INTERIOR ANTENNA FOR SUBSTRATE PROCESSING CHAMBER
An interior antenna is provided for coupling RF energy to a plasma in a process chamber having a wall. The antenna comprises a coil having a face exposed to the plasma in the process chamber. A plurality of standoffs are provided to support the coil at a spacing from the wall of the process chamber. At least one standoff comprises a terminal thorough which an electrical power can be applied to the coil, the terminal comprising a conductor receptacle. A conductor cup is around the standoff having the terminal. The conductor cup comprises a sidewall having an inner diameter that is sufficiently large to maintain a sidewall gap between the sidewall and the terminal.
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This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/134,033 filed on May 20, 2005 entitled “Interior Antenna for Substrate Processing Chamber”, which is assigned to Applied Materials, Inc. and is incorporated by reference herein and in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDEmbodiments of the present invention relate to an interior antenna for a substrate processing chamber.
In the processing of substrates, such as semiconductor substrates and displays, a substrate is placed in a substrate processing chamber and exposed to an energized gas to deposit or etch material on the substrate. A typical process chamber comprises an enclosure wall that encloses a process zone about a substrate support, a gas supply to provide a process gas composition in the chamber, a gas energizer to energize the process gas to process the substrate, and a gas exhaust port. Such chambers can be used for chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD) and etch processes.
In PVD processes, a sputtering target in the chamber faces the substrate. Process gas introduced into the chamber and ionized to form a plasma that sputters material from the target. The process gas can be energized by coupling a high frequency electric field to the gas by, for example, capacitive coupling, inductive coupling, microwave energy or combinations thereof. In capacitively coupled plasmas, a voltage is applied across the target and substrate support to couple energy to the process gas. In an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) generator, a current is passed through an antenna to induce electromagnetic currents in the plasma.
An interior antenna can also be positioned inside the chamber and around the plasma generation area between the target and the substrate support. The proximity of the interior antenna to the plasma maximizes the energy being coupled to the plasma. The antenna can also be made of the same material as the target so that its surface can be sputtered to provide sputtered material which deposits on the peripheral region of the substrate to equalize sputter deposition rates at the peripheral regions of the substrate to those obtained at the central substrate regions. An annular antenna can also serve to “collimate” the plasma energy to provide better filling of high aspect ratio contact holes in the substrate without forming voids in the holes from the accumulation of sputtered material at the edges of the holes.
However, in use, the accumulated sputtered deposits on the exposed surfaces of the interior antenna can cause the antenna to deform and bend. Antenna deformation may also arise from the thermal expansion that occurs in elevated plasma temperatures. This deformation can cause the antenna to electrical short if expanded portions of the antenna touch surrounding grounded conductors. Antenna deformation also makes it difficult to reinsert and bolt an antenna in the chamber after the accumulated deposited material is cleaned off the antenna. The entire antenna can also change dimensions to become asymmetrical or elliptical from the originally circular geometry or have a wider spacing about its termination points, and consequently, no longer fit the electrical connections posts used to support the antenna.
SUMMARYAn interior antenna is provided for coupling RF energy to a plasma in a process chamber having a wall. The antenna comprises a coil having a face exposed to the plasma in the process chamber. A plurality of standoffs are provided to support the coil at a spacing from the wall of the process chamber. At least one standoff comprises a terminal thorough which an electrical power can be applied to the coil, the terminal comprising a conductor receptacle. A conductor cup is around the standoff having the terminal. The conductor cup comprises a sidewall having an inner diameter that is sufficiently large to maintain a sidewall gap between the sidewall and the terminal.
In another version, the interior antenna comprises a coil having a face exposed to the plasma in the process chamber. A plurality of standoffs are provided to support the coil at a spacing from the wall of the process chamber, at least one standoff comprising a terminal thorough which an electrical power can be applied to the coil, the terminal comprising a conductor receptacle. A conductor cup is around the standoff having the terminal, the conductor cup comprising a sidewall having an inner diameter that is sufficiently large to maintain a sidewall gap between the sidewall and the terminal such that a predetermined expansion of the conductor receptacle does not result in contact between the conductor receptacle and the conductor cup.
In another version, the interior antenna comprises a coil having a face exposed to the plasma in the process chamber. A plurality of standoffs are provided to support the coil at a spacing from the wall of the process chamber, at least one standoff comprising a terminal thorough which an electrical power can be applied to the coil, the terminal comprising an outer surface and a conductor receptacle. A conductor cup around the standoff has a terminal, the conductor cup comprising an inner surface encircling the standoff, and a sidewall having an inner diameter that is sufficiently large to maintain a sidewall gap between the sidewall and the terminal, and wherein at least one of the outer surface of the terminal or the inner surface of the conductor cup comprises a ceramic.
These features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, which illustrate examples of the invention. However, it is to be understood that each of the features can be used in the invention in general, not merely in the context of the particular drawings, and the invention includes any combination of these features, where:
An exemplary embodiment of an interior antenna 20 for coupling energy to a plasma is shown in
In the version shown in
The coil 22 has at least a pair of terminus 26a,b through which electrical power is applied to the coil 22. The terminus 26a,b are at the beginning and end of a single turn coil 22 as shown; however, an embodiment of coil 22 having multiple turns can have multiple terminus (not shown) to supply current to individual coils.
A plurality of standoffs 28a-h are used to support the coil 22 at a set spacing from a wall of a process chamber as shown in
The standoffs 28a-h are spaced apart along the outer circumference of the coil 22 to provide adequate support for the coil. In one version, it is been found that it is desirable to space apart the standoffs 28a-h around the circumference of the coil 22 by less than 50°, for example, by providing at least seven, or even eight standoffs around the coil 22. This configuration renders the coil 22 more rigidly attached to the chamber wall, thereby reducing deformation of the coil 22 during its use in the chamber. Conventional coils that used five or fewer standoffs were found to significantly change in contour when processed deposits accumulate on the face 24 of the coil 22. Thermal stresses arising from the plasma temperatures that the coil 22 is exposed to during processing can also cause deformation of the coil 22. A coil 22 with standoffs 28a-h that are spaced apart by less than 50° ensures that the coil 22 will retain its shape even with the application of deformation stresses. However, in other coil designs, which are strengthened by other means, fewer numbers of standoffs 28 can also be used.
At least one of the standoffs 28a-h comprise a terminal 30a,b thorough which electrical power is applied to the coil 22 from an external power source. For example, the standoffs 28a and 28h can serve as a terminals 30a,b for supplying power to the single turn coil 22 as shown in
Each standoff 28a,b with a terminal 30a,b has a surrounding conductor cup 40a,b that covers and shields the terminals 30a,b respectively. The conductor cups 40a,b each comprise a cylindrically shaped cover 41a,b with an extension 43a,b, and are preferably made of the same material as that being deposited in the chamber. Hence, if the material being deposited comprises tantalum, the conductor cups 40a,b are preferably also made of tantalum. To facilitate adherence of the deposited material it is preferable to treat the surface of the conductor cups 40a,b by bead blasting which will reduce shedding of particles from the deposited material. The extensions 43a,b each rest on a dielectric isolator 45a,b, such as a ceramic bushing, which insulates the conductor cups 40a,b from the terminals 30a,b. Vent holes 47a,b are provided in the conductor cups 40a,b to vent outgas byproducts from the assembly.
A version of the conductor receptacle 32 having a first length L1 and a jacket 34 having a second length L2, as measured from a base 33, is shown in
In this version, the length L2 is maintained smaller than the length L1 so that expansion or other deformation of the coil 22 does not result in contact between the outer surface 36 of the terminal 30 and the inner surface 38 of a conductor cup 40 which is positioned about the standoff 28. In conventional terminals, contact between the jacket 34 and a conductor cup 40 caused by deformation expansion of the coil 22 was determined to result in electrical shorting of the coil. However, the terminal 30 having a jacket 34 with the reduced length L2 was found to be more robust and resistant electrical shorts. In one version, the second length L2 of the jacket 34 is smaller than the first length L1 of the conductor receptacle 32 by at least about 0.5 mm. The lengths of the conductor receptacle 32 and jacket 34 can be adjusted so that the length L2 is smaller than the length L1 by from about 0.5 mm to about 2.5 mm. In one version, the second length L2 is from about 6 mm to about 10 mm, and the first length L1 is from about 7 mm to about 12 mm.
In another version as shown in
It may also be necessary to provide a bottom wall gap 46 between a bottom wall 48 of the conductor cup 40 and a circumferential edge 50 of the jacket 34. The bottom wall gap 46 is made sufficiently large that a change in dimension of the terminal 30 does not result in contact between the edge 50 of the terminal 30 and the wall 48 of the conductor cup 40. For example, the bottom wall gap 46 can be is at least about 1 mm, and more typically, from about 1.2 mm to about 2 mm. In this version, the bottom wall 48 between the conductor cup 40 is sized thinner or the jacket 34 is sized smaller to provide a gap size that allows the terminal 30 to change in dimension within the bottom wall gap 46 without contact between the terminal 30 and the conductor cup 40. The bottom wall gap is formed by maintaining the bottom wall 48 at a depth from the inside circumferential edge 50 that is sufficiently large that a change in dimension of the terminal does not result in contact between the terminal 30 and the conductor cup 40.
For example, the depth of the bottom wall 48 can be at least about 15 mm, or even from about 15 mm to about 20 mm.
In yet another version, at least one of an outer surface 36 of the terminal 30 of a standoff 28 or an inner surface 38 of a conductor cup 40 is coated with a ceramic 54, as shown in
In a further version, the terminal 30 comprises a contact hole 60 with a inner sliding surface 62 adapted to fit an external sliding connector 35a thorough which electrical power is applied to the coil 22, also shown in
In another version, the coil 22a is modified to allow it to better absorb stresses as shown in
In another version, the coil 22b has a plurality of angular sections 72a-k that form a polyhedron about a central axis 73 of the coil 22c as shown in
In a further version, the coil 22c is shaped to have first sections 74a-e with a first thickness and a second sections 76a-d having a second thickness, as shown in
In yet another version, the coil 22d is shaped to have first sections 77a-i having a substantially uniform first thickness and a second sections 78a-i having a average second thickness across a curved region, as shown in
Uniform first thickness and a second sections In yet another version, the sections 77 which are located at the positions of the standoffs 28a-e can be made thicker to provide greater rigidity at these locations than the sections 78b which are in between the thicker sections.
The above-described versions of the antenna 20 can be mounted in any suitable substrate processing apparatus comprising a process chamber. An exemplary embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus 100 comprising a process chamber 102 for processing a substrate 104 is shown in
A substrate support 108 is provided for supporting the substrate 104 in the chamber 102. The substrate support 108 can also include cooling and heating systems. A flexible sealing bellow 109 is used to move the support 108 vertically within chamber 102 while the interior of chamber remains gas tight from the external environment. The substrate 104 is introduced into the chamber 102 through a substrate-loading inlet (not shown) of the chamber 102 and placed on the support 108. The support 108 can include a mechanical, vacuum or electrostatic chuck to hold the substrate.
A gas supply 110 introduces a gas into the chamber 102 through a gas inlet 112 that is connected to one or more gas sources 114, 118, respectively. One or more mass flow controllers 122a,b are used to control the flow rate of the individual gases, which may be premixed in a mixing manifold 128 prior to their introduction into the chamber 102 or which may be separately introduced into the chamber 102. The gas typically includes a non-reactive gas, such as argon or xenon, that when ionized to form a plasma, energetically impinges upon and bombards the target 106 to sputter material, off from the target 106. The gas may also comprise a reactive gas, such as nitrogen.
For example, to deposit TaN, a target of tantalum is used together with nitrogen flowed into the chamber 102. Also, other compositions of gas that include other reactive gases or other types of non-reactive gases may be used as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.
