Patents by Inventor Kosa Hirota

Kosa Hirota has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20260198264
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus and method which prevents adhesion of charged particles to a sample in plasma etching processing, including a plasma processing chamber, a radio frequency power supply for generating the plasma, an electrostatic attraction electrode configured to apply a voltage to the sample to electrically attract and fix the sample, and a direct current power supply configured to apply a voltage to the electrostatic attraction electrode, the plasma processing method including an ignition step of generating the plasma by the radio frequency power supply from the sample placed on the electrostatic attraction electrode, a plasma discharge step of performing etching of the sample, and a dechuck step of releasing the attracting and fixing by dechuck after the plasma discharge step, in which the voltage applied to the electrostatic attraction electrode of the sample is larger than 0 V from the ignition step to the dechuck step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2023
    Publication date: July 9, 2026
    Inventors: Ryu EZAKI, Kosa HIROTA, Kazuyuki IKENAGA, Masahiro SUMIYA
  • Publication number: 20260142130
    Abstract: A plasma processing method which can realize a reduction of process variation in the first one of lot processing includes a first step of supplying gas to a processing chamber and a second step of etching the sample by using plasma after the first step. The gas is a gas containing a carbon element and a hydrogen element, a gas containing a chlorine element, or a mixed gas containing all of the gases used in the second step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2026
    Publication date: May 21, 2026
    Inventors: Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Hirofumi Eitoku, Takanori Nakatsuka
  • Patent number: 12573593
    Abstract: A plasma processing method which can realize a reduction of process variation in the first one of lot processing includes a first step of supplying gas to a processing chamber and a second step of etching the sample by using plasma after the first step. The gas is a gas containing a carbon element and a hydrogen element, a gas containing a chlorine element, or a mixed gas containing all of the gases used in the second step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2026
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Hirofumi Eitoku, Takanori Nakatsuka
  • Publication number: 20250323029
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma a processing method capable of removing complex depositions of metal and non-metal deposited in a processing chamber by etching processing of a wafer to reduce generation of particle due to the depositions, in a plasma processing method for plasma-etching the wafer such as a semiconductor substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2025
    Publication date: October 16, 2025
    Inventors: Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Koichi Nakaune, Nanako Tamari, Satomi Inoue, Shigeru Nakamoto
  • Patent number: 12368031
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing method capable of removing complex depositions of metal and non-metal deposited in a processing chamber by etching processing of a wafer to reduce generation of particle due to the depositions, in a plasma processing method for plasma-etching the wafer such as a semiconductor substrate. According to the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing method for plasma-etching a sample in a processing chamber and plasma-cleaning the inside of the processing chamber, the method comprising: an etching step for plasma-etching a predetermined number of the samples; a metal removing step of removing a deposited film containing a metal element by using a plasma after the etching step; and a non-metal removing step of removing the deposited film containing the non-metal element by using a plasma different from the plasma in the metal removing step, in which the metal removing step and the non-metal removing step are repeated twice or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2025
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Koichi Nakaune, Nanako Tamari, Satomi Inoue, Shigeru Nakamoto
  • Publication number: 20250104981
    Abstract: Provided is a plasma processing method for implementing a state in which product manufacturing can be started in a short period of time by reducing particles generated after maintenance of a plasma processing apparatus. The plasma processing method for plasma-processing a sample includes: a sweeping step of sweeping out a particle after maintenance of a processing chamber in which the sample is plasma-processed; a deposition step of depositing a deposition film in the processing chamber after the sweeping step; a first removing step of removing the deposition film after the deposition step; a second removing step of removing fluorine in the processing chamber after the first removing step; and a plasma processing step of plasma-processing the sample placed on a sample stage. The sweeping step, the deposition step, the first removing step, and the second removing step are repeated two or more times before the plasma processing step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2022
    Publication date: March 27, 2025
    Inventors: Kosa HIROTA, Masahiro SUMIYA, Ryu EZAKI, Anil PANDEY, Yuki MORIYA
  • Publication number: 20250046580
    Abstract: A plasma processing a plasma processing chamber in which an electrode for placing a substrate to be processed is provided; a power supply and a control configured to control the power supply in which the control is configured to execute heat-retaining discharge under a first condition in the substrate is not placed on the electrode inside the plasma processing chamber to generate first plasma to heat an inner wall surface to a first temperature, rapid temperature control discharge under a second condition to generate second plasma inside the plasma processing chamber to heat the inner wall surface to a second temperature higher than the first temperature, and product processing of controlling the power supply under a third condition in a state where the substrate is placed on the electrode to generate third plasma inside the plasma processing chamber to process the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2024
    Publication date: February 6, 2025
    Inventors: Nanako Tamari, Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Masahiro Nagatani
  • Patent number: 12154765
