US4657774A
Expired / Lapsed
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Method for thin film formation
Assignee: Kyocera Corp
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Filing: 1985-04-17
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Granted: 1987-04-14
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Expires: 2005-04-17
Abstract
Abstract A method for forming a thin film on a substrate, which comprises aligning an evaporation means for an evaporating material to be deposited on the substrate, a plasma generating zone for dissociating an ion-forming gas into ions and electrons, an ion beam accelerating zone for accelerating the resulting ions and irradiating them onto the substrate, and said substrate on a substantially straight line in the order stated, and depositing a vapor of the evaporating material on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone. According to this method, surface irradiation can be carried out uniformly because the ion species and the vapor atoms are irradiated in quite the same direction. Furthermore, the vapor atoms can be activated to a high degree, and the by-product electrons can be effectively utilized for the evaporation of the evaporant.
Inventors
- 👤 Mamoru Satou
- 👤 Kouichi Yamaguchi
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 12:32
CPC Classifications
C; C23; C23C; C23C14/00; C23C14/22; C23C14/221
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
138 words
A method for forming a thin film on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of evaporatable material to be deposited on the substrate; (ii) introducing an ion-forming gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the ion-forming gas into ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated ions onto the substrate; (iv) irradiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the supply of evaporatable material in the form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of evaporatable material, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated material on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
138 words
A method for forming a thin film on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of evaporatable material to be deposited on the substrate; (ii) introducing an ion-forming gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the ion-forming gas into ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated ions onto the substrate; (iv) irradiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the supply of evaporatable material in the form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of evaporatable material, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated material on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the ions produced in the plasma generating zone are accelerated so that the kinetic energy of the ions becomes 0.01 to 100 KeV per atom.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the evaporatable material is metallic borom or a boron compound, the ion-forming gas is a nitrogen gas or a nitrogen compound gas, and the resulting thin film contains cubic boron nitride, hexagonal close packed boron nitride, or both.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
15 words
The method of claim 1 wherein a negative bias voltage is applied to the substrate.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
160 words
A method for forming a thin film of boron nitride on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of metallic boron to be deposited on the substrate; (ii) introducing nitrogen gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the nitrogen gas into nitrogen ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the nitrogen ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated nitrogen ions onto the substrate; (iv) irradiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the supply of metallic boron in the form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of metallic boron, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated boron on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone, to thereby form a thin film of cubic or hexagonal close packed boron nitride on the substrate.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
160 words
A method for forming a thin film of boron nitride on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of metallic boron to be deposited on the substrate; (ii) introducing nitrogen gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the nitrogen gas into nitrogen ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the nitrogen ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated nitrogen ions onto the substrate; (iv) irradiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the supply of metallic boron in the form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of metallic boron, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated boron on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone, to thereby form a thin film of cubic or hexagonal close packed boron nitride on the substrate.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 5, wherein the nitrogen ions produced in the plasma generating zone are accelerated so that the kinetic energy of the ions becomes 5 to 100 KeV per atom.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
167 words
A method for forming a thin film of a metal nitride on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of evaporatable material selected from the group consisting of Al, TI, Ta, W and Cr to be deposited on the substrate; (ii) introducing nitrogen gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the nitrogen gas into nitrogen ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the nitrogen ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated nitrogen ions onto the substrate; (iv) irrdiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the evaporatable material in the form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of evaporatable material, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated material on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone, to thereby form a thin film of the metal nitride on the substrate.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
167 words
A method for forming a thin film of a metal nitride on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of evaporatable material selected from the group consisting of Al, TI, Ta, W and Cr to be deposited on the substrate; (ii) introducing nitrogen gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the nitrogen gas into nitrogen ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the nitrogen ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated nitrogen ions onto the substrate; (iv) irrdiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the evaporatable material in the form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of evaporatable material, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated material on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone, to thereby form a thin film of the metal nitride on the substrate.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
155 words
A method for forming a thin film of amorphous silicon on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of silicon to be deposted on the substrate; (ii) introducing an ion-forming gas comprising a mixture of hydrogen and doping gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the ion-forming gas into ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated ions onto the substrate; (iv) irradiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the supply of silicon in form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of silicon, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated silicon on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone, to thereby form an amorphous silicon film on the substrate.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
155 words
A method for forming a thin film of amorphous silicon on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) evaporating a supply of silicon to be deposted on the substrate; (ii) introducing an ion-forming gas comprising a mixture of hydrogen and doping gas into a plasma generating zone to dissociate the ion-forming gas into ions and electrons; (iii) accelerating the ions resulting from step (ii) in an ion beam accelerating zone and irradiating said accelerated ions onto the substrate; (iv) irradiating the electrons resulting from step (ii) onto the supply of silicon in form of beams; (v) arranging the supply of silicon, the plasma generating zone, the ion beam accelerating zone and the substrate in a substantially straight line in the recited order; and (vi) depositing a vapor of the evaporated silicon on the substrate through the plasma generating zone and the ion beam accelerating zone, to thereby form an amorphous silicon film on the substrate.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
85 words
A method for forming a film on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) ionizing a gas to produce positively charged ions of the gas and electrons; (ii) directing the gas ions onto the substrate; (iii) irradiating a supply of evaporatable material with said electrons to evaporate the material; (iv) ionizing the evaporated material; and (v) directing the ionized evaporated material onto the substrate to thereby form the film on the substrate, the film including atoms of the evaporated material and atoms of the gas.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
85 words
A method for forming a film on a substrate, comprising the steps of: (i) ionizing a gas to produce positively charged ions of the gas and electrons; (ii) directing the gas ions onto the substrate; (iii) irradiating a supply of evaporatable material with said electrons to evaporate the material; (iv) ionizing the evaporated material; and (v) directing the ionized evaporated material onto the substrate to thereby form the film on the substrate, the film including atoms of the evaporated material and atoms of the gas.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
68 words
The method of claim 9, wherein the gas and the evaporated material are ionized in an ionizing zone and directed onto the substrate by accelerating the gas ions and the ions of the evaporated material through an ion accelerating zone, and wherein the supply of evaporatable material, the ionizing zone, the ion accelerating zone and the substrate are disposed in a substantially straight line in the recited order.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 9, wherein the gas ions and the ions of evaporated material are each directed onto the substrate in the same direction.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1990-04-13 | 1990-10-13 | 1991-04-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1994-04-13 | 1994-10-13 | 1995-04-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1998-04-13 | 1998-10-13 | 1999-04-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |