Toshiba Mitsubishi-electric Industrial Systems Corporation

Tmeic Corporation

Ren Arita

Kensuke Watanabe

Shinichi Nishimura

Yoichiro Tabata

Yoshihito Yamada

In an electrode unit of an active gas generation apparatus according to the present disclosure, a dielectric film support member includes a support surface supporting a high voltage side dielectric film from a lower side. A lower surface of the dielectric film suppression member provided on an upper side of a ground side dielectric film includes a dielectric contact region overlapped with a peripheral region of the high voltage side dielectric film and the support surface of the dielectric film support member in a plan view and a dielectric non-contact region overlapped with an intermediate region of the high voltage side dielectric film in a plan view. The high voltage side dielectric film is suppressed from the dielectric contact region on an upper side by the dielectric film suppression member receiving suppress strength of a plurality of suppression auxiliary members.

Active gas generation apparatus

A housing in an active gas generator according to the present disclosure includes a peripheral stepped region formed along an outer periphery of a central bottom region, the peripheral stepped region being higher in formed height than the central bottom region. A high-voltage-electrode dielectric film on the peripheral stepped region forms a gas separation structure for separating a gas stream into a feeding space and an active gas generating space including a discharge space. A vacuum pump disposed outside the housing sets the feeding space under vacuum.

Active gas generator

An object of the present disclosure is to obtain an active gas generation apparatus capable of supplying a highly concentrated active gas from a gas ejection port to a processing space at a subsequent stage. Then, in the active gas generation apparatus () of the present disclosure, in a main dielectric space being a space in which an electrode dielectric film () and an electrode dielectric film () face each other, a region where electrode conductive films () and () overlap each other in a plan view is defined as a main discharge space (). In an auxiliary dielectric space being a space where the electrode dielectric filmand a shield dielectric filmface each other, a region including a dielectric through hole () and a cover through hole () is defined as an auxiliary discharge space (). The auxiliary discharge space () includes a part of a buffer space () above the shield dielectric film (), and a path leading from the auxiliary discharge space () to the gas ejection port () is defined as an active gas flow path.

One direction discharge structure in an active gas generation apparatus satisfies arrangement conditions (a) to (c). The condition (a) is a condition that a region where a corresponding metal electrode and a corresponding metal electrode are overlapped with each other in a plan view serves as a corresponding discharge space in a corresponding gap region. The condition (b) is a condition that the corresponding gap region and a plurality of gas supply holes provided in a corresponding gas supply region are overlapped with each other in a plan view. The condition (c) is a condition that the plurality of gas supply holes provided in the corresponding gas supply region and a plurality of gas ejection holes provided below the corresponding gap region sandwich the corresponding discharge space in a plan view, and are disposed to face each other on a one-to-one basis along a Y direction.

Provided in an active gas generation apparatus according to the present disclosure is a gas separation structure of separating a gas flow between an in-housing space and a discharge space by a cooling plate, an electrode holding member, and a high voltage apply electrode part. The active gas generation apparatus further includes an auxiliary metal electrode provided on an upper surface of an electrode dielectric film in the high voltage apply electrode part. The auxiliary metal electrode is provided to overlap with part of an active gas transmission path in a plan view, and set to ground potential.

In the present disclosure, in a high-voltage side electrode component, the electrode main dielectric film is provided on the lower surface of the electrode conductive film, and the electrode additional dielectric film is disposed below the electrode main dielectric film at an upper main/additional inter-dielectric distance. The electrode main dielectric film includes the whole electrode conductive film in a plan view, and has a formation area larger than the electrode conductive film. The electrode additional dielectric film includes the electrode conductive film in a plan view and has a formation area slightly larger than the electrode conductive film and smaller than the electrode main dielectric film. The ground side electrode component has the same features as the above-mentioned features of the high-voltage side electrode component.

An active gas generation apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a base flange having a central bottom surface region and a peripheral protruding part; a cooling plate provided on the peripheral protruding part of the base flange; an insulating plate provided between the cooling plate and the high voltage apply electrode part; and an electrode holding member provided on a lower surface of the cooling plate to support the high voltage apply electrode part from a lower side. Provided is a gas separation structure of separating a gas flow between an in-housing space and a discharge space by the cooling plate, the electrode holding member, and the high voltage apply electrode part.

