JP2001060577A - Plasma treatment system and plasma treating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a plasma treatment system, capable of treating a work over approximately the entirety with plasma. SOLUTION: This system comprises a plasma treatment apparatus A, which has a cylindrical reactor tube 2 opened at one side as a blowout hole 1, a high voltage electrode 3 and a ground electrode 4, and operates a plasma-generating gas fed into the reactor tube 2, an A.C. electric field is applied between the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4, to generate glow discharge in the reactor tube 2 at the atmospheric pressure, and a plasma jet 5 is blown from the blowout hole 1 of the reactor tube 2 on a work 6, and a plasma treatment apparatus drive means 30 for driving the plasma treatment apparatus A three-dimensionally, to adjust the blowout angle of the plasma jet 5 to the work 6. Due to the operation of this drive means 30, the plasma jet 5 can be fed surely.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to cleaning of foreign substances such as organic substances present on the surface of an object to be processed, peeling of resist, improvement of adhesion of an organic film, reduction of metal oxide,
The present invention relates to a plasma processing system for generating plasma used for plasma processing such as film formation and surface modification, and a plasma processing method using the same.
The present invention is suitably applied to cleaning of the surface of an electronic component requiring precise bonding.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plasma processing apparatus has been used for cleaning a surface of an electronic component. The plasma processing apparatus A shown in FIG. 7 performs plasma processing under reduced pressure, and is formed by vertically disposing a pair of electrodes 51 and 52 in a reaction vessel 50 which is a reduced pressure chamber. The upper electrode 51 is connected to the power supply 15 for generating a high frequency, and the lower electrode 52 is grounded. Further, a gas inlet 53 is provided in an upper part of the reaction vessel 50, and an exhaust port 54 is formed in a lower part of the reaction vessel 50, and a vacuum pump 55 is connected to the exhaust port 54.

In performing plasma processing on the workpiece 6 using the plasma processing apparatus A, first, the workpiece 6 is placed on the lower electrode 52 and the workpiece 6 is placed in the reaction vessel 50. Deploy. Next, the exhaust port 5 is
The air in the reaction vessel 50 is degassed from 4 to reduce the pressure in the reaction vessel 50. Next, a plasma generating gas mainly composed of a rare gas such as He (helium) or Ar (argon) is injected into the reaction container 50 through the gas inlet 53 to fill the reaction container 50 with the plasma generating gas. I do. Next, a plasma 56 is generated from the gas for plasma generation by applying an AC electric field between the electrodes 51 and 52 to cause discharge. Then, when the plasma is generated in this manner, the plasma 56 is supplied to the surface of the processing target 6, and the processing target 6 is subjected to the plasma processing.

FIG. 8 shows another plasma processing apparatus A. This plasma processing apparatus A performs plasma processing under atmospheric pressure, and is formed by providing a high-voltage electrode 3 and a ground electrode 4 on the outer periphery of a cylindrical reaction tube 2 whose lower surface is opened as an outlet 1. Things. When performing the plasma processing on the workpiece 6 using the plasma processing apparatus A, first, the workpiece 6 is disposed below the outlet 1. Next, a gas for plasma generation is injected into the reaction tube 2. Next, an AC electric field is applied between the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 to cause discharge in the reaction tube 2 to generate plasma from the plasma generation gas. When the plasma is generated in this manner, the plasma is blown out from the outlet 1 as a plasma jet 5, and the blown-out plasma jet 5 is sprayed on the surface of the processing target 6, and the processing target 6 is subjected to the plasma processing. It is done.

[0005]

In the above-described plasma processing apparatus A, the processing target 6 is a flat plate (for example, a printed wiring board), and a processing target portion (for example, a bonding pad or the like) to be subjected to the plasma processing. Is formed on the surface (upper surface) of the processing target 6, the plasma 56 or the plasma jet 5 can be supplied to the processing target portion, and cleaning or the like is performed on the processing target portion of the processing target 6. Can be performed. However, the workpiece 6
Is not flat, and even if the plasma 56 or the plasma jet 5 is supplied from directly above the workpiece 6, the plasma 5
In the case where a portion to be processed is formed at a location where the plasma jet 6 or the plasma jet 5 is not supplied, the plasma processing cannot be performed on the portion to be processed of the workpiece 6 using any of the plasma processing apparatuses A described above. However, there is a problem that uniform plasma processing cannot be performed.

