Film forming apparatus and method, and film modifying apparatus and method

Claim 2

A film forming apparatus for forming a metal oxide film on a surface of a target process object, comprising: a process vessel; a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted; material supply means for supplying a vaporized metal oxide film material into said process vessel; alcohol supply means for supplying a vaporized alcohol into said process vessel; a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel; and a modification process unit for modifying said metal oxide film formed on said surface of said target process object.

Claim 3

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said material supply means and said alcohol supply means mix the vaporized metal oxide film material with the vaporized alcohol and supply the mixture to said process vessel.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said material supply means and said alcohol supply means independently supply the metal oxide film material and the vaporized alcohol to said process vessel.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the metal oxide film material is a metallic alkoxide.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said metal oxide film is formed of one material selected from the group consisting of tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, barium oxide, and strontium oxide.

Claim 7

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said modification process unit comprises another process vessel, a mounting table which is accommodated in said another process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted, process gas supply means for supplying a process gas containing at least one of oxygen, ozone, and N 2 O gas into said another process vessel, active oxygen generation means for generating active oxygen atoms from the process gas in said another process vessel, and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said another process vessel.

Claim 8

An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said active oxygen generation means is one of UV irradiation means, plasma generation means, and target process object heating means.

Claim 9

An apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a common transfer chamber for commonly connecting said process vessel in which said metal oxide film is formed on said target process object and said another process vessel of said modification process unit for modifying said metal oxide film.

Claim 10

A film forming apparatus for forming a metal oxide film on a surface of a target process object, comprising: a process vessel; a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted; material supply means for supplying a vaporized metal oxide film material into said process vessel; alcohol supply means for supplying a vaporized alcohol into said process vessel; and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel, wherein said process vessel incorporates an alcohol decomposition catalyst for promoting decomposition of the alcohol.

Claim 11

A film forming apparatus for forming a metal oxide film on a surface of a target process object, comprising: a process vessel; a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted; material supply means for supplying a vaporized metal oxide film material into said process vessel; alcohol supply means for supplying a vaporized alcohol into said process vessel; and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel, wherein said process vessel incorporates an alcohol decomposition catalyst for promoting decomposition of the alcohol.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the alcohol decomposition catalyst is arranged above said mounting table.

Claim 13

An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the alcohol decomposition catalyst consists of a metal oxide.

Claim 14

A film modifying apparatus for modifying a metal oxide film on a target process object, comprising: a process vessel; a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is mounted; process gas supply means for supplying a process gas containing at least one of oxygen, ozone, and N 2 O gas into said process vessel; active oxygen generation means for generating active oxygen atoms from the process gas in an atmosphere of said process vessel; a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel, and a film formation process unit for forming said metal oxide film on a surface of said target process object, wherein said film formation process unit comprises another process vessel, a mounting table which is accommodated in said another process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted, material supply means for supplying a vaporized metal oxide film material into said another process vessel, alcohol supply means for supplying a vaporized alcohol in said another process vessel, and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said another process vessel.

Claim 15

A film modifying apparatus for modifying a metal oxide film on a target process object, comprising: a process vessel; a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is mounted; process gas supply means for supplying a process gas containing at least one of oxygen, ozone, and N 2 O gas into said process vessel; active oxygen generation means for generating active oxygen atoms from the process gas in an atmosphere of said process vessel; a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel, and a film formation process unit for forming said metal oxide film on a surface of said target process object, wherein said film formation process unit comprises another process vessel, a mounting table which is accommodated in said another process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted, material supply means for supplying a vaporized metal oxide film material into said another process vessel, alcohol supply means for supplying a vaporized alcohol in said another process vessel, and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said another process vessel.

Claim 16

An apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a common transfer chamber for commonly connecting said process vessel for forming said metal oxide film on said target process object and said another process vessel of a modification process unit for modifying said metal oxide film.

Claim 17

An apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising mounting table heating means for heating said mounting table.

Claim 18

An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said active oxygen generation means is UV irradiation means for irradiating a UV ray in the atmosphere in said process vessel to generate the active oxygen atoms.

Claim 19

An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said UV irradiation means comprises a mercury-sealed lamp in which mercury is sealed, microwave generation means for applying a microwave to said mercury-sealed lamp to generate the UV ray, and a reflecting mirror for condensing the generated UV ray and uniformly irradiating the UV ray on said target process object.

Claim 20

An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said UV irradiation means is constituted by a plurality of UV lamps substantially arrayed in parallel to oppose a surface of said mounting table.

Claim 21

An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said process gas supply means has a shower head arranged between said UV irradiation means and said mounting table, said shower head being constituted by combining a plurality of gas injection pipes with injection holes.

Claim 22

An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said plurality of gas injection pipes are combined into a matrix shape.

