JP2000268994A - Surface treatment method using high frequency glow discharge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] In a surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge, generation of a standing wave is suppressed, and stability of discharge, uniformity of surface treatment, and improvement of surface treatment speed are achieved. A high-frequency electrode and a substrate electrode are provided in a reaction chamber.
A high-frequency power is introduced from a high-frequency power supply 4 to a device provided with the device, a plasma 10 is generated by a glow discharge excited by a high-frequency voltage applied to the high-frequency electrode 1, and a high-frequency glow discharge for performing surface treatment of the substrate is generated. In the surface treatment method used, each of the divided conductor portions 10 of the high-frequency electrode
The surface treatment is carried out such that the maximum dimension of the surface facing the plasma generation space is smaller than a value C / 4f obtained by dividing a quarter of the speed of light C in vacuum by the frequency f of the high frequency applied voltage.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge. Specifically, for example, as a thin film deposition, it is used for a protective film of an LSI, a non-single-crystal silicon thin-film solar cell, a non-single-crystal silicon thin film transistor, and the like. Further, it is used for patterning of an LSI as etching. Also, as surface modification,
Used for interface treatment of organic film substrates.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Surface treatment using high-frequency glow discharge is a dry process that can be applied to an insulating substrate and can be applied to a large area, and is therefore used for thin film deposition, etching, surface modification, and the like. A so-called RF wave of 13.56 MHz is generally used as the high frequency voltage.

As thin film deposition, for example, amorphous silicon (a-Si), amorphous silicon alloy (a-SiCx,
Amorphous (amorphous) thin films such as a-SiNx, a-SiOx, and a-SiGex) can be formed in a large area, at a low temperature, and at a low cost compared to single-crystal silicon. It is applied to large-area semiconductor devices such as thin-film solar cells and thin-film transistors for displays. Also, a-
SiNx and a-SiOx are also used as LSI protective films.

[0004] The above-mentioned thin film is conventionally formed by a plasma CVD method as shown in FIG. Source gases such as silane and hydrogen are introduced into the reaction chamber 3, and the pressure in the reaction chamber 3 is maintained at 0.1 to 1000 Pa by vacuum evacuation means 9.
A high-frequency voltage is applied between the high-frequency electrode 1 and the substrate electrode 2 to generate a plasma 10. By the plasma 10,
The source gas is decomposed, and a non-single-crystal thin film is formed on the substrate 7 provided on the substrate electrode 2. The substrate 7 is the substrate electrode 2
Is heated by the heater 8 provided in the heater. The high frequency voltage is applied to the high frequency electrode 1 by the high frequency power supply 4 through the matching box 5. In a similar manner, non-single-crystal thin films such as thin-film polycrystalline silicon or microcrystalline silicon in which a large number of crystal grains are mixed in an amorphous film have been prepared.

FIG. 12 shows the shape of a conventional high-frequency electrode. A circular electrode as shown in FIG.
An electrode having a rectangular shape as shown in (b) is generally used. To facilitate electrode maintenance,
In some cases, the electrode conductor is divided into a plurality of parts. In such a case, the electrodes are electrically connected.

Further, a surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge is also used for depositing a thin film of a metal film, a transparent electrode film, a functional material, or the like by sputtering with a target placed on a high-frequency electrode. .

[0007] A surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge is also used for making an LLSI or a micro machine for etching.

Further, a surface treatment method utilizing high-frequency glow discharge is also used for surface modification for interface treatment of an organic polymer film.

[0009]

By the way, in the surface treatment method using the high-frequency glow discharge as described above,
In order to reduce the cost of the surface treatment, it is necessary to increase the processing speed and improve the throughput. It is important to increase the film forming speed in the case of thin film deposition, to improve the etching rate in the case of etching, and to improve the processing speed in the case of surface modification.

[0010] When the power is increased to increase the processing speed, the generation of powder, abnormal discharge and the like cause the deterioration of film characteristics,
Problems such as generation of pinholes and reduction of in-plane uniformity occur.

On the other hand, one of the techniques for increasing the processing speed by using the high-frequency glow discharge is to increase the frequency. It is effective to use a VHF wave having a higher frequency than a so-called 13.56 MHz RF wave. The use of VHF waves can increase the plasma density at low plasma temperatures. As a result, various advantages can be obtained while increasing the processing speed.