For example, when the object 6 is a circuit block 60 as shown in FIGS. The circuit block 60 includes a base 61 having a concave portion 62 having an open top surface, a component 63 such as a semiconductor chip disposed on the bottom surface of the concave portion 62,
A circuit 64 such as a bonding pad is formed on the surface (upper surface) of the base 61. Above the side wall 65 of the base 61, an obstacle 66 protruding from the upper surface opening of the concave portion 62 extends.

When plasma processing is performed on the circuit block 60 by the plasma processing apparatus A shown in FIG.
6 is supplied only from directly above the circuit block 60, a shadow portion 67 where the plasma 56 is not supplied below the obstacle portion 66 is formed at the side end of the concave portion 62 as shown in FIG. As a result, the plasma processing cannot be performed on the circuit 64 of the processing target portion 70 in the shadow portion 67, and the plasma processing is performed only on the processing target portion 70 located substantially at the center of the concave portion 62. Was something. FIG.
In the case where the plasma processing is performed on the circuit block 60 by the plasma processing apparatus A shown in FIG. 10, since the plasma jet 5 is only supplied from directly above the circuit block 60, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the shadow portion 67 where the plasma jet 5 is not supplied below the obstacle portion 66 at the side end of the concave portion 62.
Is formed, the plasma processing cannot be performed on the circuit 64 of the processing target portion 70 in the shadow portion 67, and the plasma processing is performed only on the processing target portion 70 located substantially in the center of the concave portion 62. Was applied.

Further, even when the processing target portion is three-dimensionally curved like a window frame of an automobile, and the curved surface is the processing target portion, the plasma 56 and the plasma jet 5 are uniformly applied to the processing target portion. Therefore, there is a problem that the object to be processed cannot be uniformly plasma-processed over substantially the entirety.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide a plasma processing system and a plasma processing method that can uniformly perform plasma processing on an object to be processed over substantially the entirety. Things.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plasma processing system comprising: a tubular reaction tube having one side opened as a blow-out port; a high voltage electrode; and a ground electrode. By introducing a plasma generating gas into the reaction tube 2 and applying an AC electric field between the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4, a glow discharge is generated in the reaction tube 2 under atmospheric pressure. A plasma processing apparatus A that blows out the plasma jet 5 from the blow-out port 1 and blows it to the workpiece 6, and adjusts the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the workpiece 6 by driving the plasma processing apparatus A three-dimensionally. And a plasma processing apparatus driving means 30 for the purpose.

A plasma processing system according to a second aspect of the present invention comprises a cylindrical reaction tube 2 having one side open as a blowout port 1, a high-voltage electrode 3, and a ground electrode 4. By introducing an AC electric field between the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4,
A plasma processing apparatus A that generates a glow discharge in the reaction tube 2 under the atmospheric pressure, blows out the plasma jet 5 from the outlet 1 of the reaction tube 2 and blows the plasma jet 5 onto the processing target 6, and three-dimensionally processes the processing target 6. An object driving means 85 for driving and adjusting the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the object 6 is provided.

In the plasma processing method according to a third aspect of the present invention, an obstacle 66 is formed above a processing target portion 70 to be subjected to the plasma processing of the processing target object 6.
Plasma jet 5 supplied to the object 6 from just above
A plasma jet 5 is sprayed on the processing target portion 6 using the plasma processing system according to claim 1 or 2 against the processing target 6 which is blocked by the obstacle 66 and is not sprayed on the processing target portion 70. It is assumed that.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
The plasma processing system includes a plasma processing apparatus A, a plasma processing apparatus driving unit 30, and a workpiece transfer unit 80.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the plasma processing apparatus A of the present invention. The plasma processing apparatus A is formed by providing a high-voltage electrode 3 and a ground electrode 4 in contact with the outer periphery of a reaction tube 2 and arranging the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 so as to face each other in the longitudinal direction of the reaction tube 2. And the reaction tube 2
, A discharge space 7 is formed between the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4.