Claim 23

An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein a projection area of said plurality of gas injection pipes with respect to a surface of said mounting table is smaller than 20% of a surface area of said target process object.

Claim 24

An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said active oxygen generation means is plasma generation means for applying a microwave or a high-frequency field to the atmosphere in said process vessel to generate a plasma, thereby generating the active oxygen atoms from the process gas.

Claim 25

An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said process gas supply means has a shower head arranged between said plasma generation means and said mounting table, said shower head being constituted by combining a plurality of gas injection pipes with injection holes.

Claim 26

An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said plurality of gas injection pipes are combined into a matrix shape.

Claim 27

An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein a projection area of said plurality of gas injection pipes with respect to a surface of said mounting table is smaller than 20% of a surface area of said target process object.

Claim 28

An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said active oxygen generation means is heating means for heating said target process object within a range of 400° C. to 850° C.

Claim 29

An apparatus according to claim 25, wherein said heating means is constituted by a plurality of heating lamps arranged under said mounting table.

Claim 31

A film modifying apparatus for modifying a metal oxide film on a target process object, comprising: a process vessel; a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is mounted; process gas supply means for supplying a process gas containing at least one of oxygen, ozone, and N 2 O gas into said process vessel; active oxygen generation means for generating active oxygen atoms from the process gas in an atmosphere of said process vessel; and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel, wherein said process gas supply means has a container-shaped lid with a lower open end portion to cover an upper surface of said mounting table, an introduction header unit having injection holes formed on one side of said lid, and a delivery header unit having a delivery port formed on the other side of said lid such that a gas flow is formed in a horizontal direction from said introduction header unit to said delivery header unit.

Claim 32

A film modifying apparatus for modifying a metal oxide film on a target process object, comprising: a process vessel; a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is mounted; process gas supply means for supplying a process gas containing at least one of oxygen, ozone, and N 2 O gas into said process vessel; active oxygen generation means for generating active oxygen atoms from the process gas in an atmosphere of said process vessel; and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel, wherein said process gas supply means has a container-shaped lid with a lower open end portion to cover an upper surface of said mounting table, an introduction header unit having injection holes formed on one side of said lid, and a delivery header unit having a delivery port formed on the other side of said lid such that a gas flow is formed in a horizontal direction from said introduction header unit to said delivery header unit.

Claim 33

An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said lid and said mounting table can be made close to or separated relative to each other in a vertical direction.

Claim 34

A film forming/modifying apparatus comprising: a film formation process unit for forming a metal oxide film on a target process object in a vacuum atmosphere in which a vaporized metal oxide film material and a vaporized alcohol exist; a modification process unit for exposing said metal oxide film to active oxygen atoms in the vacuum atmosphere, thereby modifying said metal oxide film; and a common transfer chamber commonly coupled to said film formation process unit and said modification process unit to transfer said target process object between said film formation process unit and said modification process unit while keeping the vacuum state.

Claim 35

A film forming/modifying apparatus comprising: a film formation process unit for forming a metal oxide film on a target process object in a vacuum atmosphere in which a vaporized metal oxide film material and a vaporized alcohol exist; a modification process unit for exposing said metal oxide film to active oxygen atoms in the vacuum atmosphere, thereby modifying said metal oxide film; and a common transfer chamber commonly coupled to said film formation process unit and said modification process unit to transfer said target process object between said film formation process unit and said modification process unit while keeping the vacuum state.

Claim 36

An apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising a turnable and flexible transfer arm mechanism arranged in said common transfer chamber to hold and convey said target process object.

Claim 37

An apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising a cassette accommodation chamber capable of being vacuum-evacuated, said cassette accommodation chamber being coupled to said common transfer chamber and accommodating a cassette capable of storing a plurality of target process objects.

Claim 38

An apparatus according to claim 30, said film formation process unit comprises a process vessel, a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted, material supply means for supplying a vaporized metal oxide film material into said process vessel, alcohol supply means for supplying a vaporized alcohol into said process vessel, and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel.

Claim 39

An apparatus according to claim 33, wherein said process vessel of said film formation process unit incorporates an alcohol decomposition catalyst for promoting decomposition of the alcohol.

Claim 40

An apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the alcohol decomposition catalyst is arranged above said mounting table.

Claim 41

An apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the alcohol decomposition catalyst consists of a metal oxide.

Claim 42

An apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said modification process unit comprises a process vessel, a mounting table which is accommodated in said process vessel and on which said target process object is to be mounted, process gas supply means for supplying a process gas containing one of oxygen, ozone, and N 2 O gas into said process vessel, active oxygen generation means for generating active oxygen atoms from the process gas in said process vessel, and a vacuum evacuation system for vacuum-evacuating said process vessel.

Claim 43

An apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said active oxygen generation means is one of UV irradiation means, plasma generation means, and target process object heating means.