For example, in the deposition of amorphous silicon, while improving the film formation rate at a high plasma density, the sheath voltage is kept low at a low plasma temperature, ion damage to the substrate is suppressed, and good film characteristics are obtained. Obtainable. In particular, with microcrystalline silicon, a film with good crystallinity can be obtained at low temperature by using VHF waves. Also,
The use of VHF waves also suppresses the generation of powder.

In addition, in etching using a fluorocarbon, the generation of F radicals is suppressed at a low electron temperature to reduce CFx
By generating radicals, the etching selectivity is improved.

[0014] However, the conventional apparatus corresponding to the RF wave has a VHF.
If the wave is used as it is, there is a problem that a standing wave is generated on the electrode because the wavelength is short, and the in-plane uniformity of the plasma is deteriorated. As a result, in the case of thin film deposition, the in-plane distribution of film thickness and characteristics, in the case of etching, the in-plane distribution of etching rate, and in the case of surface modification, the in-plane distribution of characteristics become problems.

When a VHF wave is used, the impedance of the inductance component increases and the impedance of the capacitance component decreases. Therefore, the applied high-frequency power is easily consumed in portions other than the electrodes through the stray capacitance. As a result, there are problems that the discharge becomes unstable and the applied power is not applied to the electrodes. This problem becomes more pronounced as the electrode area increases.

Also, due to the increase in the area of thin-film solar cells and the area of LSI wafers, the electrodes of the surface treatment apparatus have
Ones larger than 1m square are also being used. RF
Since the wavelength of the wave is about 22 m and the quarter wavelength is about 5.5 m, the electrode size is sufficiently shorter than the wavelength, and the problem of the standing wave does not occur. However, when the area of the electrode is further increased, the problem of the standing wave also occurs in the RF wave. This is even more problematic when using VHF waves.

Further, even if VHF waves are used, if the processing speed is further increased, problems such as generation of powder, abnormal discharge, and unstable discharge occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. An object of the present invention is to suppress the generation of standing waves, and to improve the stability of discharge, the uniformity of surface treatment, and the speed of surface treatment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a surface treatment method using a high-frequency glow discharge which is improved.

[0019]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a method for disposing a high-frequency electrode and a substrate in a vacuum-tight hermetic reaction chamber having a gas introduction means and a vacuum exhaust means. A high-frequency glow discharge that introduces high-frequency power from a high-frequency power supply to a device including a substrate electrode, generates plasma by glow discharge excited by a high-frequency voltage applied to the high-frequency electrode, and performs surface treatment on the substrate Wherein the maximum dimension of the surface of the high-frequency electrode facing the plasma generation space is greater than a value C / 4f obtained by dividing a quarter of the speed of light C in vacuum by the frequency f of the high-frequency applied voltage. Processing is performed so as to be small (common to claims 1 to 8). In the case where the high-frequency electrode is formed by electrically dividing a conductor portion into a plurality of portions by an electric insulator, the maximum dimension of the surface of each of the divided conductor portions facing the plasma generation space is determined by the speed of light C in vacuum.
Divided by the frequency f of the high-frequency applied voltage C /
The processing is performed so as to be smaller than 4f (claim 2).

It is preferable that the phase of the high-frequency voltage applied to each of the divided conductors is shifted (claim 3). Further, the high-frequency voltage is repeatedly turned on and off in a pulse shape and applied repeatedly (claim 4). Alternatively, the high-frequency voltage applied to each of the divided conductors is repeatedly applied by turning the high-frequency voltage on and off in a pulse shape, It is desirable to shift the timing of on or off and both on and off in each of the divided conductor portions (claim 5). Furthermore,
It is desirable that the frequency of the high-frequency voltage be 20 to 500 MHz (claim 6).

According to the above method, the generation of standing waves can be suppressed, and the stability of discharge, the uniformity of surface treatment, and the improvement of the surface treatment speed can be improved. The reasons will be described below.

The high frequency is generally a surface wave propagating on the surface of the high-frequency electrode. If the material of the electrode changes (because the magnetic permeability is different), it is considered that a reflected wave is generated at that portion and a standing wave is generated. When waves traveling in the opposite direction at the same wavelength and frequency overlap, a standing wave is generated as shown in FIG. The wave in the opposite direction is a wave reflected at a boundary such as an electrode end face.

