Method and apparatus of plasma treatment

Abstract

The present invention provides a plasma treatment apparatus and a conditioning method capable of performing a conditioning for the whole vacuum chamber. A plasma treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided with a moving means for moving a substrate holder ( 2 ) between a reaction chamber ( 8 ) and a transfer chamber ( 9 ) lying on the under side thereof. Moreover, it has such structure that the exhaust conductance of the reaction chamber ( 8 ) becomes large when the substrate holder ( 2 ) lies in the transfer chamber. Upon the conditioning, the substrate holder ( 2 ) is moved to the transfer chamber ( 9 ) to allow diffusing species to spread widely, thereby effectively performing the conditioning for both reaction chamber ( 8 ) and transfer chamber ( 9 ) in the vacuum chamber ( 1 ).

1 . A method of a plasma treatment using a plasma treatment apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
 a vacuum chamber having a transfer area for transferring a substrate to or from the inside and a reaction area for providing a process treatment for the substrate, and being used in a state of a reduced pressure;   a substrate holder for holding the substrate;   means for generating plasma in the reaction area; and   a moving means for moving the substrate holder between the transfer area and the reaction area,   the method comprising the steps of:   moving the substrate holder to the transfer area by the moving means prior to providing the process treatment for the substrate in a state such that the substrate is not held on the substrate holder;   introducing a same gas as the gas for performing a process treatment for the substrate into the vacuum chamber;   generating plasma in the vacuum chamber by the means for generating plasma and making active species in the plasma adhere to the vacuum chamber inner wall to adjust the atmosphere in the vacuum chamber; and   making the substrate holder hold the substrate and moving the substrate holder to the reaction area by the moving means to provide the process treatment for the substrate using the gas, wherein   plural exhaust ports having different conductances are provided for the vacuum chamber,   in the step of adjusting the atmosphere in the vacuum chamber, an exhaust port having a larger conductance among the plural exhaust ports is used, and   in the step of providing the process treatment, an exhaust port having a smaller conductance among the plural exhaust ports is used to discharge air.   
     
     
         2 . A method of a plasma treatment according to  claim 1 , wherein the means for generating plasma supplies microwave into the vacuum chamber as an external energy source to generate the plasma. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . A method of a plasma treatment according to  claim 1 , wherein the vacuum chamber is provided such that a first gas and a second gas can be introduced to, and the step of adjusting the atmosphere in the vacuum chamber using the second gas is performed after a first process treatment using a first gas, and before a second process treatment using the second gas. 
     
     
         5 . A plasma treatment apparatus comprising:
 a vacuum chamber having a transfer area for transferring a substrate to or from the inside and a reaction area for providing a process treatment for the substrate;   a gas introduction means for introducing a prescribed gas into the vacuum chamber;   a substrate holder for holding the substrate;   means for generating plasma in the reaction area;   a moving means for moving the substrate holder between the transfer area and the reaction area; and   plural exhaust ports having different conductances, wherein:   when a conditioning for adjusting an atmosphere in the vacuum chamber is necessary,   a conditioning for adjusting an atmosphere in the vacuum chamber is practiced by:   before providing the process treatment for the substrate, moving the substrate holder to the transfer area by the moving means; and after that   introducing a same gas as the gas to be used in the process treatment into the vacuum chamber by the gas introduction means;   generating plasma in the vacuum chamber by the means for generating plasma; and   making active species in the plasma adhere to the vacuum chamber inner wall, and wherein   in a case where the conditioning is practiced, an exhaust port having a larger conductance among the plural exhaust ports is used, and   in a case where the process treatment is provided for the substrate, an exhaust port having a smaller conductance among the plural exhaust ports is used.   
     
     
         6 . A plasma treatment apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein the case that requires the conditioning is a case that satisfies either one condition of the case where a gas composition is different from that in the last process treatment or the case where a prescribed time has elapsed from the last process treatment. 
     
     
         7 . A control device of controlling a plasma treatment apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
 a vacuum chamber having a transfer area for transferring a substrate to or from the inside and a reaction area for providing a process treatment for the substrate;   a gas introduction means for introducing a prescribed gas into the vacuum chamber;   a substrate holder for holding the substrate;   means for generating plasma in the reaction area;   a moving means for moving the substrate holder between the transfer area and the reaction area;   plural exhaust ports having different conductances; and   the control device comprising:   means for determining whether or not a conditioning for the vacuum chamber is necessary before performing the process treatment for the substrate;   means for controlling the moving means so that the substrate holder lies in the transfer area when the conditioning is determined to be necessary;   means for controlling the gas introduction means so that a same gas as the gas to be used in the process treatment is introduced into the vacuum chamber before providing the process treatment for the substrate when the substrate holder lies in the transfer area; and   means for controlling the means for generating plasma so that the plasma is generated in the vacuum chamber into which the gas has been introduced, wherein   the control device controls the plasma treatment apparatus so that in a case where the conditioning is practiced, an exhaust port having a larger conductance among the plural exhaust ports is used, and in a case where the process treatment is provided for the substrate, an exhaust port having a smaller conductance among the plural exhaust ports is used.   
     
     
         8 . A computer program for causing a computer to function as the control device according to  claim 7 . 
     
     
         9 . A storage medium storing a program capable of being read out by a computer, the storage medium storing the computer program according to  claim 8 .