The reaction tube 2 is made of a high melting point insulating material (dielectric material) and is formed in a cylindrical shape. One end of the reaction tube 2 is opened as a gas inlet 90 and the other end is opened as an outlet 1. The end of the reaction tube 2 on the side where the outlet 1 is provided is formed with a converging portion 20 having a tapered structure narrowed down to a tapered shape such that the diameter decreases toward the outlet 1. When the diameter of the outlet 1 is formed to be substantially the same as the diameter of the reaction tube 2 without providing the focusing section 20, it is difficult to accelerate the flow rate of the plasma jet 5 blown out from the outlet 1, but as described above. By accelerating the flow rate of the plasma jet 5 without reducing the volume of the discharge space 7 by forming the end of the reaction tube 2 as a converging portion 20 which is gradually narrowed toward the outlet 1 side so as to have a smaller diameter. Before the reactive gas active particles such as short-lived radicals are extinguished, the plasma jet 5 can reach the object 6 to efficiently perform the plasma processing of the object 6. You can do it. In order to obtain the flow velocity of the plasma jet 5 suitable for cleaning the surface of the processing object 6, the taper angle α formed between the outer peripheral surface of the focusing unit 20 and the outer peripheral surface of the reaction tube 2 other than the focusing unit 20 Is preferably 10 to 30 °.

The opening area of the outlet 1 is formed to have a size corresponding to the area of a perfect circle having a diameter of 0.1 to 5 mm. If the opening area of the outlet 1 is smaller than the above range, the processing range of the plasma jet 5 to be blown out becomes too small, and the plasma processing of the workpiece 6 takes a long time. If the opening area of the outlet 1 is larger than the above range, the processing range of the plasma jet 5 to be blown out becomes too large, and there is a possibility that local plasma processing cannot be performed on the object to be processed.

The dielectric constant of the insulating material forming the reaction tube 2 is an important factor in lowering the temperature in the discharge space 7. Specifically, as the insulating material, vitreous materials such as quartz, alumina, and yttria partially stabilized zirconium are used. Examples include materials and ceramic materials.

The high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are made of a metal material having a high thermal conductivity, for example, a metal material for increasing the cooling efficiency.
Copper, aluminum, brass, stainless steel with high corrosion resistance (S
As shown in FIG. 3, the electrodes 3 and 4 have the same shape and are formed in a ring shape (ring shape). An insertion hole 10 is formed through substantially the center of the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4, and the diameter of the insertion hole 10 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the reaction tube 2. Further, the inside of the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 is formed as a flow portion 11 through which the refrigerant can flow, and the supply pipe 1 communicating with the flow portion 11 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4.
2 and a discharge pipe 13 are protruded.

The inner peripheral surfaces of the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 (the surfaces constituting the insertion holes 10) are formed as contact surfaces 14 that come into contact with the reaction tube 2, and are expressed by the arithmetic average roughness of the contact surfaces 14. The determined surface roughness is set to 10 to 1000 μm. By setting the surface roughness of the contact surface 14 to 10 to 1000 μm in this manner, the discharge in the discharge space 7 can be made uniform. This is microscopically,
This is considered to be because a very fine aggregate of microdischarges was formed and transfer to the arc was hindered. If the surface roughness of the contact surface 14 between the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 is less than 10 μm, there is a possibility that discharge becomes difficult,
The surface roughness of the contact surface 14 between the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 is 10
If it exceeds 00 μm, there is a possibility that the discharge becomes non-uniform. As described above, as a process for roughening the contact surface 14 between the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4, physical means such as sandblasting can be employed. The surface roughness is defined as y = f
Arithmetic mean roughness Ra (μm) when expressed in the form of (x) is defined by the following equation (1) in JIS B0601.

[0021]

(Equation 1)

Then, by inserting the reaction tube 2 into the insertion hole 10, the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are attached to the outer periphery of the reaction tube 2, and the contact surface 14 of the inner peripheral surface of the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 is formed. It is arranged so as to be in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the reaction tube 2. The high-voltage electrode 3 is connected to a power supply 15 for generating an AC electric field, and the ground electrode 4 is grounded. The ground electrode 4 is arranged at a position closer to the outlet 1 than the high voltage electrode 3. As a result, the ground electrode 4 is located closer to the workpiece 6 than the high voltage electrode 3, that is, the high voltage electrode 3 is located farther from the workpiece 6 than the ground electrode 4, The arc discharge does not easily fly from the high-voltage electrode 3 to the object 6, and damage to the object 6 due to the arc discharge can be prevented.