[0023] In FIG. 1, a position X _l of appearance of the maximum amplitude point called antinodes of the standing wave becomes _{X l = (2n + 1)} · λ / 4-θ · λ / 4π. Position Xn of the point where the amplitude of the standing wave is 0, the so-called node
Becomes Xn = 2n · λ / 4−θ · λ / 4π. Here, λ: the wavelength of the applied voltage, θ: the phase difference of the wave traveling in the reverse direction, n: 0, ± 1, ± 2,. . . . .

[0024] Taking the difference between the position of the position and Xn of X _l, a λ / 4. By making the maximum dimension of the surface of the high-frequency electrode facing the space for generating plasma shorter than λ / 4, antinodes and nodes do not simultaneously occur on the electrode. The phase of the wave reflected at the electrode end is shifted for each reflection, and no standing wave exists on the electrode. Here, λ is λ = v / f ≒ c / f. Here, v is the speed at which the high frequency on the electrode propagates on the electrode surface, c is the speed of light in vacuum, and f is the frequency of the applied voltage. λ / 4 is approximated by c / 4f. In the following discussion, λ / 4
= c / 4f. By the way, in the above, v ≒ c
The reason why it is acceptable is as follows.

When a conductor is regarded as a high-frequency distributed constant circuit, the propagation of energy is carried by electromagnetic waves caused by electric and magnetic fields induced around the conductor. In the case of the present invention, since the film thickness distribution in the direction along the electrode surface is taken into consideration, electromagnetic waves propagating in the direction along the electrode (parallel to the electrode) may be considered. Consider the electromagnetic waves induced in the medium between them.

Since the electromagnetic wave propagates in a medium existing between the high-frequency electrode and the substrate electrode, the medium evacuated as in the present case is a low-pressure gas. The velocity v of the electromagnetic wave is

[0027]

(Equation 1)

Here, ε: dielectric constant of the medium, μ: magnetic permeability of the medium. In the case of gas, ε ≒ ε ₀ , μ ≒ μ
₀ (ε ₀ : dielectric constant in vacuum, μ ₀ : magnetic permeability in vacuum)

[0029]

(Equation 2)

## EQU1 ## Here, c: speed of light in vacuum, that is, speed of electromagnetic waves in vacuum.

When a large electrode is used, the conductor of the high-frequency electrode is electrically divided into a plurality of parts by an insulator, and the maximum dimension of the surface of the divided conductor facing the space for generating plasma is λ / By making the length shorter than 4, generation of standing waves on the electrodes can be suppressed.

By the way, even when the electrodes are divided, the high-frequency voltage affects adjacent divided electrodes via electromagnetic waves, and in some cases, a standing wave is generated. The influence from the divided electrodes can be suppressed.

Further, by turning on and off in a pulsed manner, it is possible to temporally separate the influence of adjacent divided electrodes. Thereby, the influence of the high frequency voltage of the adjacent divided electrodes can be suppressed. Further, when the pulse is turned on and off on a pulse, the phase at the moment of the on is not constant, so that the phase shifts almost randomly every time the pulse is turned on. Therefore, even when the electrodes are not divided, the standing wave is hardly generated.

By shifting the phase of the high-frequency voltage applied to the plurality of electrically divided conductor portions as described above, the generation of standing waves can be suppressed, and the stability of discharge can be improved.

Further, by repeatedly applying the high-frequency voltage while turning it on and off in a pulsed manner, the stability of the discharge can be improved and the generation of powder can be suppressed.

Further, the high-frequency voltage is repeatedly applied by turning on and off in a pulsed manner, and the on or off or both timings are shifted by the divided conductors, so that the conductor to which the voltage is applied is temporally shifted. By also limiting the number, it is possible to improve in-plane uniformity and discharge stability.

Further, the frequency of the high-frequency voltage is increased from 20.
By setting the frequency to 500 MHz, the speed of the surface treatment can be improved as compared with the RF wave.

Further, by making the substrate electrode and the high-frequency electrode parallel flat plates, the in-plane uniformity can be improved.

