Film deposition apparatus, film deposition method, and computer program storage medium

Abstract

When alternately performing a film deposition step where a silicon-containing gas and O 3 gas are alternately supplied to a substrate on a susceptor by rotating the susceptor thereby to forma thin film of the reaction product, and an alteration step where the reaction product is altered by irradiating plasma to the substrate, plasma intensity of the plasma is changed during film deposition. Specifically, the plasma intensity is lower when a thickness of the thin film is small (or at an initial stage of the film deposition—alteration step), and is increased as the thin film becomes thicker (or as the number of the film deposition steps is increased). Alternatively, the plasma intensity is higher when the thin film is relatively thin and then reduced.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A film deposition apparatus that forms a thin film on a substrate by repeating a cycle of alternately supplying plural kinds of reaction gases to the substrate under vacuum, wherein a first reaction gas among the plural kinds of the reaction gases reacts with a second reaction gas among the plural kinds of the reaction gases, the second reaction gas being adsorbed on the substrate, thereby to produce a reaction product, the film deposition apparatus comprising:
 a susceptor that is provided in a vacuum chamber and includes a substrate receiving area in which a substrate is placed;   an evacuation system that evacuates the vacuum chamber;   plural reaction gas supplying parts that supply the corresponding reaction gases to the substrate placed in the substrate receiving area;   a plasma generation part that generates plasma including a chemical component that reacts with the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate, and supplies the plasma to the substrate during formation of a thin film of the reaction product thereby to alter the thin film on the substrate; and   a controlling part that outputs a controlling signal in order to change plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at a predetermined point of time to a different plasma intensity before the predetermined point of time.   
     
     
         2 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the second reaction gas serves as an oxidizing or nitriding gas with respect to the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate, and
 wherein the thin film is formed of one of metal oxide, silicon oxide metal nitride, and silicon nitride.   
     
     
         3 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein an underlying film of the thin film to be formed thereon includes metal or silicon. 
     
     
         4 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controlling part changes the plasma intensity by adjusting at least one of high frequency power supplied to the plasma generation part and an inner pressure in the vacuum chamber. 
     
     
         5 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controlling part sets the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at a first intensity in an initial stage of forming the thin film, and sets the plasma intensity of the plasma generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at a second intensity after the initial stage of forming the thin film. 
     
     
         6 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controlling part sets the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at a second intensity in an initial stage of forming the thin film, and sets the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at a first intensity that is lower than the second intensity after the initial stage of forming the thin film. 
     
     
         7 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the controlling part sets the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at a third intensity that is higher than the first plasma intensity after setting the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at the first intensity. 
     
     
         8 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the plural reaction gas supplying parts and the plasma generation part are provided at predetermined intervals along a circumferential direction of the vacuum chamber,
 wherein the film deposition apparatus is provided with a rotating mechanism that rotates the susceptor around a vertical axis with respect to the plural reaction gas supplying parts and the plasma generation part so that the substrate receiving area of the susceptor passes alternately through areas to which the plural reaction gas supplying parts supply the corresponding reaction gases,   wherein the plasma generation part is arranged so that the plasma generated by the plasma generation part is supplied to the substrate in one of a first area to which the first reaction gas that reacts with the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate is supplied and a second area located downstream relative to the first area along a rotation direction of the susceptor, and   wherein the vacuum chamber is provided in order to separate the areas with a separation area that is located between the areas to which the plural reaction gas supplying parts supply the corresponding reaction gases.   
     
     
         9 . A film deposition method that forms a thin film on a substrate by repeating a cycle of alternately supplying plural kinds of reaction gases to the substrate under vacuum, wherein a first reaction gas among the plural kinds of the reaction gases reacts with a second reaction gas among the plural kinds of the reaction gases, the second reaction gas being adsorbed on the substrate, thereby to produce a reaction product, the film deposition method comprising steps of:
 placing a substrate in a substrate receiving area of a susceptor provided in a vacuum chamber;   evacuating the vacuum chamber;   alternately supplying plural kinds of the reaction gases to the substrate in the substrate receiving area from corresponding reaction gas supplying parts thereby to form a thin film on the substrate;   supplying plasma including a chemical component that reacts with the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate from a plasma generation part to the substrate when the thin film is being formed, thereby to alter the thin film on the substrate; and   changing plasma intensity of the plasma supplied to the substrate, at a predetermined point of time to a different plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part before the predetermined point of time.   
     