The distance L between the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 is 3 to 2
Preferably, it is set to 0 mm. If the distance L between the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 is less than 3 mm, a short circuit occurs between the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 outside the reaction tube 2 and the discharge space 7
As a result, there is a possibility that the discharge may not occur, and furthermore, the discharge space 7 may be narrowed, and it may be difficult to efficiently generate the plasma. If the distance L between the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 exceeds 20 mm, it is difficult to generate a discharge in the discharge space 7, and it may be difficult to efficiently generate plasma.

The above-mentioned high-voltage electrode 3 and ground electrode 4 are cooled by a refrigerant, but ion exchange water or pure water can also be used as the refrigerant. By using ion-exchange water or pure water, no impurities are contained in the refrigerant, and the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are hardly corroded by the refrigerant. Further, the refrigerant is preferably a liquid having antifreeze at 0 ° C., and having electrical insulation and nonflammability and chemical stability. For example, the electrical insulation performance has a withstand voltage at 0.1 mm intervals. It is preferably 10 kV or more. The reason for using a refrigerant having an insulating property in this range is to prevent electric leakage from an electrode to which a high voltage is applied. Examples of the refrigerant having such properties include perfluorocarbon, hydrofluoroether and the like, and may be a mixed liquid obtained by adding 5 to 60% by weight of ethylene glycol to pure water. Further, the refrigerant may be air.

In the plasma processing apparatus A formed as described above, an inert gas (rare gas) or a mixed gas of an inert gas and a reaction gas is used as a plasma generating gas. As the inert gas, helium, argon, neon, krypton, or the like can be used, but it is preferable to use argon or helium in consideration of discharge stability and economy. The type of the reaction gas can be arbitrarily selected depending on the content of the treatment. For example, in the case where cleaning of an organic substance present on the surface of a processing object, stripping of a resist, etching of an organic film, and the like are performed, it is preferable to use an oxidizing gas such as oxygen, air, CO ₂ , or N ₂ O. In addition, a fluorine-based gas such as CF ₄ can be appropriately used as a reaction gas. When etching silicon or the like, it is effective to use the fluorine-based gas. When the metal oxide is reduced, a reducing gas such as hydrogen or ammonia can be used, and the amount of the reducing gas is 10% by weight or less, preferably 0.1 to 5% by weight based on the total amount of the inert gas. % Range. If the addition amount of the reaction gas is less than 0.1% by weight, the treatment effect may be reduced. If the addition amount of the reaction gas exceeds 10% by weight,
Discharge may become unstable.

In generating the plasma jet 5 with the plasma processing apparatus A formed as described above, first, a plasma generating gas is introduced into the reaction tube 2 from the gas inlet 90 as shown by an arrow. The gas for plasma generation is circulated from the gas inlet 90 side to the outlet 1 side and supplied to the discharge space 7, and a high frequency voltage is applied to the high voltage electrode 3 from the power supply 15, and the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are connected. A high-frequency AC electric field is applied to the discharge space 7 therebetween. A glow discharge is generated in the discharge space 7 under the atmospheric pressure by the application of the AC electric field, and the plasma generation gas is turned into a plasma by the glow discharge to generate a plasma containing the plasma active species. It is made to flow continuously as a jet 5 and blow out.

In the present invention, the frequency of the applied AC electric field is preferably set to 1 kHz to 200 MHz. If the AC frequency is less than 1 kHz, the discharge space 7
In this case, the discharge of the plasma cannot be stabilized, and the plasma processing may not be performed efficiently. If the AC frequency exceeds 200 MHz, the temperature of the plasma in the discharge space 7 rises remarkably, and the life of the reaction tube 2, the high-voltage electrode 3, and the ground electrode 4 may be shortened.
The plasma processing apparatus may be complicated and large.