An exhaust system 130 controls the pressure of the sputtering gas in the chamber 102 and exhausts excess gas and by-product gases from the chamber 102. The exhaust system 130 comprises an exhaust port 132 in the chamber 102 that is connected to an exhaust line 134 that leads to one or more exhaust pumps 138. A throttle valve 140 in the exhaust line 134 may be used to control the pressure of the sputtering gas in the chamber 102. Typically, the pressure of the sputtering gas in the chamber 102 is set to sub-atmospheric levels.
The sputtering chamber 102 may also have a shield 150, which is in front of the sidewall 154 of the chamber 102 to receive sputtering deposits, and thereby prevent their deposition and accumulation on the wall 112. The shield 150 can also be electrically grounded to serve as grounding plane. The shield 150 is generally bowl-shaped and includes a generally cylindrically shaped, vertically oriented wall 151 to which the standoffs 128 are attached to insulatively support the coil 22. The shield 150 further has a generally annular-shaped floor wall 152, which surrounds the substrate support 108, which supports the substrate 104. A clamp ring 153 clamps the substrate to the support 108 and covers the gap between the floor wall 152 of the shield 150 and the support 108. The shield 150 together with the clamp ring 153 protects the interior of the chamber 102 from the deposition materials that is deposited on the substrate 104 in the chamber 102. The antenna 20 is attached to the shield 150 by the standoffs 28, at least some of the standoffs also including one or more of the terminals 30a,b.
The chamber 102 can also have a magnetic field generator 160 that generates a magnetic field 164 near the target 106 to increase an ion density in he plasma zone 105 adjacent to and below to the target 106 to improve sputtering of the target. One embodiment of a magnetic field source 160 which provides sustained self-sputtering of copper or sputtering of aluminum, titanium, or other metals; while minimizing the need for non-reactive gases is, for example, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,614 to Fu, entitled “Rotating Sputter Magnetron Assembly”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,274,008 to Gopalraja et al., entitled “Integrated Process for Copper Via Filling,” both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In one version, the magnetic field source 160 generates a semi-toroidal magnetic field 164 about the target 106. In another version, the magnetic field source 160 comprises a motor 168 to rotate the magnetic field source 160 about a rotation axis 166.
The chamber 102 can be controlled by the chamber controller 170, which comprises program code having instruction sets to operate components of the chamber 102 to process substrates 104 in the chamber 102. For example, the controller 170 can comprise program code that includes a substrate positioning instruction set to operate one or more of the substrate support 108 and substrate transport to position a substrate 104 in the chamber 102; a gas flow control instruction set to operate the sputtering gas supply 110 and mass flow controllers 122a,b; a gas pressure control instruction set to operate the exhaust system 130 and throttle valve 138 to maintain a pressure in the chamber 102; a target power control instruction set to operate the target power source 140 to set a gas energizing power level; a temperature control instruction set to control temperatures in the chamber 102; a process monitoring instruction set to monitor the process in the chamber 102; and a antenna power controlling instruction set to control the AC and/or DC power applied to the coil 22 of the antenna 20.
The sputtering target 106 is electrically isolated from the chamber 102 by the dielectric 180. The target is also biased by a target power source 190, such as a DC or RF power source, with a polarity to attract ions in the plasma. In one version, the target power source 190, target 106, and shield 150 operate as a gas energizer 140 that is capable of energizing the sputtering gas to sputter material from the target 106. The target power source 190 electrically biases the target 106 relative to the shield 150 to energize the sputtering gas in the chamber 102 to form a plasma that sputters material from the target 106. The material sputtered from the target 106 by the plasma is deposited on the substrate 104 and may also react with reactive or other gas components of the plasma to form a deposition layer on the substrate 104.
Typically, the material sputtered from metal target 106 is ionized in the plasma to become positive metal ions. In order to promote deposition of these positive metal ions on the substrate, the substrate support 108 may be connected to a suitable bias voltage source 194 such as an AC power source. In the illustrated embodiment, the power sources 190 and 194 cause a negative bias to develop on the target 106 and the substrate 104, respectively.
