JPH11302841A - Sputtering system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the contamination of a substrate and the surface of a target and to obtain a film high in guilty in a sputtering system by which a thin film with a laminated structure consisting of a plurality of materials is continuously formed in the same vacuum vessel. SOLUTION: In a vacuum vessel 11, a substrate 13 and a rotatable garget holding body 20 holding a plurality of targets 14 are arranged in a sputtering-up state, furthermore, the space between the substrate 13 and the target 14 is provided with a sputter shield board 12 in which an opening part 12a with a shape corresponding to the target 14 is formed at a position almost consistent with the substrate 13 in a planar manner, and the target holding body 20 is rotated to allow the prescribed target 14 to confront with the substrate 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sputtering apparatus, and more particularly to a sputtering apparatus for continuously forming a thin film having a laminated structure made of a plurality of materials in the same vacuum vessel. In addition, the present invention particularly relates to a sputtering apparatus for forming an extremely thin magnetic film or conductive film with high crystal orientation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a sputtering apparatus used to form a thin film on a substrate, one target is arranged in one vacuum vessel. For this reason, when forming a thin film of a laminated structure composed of a plurality of materials on a substrate, a plurality of sputtering apparatuses in which targets of different materials are arranged are connected by a transport path, and while the substrates are transported in the atmosphere, each of the laminated devices is laminated. Was. In the in-line sputtering apparatus, a plurality of sputtering apparatuses are connected by a vacuum transfer path, and the substrate is transferred in a vacuum using a vacuum transfer mechanism.

When a substrate is transported in a vacuum as in an in-line sputtering apparatus, a film of higher quality can be obtained than when the substrate is transported in the atmosphere. However, as many sputter devices as the number of materials to be laminated must be arranged and operated side by side, and the device becomes large-scale, and the cost of the whole device also increases. Furthermore, a plurality of vacuum systems (sputtering equipment,
Since the maintenance of the vacuum transfer path is complicated, there is a drawback that it is not suitable for anything other than special uses. Further, in the method using a plurality of sputtering apparatuses, there is a problem that the throughput of the entire system is low because time is required for attaching and detaching and transporting the substrate.

In order to solve such a problem, a plurality of targets made of different materials are arranged in one vacuum vessel, and the substrate or the target is relatively moved to keep the vacuum in one vacuum vessel. A sputtering apparatus configured to be able to continuously laminate in a state has been considered. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-171432, a prismatic target holder rotatably supported in one vacuum vessel is provided, and a plurality of targets are arranged along the outer periphery of the target holder. 2. Description of the Related Art A sputtering apparatus has been proposed in which a target holder is rotated so that each target is sequentially arranged to face a substrate arranged in the same vacuum vessel. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-1599
No. 61 discloses a disk-shaped substrate support rotatably supported on the upper surface of a substrate and a target in a sputter-up arrangement, which is opposed to a target holder disposed below, and the substrate support is rotated. By doing so, there has been proposed a sputtering apparatus configured to sequentially arrange substrates on a predetermined target.

On the other hand, as a sputtering apparatus for forming an extremely thin magnetic film or conductive film with high crystal orientation, there is an apparatus in which a collimating plate is arranged between a substrate and a target. For example, JP-A-7-331431 discloses a sputtering apparatus provided with a shield (collimating plate) having an opening of a shape of an erosion region of a magnetron in order to limit an oblique incident component of sputter particles incident on a substrate. Proposed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-93439 discloses a collimating plate having a cylindrical through-hole for controlling the direction in which sputtered particles fly from a target.
There has been proposed a sputtering apparatus configured to separate the inside of a vacuum chamber into a film forming chamber and a sputtering chamber by using the collimating plate.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-171 is disclosed.
In the apparatus of No. 432, the substrate on which the laminated film is formed is disposed below the target holder, so that fine dust generated when the target holder rotates and a film deposited near the opening of the shielding plate during film formation. Is partially peeled off, resulting in flake-like dust (film) and soiling the substrate. If such dust adheres to the interface of the laminated film, it affects quality aspects such as the purity of the film. Further, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-159961, the problem of dust adhesion to the substrate is solved, but the film deposited on the surface of the substrate support is partially peeled off, forming flake-like dust downward. There is a problem that the surface of the target is contaminated by dropping, and as a result, the purity of the film is affected. Furthermore, in this configuration, each target is located at various locations inside the vacuum vessel,
Since the positional relationship between the exhaust port and the gas inlet is different at each location, a pressure gradient occurs inside and the discharge characteristics at each location also differ, so that the plasma state at each location is kept constant. There is also a problem that it is difficult to keep. If there is a difference in the state of the plasma in this way, for example, when forming a thin film of a magnetic material, a difference occurs in the magnetic characteristics,
In the case of a conductive film, a difference occurs in specific resistance.