In the present invention, a high-voltage side electrode constituent part includes a dielectric electrode and metal electrodes formed on the upper surface of the dielectric electrode. The dielectric electrode has a structure in which a film thickness is continuously changed along an X direction. That is, the film thickness of the right end of the dielectric electrode is set to a thickness dA; and the film thickness of the left end is set to a thickness dB(>dA), and is continuously increased from the right end to the left end along the X direction.

Activated gas generation apparatus

In an active gas generation apparatus of the present invention, an auxiliary conductive film provided on a first electrode dielectric film is provided to overlap part of an active gas flow path in plan view, and the auxiliary conductive film is set to the ground potential. An active gas auxiliary member provided on a second electrode dielectric film is provided to fill part of the active gas flow path between a discharge space and a gas ejection hole in a dielectric space between the first and second electrode dielectric films in order to limit to an active gas flow gap.

In the present invention, an electrode pair having a discharge space therein is constituted by a combination of a high-voltage application electrode unit and a ground potential electrode unit. The high-voltage application electrode unit has, as the main components, an electrode dielectric film and a metal electrode formed on the upper surface of the electrode dielectric film. An auxiliary conductive film is formed in an annular shape so as to surround the metal electrode without overlapping the metal electrode in plan view. A metal electrode pressing member: has an annular shape in plan view; is provided to contact part of the upper surface of the auxiliary conductive film; and is fixed to a metal base flange. A ground potential is applied to the base flange.

Active gas generating apparatus

In the present invention, a high-voltage side electrode component further includes a conductive film disposed on an upper surface of a dielectric electrode independently of a metal electrode. The conductive film is disposed between at least one gas ejection port and the metal electrode in plan view, and the conductive film is set to ground potential.

In the present invention, a gas passing groove, a high-voltage electrode groove and a ground electrode groove formed in an electrode unit base are each spiral in plan view. A high-voltage electrode is embedded in the high-voltage electrode grove, and a ground electrode is embedded in the ground electrode groove. The high-voltage electrode and the ground electrode are arranged on sides of opposite side surfaces of the gas passing groove in the electrode unit base to oppose each other with a portion of the electrode unit base and the gas passing groove therebetween, and are spiral in plan view along with the gas passing groove.

Active gas generation apparatus and deposition processing apparatus

The present invention has features (1) to (3). The feature (1) is that 'an active gas generation electrode group is formed in such a manner that a ground side electrode component supports a high-voltage side electrode component'. The feature (2) is that 'stepped parts are provided in a discharge space outside region of a dielectric electrode in the high-voltage side electrode component, and project downward, and by a formation height of these stepped parts, the gap length of a discharge space is defined'. The feature (3) is that &#x201c;the high-voltage side electrode component and the ground side electrode component are formed to have the thickness of a discharge space formation region relatively thin and the thickness of a discharge space outside region relatively thick&#x201d;.

A gas passing groove, a high-voltage electrode groove, and a ground electrode groove provided to an electrode unit base are each helical in plan view. An electrode unit lid is placed on a front surface of the electrode unit base so that a high-voltage conduction hole and a high-voltage conduction point coincide with each other in plan view. An electrode cooling plate is placed on a front surface of the electrode unit lid so that a high-voltage opening includes the high-voltage conduction hole as a whole in plan view. The electrode unit lid and the electrode cooling plate are placed on the front surface of the electrode unit base so that a ground conduction groove, a ground conduction hole, and a ground conduction point coincide with one another in plan view.

In an active gas generating apparatus, a power feeder is provided above metal electrodes in an integrated high-voltage electrode unit. When seen in plan view, the power feeder has a shape that entirely covers the metal electrodes in the integrated high-voltage electrode unit. Each of power feeding units is provided below the metal electrodes in an integrated ground electrode unit. When seen in plan view, each of the power feeding units has a shape that entirely covers the metal electrodes of the integrated ground electrode unit.

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Tokyo, Japan

Ren Arita