Tokyo Electron Limited

Tokyo Electron Yamanashi Limited

Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Tokyo Electronics Co., Ltd.

Shunichi Iimuro

Shigeki Tozawa

Yoshikazu Ito

Yutaka Miura

Kazushi Tomita

Eiichi Nishimura

Masayuki Kojima

Masashi Arasawa

Motohiro Hirano

Akira Nozawa

Hiromitsu Matsuo

Hiroshi Nishikawa

Yoshifumi Tahara

Haruhiko Yoshioka

Kazutoshi Yoshioka

Izumi Arai

Kazuo Fukasawa

Hiroyuki Sakai

Kimiharu Matsumura

Shozo Hosoda

Yutaka Amemiya

Keisuke Shigaki

Kazuhsi Tomita

Yoshinobu Mitano

Teruhiko Onoe

A plasma processing method in which a high-frequency power is supplied to a processing chamber in which an object to be processed is mounted, thereby producing a plasma in the processing chamber, and the object is processed in an atmosphere of the plasma, wherein the high-frequency power is subjected to modulation by a low-frequency power. In one embodiment a plasma is produced in a processing chamber by using an electric power with a direction of current changed with passing of time, and the object to be processed is processed in an atmosphere of the plasma, wherein a power having a basic frequency is subjected to frequency modulation with a frequency equal to n-times (n=an integer) the basic frequency. In a plasma processing apparatus of the invention, while a process gas is supplied to a processing chamber via a first gas introducing hole formed in an electrode, an object to be processed, which is held on an opposed electrode, is subjected to plasma processing. There is provided a resistance applying [means for applying] apply resistance to the process gas flowing to the processing chamber via the gas introducing hole from the gas introducing means such that a plasma discharge is prevented from occurring in the gas introducing means when a process pressure in the processing chamber is set at 0.5 Torr or less.

Plasma processing method and plasma processing apparatus

A parallel-plate plasma etching apparatus includes a susceptor electrode and a shower electrode which are arranged in a process chamber. A semiconductor wafer is placed on the susceptor electrode. A shower region defined by a plurality of process gas supply holes is formed in the shower electrode. The shower electrode is cooled by a cooling block and causes an effective electrode portion of the shower electrode to have a temperature gradient such that a temperature at the central portion of the effective electrode portion is lower than a temperature at the peripheral portion of the effective electrode portion. The diameter of the shower region is selected to be smaller than the diameter of the wafer by 5 to 25% such that degradation of planar uniformity of a degree of etching anisotropy on the wafer caused by the temperature gradient of the effective electrode portion is compensated for. The diameter of the effective electrode portion is selected to be larger than the size of a wafer by 5 to 35% such that a taper angle of a side wall to be etched formed by etching is set to be 85.degree. to 90.degree..

Anisotropic etching method and apparatus

The present invention provides a plasma etching system, comprising a process chamber enclosing a plasma, means for evacuating said process chamber, a chuck electrode for supporting a substrate, a shower electrode positioned to face said chuck electrode and provided with a large number of small holes, a power source for applying a plasma voltage between the chuck electrode and said shower electrode, gas supply means communicating with said small holes of the shower electrode for supplying a plasma-forming gas into the process chamber through the small holes, and means for controlling said gas supply means such that said plasma-forming gas flows through said small holes at a mass flow rate of at least 620 kg/m.sup.2 /hr.

Plasma etching system and plasma etching method

Plasma etching system

A method and an apparatus, both for ashing unnecessary layers such as a photoresist layer, formed on a semiconductor wafer, by applying ozone to the layer, are disclosed. An ashing gas containing oxygen atom radical, or containing oxygen gas and an ashing-promoting gas, is applied to the layer, thereby ashing the layer readily and efficiently. The surface temperature of the layer is set at a prescribed value, and the ashing gas is applied uniformly onto the entire surface of the layer, or onto a part thereof, thus ashing the whole layer, or a part thereof, uniformly at a high rate, and the end-point of the ashing process is detected, thereby to enhance the efficiency of the ashing process.

Method of ashing layers, and apparatus for ashing layers

Growing community of inventors

Yamanashi-ken, Japan

Shunichi Iimuro