JPS60200533A - Annealing method and equipment therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of annealing a semiconductor substrate or a substrate on which a semiconductor thin film is formed without annealing, and an apparatus used therefor.

The following year, Mameho January, semiconductor substrates and substrates forming semiconductor thin films, etc.
In order to crystallize the semiconductor that makes up the semiconductor substrate or the semiconductor thin film, or to increase the grain size of the semiconductor crystal that makes up the semiconductor substrate or the semiconductor thin film, it is an annealing method that does not require annealing. Conventionally, a thermal annealing method has been proposed in which the substrate is heated by a heater for 1° without annealing.

However, in the case of this thermal annealing method, it is not possible to shorten the LJ time for annealing the substrate due to thermal inertia. It had the disadvantage that it could not be satisfied.

Furthermore, since the entire substrate is heated, even if it is necessary to perform local annealing only on the front side of the substrate, there is a drawback in that it is not possible to satisfy the need for local annealing.

In addition, as another annealing method without annealing the semiconductor substrate or the substrate forming the semiconductor i[,
A laser annealing method in which the substrate is annealed by scanning the substrate using a laser beam, and an electron beam annealing method in which the substrate is annealed by scanning the substrate using an electron beam have also been proposed. ing.

In the case of such laser annealing method and electron beam annealing method, the time for annealing the substrate can be shorter than that of thermal annealing method, and it is also possible to perform annealing locally only on the surface side of the substrate. This method is characterized in that it does not have the drawbacks of the thermal annealing method described above.

However, in the case of the laser annealing method and the electron beam annealing method, annealing is performed by scanning the substrate with a beam, so it takes time to anneal a substrate with a large area, and This method has disadvantages in that it is not possible to uniformly anneal all parts of the substrate because some areas are scanned repeatedly and some areas are not annealed.

In addition, as other annealing methods for annealing semiconductor substrates and substrates on which semiconductor thin films are formed, conventionally,
A one-lamp annealing method has also been proposed in which the substrate is annealed by irradiating it with infrared rays from an infrared lamp.

In the case of this lamp annealing method, like the laser annealing method and the electron beam annealing method, the substrate can be annealed for a short time, and it can also be annealed locally only on the surface side of the substrate. Therefore, it does not have the drawbacks of the thermal annealing method described above, and it also does not have the drawbacks of the laser annealing method and the electron beam annealing method, since the entire surface of the substrate can be annealed at once. Has characteristics.

However, in the case of the lamp annealing method, there is non-uniformity in the distribution of the infrared irradiance intensity on the substrate.
In view of the drawback that it is not possible to uniformly anneal all parts of the entire surface of the substrate, the present invention provides a novel method that does not have the drawbacks of the conventional annealing method described above. This paper aims to propose a new annealing method.

The present invention also seeks to propose a new device that allows substrates to be annealed without the disadvantages of the annealing methods mentioned above.

According to the annealing method according to the first invention of the present application, a substrate to be annealed is placed in a vacuum chamber, and a region on the substrate in the vacuum chamber is heated in a direction along the plate surface of the substrate. By applying a magnetic field with a component of
Anneal the substrate.

According to the annealing method according to the first invention of the present application, the time for annealing the substrate can be shortened compared to the conventional thermal annealing method described above, and the laser annealing method and Compared to the case of electron beam annealing, it is possible to perform annealing over a wide area on the substrate without making the area uniform in each part as in the case of lamp annealing. It is characterized in that it does not have the drawbacks of the conventional thermal annealing method, laser annealing method, electron beam annealing method, and lamp annealing method described above.

Further, according to the apparatus used for the annealing method according to the second invention of the present application, there is provided a vacuum chamber in which a substrate to be annealed is arranged and a gas to be glow discharged is introduced, and a region on the substrate in the vacuum chamber. , means for applying a magnetic field having a component along the surface of the substrate, and means for generating a gas glow discharge in a region on the substrate within the vacuum chamber.

According to the apparatus used for the annealing method according to the second invention of the present application, it can be used to eliminate the drawbacks of the conventional thermal annealing method, laser annealing method, electron beam annealing method, and lamp annealing method described above. Annealing can be performed without any
It is characterized by a simple structure.

Furthermore, according to the apparatus used in the annealing method according to the third invention of the present application, there is provided a vacuum chamber in which a substrate to be annealed is arranged and a gas to be glow discharged is introduced, and a a means for applying a magnetic field having a component along the plate surface of the substrate to a region, a means for generating a gas glow discharge in a region on the substrate in a vacuum chamber, and a means for applying a magnetic field to the substrate. and means for relatively moving in a direction along the surface.

According to the apparatus used for the annealing method according to the third invention of the present application, it is possible to apply 70% to the substrate more effectively than the apparatus used for the annealing method according to the second invention of the present application. It has the characteristic of being able to be subjected to anneal.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the annealing method according to the invention and an embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention used therein.

First, an embodiment of the apparatus used in the annealing method according to the present invention will be described, which has the following configuration.

That is, it has a vacuum chamber 1 having a waste inlet 2 and a gas outlet 3. This vacuum chamber 1 is manufactured from a conductive material.

In this vacuum chamber 1, an electrode 5 forming, for example, a rectangular chamber 4 is arranged.

In this case, the electrode 5 passes through the bottom wall 1b of the vacuum chamber 1 and is taken at the free end of a conductive branch 6 which is held hermetically on the bottom wall 1b.

