apparatus, comprising a plasma processing chamber; a plasma generator to generate a plasma from a processing gas in the plasma processing chamber; and a substrate support disposed in the plasma processing chamber, is provided. The substrate support includes a base; an electrostatic chuck disposed above the base; a first annular member to surround a substrate on the substrate support; a second annular member disposed below the first annular member and having a plurality of through holes; a plurality of lift pins disposed to correspond to the respective through holes, each lift pin having an upper portion to support the first annular member through the corresponding through hole and a lower portion; at least one spacer fixed to at least one of the lift pins, disposed on the lower portion so as to surround the upper portion and support the second annular member; and at least one actuator to vertically move the lift pins.

Plasma processing apparatus

A substrate processing system includes a plasma processing apparatus, a decompression transferrer coupled to the plasma processing apparatus, and control circuitry that controls a transfer robot to load an edge ring into a process chamber and to transfer the edge ring to a lift assembly, controls the lift assembly to lower the edge ring onto a ring support surface, controls an electrostatic chuck to electrostatically clamp the edge ring onto the ring support surface, and controls a plasma generator to generate plasma in the process chamber and stabilize the electrostatically clamping of the edge ring onto the electrostatic chuck before performing plasma processing on a product substrate, the stabilizing includes controlling a power source to apply pulsed direct current voltage to the substrate support, including applying a first bias voltage and applying a second bias voltage higher than the first bias voltage after applying the first bias voltage.

Substrate processing system and method for installing edge ring

In a plasma processing apparatus, a table has a wafer support to hold a wafer and a peripheral segment surrounding the wafer support and having through-holes. The peripheral segment has an upper surface lower than that of the wafer support. An outer focus ring is disposed over the peripheral segment and has a recess or a cutout at an inner portion of the outer focus ring, and the recess or cutout has through-holes. An inner focus ring is disposed in the recess or cutout of the outer focus ring. Lift pins respectively extend through the through-holes of the peripheral segment and the through-holes of the recess or cutout of the outer focus ring. Shift mechanisms control shift of the respective lift pins.

A substrate processing apparatus includes: a processing chamber configured to execute a processing on a substrate by an introduced gas; an exhaust chamber configured to exhaust a gas existing in the processing chamber; a partition plate having a plurality of gas passing holes for bringing the processing chamber and the exhaust chamber into communication with each other therethrough; a measuring instrument configured to measure a state in the processing chamber; a first pipe configured to connect the processing chamber and the measuring instrument; a second pipe configured to bring the exhaust chamber and the measuring instrument into communication with each other therethrough via a first valve; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to control the substrate processing apparatus so as to control the first valve.

Substrate processing apparatus and gas switching method for substrate processing apparatus

A substrate processing system includes a vacuum transfer module; a plasma process module; a transfer robot in the vacuum transfer module; a stage in the plasma process module; a first ring disposed on the stage and a second ring disposed on the first ring to surround a substrate that is placed on the stage, the second ring having an inner diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the first ring; actuators to move support pins vertically to raise the first and the second rings and a transfer jig; and a controller configured to selectively execute a simultaneous transfer mode in which the transfer robot is caused to simultaneously transfer the first ring and the second ring and a sole transfer mode in which the transfer robot is caused to transfer only the second ring.

Substrate processing system and transfer method

A substrate support includes a base, a support portion, a first pin member, a second pin member and a driving unit. The base has a first surface on which an object to be supported is placed, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a first through-hole. The support portion has a third surface in contact with the second surface, a fourth surface opposite to the third surface, and a second through-hole. The first pin member is stored in the first through-hole and a second pin member is stored in the second through-hole. The first through-hole is larger on the second surface side than on the first surface side, and/or the second through-hole is larger on the third surface side than on the fourth surface side.

Substrate support and substrate processing apparatus

A substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber including a processing room for processing of a substrate using an introduced gas and an exhaust room for exhausting the gas in the processing room, a shield member provided near a side wall of the chamber to separate the processing room and the exhaust room and including a hole allowing the processing room and the exhaust room to communicate with each other, the shield member being driven in a vertical direction, and a hollow relay member connected to a pipe connected to an instrument outside the chamber and configured to be driven in a horizontal direction. When the shield member reaches an upper position, the relay member is driven inwardly of the chamber to be connected to the shield member at its inward end to allow the processing room and the pipe to communicate with each other through the hole.

Substrate processing apparatus and method of driving relay member

A plasma processing apparatus includes a processing chamber including a sidewall; a mounting table including a lower electrode and provided in the processing chamber; an upper electrode arranged to face the lower electrode in a first direction; a high frequency power supply configured to apply a high frequency power for plasma generation to the upper electrode; a gas supply system for supplying a processing gas into the processing chamber; and a grounding unit connected to a ground potential. A first space is defined between the mounting table and the sidewall. A second space is defined between the upper electrode and the lower electrode. The grounding unit is configured to move independently from the upper electrode in the first direction in a third space which extends to the first space in the first direction and also to the second space in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

Plasma processing apparatus and method for processing object

A substrate processing apparatus includes a chamber including a process chamber for performing a process on a substrate by a gas introduced thereto and an exhaust chamber for evacuating the gas in the process chamber, a shield member for separating the process chamber from the exhaust chamber provided in at least a part of a neighborhood of a side wall of the chamber, and a hollow relay member penetrating through the shield member for communicating the chamber with a pipe connected to a pressure gauge outside the chamber. The relay member is configured to receive a first gas flowing from the chamber into the relay member. The first gas has a first conductance. The first conductance is greater than a second conductance of a second gas flowing from the exhaust chamber into a gap between the relay member and the side wall of the chamber.

Substrate processing apparatus

Disclosed is a plasma processing method. The method includes forming a protective film on an inner wall surface of a processing container of a plasma processing apparatus; and executing a processing on a workpiece within the processing container. When forming the protective film, a protective film forming gas is supplied from an upper side of the space between the mounting table and the side wall of the processing container so that plasma is generated. When executing the processing, a workpiece processing gas is supplied from an upper side of the mounting table so that plasma is generated.

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Miyagi, Japan

Nobutaka Sasaki