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus including a plasma processing chamber in which an electrode for placing a substrate to be processed is provided; a power supply; and a control device configured to control the power supply, in which the control device is configured to execute heat-retaining discharge under a first condition in which the substrate is not placed on the electrode inside the plasma processing chamber to generate first plasma to heat an inner wall surface to a first temperature, rapid temperature control discharge under a second condition to generate second plasma inside the plasma processing chamber to heat the inner wall surface to a second temperature higher than the first temperature, and product processing of controlling the power supply under a third condition in a state where the substrate is placed on the electrode to generate third plasma inside the plasma processing chamber to process the substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Nanako Tamari, Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Masahiro Nagatani
  • Publication number: 20220375726
    Abstract: A plasma processing method which can realize a reduction of process variation in the first one of lot processing includes a first step of supplying gas to a processing chamber and a second step of etching the sample by using plasma after the first step. The gas is a gas containing a carbon element and a hydrogen element, a gas containing a chlorine element, or a mixed gas containing all of the gases used in the second step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2020
    Publication date: November 24, 2022
    Inventors: Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Hirofumi Eitoku, Takanori Nakatsuka
  • Publication number: 20220359166
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus including a plasma processing chamber in which an electrode for placing a substrate to be processed is provided; a power supply; and a control device configured to control the power supply, in which the control device is configured to execute heat-retaining discharge under a first condition in which the substrate is not placed on the electrode inside the plasma processing chamber to generate first plasma to heat an inner wall surface to a first temperature, rapid temperature control discharge under a second condition to generate second plasma inside the plasma processing chamber to heat the inner wall surface to a second temperature higher than the first temperature, and product processing of controlling the power supply under a third condition in a state where the substrate is placed on the electrode to generate third plasma inside the plasma processing chamber to process the substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 3, 2020
    Publication date: November 10, 2022
    Inventors: Nanako Tamari, Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Masahiro Nagatani
  • Patent number: 11424110
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes: a detector configured to detect a change in an intensity of light emission from plasma formed inside a processing chamber; and a unit configured to adjust conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber using an output from the detector, wherein the detector detects a signal of the intensity of light emission at plural time instants before an arbitrary time instant during processing, and wherein the adjusting unit removes the component of a temporal change of a long cycle of the intensity of light emission from this detected signal and detects the component of a short temporal change of the intensity of light emission, and adjusts the conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber based on the short temporal change of the detected intensity of light emission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masahito Togami, Tatehito Usui, Kosa Hirota, Satomi Inoue, Shigeru Nakamoto
  • Publication number: 20220262606
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing method capable of removing complex depositions of metal and non-metal deposited in a processing chamber by etching processing of a wafer to reduce generation of particle due to the depositions, in a plasma processing method for plasma-etching the wafer such as a semiconductor substrate. According to the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing method for plasma-etching a sample in a processing chamber and plasma-cleaning the inside of the processing chamber, the method comprising: an etching step for plasma-etching a predetermined number of the samples; a metal removing step of removing a deposited film containing a metal element by using a plasma after the etching step; and a non-metal removing step of removing the deposited film containing the non-metal element by using a plasma different from the plasma in the metal removing step, in which the metal removing step and the non-metal removing step are repeated twice or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2022
    Publication date: August 18, 2022
    Inventors: Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Koichi Nakaune, Nanako Tamari, Satomi Inoue, Shigeru Nakamoto
  • Patent number: 11355324
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing method capable of removing complex depositions of metal and non-metal deposited in a processing chamber by etching processing of a wafer to reduce generation of particle due to the depositions, in a plasma processing method for plasma-etching the wafer such as a semiconductor substrate. According to the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing method for plasma-etching a sample in a processing chamber and plasma-cleaning the inside of the processing chamber, the method comprising: an etching step for plasma-etching a predetermined number of the samples; a metal removing step of removing a deposited film containing a metal element by using a plasma after the etching step; and a non-metal removing step of removing the deposited film containing the non-metal element by using a plasma different from the plasma in the metal removing step, in which the metal removing step and the non-metal removing step are repeated twice or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI HIGH-TECH CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kosa Hirota, Masahiro Sumiya, Koichi Nakaune, Nanako Tamari, Satomi Inoue, Shigeru Nakamoto
  • Publication number: 20200294777
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma processing method capable of removing complex depositions of metal and non-metal deposited in a processing chamber by etching processing of a wafer to reduce generation of particle due to the depositions, in a plasma processing method for plasma-etching the wafer such as a semiconductor substrate. According to the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing method for plasma-etching a sample in a processing chamber and plasma-cleaning the inside of the processing chamber, the method comprising: an etching step for plasma-etching a predetermined number of the samples; a metal removing step of removing a deposited film containing a metal element by using a plasma after the etching step; and a non-metal removing step of removing the deposited film containing the non-metal element by using a plasma different from the plasma in the metal removing step, in which the metal removing step and the non-metal removing step are repeated twice or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2018