High frequency power is supplied to the coil 22 of the antenna 20 from an RF power supply 204 via an appropriate matching network 208, an exemplary version of which is shown in
When the only voltage applied to coil 22 is an alternating RF voltage, it is believed that a DC self bias is inherently induced on coil 22 across RF filter 218. In the illustrated embodiment, this bias will have a negative polarity and can be of the order of −100 volts. The coil 22 can also be made of a sputterable material, such as the same material as the target 106, as previously described, so that plasma ions attracted to coil 22 as a result of the DC self bias will sputter or dislodge material from the surface of coil 22. The target 106 and coil 22 provide spatially separated sources of sputter material, which can be used to improve film properties, for example, since coil 22 is positioned immediately outside the periphery of the substrate 104, sputtered material originating from antenna 20 tends to be deposited mostly in the peripheral region 107 of the substrate 104 rather than the center region 111. This is beneficial when operating with higher gas pressures when material sputtered from target 106 tends to be deposited thicker in the central region 111 of the substrate 104 than in the peripheral region 107. Thus, the sputtering of deposition material from antenna 20 can counteract the tendency of material sputtered from target 106 to be deposited thicker in the central region 111 of the substrate 104.
The coil sputtering rate may be controlled with a degree of independence of the power level to obtain the best deposition uniformity. In the illustrated embodiment, energy supplied to the antenna 20 to generate a plasma and a separate DC bias is also applied to the antenna 20 to separately control the coil bias level and hence the coil sputtering rate. The DC bias on antenna 20 can be altered independently of the magnitude and frequency of the power delivered by supply 204 by connecting coil 22 to a DC voltage source 220. The RF filter 218 is connected between coil 22 and DC voltage source 220 to eliminate or reduce substantially RF current flowing to the DC source 220. Filter 218 provides a small DC impedance between source 220 and coil 22 so that the coil 22 is placed at a DC bias essentially equal to the voltage provided by voltage source 220. While voltage source 220 is represented schematically by a battery, it will be appreciated that any suitable DC voltage source can be employed and the output voltage thereof can be adjusted to produce the desired level of DC bias on coil 22.
An exemplary circuit used to supply RF current and a DC bias voltage to the coil 22 is illustrated in
Instead of, or in addition to the various coil and standoff versions illustrated herein, a better chamber cleaning method can also be used to remove at least some of the accumulated deposits on the coil 22. In method, of cleaning the surfaces of the coil 22 that are exposed to the plasma in the chamber, an inert gas is maintained at a pressure in the process chamber and an RF power is applied to the inert gas via the coil and target, for example, to form a plasma from the gas. The plasma cleans off the accumulated deposits from the coil. The RF power is applied at a power level of at least about 1 kW and for a time period of at least about 5 minutes to remove the deposits on the surfaces of the coil. Preferably, the RF power is applied to the inert gas at a power level of from about 1 to about 5 kWatts and for a time period of at least about 10 minutes. In one version, the inert gas comprises argon provided at a flow rate of, for example, 20 sccm.
The present invention has been described with reference to certain preferred versions thereof; however, other versions are possible. For example, the antenna can be used in other types of applications, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill, for example, etching, CVD and cleaning processed. Other shapes and configurations of the coil can also be used, as can other methods of cleaning the coil, which would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.
Claims
1. An interior antenna for coupling RF energy to a plasma in a process chamber having a wall, the antenna comprising:
- (a) a coil having a face exposed to the plasma in the process chamber;
- (b) a plurality of standoffs to support the coil at a spacing from the wall of the process chamber, at least one standoff comprising a terminal thorough which an electrical power can be applied to the coil, the terminal comprising a conductor receptacle; and
- (c) a conductor cup around the standoff having the terminal, the conductor cup comprising a sidewall having an inner diameter that is sufficiently large to maintain a sidewall gap between the sidewall and the terminal.
2. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the inner diameter of the sidewall is sufficiently large that a change in dimension of the terminal does not result in contact between the terminal and the conductor cup.
3. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the inner diameter of the sidewall is sufficiently large that sidewall gap between the sidewall and the conductor receptacle of a standoff such that a predetermined expansion of the conductor receptacle does not result in contact between the conductor receptacle and the conductor cup.
4. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the inner diameter of the sidewall is at least about 16 mm.
5. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the inner diameter of the sidewall is from about 25 mm to about 30 mm.
6. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the sidewall gap is at least about 1.5 mm.
7. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the conductor cup further comprises an inside circumferential edge, and a bottom wall at a depth from the inside circumferential edge that is sufficiently large to provide a bottom wall gap between the bottom wall and the terminal.
8. An antenna according to claim 7 comprising at least one of (i) the depth of the bottom wall is at least about 15 mm, and (ii) the bottom wall gap is at least about 1 mm.
9. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the coil comprises a substantially circular section and a radially inwardly bent section.
10. An antenna according to claim 1 further comprising a conductor receptacle about the terminal, the conductor receptacle having a first length L1, and a jacket around the conductor receptacle, the jacket having a second length L2 that is smaller than the first length L1.
11. An antenna according to claim 10 wherein L2 is smaller than L1 by at least about 0.5 mm.
12. An antenna according to claim 1 wherein the terminal comprises an outer surface and the conductor cup comprises an inner surface encircling the standoff, and wherein at least one of the outer surface of the terminal or the inner surface of the conductor cup comprises a ceramic.
13. An interior antenna for coupling RF energy to a plasma in a process chamber having a wall, the antenna comprising:
- (a) a coil having a face exposed to the plasma in the process chamber;
- (b) a plurality of standoffs to support the coil at a spacing from the wall of the process chamber, at least one standoff comprising a terminal thorough which an electrical power can be applied to the coil, the terminal comprising a conductor receptacle; and
- (c) a conductor cup around the standoff having the terminal, the conductor cup comprising a sidewall having an inner diameter that is sufficiently large to maintain a sidewall gap between the sidewall and the terminal such that a predetermined expansion of the conductor receptacle does not result in contact between the conductor receptacle and the conductor cup.
14. An antenna according to claim 13 wherein the sidewall gap is at least about 1.5 mm.
15. An antenna according to claim 13 wherein the inner diameter of the sidewall is at least about 16 mm.
16. An antenna according to claim 13 wherein the conductor cup further comprises an inside circumferential edge, and a bottom wall at a depth from the inside circumferential edge that maintains a bottom wall gap between the bottom wall and the terminal.
17. An antenna according to claim 13 wherein the coil comprises a substantially circular section and a radially inwardly bent section.
18. An interior antenna for coupling RF energy to a plasma in a process chamber having a wall, the antenna comprising:
- (a) a coil having a face exposed to the plasma in the process chamber;
- (b) a plurality of standoffs to support the coil at a spacing from the wall of the process chamber, at least one standoff comprising a terminal thorough which an electrical power can be applied to the coil, the terminal comprising an outer surface and a conductor receptacle; and
- (c) a conductor cup around the standoff having the terminal, the conductor cup comprising an inner surface encircling the standoff, and a sidewall having an inner diameter that is sufficiently large to maintain a sidewall gap between the sidewall and the terminal, and wherein at least one of the outer surface of the terminal or the inner surface of the conductor cup comprises a ceramic.
19. An antenna according to claim 18 wherein the sidewall gap is at least about 1.5 mm.
20. An antenna according to claim 18 wherein the inner diameter of the sidewall is at least about 16 mm.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 24, 2012
Publication Date: Aug 23, 2012
Applicant: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC. (Santa Clara, CA)
Inventors: Keith A. Miller (Sunnyvale, CA), Genhua Xu (Shanghai), Shengde Zhong (Shanghai), Mahendra Bhagwat Lokhande (Santa Clara, CA)
Application Number: 13/455,084
International Classification: C23C 14/46 (20060101);