In the present invention, the applied power applied to the discharge space 7 is preferably set to 20 to 3500 W / cm ³ . The applied power applied to the discharge space 7 is 20 W
If it is less than / cm ³ , it will not be possible to generate plasma sufficiently. Conversely, if the power applied to the discharge space 7 exceeds 3500 W / cm ³ , stable discharge may not be obtained. There is. The applied power density (W / cm ³ ) is defined by (applied power / discharge space volume).

During the generation of the plasma jet 5 as described above, the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are cooled by the refrigerant. That is, as shown by the arrow, the supply pipe 1
2, a flow portion 11 inside the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4.
, The high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are cooled. The refrigerant supplied to the circulation part 11 is discharged through the discharge pipe 13 as shown by an arrow. Further, since the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are cooled by the refrigerant, even if plasma is generated with high frequency alternating current under the atmospheric pressure, the temperature rise of both the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 can be further suppressed. Therefore, the temperature (gas temperature) of the plasma generated in the discharge space 7 can be prevented from becoming higher, and the thermal damage to the processing target 6 can be further reduced. Further, by cooling both the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4, local heating of the discharge space 7 can be further prevented, and more uniform glow discharge can be generated to suppress generation of a streamer discharge. It is possible to further reduce the damage of the object 6 due to streamer discharge. This is considered to be because cooling both the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 suppresses partial emission of electrons from both the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4.

In the present invention, since both the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 for applying an AC electric field to the discharge space 7 are provided outside the reaction tube 2, both the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are connected to the discharge space. 7 can be prevented from being directly exposed to the plasma generated, and can be prevented from being sputtered by the plasma and from being corroded by the reaction gas, and the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 can be damaged. And the life can be extended. In addition, since no impurities are generated by sputtering or corrosion, the object 6 can be prevented from being contaminated by the impurities even when used for a long time.

The high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are arranged so as to be substantially parallel to the direction of introduction of the plasma generating gas, that is, the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the reaction tube 2 so as to face each other. Therefore, the direction of the AC electric field generated in the discharge space 7 and the flow directions of the plasma generating gas and the plasma jet 5 can be substantially matched, and active species of the plasma jet 5 can be efficiently generated. In addition, by changing the distance L between the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4, the size of the discharge space 7 can be easily changed, and the amount of the plasma jet 5 generated can be easily adjusted. is there.

The plasma processing apparatus driving means 30 shown in FIG.
Is formed by an articulated robot. Reference numeral 31 denotes a base placed on the floor surface. On the upper surface of the base 31, an arm turning part 32 is provided so as to be rotatable on a horizontal plane with respect to the base 31. A control unit 33 is provided on the upper surface of the arm turning unit 32. The control unit 33 has a built-in circuit for controlling the operation of the plasma processing apparatus driving unit 30. The control unit 33 is formed so as to be rotatable on a horizontal plane by the rotation of the arm turning unit 32. Control unit 3
One end of an upper arm 34 is pivotally connected to the upper part of the arm 3 by a shoulder shaft 35. The upper arm 34 is formed so as to be rotatable (rotatable) on a vertical surface about a shoulder shaft 35. One end of the lower arm 36 is connected to the other end of the upper arm 34 by the elbow shaft 3.
It is pivoted by 7. This lower arm arm 36 is an elbow axis 3
7 is formed so as to be rotatable (rotatable) on a vertical plane around an axis. One end of a support arm 38 is pivotally connected to the other end of the lower arm arm 36 by a wrist shaft 39. The support arm 38 is formed so as to be rotatable (rotatable) on a vertical surface around a wrist shaft 39. Therefore, the upper arm arm 34, the lower arm arm 36, and the support arm 38 are formed to be movable on a horizontal plane by the rotation of the control unit 33. The other end of the support arm 38 is formed as a gripping portion 40 for gripping the plasma processing apparatus A by causing the gripping section 40 to grip the reaction tube 2 of the plasma processing apparatus A. It can be held. In addition, the rotation and rotation of the arm turning portion 32, the upper arm arm 34, the lower arm arm 36, and the support arm 38 and the driving at the time of gripping the grip portion 40 are performed by actuators such as a hydraulic motor, a hydraulic cylinder, and a pneumatic cylinder. This is performed as a driving source.