In the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-171432, the rotation axis of the target holder is set in the vertical direction, and the substrates are arranged to face each other, or the sputter-up arrangement in which the positional relationship between the substrate and the target holder is changed. In this case, the problem of soiling the substrate due to dust or the like generated when the target holder rotates can be solved. However, regardless of the arrangement of the target holders, in the structure in which a plurality of targets are arranged on the outer periphery of the target holder formed in a prismatic shape, when the targets are exchanged, they are arranged on the back side thereof. There is a problem that it takes time and effort for maintenance, for example, it is necessary to drain all the water from the water cooling mechanism, and it is necessary to pull out the target holder from the shielding plate. In addition, at the opening of the shielding plate that covers the periphery of the target holder, since the shield gap between the target and the shielding plate adjacent to the target facing the substrate is large, unnecessary plasma is likely to be generated in this portion. Therefore, there is a problem that a stable discharge on the target is hindered. Further, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
In the device of No. 1, when the vertical relationship between the substrate holder and the target is exchanged, the problem that the film formed on the surface of the substrate support contaminates the target surface is solved.
This time, there is a problem that the film deposited on the ceiling wall surface on the target side is partially peeled off, becomes flake-like dust, and falls downward, thereby contaminating the surface of the substrate.

On the other hand, as in the sputtering apparatus proposed in JP-A-7-331431 and JP-A-6-93439,
When a collimating plate is placed between the substrate and the target,
Most of the particles flying by sputtering are deposited on the collimator plate, and only the sputtered particles flying perpendicular to the substrate surface are deposited on the substrate through slightly opened through holes. As the deposition of sputtered particles on the collimating plate progresses, the shape of the through-hole changes, which causes a change in the orientation of the film deposited on the substrate and a change in the deposition rate. In particular, when a ferromagnetic material is used as the target material, the magnetic properties of the film deposited on the substrate also change due to the magnetization of the film deposited on the collimator plate.

When a conductor is used as a target, not only a magnetic material, the film deposited on the through-hole portion of the collimator plate disposed directly above the target is partially peeled off, and a conductive flake-like film is formed. Dust may contaminate the target surface. In addition, the flake-like dust may be short-circuited between the target electrode and a shield (not shown) (shield for preventing discharge between the target and the container), and the discharge may be stopped.

In the current film forming technology, for example, in the case of a GMR spin valve film in which about 6 to 20 layers of a magnetic material and an electrically conductive non-magnetic film having an extremely thin film thickness (several nm or less) are alternately stacked, Since phenomena such as magnetic exchange coupling between bodies and spin-dependent scattering between the conductive film and the magnetic film are used, the cleanliness of the lamination interface, the purity of the film, or the magnetic characteristics, the specific resistance of the film, and the Crystal orientation is a decisive factor in quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and a first object of the present invention is to obtain a high quality film by minimizing contamination of a substrate or a target surface. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sputtering apparatus capable of performing the above.

A second object is to provide a sputtering apparatus capable of stably obtaining a film having a high crystal orientation over a long period of time.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plasma discharge is generated between a substrate and a target which is sputtered up in a vacuum vessel, and is discharged from the target. In a sputtering apparatus that deposits sputtered particles on the substrate, a target holder that is rotatably supported below the vacuum vessel and has a plurality of targets held on an upper surface, and is disposed above the vacuum vessel And a substrate holder on which a substrate whose processing surface is directed to the target is held, and the inside of the vacuum container is divided into an upper chamber in which the substrate holder is arranged and a lower chamber in which the target holder is arranged. And a shield member which is divided and has an opening having a shape corresponding to the target at a position substantially coincident with the substrate in plan view.