[0039]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. A high-frequency electrode 1 and a substrate electrode 2 are provided in a reaction chamber 3. The high-frequency electrode 1 is electrically divided into a plurality of conductors 101 by an electric insulator 102. The maximum dimension of the surface of the conductor portion 101 is smaller than c / 4f. A high-frequency voltage generated by the high-frequency power supply 4 passes through a matching box 5 and passes through a high-frequency introduction unit 6.
To the conductor 101 through The high-frequency introduction unit is divided into a plurality of high-frequency introduction units 601 corresponding to the divided conductor portions 101. A substrate 7 is arranged on the substrate electrode 2, and the substrate can be heated by a heater 8. The high-frequency electrode 1 and the substrate electrode 2 are arranged in parallel in a flat plate shape.

Gases such as silane and hydrogen are introduced into the reaction chamber 3, and the pressure in the reaction chamber 3 is increased from 0.1 Pa to 100 Pa by the exhaust system 9.
The plasma 10 is generated by the high frequency voltage applied to the high frequency electrode 1 while maintaining the pressure at 0 Pa. By the plasma 10,
The gas is decomposed and a non-single-crystal thin film is formed on the substrate 7.
In this drawing, the number of the matching box 5 is one, but a matching box may be provided for each of the divided conductor portions 101.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
1A, a circular high-frequency electrode 1 is electrically divided into four conductor portions 101A, 101B, 101C, and 101D by an insulator 102. At this time, the maximum length of the conductor is smaller than c / 4f. FIG. 3B shows a rectangular high-frequency electrode 1 connected to an insulator 10.
2, six conductor portions 101a, 101b, 101c, 101d, 101e, 10
It is electrically divided into 1f. At this time, the maximum length of the conductor is smaller than c / 4f.

Table 1 shows that an amorphous silicon thin film was formed at a frequency of 13.56 MHz and a frequency of 70 MHz using a high-frequency electrode having an outer dimension of 1 m × 2 m.
3 shows a film thickness distribution when deposited on a 0.8 mx 1.6 m glass substrate.

[0044]

[Table 1]

As the high-frequency electrodes, there were used a conventional method in which the conductor shown in FIG. 12B was not divided, and a material obtained by dividing the conductor shown in FIG. 3B into six. High frequency power is 100W,
A mixed gas of 50% silane and 50% hydrogen is used as the gas, and the pressure is
40 Pa. In any of the electrodes, the film thickness distribution was ± 5% and ± 4% with no significant difference at 13.56 MHz RF wave, and amorphous silicon was formed almost uniformly on the substrate. On the other hand, for a 70 MHz VHF wave, the conventional high-frequency electrode
% And the distribution of the film thickness became large. In the electrode obtained by dividing the conductor portion of the first embodiment into six, the film thickness distribution was ± 5% even at 70 MHz.
It fits in.

FIG. 4 shows c / 4f with respect to frequency f. As can be seen, c / 4f decreases with increasing frequency. FIG. 5 shows c / 4f in the range of 10 to 200 MHz.
Shows the change in

C / 4f ≒ 5.5 m at 13.56 MHz, c / 4f at 70 MHz
≒ 1.1m. In Table 1, the maximum length Lmax of the conductor is 2.2 m in the conventional method and 0.8 m in the first embodiment. Therefore, the conventional method: Lmax <c / 4f (13.56 MHz), Lmax> c / 4
f (70MHz) First embodiment: Lmax <c / 4f (13.56MHz), Lmax <c / 4
f (70 MHz), and it can be said that the film thickness distribution became large at 70 MHz due to the generation of the standing wave in the conventional method. On the other hand, in the first embodiment, it can be said that Lmax <c / 4f was maintained even at 70 MHz, the generation of standing waves was suppressed, and the in-plane uniformity of the film thickness was improved.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. A phase adjuster 11 is provided to apply a high-frequency voltage by providing a phase difference to each conductor. Most simply as a phase adjuster, it can be realized by changing the length of the high-frequency introduction part in each conductor according to the phase difference. For example, the wavelength at 100 MHz is c / f = 3 ×
10 ⁸ [m / s] / 10 ⁸ [Hz] = 3 [m]. Since the phase of the electromagnetic wave at one wavelength is 360 °, the length L at 60 ° is L = 3 [m] × 60.
[°] / 360 [°] = 0.5 [m]. Therefore, the phase changes by 60 ° during the travel of 0.5 m, and the length of the high-frequency introduction section is reduced by 0.5.
By changing m, a phase difference of 60 ° can be realized. Further, it can be realized by an electric circuit.

