Baffle plate and plasma etching device having same
A plasma etching device includes a baffle plate having a plurality of slots for preventing leakage of plasma gas generated during a plasma generating process while discharging other materials such as exhaust gas, residual products and particles generated during the process. The slots, each of which extends in the form of a curve from an inner circumference of the baffle plate to an outer circumference thereof, expedites the discharge of the exhaust gas and residual products. Therefore, the plasma generating progresses more smoothly and, further, an amount of discharged exhaust gas is increased.
The present invention relates to a plasma generating device; and, more particularly, to a plasma etching device including a baffle plate for preventing leakage of plasma while efficiently discharging such other materials as exhaust gas, residual products and particles, wherein the baffle plate is connected to an inner wall of a plasma processing chamber in such a manner as to surround a lower electrode installed within the chamber.
BACKGROUND ARTAs well known in the art, plasma refers to a state of matter electrically neutral and highly ionized with ions (+) and electrons (−) of a same density. A device using plasma is, for example, a discharge tube.
In the course of manufacturing a semiconductor or TFT LCD integration circuit, a metal layer is formed in a metalization step for the wiring of devices formed on a silicon substrate and a contact hole is formed at an insulation layer below the metal layer to electrically connect the devices on the silicon substrate to the metal layer. In general, the contact hole is formed by performing a dry etching on the insulation layer, for example, an oxide layer, by using plasma.
Referring to
As shown in
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a plasma generating device, particularly a plasma etching device, using a baffle plate having slots adequate for preventing leakage of plasma while efficiently discharging exhaust gas and residual products.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a plasma generating device installed within a plasma generating chamber and including a baffle plate having a plurality of slots for discharging exhaust gas or residual products, wherein the plurality of slots are extended from an inner circumference of the baffle plate to an outer circumference thereof in the form of a curve.
Each of the plurality of slots has preferably a predetermined width. A distance between first end portions of the neighboring slots may be identical to a distance between second end portions thereof.
It is preferable that each of the plurality of slots has a cross section in which an upper width is larger than a lower width. Preferably, the upper width of each slot is about 1.6 to 1.8 mm while the lower width thereof is about 1.0 mm.
A portion on the baffle plate in which the plurality of slots are formed (hereinafter referred to as a slot formation portion) may be bent upward or downward in a predetermined angle. Preferably, the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward within an angular range of about 0 to 45°.
The slot formation portion of the baffle plate may be bent upward or downward in the form of an arc.
The slot formation portion of the baffle plate may be bent upward or downward two or more times in a predetermined angle.
The plasma generating device may be a plasma etching device.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a plasma generating device installed within a plasma generating chamber and including a baffle plate having a plurality of slots for discharging exhaust gas or residual products, wherein the plurality of slots are extended linearly from an inner circumference of the baffle plate to an outer circumference thereof diagonally to a radial direction.
Preferably, each of the plurality of slots, which are linearly extended from the inner circumference of the baffle plate to the outer circumference thereof diagonally to the radial direction, is bent at least one time.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGSThe above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
Further, a baffle plate 10 is installed within the chamber 101. Specifically, the baffle plate 10 is connected to an upper bellows cover 130 by driving a screw into the upper bellows cover 103 through a screw hole 150 (shown in
Each of the slots 11 has a predetermined width (about 1 mm) and is extended from the inner circumference of the baffle plate 10 to the outer circumference thereof. At this time, each of the slots 11 is extended in the form of a curve. Thus, if the inner diameter and the outer diameter of the baffle plate 10 are identical with those of the conventional baffle plate as described before with reference to
Referring to
For example, assume that there is a donut-shaped baffle plate having an inner diameter of about 250 mm and an outer diameter of about 366 mm. If 360 slots respectively having a width of about 1 mm and a length of about 40 mm are formed at the baffle plate linearly in a radial direction in accordance with prior art, the total area of open portions formed by the slots is calculated as about 14400 mm2.
On the other hand, if slots having a width of about 1 mm are formed at the same baffle plate in the form of a curve in accordance with the present invention, each the slots can be formed to have a curvilinear length of about 45 mm. If the number of the slots formed at the baffle plate is 360, the total area of open portions formed by the slots is calculated to be about 16200 mm2. Thus, the total area of the open portions in the baffle plate having the slots formed in accordance with the present invention increases by about 12.5% of that of the baffle plate having the slots formed in accordance with the prior art.
Further, as shown in
As shown in
Further, as shown in
Still further, a slot formation portion on the baffle plate 50 can be bent downward two times, i.e. in the form of a stair, as shown in
Still further, a slot formation portion can be bent three or more times though it is not illustrated herein.
Referring to
In the second preferred embodiment, each of the slots 11a has a predetermined width (about 1 mm) and is linearly extended from the inner circumference to the outer circumference of the baffle plate 10a diagonally to a radial direction. Thus, if the inner diameter and the outer diameter of the baffle plate 10a are identical with those of the conventional baffle plate as described before, the length of each of the slots 11a is found to be larger than that of each slot in the conventional baffle plate in which slots are extended linearly in a radial direction. Accordingly, an open area is enlarged and, as a result, a larger amount of exhaust gas or residual products can be discharged out through the slots 11.