In the above configuration, when the target holder is rotated to a predetermined position and the predetermined target is exposed from the opening of the shield member, the position where the surface to be processed of the substrate and the sputtered particle emission surface of the target face each other, that is, Both are fixed at positions where they substantially coincide with each other in a plane. Each time the target material is formed on the substrate, the target holder is rotated, and a predetermined target is sequentially exposed from the opening of the shield member, thereby continuously forming a laminated film on the substrate. Becomes possible.

Since the target holder is located below the substrate, the substrate is not contaminated by fine dust generated when the target holder is rotated. In addition, since the shield gap between the target and the shield member can be reduced, unnecessary plasma is not generated around the opening. Further, since the target is exposed to the substrate only at the opening, contamination of the target by the film deposited on the wall surface on the substrate side is extremely small. Further, since the surface of the target not involved in the film formation is isolated from the film formation region by the shield member, no plasma is generated, and the target surface not involved in the film formation is not contaminated by sputtered particles. In addition, since each target is fixed at the same position in the container, the state of the plasma is always constant, and there is no difference in film characteristics.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a plasma discharge is generated between a substrate and a target which is sputtered up in a vacuum vessel and arranged in a long throw, and sputter particles emitted from the target are deposited on the substrate. In the sputtering apparatus, a cylindrical shield member having an opening of a predetermined shape formed on an upper surface is provided between the substrate and the target.

In the above configuration, when an inert gas is introduced into the container to generate plasma, sputter particles are emitted from the target and fly toward the substrate while scattering in the space. In this apparatus, since the substrate and the target are arranged in a long throw, sputter particles flying on the substrate surface are aligned with those flying in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate surface, and a low angle is formed on the film deposition surface of the substrate. Sputtering particles and recoil particles that fly obliquely in the direction of the substrate are restricted by the opening formed in the upper surface of the shield member, and therefore fly mainly perpendicular to the substrate surface. Incoming sputter particles are deposited. The change in the shape of the hole caused by the deposition of the film in the opening is very small, and the change in the orientation of the film deposited on the substrate and the change in the film formation rate hardly occur. Furthermore, since the area where the argon ions and the like generated during the generation of the plasma fly due to the cylindrical body of the shield member is limited, the amount taken in the deposited film is reduced.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the sputtering apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, an embodiment corresponding to the first aspect of the present invention is referred to as a first embodiment, and an embodiment corresponding to the second aspect of the present invention is referred to as a second embodiment.
Each will be described. In addition, the configuration of the entire apparatus and the configuration of each unit illustrated in the drawings are simplified or schematically illustrated for easy description.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a basic configuration of a sputtering apparatus according to a first embodiment.

A vacuum vessel 11 constituting the sputtering apparatus 10
Is vertically divided into two parts by a sputter shield plate 12, which will be described later. A substrate 13 is disposed in the upper chamber 11a, and a target 14 is disposed in the lower chamber 11b by sputtering. This sputtering apparatus 10 is configured as a planar magnetron type sputtering apparatus in which a substrate 13 and a target 14 are arranged to face each other, and a magnetic field is applied to confine plasma near an electrode.

A gas inlet 15 for introducing an inert gas such as argon gas into the container is provided on a side surface of the upper chamber 11a, and a gas supply device (not shown) is provided on the upstream side. Are located. Upper room 11a and lower room 11b
A gas outlet 16 for discharging gas introduced into the inside is provided on one side straddling the inside, and an exhaust pump (not shown) is arranged on the downstream side. In this apparatus, an appropriate gas atmosphere is formed in the vacuum vessel 11 by balancing the introduction and discharge of gas.

The sputter shield plate 12 is a disk-shaped partition plate disposed so as to be in contact with the inner wall of the container.
An opening 12a having a shape corresponding to the target is formed at a position substantially coincident with the target 3 in plan view.

The substrate 13 is held by a substrate holder 17 as a substrate holder, and is arranged so that a surface to be processed, which is a film forming surface, faces the target 14 side. In the vicinity of the substrate 13, when forming a laminated film on the substrate,
Shutter mechanism 19 for managing each film thickness with high accuracy
Is installed. The shutter mechanism 19 includes a shutter plate 19a that enters and exits between the substrate 13 and the target 14,
A rotating shaft 19b supporting one end of the shutter plate 19a
And a rotating shaft driving motor 19c for rotating the rotating shaft 19b in the direction of the arrow.