     
         10 . The film deposition method of  claim 9 , wherein the first reaction gas serves as an oxidizing or nitriding gas with respect to the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate, and
 wherein the thin film is formed of one of metal oxide, silicon oxide metal nitride, and silicon nitride.   
     
     
         11 . The film deposition apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein an underlying film of the thin film to be formed thereon includes metal or silicon. 
     
     
         12 . The film deposition method of  claim 9 , wherein the plasma intensity is changed by adjusting at least one of high frequency power supplied to the plasma generation part and an inner pressure in the vacuum chamber in the changing the plasma intensity. 
     
     
         13 . The film deposition method of  claim 9 , wherein the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part is set at a first intensity in an initial stage of forming the thin film, and at a second intensity that is higher than the first intensity after the initial stage of forming the thin film, in the changing the plasma intensity. 
     
     
         14 . The film deposition method of  claim 9 , wherein the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part is set at a second intensity in an initial stage of forming the thin film, and at a first intensity that is lower than the second intensity after the initial stage of forming the thin film, in the changing the plasma intensity. 
     
     
         15 . The film deposition method of  claim 14 , wherein the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part is set at a third intensity that is higher than the first plasma intensity after setting the plasma intensity of the plasma that is generated and supplied to the substrate by the plasma generation part at the first intensity, in the changing the plasma intensity. 
     
     
         16 . The film deposition method of  claim 9 , wherein the susceptor is rotated around a vertical axis with respect to the plural reaction gas supplying parts arranged at predetermined intervals along a rotation direction of the susceptor so that the substrate receiving area of the susceptor passes alternately through areas to which the plural reaction gas supplying parts supply the corresponding reaction gases, in the forming the thin film,
 wherein the plasma generated by the plasma generation part is supplied to the substrate in one of a first area to which the first reaction gas that reacts with the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate is supplied and a second area located downstream relative to the first area along a rotation direction of the susceptor, in the altering the thin film, and   the film deposition method further comprising supplying a separation gas from a separation area that is located between the areas to which the plural reaction gas supplying parts supply the corresponding reaction gases in order to separate the areas.   
     
     
         17 . A film deposition method that forms a thin film on a substrate by repeating a cycle of alternately supplying plural kinds of reaction gases to the substrate under vacuum, wherein a first reaction gas among the plural kinds of the reaction gases reacts with a second reaction gas among the plural kinds of the reaction gases, the second reaction gas being adsorbed on the substrate, thereby to produce a reaction product, the film deposition method comprising steps of:
 placing a substrate in a substrate receiving area of a susceptor provided in a vacuum chamber;   evacuating the vacuum chamber;   supplying the plural kinds of the reaction gases from corresponding reaction gas supplying parts toward the susceptor;   supplying plasma including a chemical component that reacts with one of the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate and at least apart of the substrate from the plasma generation part toward the susceptor; and   rotating the susceptor around a vertical axis so that the substrate receiving area passes alternately through a supplying area to which the second reaction gas is supplied, a reaction area where the first reaction gas reacts with the second reaction gas adsorbed on the substrate, and a plasma area that is arranged downstream relative to the reaction area along a rotation direction of the susceptor and where the plasma is supplied, wherein the supplying area, the reaction area, and the plasma area are arranged at intervals along a circumferential direction of the vacuum chamber.   
     
     
         18 . A computer readable storage medium that stores a computer program to be used in a film deposition apparatus that forms a thin film on a substrate by repeating a cycle of alternately supplying plural kinds of reaction gases to the substrate, the computer program including groups of instructions that cause the film deposition apparatus to perform the film deposition method of  claim 9 .