Further, in the chamber 4 formed by the electrode 5, a plate-shaped permanent magnet 6 having a rectangular shape and having opposite end surfaces as N and S poles, respectively, is placed in the chamber 4 with its S pole side end surface connected to the electrode 5. A rectangular cylindrical permanent magnet 7, which is fixedly arranged on the inner surface of the upper wall 5a and whose opposing end faces are N and S poles, surrounds the permanent magnet 6, and has an N pole on the N pole side. The electrode 5 is arranged with its end surface fixed to the inner surface of the upper wall 5a. In this case, the permanent magnets 6 and 7 are connected by a magnetic pole plate 8 on the side opposite to the upper wall 5a side of the electrode 5.

In addition, the substrate mounting plate 10 on which the substrate 15 to be annealed is placed is placed in the vacuum chamber 1 on the substrate mounting plate guide surface 9 formed by the upper surface of the upper wall 5a of the electrode 5, and the connection mechanism 1
2, a substrate mounting plate driving device 11 is disposed for reciprocating the permanent magnet 6 in a direction perpendicular to the plate surface thereof.

The above is an exemplary configuration of an apparatus used for the annealing method according to the present invention.

Next, an example of the annealing method according to the present invention using the apparatus used for the annealing method according to the present invention having such a configuration will be described.

First, the substrate 15 to be annealed is placed on the electrode 5 in the vacuum chamber 1 using the substrate mounting plate 10 . Further, the substrate mounting plate 10 is connected to the substrate mounting plate driving device 1 via the coupling mechanism 12.
Connect it to 1.

Next, after evacuating the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 through the gas exhaust port 3, an inert gas such as helium, neon, argon, krypton, or xenon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, or fluorine is added to the vacuum chamber 1. , an active gas such as chlorine, a mixed gas of these inert gases and active gases, etc., in the vacuum chamber 1.
It is introduced to a pressure of pa to 1000 a.

In such a state, a high frequency voltage of several hundred volts to several kilovolts is applied between the vacuum chamber 1 and the electrode 5 via the conductive column 6, or a high frequency voltage of several hundred volts to several kilovolts with the electrode 5 side being negative. DC voltage is applied.

In this case, a gas glow discharge 20 occurs in the area above the substrate 15 of the vacuum chamber 1 .

In this case, a magnetic field extending between the permanent magnets 6 and 7 is generated in the area on the substrate 15 in the vacuum chamber 1 in the area where the glow discharge 20 is occurring in the vacuum chamber 1. The magnetic field has a component 19 along the surface of the substrate 15. Therefore, the density of the plasma generated by the glow discharge 20 is higher in the region 21 where the above-described component 19 of the magnetic field along the plate surface of the substrate 15 is obtained than in other regions.

For this reason, the high energy 1! of several hundred eV to several KeV generated by the glow discharge 20! ions collide with the substrate 15.

As a result, the substrate 15 is annealed from its surface by the energy of the high-energy ions.

In this case, by driving the substrate mounting plate driving device ff11, the substrate 15 is driven by high energy.
Annealing can be applied uniformly to each part.

The above is an example of an annealing method according to the present invention using the present invention.

According to such an annealing method according to the present invention, the substrate 15 is annealed by colliding high-energy ions generated by glow discharge with the substrate 15, so that the conventional thermal annealing method is not necessary. It has the characteristic that it does not involve the drawbacks of the law.

In addition, since the region 21 with high plasma density generated by glow discharge can be made wider than in laser beams or electron beams, the drawbacks of conventional laser annealing methods and electron beam annealing methods can be effectively overcome. can be avoided.

In addition, in the above description, only examples of the annealing method according to the present invention and the apparatus used for the annealing method according to the present invention have been described.
According to the present invention, a heating means such as a heater for heating the substrate 15 or a cooling means for cooling the substrate is provided, and while the substrate 15 is being heated or cooled by the heating means or the cold IJj means, the substrate is annealed. It can also be done. In addition, the permanent magnets 6 and 7 may be replaced with electromagnets, and various other modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view along the J-line showing an example of the annealing method according to the present invention and an example of the apparatus used in the annealing method according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 used in the annealing method according to the present invention. １・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Vacuum chamber 5・・・・・・
...... Electrode 6.7... Permanent magnet 10 ...... Substrate mounting plate 11 ...
......Substrate mounting plate driving device 15...
......Substrate 20...Glow discharge 21...
・・・・・・・・・Area applicant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A substrate to be annealed is placed in a vacuum chamber, and a magnetic field having a component in a direction along the plate surface of the substrate is applied to a region on the substrate in the vacuum chamber. . An annealing method characterized in that the substrate is annealed by generating a gas glow discharge and causing ions having high energy obtained by the glow discharge to collide with the substrate. 2. A vacuum chamber in which a substrate to be annealed is disposed and gas to be glow discharged is introduced, and means for applying a magnetic field having a component along the plate surface of the substrate to a region above the substrate in the vacuum chamber. An apparatus for use in an annealing method, comprising: a means for generating a glow discharge of the gas in a region on the substrate in the vacuum chamber. 3.7 A vacuum chamber in which a substrate to be annealed is placed and a gas to be glow discharged is introduced, and a magnetic field having a component along the surface of the substrate is applied to a region above the substrate in the vacuum chamber. a means for generating a glow discharge of the gas in a region on the substrate in the vacuum chamber; and a means for applying the magnetic field to the substrate relative to each other in a direction along the plate surface of the substrate. An apparatus used for an annealing method, characterized in that it has a means for moving.