The target 14 is fixed on a target holder 20 arranged in the lower chamber 11b. The target holder 20 is a rotating body formed in a cylindrical shape, and has a hollow structure inside. On the upper surface of the target holder 20, an electrode 21, which is the other of the pair of discharge electrodes, is arranged as a cathode (cathode). The target 14 is placed on this electrode via a predetermined holding mechanism (not shown). It is fixedly arranged. In the first embodiment, six electrodes 21 are arranged at equal intervals on a concentric circle. The sputter shield plate 12 is located immediately above the target 14, and the space between the sputter shield plate 12 and a shield plate 24 described later can be extremely small. Specifically, about 1 to 10
mm.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the positional relationship between the opening 12a of the sputter shield plate 12 and the target 14. Substrate 13 not shown and target 1
The opening 4 and the opening 12a are arranged at positions substantially coincident in a plan view. However, the gas inlet 15 and the gas outlet 16
Is different from FIG.

Inside the electrode 21, a permanent magnet 22 for restraining the plasma generated by the discharge near the electrode,
A water cooling mechanism 23 for suppressing a rise in temperature during sputtering is arranged, and a shield plate (shield plate) 24 for preventing discharge between the target 14 and the container 11 is arranged around the target 14. I have. The electrode 21 has D
A C power cable 25 is connected to a water cooling mechanism 23, and a water cooling pipe 26 is connected to the inside. The shield plate 24
Is at the ground potential. The connection between the electrode 21 and the target holder 20 is insulated by the insulator 31.

A hollow tube 27 serving as a rotation shaft of the target holder 20 is connected to the bottom of the target holder 20, and a DC power cable 25 and a water cooling pipe 26 are passed through the inside thereof. The end of the hollow tube 27 is exposed to the atmosphere side, and leads the internal cables and pipes to the outside of the device. Therefore, the inside of the target holder 20 is at atmospheric pressure. The DC power cable 25 is connected to a high-voltage DC power supply 28 for sputtering, and the water cooling pipe 26 is connected to an external water cooling device (not shown).

At the connection between the hollow tube 27 and the vacuum vessel 11, a vacuum rotation introduction terminal 29 is used. Even if the target holder 20 rotates, the vacuum inside the vacuum vessel 11 is maintained. It is configured to be. Furthermore, hollow tube 2
A holder driving motor 30 for driving the target holder 20 is connected to an end of the target holder 7 to give the target holder 20 a rotational motion about the hollow tube 27. At the time of laminating a film to be described later, a predetermined target 14
3, and is stopped and fixed at a predetermined position.

The sputtering apparatus 10 configured as described above
In the case of forming a laminated film on the substrate 13, first, the atmosphere in the vacuum vessel 11 is exhausted by an exhaust pump (not shown) to make it substantially in a vacuum state. Next, an argon gas is introduced from the gas inlet 15 and simultaneously the gas outlet 1
6. By appropriately discharging the gas from 6, an appropriate argon gas atmosphere (approximately 0.8 to 3.0 mTorr) is balanced in the vacuum vessel 11 by introducing and discharging the gas.
make. Then, the target holder 20 is rotated to a predetermined position to expose a predetermined target 14 from the opening 12 a of the sputter shield plate 12. As a result, the surface to be processed of the substrate 13 and the sputtered particle emission surface of the target 14 are fixed at a position facing each other. Next, a high voltage DC voltage is applied to the electrode 21 serving as a cathode to generate magnetron plasma (A in the figure) immediately above the target 14. By the generation of the plasma, gas ions are generated in the target 14.
Atoms on the target surface are knocked out by collision with the surface of the target. Here, the shutter plate 19a is rotated to
When the surface to be processed is exposed to the target side, the ejected atoms are deposited as sputter particles on the surface of the substrate 13 to form a thin film. The thickness of the thin film formed on the substrate is controlled by opening and closing the shutter plate 19a. When the processing on one target is completed, the target holder 20
Is rotated to a predetermined position to expose the next target 14 from the opening 12 a of the sputter shield plate 12. In this manner, by sequentially moving different targets, a stacked film of different materials can be formed on the substrate 13.