As shown in FIG. 4, a cap 71 is attached to the end of the reaction tube 2 on the gas inlet 90 side. A gas introduction pipe 72 is protruded from the cap 71, and a gas supply line formed by a hose or the like is connected to the gas introduction pipe 72. The gas for plasma generation is supplied from a gas supply line, a gas introduction pipe 72, a cap 7.
1. It is formed so as to be supplied to the reaction tube 2 through the gas inlet 90. A refrigerant supply line formed of a hose or the like is connected to the supply pipe 12 of the high-voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4, and a discharge pipe 13 of the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 is formed of a hose or the like. A refrigerant discharge line is connected. The coolant is supplied to the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 through the coolant supply line, and is discharged from the high voltage electrode 3 and the ground electrode 4 through the coolant discharge line.

The circuit built in the control section 33 of the plasma processing apparatus driving means 30 thus formed and the control terminal 41 formed by a personal computer or the like are connected to the control line 4.
2, the plasma processing apparatus driving means 30 is formed so as to be controllable by a control terminal 41. That is, when the position of the plasma processing apparatus A to be disposed during the plasma processing is input to the control terminal 41 as position information, the position information is input to the circuit of the control unit 33 through the control line 42. Based on the position information input to the circuit of the control unit 33, the control unit 33 drives the arm turning unit 32 to rotate in a horizontal plane, and rotates the upper arm arm 34, the lower arm arm 36, and the support arm 38 (rotation). It is to be driven. Then, the arm turning unit 32 is driven to rotate in a horizontal plane, and the upper arm arm 34, the lower arm arm 36, and the support arm 38 are rotated (rotated).
By driving the plasma processing apparatus driving means 30 to drive the apparatus, the position and orientation of the plasma processing apparatus A can be changed almost arbitrarily.

The workpiece conveying means 80 is formed by a belt conveyor or the like, and is used for transporting the workpiece 6 in-line. It is formed by hanging in a shape. The belt 82 is driven by the driving roller 81.
Are formed so as to be able to advance and drive in one direction by the rotational driving of the motor. The workpiece transfer means 80 is disposed below the plasma processing apparatus A held by the plasma processing apparatus driving means 30.

When performing the plasma processing on the processing target portion 70 of the processing target 6 using the above-described plasma processing system, the following processing is performed. First, the plasma processing apparatus A is operated by the operation of the plasma processing apparatus driving means 30 so that the outlet 1 of the reaction tube 2 of the plasma processing apparatus A faces downward and the axial direction of the reaction tube 2 is substantially parallel to the vertical direction.
Is driven to move. Next, the workpiece 6 is placed on the belt 82 of the workpiece transporting means 80, and the workpiece 6 is transported to a position below the outlet 1 of the reaction tube 2 by driving the belt 82. Next, plasma processing is performed on the processing target portion 70 by spraying the plasma jet 5 blown out from the blowing port 1 onto the processing target portion 70 of the processing target 6 from above. Thereafter, the workpiece 6 is transported to the next process by the advance driving of the belt 82.

When the processing target 6 is flat and the processing target part 7 is formed on the surface (upper surface) of the processing target 6, the processing target part 70 is formed only by spraying the plasma jet 5 from above. Although the plasma processing can be performed, when the processing target object 6 is the circuit block 60 having the obstacle 66, as shown in FIG. It is driven to move in a dimensional manner (vertically, horizontally, and obliquely) and tilted with respect to the vertical direction to change the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the workpiece 6. By changing the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the processing target 6 in this manner, the obstruction portion 66 becomes a hindrance by merely supplying the plasma jet 5 from directly above the processing target 6, and Even when the plasma processing cannot be performed, the plasma jet 5 can be directly sprayed on the processing target portion 70 in the shadow portion 67 while avoiding (bypassing) the obstacle portion 66. In the case of FIG. 4, the plasma jet 5 is blown to the portion to be processed 70 through the upper surface opening of the concave portion 62 and the side surface opening of the shadow portion 67.

In the above embodiment, the plasma processing apparatus driving means 30 for driving the plasma processing apparatus A three-dimensionally to adjust the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the processing target portion 7 of the processing target 6 is used. So we have
Even when the plasma jet 5 is blown from directly above, even if a place where the plasma jet 5 is difficult to supply is present as a shadow portion 67 on the processing target 6, the plasma processing apparatus driving unit 3
In operation 0, the plasma processing apparatus A is driven three-dimensionally to adjust the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the processing target portion 7 of the processing target 6, so that the shadow 6
The plasma jet 5 can be reliably supplied to the portion 7 to be processed 7, and a uniform plasma process can be performed on the portion 70 to be processed over substantially the entirety of the object 6 to be processed.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment. This plasma processing system is provided with a plasma processing apparatus A similar to the above and an object driving means 85. The plasma processing apparatus A is disposed such that the outlet 1 of the reaction tube 2 faces downward and the axial direction of the reaction tube 2 is substantially parallel to the vertical direction. An object driving means 85 is provided below the outlet 1.

The object driving means 85 is formed by an articulated robot. Reference numeral 33 denotes a control unit installed on the floor surface. On the upper surface of the control unit 33, an arm turning unit 32 is provided rotatably in a horizontal plane with respect to the control unit 33. The control section 33 has a built-in circuit for controlling the operation of the workpiece driving means 85. In addition, arm turning part 3
A shoulder bearing 86 is provided on the upper surface of 2, and one end (lower end) of the upper arm 34 is pivotally connected to the shoulder bearing 86 by a shoulder shaft 35. The upper arm 34 is formed so as to be rotatable (rotatable) on a vertical surface about a shoulder shaft 35. The other arm (upper end) of the upper arm arm 34 has a lower arm arm 36
Is pivotally connected by an elbow shaft 37. The lower arm arm 36 is formed so as to be rotatable (rotatable) on a vertical plane about an elbow shaft 37. At the other end (upper end) of the lower arm 36, a workpiece conveying means 80 formed by a belt conveyor or the like is pivotally connected by a wrist shaft 39. The wrist shaft 39 is provided so as to penetrate the wrist bearing 87 protruding downward from the workpiece transfer means 80 and the other end (upper end) of the lower arm arm 36, whereby the workpiece transfer means 80 is provided. Is formed so as to be rotatable (rotatable) on a vertical surface around a wrist shaft 39. Accordingly, the upper arm arm 34, the lower arm arm 36, and the workpiece driving means 85 are formed so as to be movable on a horizontal plane by the rotation of the arm turning section 32. In the belt 82 of the processing object transporting means 80, below the portion located immediately below the outlet 1,
A suction device 88 that holds the workpiece 6 by suction is provided. The rotation and rotation of the arm turning unit 32, the upper arm arm 34, the lower arm arm 36, and the workpiece transfer unit 80 are performed using a hydraulic motor, an actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder as a drive source.

Workpiece driving means 8 formed in this way
5 and a control terminal 41 formed of a personal computer or the like are electrically connected to each other by a control line 42. The control terminal 41 allows the object driving unit 85 to be controlled freely. Is formed. That is, when the position of the workpiece 6 to be arranged during the plasma processing is input to the control terminal 41 as position information, the position information is transmitted to the control unit 33 through the control line 42.
Based on the position information input to the circuit of the control unit 33, the control unit 33 drives the arm turning unit 32 to rotate in a horizontal plane, or controls the upper arm arm 34, the lower arm arm 36, This is to rotate (rotate) the workpiece conveying means 80. Then, the arm rotating section 32 is driven to rotate in a horizontal plane, or the upper arm arm 34 or the lower arm arm 36 is rotated.
By rotating (rotating) the workpiece transfer means 80 and operating the workpiece drive means 85, the position and orientation of the workpiece 6 can be changed almost arbitrarily.

When performing the plasma processing on the processing target portion 70 of the processing target 6 using the above-described plasma processing system, the plasma processing is performed as follows. First, the workpiece 6 is placed on the belt 82 of the workpiece transporting means 80, and the workpiece 6 is transported to the lower side of the outlet 1 of the reaction tube 2 by the driving of the belt 82. Next, plasma processing is performed on the processing target portion 70 by spraying the plasma jet 5 blown out from the blowing port 1 onto the processing target portion 70 of the processing target 6 from above. Thereafter, the workpiece 6 is transported to the next process by the advance driving of the belt 82.

