Patents by Inventor Masanobu Honda

Masanobu Honda 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: 20090203218
    Abstract: A plasma etching method includes etching an etching target layer formed on a substrate to be processed by a plasma of a processing gas by using an ArF photoresist as a mask. The etching target layer is a silicon nitride layer or silicon oxide layer, and the processing gas contains at least a CF3I gas. A high frequency power having a frequency of 13.56 MHz or less is applied to a lower electrode mounting the substrate thereon.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2009
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Shoichiro Matsuyama, Masanobu Honda
  • Publication number: 20090197423
    Abstract: A substrate processing method that can eliminate unevenness in the distribution of plasma. The method is for a substrate processing apparatus that has a processing chamber in which a substrate is housed, a mounting stage that is disposed in the processing chamber and on which the substrate is mounted, and an electrode plate that is disposed in the processing chamber such as to face the mounting stage, the electrode plate being made of silicon and connected to a radio-frequency power source, and carries out plasma processing on the substrate. In the plasma processing, the temperature of the electrode plate is measured, and based on the measured temperature, the temperature of the electrode plate is maintained lower than a critical temperature at which the specific resistance value of the silicon starts changing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2009
    Publication date: August 6, 2009
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Chishio KOSHIMIZU, Taichi HIRANO, Masanobu HONDA, Shinji HIMORI
  • Patent number: 7501350
    Abstract: Disclosed is a plasma processing method for processing a target object by using a plasma of a process gas containing a fluorocarbon compound. Used is a fluorocarbon compound having at least one triple bond within the molecule and at least one CF3 group bonded by a single bond to the carbon atom forming the triple bond with the adjacent carbon atom such as 1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butyne or 1,1,1,4,4,5,5,5-octafluoro-2-pentyne.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2009
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventor: Masanobu Honda
  • Patent number: 7473377
    Abstract: A plasma processing method includes a step of preparing a process subject having an organic layer on a surface thereof, and a step of irradiating the process subject with H2 plasma to improve plasma resistance of the organic layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2009
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Tomoyo Yamaguchi, Takashi Fuse, Kiwamu Fujimoto, Masanobu Honda, Kazuya Nagaseki, Akiteru Koh, Takashi Enomoto, Hiroharu Ito, Akinori Kitamura
  • Publication number: 20080236752
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus capable of, over a prolonged period of time, controlling a decrease in the value of a DC current flowing within an accommodating compartment. The plasma processing apparatus comprises an accommodating compartment adapted to accommodate a substrate and perform a plasma treatment thereon, a high-frequency power source adapted to supply high-frequency power to the inside of the accommodating compartment; a DC electrode adapted to apply a DC voltage to the inside of the accommodating compartment, a ground electrode provided within the accommodating compartment and used for the applied DC voltage, and an exhaust unit adapted to evacuate the inside of the accommodating compartment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2008
    Publication date: October 2, 2008
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventor: Masanobu HONDA
  • Publication number: 20080233757
    Abstract: A plasma processing method for processing a target substrate uses a plasma processing apparatus which includes a vacuum evacuable processing vessel for accommodating the target substrate therein, a first electrode disposed in the processing vessel and connected to a first RF power supply for plasma generation and a second electrode disposed to face the first electrode. The method includes exciting a processing gas containing fluorocarbon in the processing vessel to generate a plasma while applying a negative DC voltage having an absolute value ranging from about 100 V to 1500 V or an RF power of a frequency lower than about 4 MHz to the second electrode. The target layer is etched by the plasma, thus forming recesses on the etching target layer based on the pattern of the resist layer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2007
    Publication date: September 25, 2008
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu HONDA, Manabu SATO, Yoshiki IGARASHI
  • Patent number: 7419613
    Abstract: A support electrode (2) and a counter electrode (16) constituting parallel plate electrodes are disposed in a process vessel (1). A substrate (W) with an organic material film formed thereon is supported by the support electrode (2). A high-frequency power of a frequency of 40 MHz or above for generating the plasma is applied to the support electrode (2), so that a high-frequency electric field is formed between the support electrode (2) and the counter electrode (16). A process gas is supplied into the process vessel (1) to generate plasma of the process gas by the high-frequency electric field. The organic material film on the substrate (W) is etched with the plasma, with an organic material film serving as a mask. The process gas includes an ionization accelerating gas, such as Ar, that is ionized from a ground state or metastable state with an ionization energy of 10 eV or below and has a maximum ionization cross-section of 2×1016 cm2 or above.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2008