In the above film forming process, when the target 14 is moved by rotating the target holder 20, since the target holder 20 is located below the substrate 1, the target holder 20 is generated when the holder is rotated. The substrate 13 is not contaminated by the fine dust. Further, even if the film deposited on the wall surface on the substrate 13 is partially peeled off, the target 14 is exposed only at the opening 12a. Contamination will be very low. Further, among the targets arranged on the target holder 20,
Since the surface of the target that is not involved in the film formation is cut off from the film formation region by the sputter shield plate 12, unnecessary plasma other than the predetermined target is not generated. In addition, since the shield gap between the target 14 and the sputter shield plate 12 can be reduced, spatter particles do not fly and contaminate the target surface not involved in film formation. In addition, by performing the peeling prevention treatment on the inner wall of the upper chamber 11a, the influence of the flake-like dust as described above can be further reduced.

On the other hand, since each target 14 is fixed at the same position in the vacuum vessel at the time of film formation, the state of the plasma is always constant, and there is no difference in the characteristics of the formed film. Further, since the target 14 is arranged upward, the target 14 can be replaced without draining water from the internal water cooling mechanism when the target is replaced, and the target itself can be easily replaced.

In the sputtering apparatus 10 of the first embodiment, since the continuous operation is performed in one vacuum vessel, no time is required for attaching and detaching and transporting the substrate, and the throughput of the entire system is excellent. As a matter of course, a film of higher quality can be obtained as compared with a substrate that transports a substrate in the atmosphere.

Here, what is the difference in film characteristics between a film that is continuously laminated in a vacuum while maintaining high cleanliness of the substrate surface and a film that is continuously laminated after being exposed to the atmosphere after the formation of the base film. This will be described briefly.

FIG. 4 shows that each of the ferromagnetic film and the conductive film has a thickness of several nm.
X of a spin-valve film composed of a laminated film of
1 shows a line diffraction curve. Example 1 shows a spin-valve film produced by the sputtering apparatus 10 of FIG. 1, and Comparative Example shows a spin-valve film once exposed to the atmosphere at the time of deposition. In the figure, the vertical axis I indicates the X-ray intensity (cps), and the horizontal axis indicates the X-ray incident angle (2θ). Comparing the graphs of Example 1 and the comparative example, it can be seen that the film of Example 1 has two strong peaks in the graph, but the film of Comparative Example has no prominent peak on the graph. In general, when the crystallinity of the film is good, that is, when a regular crystal layer is formed, the incident X-rays cause interference inside and are output with increased intensity. From this, it has been clarified that when the substrates are continuously laminated in a vacuum while maintaining high cleanliness of the substrate surface, the crystal orientation of the film is dramatically improved.

As shown in FIG. 3, a partition plate 32 may be arranged at the center of the sputter shield plate 12 to form an opening 12b for pre-sputtering. In the case of such a configuration, by performing the pre-sputtering in the region on the right side of FIG. 3, the target surface before the sputtering can be cleaned. In this case, since the left sputtering region is partitioned by the partition plate 32, the target surface is not contaminated by the sputtered particles. Further, since the target can be attached and detached from the opening 12b, the maintenance is excellent.

Accordingly, in the sputtering apparatus according to the first embodiment, since contamination of the substrate and the target surface can be extremely reduced, a high quality film can be obtained.

[Embodiment 2] FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing a basic configuration of a sputtering apparatus according to Embodiment 2.

Vacuum container 1 constituting sputtering apparatus 100
01, there is a cylindrical shield 1 having a cylindrical shape to be described later.
The substrate 103 is disposed above and the target 104 is disposed below by sputtering.
The sputtering apparatus 100 is configured as a planar magnetron type like the apparatus of the first embodiment, and is particularly configured as a planar magnetron type long throw sputtering apparatus in which the distance between the substrate 103 and the target 104 is large. Note that the positions of the substrate and the target shown in the figure are different from the actual positional relationship.

An opening 102a having a diameter equal to or slightly larger than that of the substrate 103 is formed on the upper surface (end surface on the substrate side) of the cylindrical shield 102. The cylindrical shield 102 covers the plasma generated directly above the target 104, thereby reducing the influence of the plasma on the substrate 103. The cylindrical shield 102 has a cylindrical body portion and an opening provided on the upper surface. The function 102a has a function of restricting (blocking) the sputtered particles scattered at a low angle from flying toward the substrate. The cylindrical shield 10
2 is a plurality of support arms 1 extending from the inner wall of the container.
09 and is at ground potential.

