EP0522296A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Plasma processing system and method
Assignee: JFE Steel Corp
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Filing: 1992-06-09
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-06-09
Abstract
Abstract An etching system comprises a plasma chamber (20), a charge exchange chamber (22) and a processing chamber (24), and the charge exchange chamber and the processing chamber are partitioned with a porous plate (34) provided with a number of fine linear microchannel holes (34A). Positive ions generated by the plasma chamber are accelerated by an accelerating electrode (26) in the charge exchange chamber, charge-exchanged and introduced as neutral particles into the processing chamber through the microchannel holes. Neutral particles are vertically entered into an object (S) to be processed as neutral particle beams of which directions are completely aligned by the microchannel holes. Even an object with a large area can be etched with high accuracy by making the porous plate in a size which meets the object. Thus, the plasma processing only with neutral particles is carried out with high accuracy even when the area of the object is large.
Inventors
- 👤 Osamu Kinoshita
- 👤 Shigemi Murakawa
- 👤 Naoki Kubota
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 08:41
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/32; H01J37/32009; H01J37/32357; G; G21; G21K; G21K1/00; G21K1/14; H01J37/32431; H01J37/32623; H01J37/32633; H05; H05H; H05H3/00; H01J2237/00; H01J2237/32; H01J2237/33; H01J2237/334
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
91 words
A plasma processing system comprising a plasma chamber (20) having plasma generating means, a charge exchange chamber (22) for neutralizing ions generated by said plasma chamber and a processing chamber (24) for processing an object (S) to be processed by irradiating neutral particles which are neutralized in said charge exchange chamber, wherein said charge exchange chamber and said processing chamber are partitioned with a porous plate (34) provided with a number of linear microchannel holes (34A) allowing fine particles to pegs through from said charge exchange chamber to said processing chamber.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
80 words
A plasma processing system comprising a plasma chamber (20) having plasma generating means, a charge exchange chamber (22) for neutralizing ions generated by said plasma chamber and a processing chamber (24) for processing an object (S) to be processed by irradiating neutral particles which are neutralized in said charge exchange chamber, wherein pressure adjusting means (36A, 36B) for making the pressure (Pa) of said charge exchange chamber to be higher than the pressure (Pb) of said processing chamber is provided.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
68 words
A plasma processing system comprising an ion source (20), a charge exchange chamber (22) for neutralizing ions extracted from said ion source by an extraction electrode (25) and a processing chamber (24) for processing an object (S) to be processed with incident neutral particles generated from said charge exchange chamber, wherein said charge exchange chamber is provided with means (26, 28A, 28B) for controlling the velocity of ion.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
84 words
A plasma processing system comprising an ion source (210), a charge exchange zone (212) for neutralizing ions extracted from said ion source and a processing chamber (214) for processing an object (S) to be processed with incident neutral particles generated by said charge exchange zone, wherein said ion source and said charge exchange zone are respectively provided with gas supply parts (230A, 230B) from which material gas and charge exchange gas can be independently supplied to the ion source and the charge exchange zone.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
60 words
A plasma processing system comprising an ion source (20), a charge exchange chamber (22) for neutralizing ions extracted from said ion source and a processing chamber (24) for processing an object (S) to be processed with incident neutral particles generated by said charge exchange chamber, wherein said charge exchange chamber is provided with means (238) for exciting neutral particles generated.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with one of claims 2 to 5, wherein said charge exchange chamber (22) and said processing chamber (24) are partitioned with a porous plate (34) in which a number of linear micro through holes (34A) are formed.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with claim 1 or 6, wherein an electrode (34B) is formed at a side of said porous plate.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with claim 1 or 6, wherein an electrode (34B, 34C) is formed at both sides of said porous plate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
26 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said processing chamber (24) is provided with a radical supply source (40).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
46 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an ion extraction electrode (25) is formed with a multilayer plate comprising a dielectric (25B) and a metal (25C) in a double construction which is provided with an opening for extracting ion.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a neutralizer (42) for neutralizing space charge is provided.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
29 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an apparatus (56) for controlling the temperature of said object to be processed is provided.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
30 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a processing chamber (24A, 24B) is arranged at both sides of the charge exchange chamber (22).
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
A plasma processing system in accordance with claim 4, wherein the gas supply part (230B) provided at the charge exchange zone (212) is provided with exciting means (232) for exciting the charge exchange gas.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
126 words
A plasma processing method which uses a plasma processing system comprising an ion source (210), a charge exchange zone (212) for neutralizing ions extracted from said ion source, and a processing chamber (214) for processing an object (S) to be processed with incident neutral particles generated form said charge exchange zone, said ion source and said charge exchange zone being provided with gas supply parts (230A, 230B) respectively to allow independent supplying of material gas and charge exchange gas from said gas supply parts to the ion source and the charge exchange zone, wherein gas which has a larger ionization potential than the charge exchange gas to be supplied to the charge exchange zone, is used as material gas to be supplied to the ion source.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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