In the above-described baffle plates in accordance with the present invention, the length of each slot is increased while the width thereof is maintained as about 1 mm. Accordingly, the open area is increased, allowing a greater amount of exhaust gas or residual products to be discharged while preventing leakage of plasma during a plasma process. As a result, manufacturing costs of semiconductors or integrated circuits can be reduced.
As described above, by forming slots in the form of a curve or linearly extending the slots diagonally to a radial direction and/or by modifying a slot formation portion in various ways while maintaining a current outer diameter of the baffle plate, exhaust gas or residual products generated during a plasma process can be effectively discharged out. Accordingly, the performance of the plasma process can be improved and a larger amount of process gas can be flowed into the chamber. As a result, the efficiency of the plasma process is greatly increased and manufacturing costs can be reduced.
While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
Claims
1. A plasma generating device installed within a plasma generating chamber and including a baffle plate having a plurality of slots for discharging exhaust gas or residual products, wherein the plurality of slots are extended from an inner circumference of the baffle plate to an outer circumference thereof in the form of a curve.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of slots has a predetermined width.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein the distance between first end portions of two neighboring slots is identical to the distance between second end portions thereof.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of slots has a cross section in which an upper width thereof is larger than a lower width thereof.
5. The device of claim 4, wherein the upper width of each slot ranges from about 1.6 to 1.8 mm while the lower width thereof is about 1.0 mm.
6. The device of claim 1, wherein a portion on the baffle plate in which the plurality of slots are formed is bent upward or downward in a predetermined angle.
7. The device of claim 6, wherein the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward within an angular range of about 0 to 45°.
8. The device of claim 1, wherein the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward in the form of an arc.
9. The device of claim 1, wherein the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward two or more times in a predetermined angle.
10. The device of claim 1 or 9, wherein the plasma generating device is a plasma etching device.
11. A plasma generating device installed within a plasma generating chamber and including a baffle plate having a plurality of slots, wherein the plurality of slots is extended from an inner circumference of the baffle plate to an outer circumference thereof in the form of a curve.
12. The device of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of slots has a predetermined width.
13. The device of claim 11 or 12, wherein a distance between first end portions of the neighboring slots is identical to a distance between second end portions thereof.
14. The device of claim 11 or 12, wherein each of the plurality of slots has a cross section in which an upper width thereof is larger than a lower width thereof.
15. The device of claim 14, wherein the upper width of each slot ranges from about 1.6 to 1.8 mm while the lower width thereof is about 1.0 mm.
16. The device of claim 11 or 12, wherein a portion on the baffle plate in which the plurality of slots are formed is bent upward or downward in a predetermined angle.
17. The device of claim 16, wherein the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward within an angular range from 0 to 45°.
18. The device of claim 11 or 12, wherein the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward in the form of an arc.
19. The device of claim 11 or 12, wherein the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward two or more times in a predetermined angle.
20. A plasma generating device installed within a plasma generating chamber and including a baffle plate having a plurality of slots for discharging exhaust gas or residual products, wherein the plurality of slots are extended linearly from an inner circumference of the baffle plate to an outer circumference thereof diagonally in a radial direction.
21. The device of claim 20, wherein each of the plurality of slots, which are linearly extended from the inner circumference of the baffle plate to the outer circumference thereof diagonally to the radial direction, is bent at least one time.
22. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of slots has a cross-section of a sand watch shape in which an upper width is larger than a lower width and a middle width is smaller than the lower width.
23. The device of claim 22, wherein the upper width of each slot ranges from about 1.6 to 1.8 mm, the lower width ranges from about 1.1 to 1.5 mm and the middle width is about 1.0 mm.
24. A plasma generating device installed within a plasma generating chamber and including a baffle plate having a plurality of slots for discharging exhaust gas, residual products, and the like, wherein a portion on the baffle plate in which the plurality of slots are formed (hereinafter referred to as a slot formation portion) is bent upward or downward in a predetermined angle.
25. The device of claim 24, wherein the slot formation portion of the baffle plate is bent upward or downward at least two times.
26. A plasma generating device installed within a plasma generating chamber and including a baffle plate having a plurality of slots for discharging exhaust gas, residual products, and the like, wherein a portion on the baffle plate in which the plurality of slots are formed (hereinafter, a slot formation portion) is bent upward or downward in the form of an arc.
27. The device of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of slots has a cross-section of a sand watch shape in which an upper width thereof is larger than a lower width thereof and a middle width thereof is smaller than the lower width.
28. The device of claim 27, wherein the upper width of each slot ranges from about 1.6 to 1.8 mm, the upper width is about 1.1 to 1.5 mm and the middle width ranges from about 1.0 mm.
Type: Application
Filed: May 22, 2003
Publication Date: Oct 13, 2005
Applicant: Tokyo Electron Korea Ltd. (Gyeonggi-do)
Inventors: Young Moon (Gyeonggi-do), Jeung Lee (Chungcheongbuk-do), Moon Kim (Seoul)
Application Number: 10/514,844