A gas inlet 105 for introducing an inert gas such as argon gas into the container is provided on a side surface of the cylindrical shield 102, and a gas supply device (not shown) is provided upstream of the gas inlet 105. Are located. Further, a gas outlet 106 for discharging gas introduced into the inside is provided on a lower side surface of the container, and an exhaust pump (not shown) is arranged on a downstream side. In this apparatus, an appropriate gas atmosphere is formed in the vacuum vessel 101 by balancing gas introduction and discharge.

The distance between the substrate 103 and the target 104 is set to about 2 to 4 times the target diameter in the case of a long throw type such as this apparatus. The upper surface of the cylindrical shield 102, that is, the opening 102a
Is arranged at a position substantially between the substrate and the target.

The substrate 103 is held by a substrate holder 107.
It is arranged so as to face the 04 side. A water cooling mechanism may be provided in the substrate holder 107 to cool the substrate during film formation, or a heater may be provided to heat the substrate. Further, the substrate holder 107 may be covered with a shield, and a high frequency may be applied to apply a bias voltage during film formation.

The target 104 is fixed on a target holder 110 arranged below the container. An electrode 111 is arranged on the target holder 110 as a cathode, and the target 104 is fixedly arranged on the electrode via a predetermined holding mechanism (not shown). The electrode 111 is connected to a high voltage DC power supply 112 for sputtering. A shield plate (shield plate) 113 is disposed around the target 104. Shield plate 11
3 is a ground potential. Further, although not described here, a permanent magnet and a water cooling mechanism are arranged inside the target holder 110.

The sputtering apparatus 10 configured as described above
In step 0, when a film is formed on the substrate 103, first, the atmosphere in the vacuum vessel 101 is exhausted by an exhaust pump (not shown) to be in a substantially vacuum state. Next, the gas inlet 105
Gas is simultaneously introduced from the gas discharge port 106 to thereby balance the introduction and discharge of the gas, so that an appropriate argon gas atmosphere (about 0.8 ~ 3.0mT
orr). Next, a high voltage DC voltage is applied to the electrode 110 serving as a cathode to generate magnetron plasma (A in the figure) immediately above the target 104. Sputtered particles are emitted from the target 104 by the generation of the plasma. At this time, in an atmosphere of several mTorr, the mean free path distance in a space such as sputtered particles is several centimeters to 10 centimeters.
Since it is only about a few cm, the particles collide before reaching the substrate 103 and scattering occurs in the flying direction. This scattering generates sputtered particles or recoiled particles that fly obliquely at a low angle with respect to the film deposition surface of the substrate 103. In addition, when plasma is generated, argon ions, electrons, and the like are also generated and fly to the substrate 103. However, in this apparatus, the substrate 103
And the target 104 are arranged in a long throw, the sputtered particles flying on the substrate surface are aligned with those flying in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate surface, and also fly obliquely at a low angle on the film deposition surface of the substrate. Sputtering particles and recoil particles thereof are prevented from flying in the direction of the substrate by the openings 102a provided on the upper surface of the cylindrical shield 102, and thus fly on the substrate 103 perpendicular to the substrate surface. Many sputtered particles will be deposited. Therefore,
A film having a high crystal orientation is formed on the substrate.

As described above, in the sputtering apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment, the sputter particles and the like flying obliquely at a low angle to the substrate surface are restricted by the long throw arrangement and the opening 102 a of the cylindrical shield 102. Therefore, more sputtered particles flying perpendicular to the substrate surface are deposited on the substrate. In addition, since the change in the hole shape caused by the deposition of the film in the opening 102a is very small, there is almost no change in the film formation rate or the orientation of the film deposited on the substrate. Also, even when a ferromagnetic material is used for the target material,
The magnetic properties of the film deposited on the substrate hardly change due to the magnetization of the film deposited in the opening 102a. Further, even if the film is deposited on the opening 102a of the cylindrical shield 102, the opening 102a is not located directly above the target unlike the through-hole of the conventional collimating plate, so that the film deposited on the opening 102a The contamination on the target surface due to falling as conductive flake dust becomes extremely small. Further, the opening 1
Since the deposition amount of the film at 02a is much smaller than that of the conventional collimating plate, the possibility that flake-like dust short-circuits between the target electrode and the shield is extremely small. In addition, argon ions and the like generated during the generation of plasma are
The flying area is limited by the cylindrical body part of the above, so that the amount taken in the deposited film becomes smaller, and the influence of these particles on the surface of the substrate 103 becomes extremely small.