    Publication date: September 17, 2020
    Inventors: Kosa HIROTA, Masahiro SUMIYA, Koichi NAKAUNE, Nanako TAMARI, Satomi INOUE, Shigeru NAKAMOTO
  • Publication number: 20200273683
    Abstract: A plasma processing method includes an etching step of etching a wafer in a chamber, a plasma cleaning step of removing a particle on an inner wall of the chamber by introducing a gas containing a halogen element into the chamber by a plasma processing method for removing remaining halogen or the like in the chamber in a short time and improving throughput, and a remaining halogen removing step of removing the halogen element remaining in the chamber in the plasma cleaning step by alternately repeating an on state and an off state of the plasma containing oxygen in the chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2019
    Publication date: August 27, 2020
    Inventors: Yuta TAKAGI, Kosa HIROTA, Yoshiharu INOUE, Masakazu MIYAJI
  • Publication number: 20170372878
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes: a detector configured to detect a change in an intensity of light emission from plasma formed inside a processing chamber; and a unit configured to adjust conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber using an output from the detector, wherein the detector detects a signal of the intensity of light emission at plural time instants before an arbitrary time instant during processing, and wherein the adjusting unit removes the component of a temporal change of a long cycle of the intensity of light emission from this detected signal and detects the component of a short temporal change of the intensity of light emission, and adjusts the conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber based on the short temporal change of the detected intensity of light emission.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2017
    Publication date: December 28, 2017
    Inventors: Masahito TOGAMI, Tatehito USUI, Kosa HIROTA, Satomi INOUE, Shigeru NAKAMOTO
  • Publication number: 20170358504
    Abstract: A plasma processing method of processing layer structure previously formed on an upper surface of a wafer disposed in a processing chamber within a vacuum container and having a layer to be processed and an undercoating layer disposed under the layer by plasma in the processing chamber, includes a step of calculating an etching amount of the layer to be processed at time during processing of any wafer by using result of comparing real pattern data with detection pattern data obtained by combining two patterns of intensity having as parameter wavelength of interference light obtained by processing the layer structure containing three or more undercoating layers having different thickness and the layer to be processed in advance of the processing of the any wafer and a real pattern of intensity having as parameter the wavelength of the interference light obtained during processing of the layer structure on the any wafer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 9, 2017
    Publication date: December 14, 2017
    Inventors: Tatehito USUI, Kosa HIROTA, Satomi INOUE, Shigeru NAKAMOTO, Kousuke FUKUCHI
  • Patent number: 9767997
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes: a detector configured to detect a change in an intensity of light emission from plasma formed inside a processing chamber; and a unit configured to adjust conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber using an output from the detector, wherein the detector detects a signal of the intensity of light emission at plural time instants before an arbitrary time instant during processing, and wherein the adjusting unit removes the component of a temporal change of a long cycle of the intensity of light emission from this detected signal and detects the component of a short temporal change of the intensity of light emission, and adjusts the conditions for forming the plasma or processing a wafer arranged inside the processing chamber based on the short temporal change of the detected intensity of light emission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Masahito Togami, Tatehito Usui, Kosa Hirota, Satomi Inoue, Shigeru Nakamoto
  • Patent number: 9741629
    Abstract: A plasma processing method of processing layer structure previously formed on an upper surface of a wafer disposed in a processing chamber within a vacuum container and having a layer to be processed and an undercoating layer disposed under the layer by plasma in the processing chamber, includes a step of calculating an etching amount of the layer to be processed at time during processing of any wafer by using result of comparing real pattern data with detection pattern data obtained by combining two patterns of intensity having as parameter wavelength of interference light obtained by processing the layer structure containing three or more undercoating layers having different thickness and the layer to be processed in advance of the processing of the any wafer and a real pattern of intensity having as parameter the wavelength of the interference light obtained during processing of the layer structure on the any wafer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Tatehito Usui, Kosa Hirota, Satomi Inoue, Shigeru Nakamoto, Kousuke Fukuchi
  • Publication number: 20160284610
    Abstract: A plasma processing method of processing layer structure previously formed on an upper surface of a wafer disposed in a processing chamber within a vacuum container and having a layer to be processed and an undercoating layer disposed under the layer by plasma in the processing chamber, includes a step of calculating an etching amount of the layer to be processed at time during processing of any wafer by using result of comparing real pattern data with detection pattern data obtained by combining two patterns of intensity having as parameter wavelength of interference light obtained by processing the layer structure containing three or more undercoating layers having different thickness and the layer to be processed in advance of the processing of the any wafer and areal pattern of intensity having as parameter the wavelength of the interference light obtained during processing of the layer structure on the any wafer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2015
    Publication date: September 29, 2016
    Inventors: Tatehito USUI, Kosa HIROTA, Satomi INOUE, Shigeru NAKAMOTO, Kousuke FUKUCHI