FIG. 7 shows a high-frequency voltage waveform of each conductor when the phase of each conductor is shifted by 60 ° using the electrode of FIG. 3B. The film thickness distribution when amorphous silicon was deposited at 70 MHz using the present example was ± 4%, and the film thickness uniformity was better than when there was no phase difference. The amorphous silicon film was deposited under the same conditions as in the first embodiment except for the phase difference.

FIG. 8 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The high frequency voltage is modulated on and off by the pulse modulator 12. Using this example, an amorphous silicon thin film was deposited on a glass substrate of 0.8 m × 1.6 m using a high frequency of 70 MHz. Pulse modulation was applied at 1 kHz with a duty ratio of 50%. Even when the power was increased and 1 kW was applied, generation of powder was not observed, and discharge was stable. On the other hand, when pulse modulation was not performed, the discharge became unstable from 500 W, and powder generation was observed at the electrode end.

FIG. 9 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The high frequency pulse-modulated by the gate circuit 13 is turned on,
The off timing can be shifted for each conductor.

FIG. 10 is an example of a voltage application waveform. FIG.
By applying a high-frequency voltage to the conductor portions 101a to 101f of the electrode (b) at a shifted timing, the in-plane uniformity of the discharge was improved and the discharge was stabilized. Using this example, an amorphous silicon thin film of 0.8 m using a high frequency of 70 MHz
Deposited on a 1.6 m glass substrate. When a high frequency power of 1200 W (time average of 200 W) was used in this example, the film thickness distribution was ± 3%. On the other hand, at 200W,
In the configuration of the first example, the film thickness distribution was ± 5%.

In the surface treatment method of the present invention, in addition to the deposition of amorphous silicon, amorphous silicon nitride, silane and carbon dioxide, etc. are used by using a mixed gas of silane, nitrogen, and ammonia. Deposition of amorphous silicon alloys such as amorphous silicon oxide, amorphous silicon carbide by using silane and hydrocarbon, amorphous silicon germanium by using silane and germanium, microcrystalline silicon and polycrystalline It is also applicable to silicon deposition.

Further, by arranging a target on the high-frequency electrode, a metal such as aluminum, titanium, and silver can be used.
It is also possible to deposit a transparent conductive film such as ITO or ZnO by sputtering.

Further, by using a fluorocarbon such as C ₃ F ₈ or SF ₆ as a gas, the present invention can be applied to an LSI etching process. Since plasma can be generated over a large area with in-plane uniformity using VHF waves, CFx radicals are selected by a low electron temperature, and side etching is suppressed. Further, it is possible to suppress in-plane etching unevenness such as over-etching of a base material and remaining of an etching material.

The present invention is also applicable to surface reforming such as surface oxidation using oxygen as a gas and surface nitriding using nitrogen as a gas.

The frequency of the high frequency voltage is preferably
By setting the frequency to 20 to 500 MHz, the throughput is improved, and the film quality of amorphous silicon, microcrystalline silicon, and the like is improved, the etching selectivity is improved, and the processing time for surface modification is shortened.

Further, by arranging the electrodes in parallel plates, the in-plane uniformity can be improved.

[0059]

As described above, the present invention provides an apparatus having a high-frequency electrode and a substrate electrode for disposing a substrate in a vacuum-tightly sealed reaction chamber having a gas introduction means and a vacuum exhaust means. In a surface treatment method using a high-frequency glow discharge, which introduces high-frequency power from a high-frequency power source, generates plasma by glow discharge excited by a high-frequency voltage applied to the high-frequency electrode, and performs surface treatment on the substrate. The processing is performed such that the maximum dimension of the surface of the high-frequency electrode facing the plasma generation space is smaller than a value C / 4f obtained by dividing one-fourth of the speed of light C in vacuum by the frequency f of the high-frequency applied voltage. In addition, when the high-frequency electrode is formed by electrically dividing the conductor into a plurality of parts by using an electric insulator, the high-frequency electrode is provided in front of each of the divided conductors. The processing is performed so that the maximum dimension of the surface facing the plasma generation space is smaller than a value C / 4f obtained by dividing a quarter of the speed of light C in vacuum by the frequency f of the high frequency applied voltage. 2) In addition, the high-frequency voltage applied to each of the divided conductors is shifted in phase (claim 3), and the high-frequency voltage is repeatedly turned on and off in a pulse shape (claim 4). Alternatively, the high-frequency voltage applied to each of the divided conductors is repeatedly applied by turning the high-frequency voltage on and off in a pulsed manner, and the timing of both on or off and both on and off is controlled by each of the divided conductors. Since the frequency of the high frequency voltage is set to 20 to 500 MHz (claim 6), the thin film is formed on the substrate by plasma CVD, and the thin film is formed on the substrate by sputtering. In surface treatment using high frequency glow discharge such as formation, etching and surface modification, generation of standing wave is suppressed,
The uniformity of the surface treatment and the speed of the surface treatment can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram relating to a standing wave.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between f and C / 4f by a logarithm on both sides.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between f and C / 4f.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a high-frequency voltage waveform of each conductor when the phases are shifted.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a high-frequency voltage waveform of each conductor when the on / off timing is shifted.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge.

