Plasma treatment apparatus
US5542559A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 14, 1994 |
| Grant date | Aug 6, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 14, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/6838
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In order to prevent any possible electrical discharge between a lower electrode and a grounded member through a backside gas supply conduit when performing a plasma treatment with a supply of a backside gas such as He gas to the backside of a semiconductor wafer being held by an electromagnetic chuck on the lower electrode for the generation of a plasma within a plasma treatment chamber, the gas supply conduit is fitted therein with cylindrical flowpath members made of two types of electrically insulating materials each having a multiplicity of axially extending small-diameter conduction holes, at a position within an electrically insulating body disposed between the lower electrode and a grounded member. The small diameter conduction holes in the backside gas flowpath serve to increase an electrical discharge start voltage for the prevention of electrical discharge. The formation of the multiplicity of conduction holes provides a large conductance. The backside gas is exhausted by way of the gas supply conduit after the completion of the plasma treatment. Consequently, water is prevented from remaining between the wafer and the electromagnetic chuck or within the treatment chamber…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.