    Assignees: Tokyo Electron Limited, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Masanobu Honda, Shoichiro Matsuyama, Kazuya Nagaseki, Hisataka Hayashi
  • Patent number: 7338576
    Abstract: Each magnet segment 22 of a magnetic field forming mechanism 21 is constructed such that, after the magnetic pole of each magnet segment 22 set to face a vacuum chamber 1 as shown in FIG. 3A, adjoining magnet segments 22 are synchronously rotated in opposite directions, and hence every other magnet element 22 is rotated in the same direction as shown in FIGS. 3B, 3C to thereby control the status of a multi-pole magnetic field formed in the vacuum chamber 1 and surrounding a semiconductor wafer W. Therefore, the status of a multi-pole magnetic field can be easily controlled and set appropriately according to a type of plasma processing process to provide a good processing easily.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2008
    Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
    Inventors: Hiroo Ono, Koichi Tateshita, Masanobu Honda, Kazuya Nagaseki, Daisuke Hayashi
  • Publication number: 20070256638
    Abstract: The present invention is an electrode plate for use in plasma processing, to be placed in a plasma processing system so that it faces to a substrate to be subjected to plasma processing, characterized in that its resistivity is in the range of 0.01 m?cm to 2 ?cm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2007
    Publication date: November 8, 2007
    Inventors: Masanobu Honda, Shinichi Miyano, Naoki Matsumoto, Yutaka Matsui
  • Publication number: 20070234960
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus that enables formation of a deposit film on a surface of a grounding electrode to be prevented. A substrate processing chamber has therein a processing space in which plasma processing is carried out on a substrate, an RF electrode that applies radio frequency electrical power into the processing space, a DC electrode that applies a DC voltage into the processing space, and a grounding electrode at least part of which is exposed in the substrate processing chamber. The grounding electrode is disposed in a corner portion formed through intersection of a plurality of internal surfaces in the substrate processing chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2007
    Publication date: October 11, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu Honda, Noriaki Kodama
  • Publication number: 20070221493
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus that enables polymer to be removed from an electrically insulated electrode. A susceptor of the plasma processing apparatus is disposed in a substrate processing chamber having a processing space therein. A radio frequency power source is connected to the susceptor. An upper electrode plate is electrically insulated from a wall of the substrate processing chamber and from the susceptor. A DC power source is connected to the upper electrode plate. A controller of the plasma processing apparatus determines a value of a negative DC voltage to be applied to the upper electrode plate in accordance with processing conditions for RIE processing to be carried out.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2007
    Publication date: September 27, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu HONDA, Yutaka Matsui, Manabu Sato
  • Publication number: 20070224817
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus having a substrate processing chamber, which enables leakage of plasma into an exhaust space to be prevented. The substrate processing chamber has therein a processing space in which plasma processing is carried out on a substrate, an exhaust space for exhausting gas out of the processing space, and an exhaust flow path that communicates the exhaust space and the processing space together. The plasma processing apparatus further has a grounding component that is electrically grounded and is disposed in the exhaust flow path. The grounding component has a conducting portion made of a conductive material, and the conducting portion has an exposed area exposed to the exhaust flow path in a range of 100 to 1000 cm2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2007
    Publication date: September 27, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu HONDA, Naoki Matsumoto, Satoshi Tanaka, Yutaka Matsui
  • Publication number: 20070221332
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus which enables an insulating film on a grounding electrode to be removed. A plasma processing apparatus has a substrate processing chamber having therein a processing space in which plasma processing is carried out on a substrate, an RF electrode that applies radio frequency electrical power into the processing space, a DC electrode that applies a DC voltage into the processing space, and a grounding electrode that is exposed to the processing space. The grounding electrode and the RF electrode are adjacent to one another with an insulating portion therebetween, and a distance between the grounding electrode and the RF electrode is set in a range of 0 to 10 mm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2007
    Publication date: September 27, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu HONDA, Yutaka Matsui
  • Publication number: 20070212887
    Abstract: A plasma etching method includes the step of performing a plasma etching on a silicon-containing dielectric layer formed on a substrate to be processed by using a plasma, while using an organic layer as a mask. In addition, the plasma is generated from a processing gas at least including a first fluorocarbon gas which is an unsaturated gas; a second fluorocarbon gas which is an aliphatic saturated gas expressed by CmF2m+2 (m=5, 6); and an oxygen gas. Further, a computer-readable storage medium for storing therein a computer executable control program is provided where the control program, when executed, controls a plasma etching apparatus to perform the above plasma etching method.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 6, 2007
    Publication date: September 13, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Akinori Kitamura, Masanobu Honda, Nozomi Hirai
  • Publication number: 20070197040
    Abstract: A plasma etching method includes the step of performing a plasma etching on a silicon-containing dielectric layer formed on a substrate to be processed by using a plasma, while using an organic layer as a mask. The plasma is generated from a processing gas at least including a C6F6 gas, a rare gas and an oxygen gas, and a flow rate ratio of the oxygen gas to the C6F6 gas (an oxygen gas flow rate/a C6F6 gas flow rate) is set to be about 2.8 to 3.3.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2007
    Publication date: August 23, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Akinori Kitamura, Masanobu Honda, Nozomi Hirai, Kumiko Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20070186952
    Abstract: A method of cleaning a substrate processing chamber that enables formation of an oxide film on a surface of a processing chamber inside component to be prevented. A substrate processing chamber 11 has therein a processing space S into which a wafer W is transferred and carries out reactive ion etching on the wafer W in the processing space S. The substrate processing chamber 11 has an upper electrode plate 38 that comprises silicon and a lower surface of which is exposed to the processing space S. A dry cleaning is carried out on the upper electrode plate 38 using oxygen radicals produced from oxygen gas introduced into the processing space S. An oxide removal processing is carried out on the upper electrode plate 38 using fluorine ions and fluorine radicals produced from carbon tetrafluoride gas introduced into the processing space S.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2007
    Publication date: August 16, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu HONDA, Yutaka Matsui
  • Publication number: 20070165355
    Abstract: A plasma processing apparatus includes a first and a second electrode disposed to face each other in a processing chamber, the second electrode supporting a substrate; a first RF power supply for applying a first RF power of a higher frequency to the second electrode; a second RF power supply for applying a second RF power of a lower frequency to the second electrode; and a DC power source for applying a DC voltage to the first electrode. In a plasma etching method for etching a substrate by using the plasma processing apparatus, the first and the second radio frequency power are applied to the second electrode to convert a processing gas containing no CF-based gas into a plasma and a DC voltage is applied to the first electrode, to thereby etch an organic film or an amorphous film on the substrate by using a silicon-containing mask.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2006
    Publication date: July 19, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTON LIMITED
    Inventors: Manabu Sato, Yoshiki Igarashi, Yoshimitsu Kon, Masanobu Honda
  • Publication number: 20070090093
    Abstract: Photoresist film is used as a mask, plasma etching of a SiO2 film is selectively performed to a photoresist film, and a hole is formed. An etching gas comprising unsaturated fluorocarbon gas containing oxygen expressed with CxFyO (y/x is 1-1.5 at an integer in x, as for 4 or 5, and y) is used for the plasma etching. C4F4O gas and C4F6O gas are used for the unsaturated fluorocarbon gas containing oxygen, for example.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2006
    Publication date: April 26, 2007
    Applicants: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED, ZEON CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akinori Kitamura, Masanobu Honda, Nozomi Hirai, Masahiro Nakamura, Tatsuya Sugimoto
  • Publication number: 20070068798
    Abstract: A structure for a plasma processing chamber which makes it possible to control the potential therein and simplify the construction of the plasma processing chamber. A gas-introducing showerhead 34 is disposed in the plasma processing chamber 10 including a container 11 having a process space S for receiving a semiconductor wafer W, and a susceptor 12 disposed in the container 11, for mounting the received semiconductor wafer W thereon. The susceptor 12 is connected to high-frequency power supplies 20 and 46. An electrode support 39 of the gas-introducing showerhead 34 is electrically grounded. An electrically floating top electrode plate 38 of the gas-introducing showerhead 34 is disposed between the electrode support 39 and the process space S. The top electrode plate 38 has a surface exposed to the process space S. An insulating film 48 is formed of a dielectric material and disposed between the electrode support 39 and the top electrode plate 38.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2006
    Publication date: March 29, 2007
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu Honda, Toshihiro Hayami, Yutaka Matsui
  • Publication number: 20060273733
    Abstract: A plasma processing chamber that enables an amount of attached polymer to be controlled easily with a simple construction. A vessel 11 houses a semiconductor wafer W. A susceptor 12 is disposed in the vessel 11 and is connected to a lower electrode radio frequency power source 20. In a plasma processing chamber 10, RIE and ashing can be carried out on the semiconductor wafer W using plasma produced from processing gases introduced into the vessel 11. A side wall member 45 is disposed in the vessel 11 and exposed to the plasma. A potential of the side wall member 45 is set to either a floating potential or a ground potential in accordance with which of RIE and ashing is carried out.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2006
    Publication date: December 7, 2006
    Applicant: TOKYO ELECTRON LIMITED
    Inventors: Masanobu Honda, Toshihiro Hayami