FIG. 12 is a view showing the shape of a conventional high-frequency electrode.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: high frequency electrode, 2: substrate electrode, 3: reaction chamber, 4: high frequency power supply, 7: substrate, 9: exhaust system, 12: pulse modulator,
13: gate circuit, 101: conductor, 102: electrical insulator.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01L 21/3065 H05H 1/46 M H05H 1/46 H01L 21/302 CF term (Reference) 4K029 AA01 AA24 BA02 BA43 CA05 DC02 DC29 DC35 FA05 4K030 AA06 AA13 AA16 AA17 BA30 BB04 BB05 CA01 CA12 FA03 JA18 JA19 KA18 LA16 5F004 AA03 BA06 BB11 BB13 BC08 BD04 CA09 5F045 AA08 AA19 AB03 AB04 AB06 AB32 AB33 AC01 AC12 AE13 AE13 AE13 AE13 AE13 AE13 EH20

Claims (8)

[Claims] A high-frequency power is introduced from a high-frequency power supply to a device provided with a high-frequency electrode and a substrate electrode for disposing a substrate in a vacuum-tight reaction chamber having a gas introduction unit and a vacuum exhaust unit. And generating plasma by glow discharge excited by a high-frequency voltage applied to the high-frequency electrode, and using a high-frequency glow discharge for performing a surface treatment on the substrate. A high-frequency glow discharge characterized in that the maximum dimension of the surface facing the surface is smaller than a value C / 4f obtained by dividing a quarter of the speed of light C in vacuum by the frequency f of the high-frequency applied voltage. Surface treatment method using 2. A high-frequency electrode having a conductor portion electrically divided into a plurality of parts by an electric insulator, and a substrate for disposing a substrate in a vacuum-tight reaction chamber having a gas introduction means and a vacuum exhaust means. A high-frequency power is introduced from a high-frequency power supply to a device having a substrate electrode and a parallel plate, and plasma is generated by glow discharge excited by a high-frequency voltage applied to each of the divided conductors of the high-frequency electrode. In the surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge for treating the surface of the substrate, the maximum dimension of the surface of each of the divided conductor portions facing the plasma generation space is one quarter of the speed of light C in a vacuum. Divided by the frequency f of the high frequency applied voltage C / 4
A surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge, wherein the treatment is performed so as to be smaller than f. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein a phase of a high-frequency voltage applied to each of the divided conductors is shifted. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the high-frequency voltage is applied in a pulsed manner, and is applied repeatedly in a pulsed manner. 5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the high-frequency voltage is repeatedly applied in a pulsed manner to be turned on and off, and both on and off and both on and off timings are divided. A surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge, wherein the surface is shifted at a conductor portion. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency of the high-frequency voltage is 20 to 500 MHz. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surface treatment is performed by forming a thin film on the substrate by plasma CVD, forming a thin film on the substrate by sputtering, etching, or surface modification. A surface treatment method using high-frequency glow discharge, which is a treatment. 8. The thin film for forming a thin film on a substrate by plasma CVD according to claim 7, wherein the thin film is amorphous silicon or an amorphous silicon alloy, microcrystalline silicon or a microcrystalline silicon alloy, polycrystalline silicon or polycrystalline silicon. A surface treatment method using a high-frequency glow discharge, which is one of alloys.