As described above, it is possible to deposit more sputter particles flying from the direction perpendicular to the substrate surface, and it is possible to reduce various adverse effects due to the film deposited in the opening 102a. The formation of a film with high orientation can be stably maintained over a long period of time. By performing the peeling prevention treatment on the inner wall of the cylindrical shield 102, the influence of the flake-like dust described above can be further reduced. In addition, the flying region of argon ions and the like generated at the time of plasma generation is
Since the restriction is made by the cylindrical body part 2, the influence of the plasma on the surface of the substrate 103 can be extremely reduced, and a higher quality film can be obtained.

Here, the sputtering apparatus 10 of the second embodiment
And the highly oriented film obtained by using
The result of comparison with an alignment film obtained without using the above will be briefly described.

FIG. 6 shows that each of the ferromagnetic film and the conductive film has a thickness of several nm.
X of a spin-valve film composed of a laminated film of
5 shows a line diffraction curve. Example 2 shows a spin valve film produced by using the sputtering apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 5, and a comparative example shows a spin valve film produced by removing the cylindrical shield 102 from the sputtering apparatus 100. Each is shown.

When the graphs of Example 2 and Comparative Example are compared, no shift is observed in the positions of the peaks appearing in both graphs, and the same crystal orientation is shown. The peak intensity is about twice as high. From this, it became clear that a film having higher crystal orientation can be obtained by arranging the cylindrical shield in the container.

Therefore, in the sputter apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment, the sputter particles that fly obliquely at a low angle with respect to the substrate surface are restricted from flying toward the substrate, and the effect of the film deposited in the opening is affected. Can be extremely small, so that a film having high crystal orientation can be formed stably over a long period of time. Further, since the influence of the plasma on the substrate surface can be extremely reduced, a higher quality film can be obtained.

[0051]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the substrate is not contaminated by fine dust or the like generated when the target holder rotates, and the influence of dust on the target surface is extremely reduced. It can be reduced. Further, the state of plasma during film formation can be always kept constant. Therefore, in the case where thin films having a laminated structure made of a plurality of materials are continuously formed on a substrate, a high-quality film can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since sputtered particles and the like flying obliquely at a low angle to the substrate surface are prevented from flying toward the substrate, a film having a high crystal orientation can be obtained. And various adverse effects due to the film deposited in the opening can be reduced. Therefore, a film having high crystal orientation can be obtained stably over a long period of time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a basic configuration of a sputtering apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a positional relationship between an opening of a sputter shield plate and a target.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view in the case where a partition plate is arranged at the center of a sputter shield plate.

4 is a graph showing X-ray diffraction curves of a spin valve film produced by the sputtering apparatus of FIG. 1 and a spin valve film once exposed to the atmosphere.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view illustrating a basic configuration of a sputtering apparatus according to a second embodiment.

6 is a graph showing an X-ray diffraction curve of a spin valve film produced by the sputtering apparatus of FIG. 5 and a spin valve film produced by removing the cylindrical shield from the sputtering apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sputter apparatus (Example 1) 11, 101 Vacuum container 12 Sputter shield plate 12a Opening 13, 103 Substrate 14, 104 Target 17, 107 Substrate holder 21, 111 Electrode 20 Target holder 100 Sputter apparatus (Example 2) 102 Cylindrical shield 102a opening

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sputtering apparatus for generating a plasma discharge between a substrate and a target disposed in a vacuum vessel and depositing sputter particles emitted from the target on the substrate, comprising: A target holder movably supported, and a plurality of targets held on the upper surface,
A substrate holder, which is disposed above the vacuum container and holds a substrate whose surface to be processed is directed to the target; and an interior of the vacuum container, an upper chamber in which the substrate holder is disposed, and the target holder. A sputtering member, which is divided into lower chambers in which a body is disposed, and a shield member having an opening having a shape corresponding to the target at a position substantially coincident with the substrate in plan view. . 2. A sputtering apparatus for generating a plasma discharge between a target and a substrate which is sputtered up and placed in a long throw in a vacuum vessel and deposits sputter particles emitted from the target on the substrate. A sputtering apparatus, comprising: a cylindrical shield member having an opening of a predetermined shape formed on an upper surface between a substrate and a target.