When the processing target 6 is flat and the processing target portion 7 is formed on the surface (upper surface) of the processing target 6, the processing target portion 70 is formed only by spraying the plasma jet 5 from above. Although the plasma processing can be performed, when the processing target 6 is the circuit block 60 having the obstruction 66, the processing target driving unit 85 operates the processing target 6 as shown in FIG. It is driven to move in a dimensional manner (vertically, horizontally, and obliquely) and tilted with respect to the vertical direction to change the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the workpiece 6. At this time, the processing object 6 is sucked and held by the suction device 88 so as not to slip off the belt 82. By changing the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the processing target 6 in this manner, the obstruction portion 66 becomes a hindrance by merely supplying the plasma jet 5 from directly above the processing target 6, and Even when the plasma processing cannot be performed, the plasma jet 5 can be sprayed on the processing target portion 70 in the shadow portion 67 while avoiding (bypassing) the obstacle portion 66. In the case of FIG.
The plasma jet 5 is blown to the processing target portion 70 through the upper surface opening of the second and the side opening of the shadow portion 67.

In this embodiment, the object driving means 85 for driving the object 6 three-dimensionally and adjusting the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the portion 7 to be processed of the object 6 is provided. Since the plasma jet 5 is blown from directly above, even if a location where the plasma jet 5 is difficult to be supplied is present as a shadow portion 67 on the workpiece 6 by the operation of the workpiece driving unit 85, By driving the processing object 6 three-dimensionally and adjusting the blowing angle of the plasma jet 5 with respect to the processing target portion 7 of the processing target 6, the plasma jet 5 can be reliably supplied to the shadow portion 67, and The processing target portion 70 can be subjected to uniform plasma processing over substantially the entire processing object 6.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the gas supply line, the refrigerant supply line, and the refrigerant discharge line connected to the plasma processing apparatus A hinder the movement and driving of the plasma processing apparatus A. However, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the object 6 is moved and driven without moving the plasma processing apparatus A in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, so that the gas supply line, the refrigerant supply line, and the refrigerant discharge The plasma processing can be performed smoothly without disturbing the line.

[0046]

The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to examples.

(Example 1) The object 6 was subjected to plasma processing using the plasma processing system shown in FIG. A circuit block 60 on which an IC as shown in FIG. This circuit block 60 was created as follows. First, a surface (bottom surface of the concave portion 62) of a deformed base (Amodel manufactured by Teijin Limited) 61 having the concave portion 62 formed thereon is subjected to electrolytic gold plating, and a 0.5 μm thick circuit (including bonding pads) 64 is provided. Was formed. next,
The cream solder was screen-printed on the base 61, the chip resistance was mounted on the cream solder, and the chip resistance was joined to the base 61 in a reflow furnace. Further, the concave portion 62 of the base 61
An epoxy silver palladium adhesive (84-IMI manufactured by Japan Navel Stick) is applied to the bottom surface of
C) is mounted with a die mounter,
The adhesive was cured by heating for a time, and the component 63 was mounted on the bottom surface of the concave portion 62.

As a condition for plasma generation, a mixed gas of helium and argon, which are inert gases, and oxygen of a reaction gas is used as a plasma generation gas, and the flow rate of helium is 1 liter / minute and the flow rate of argon is 3 liter / minute. Minutes,
The flow rate of oxygen was set at 50 cc / min. The high-frequency electrode 3 was applied with a high frequency of 13.56 MHz and an applied power of 300 W, and plasma treatment was performed for 5 seconds.
As a result, while the bonding strength of the circuit 64 without the plasma processing was 5.1 g, the bonding strength was improved to 8.9 g by performing the plasma processing.

(Example 2) The object 6 was subjected to plasma processing using the plasma processing system shown in FIG. The thing to be processed 6 was the same as that in Example 1. Also,
As a condition for plasma generation, a mixed gas of helium and argon as an inert gas and oxygen of a reaction gas is used as a plasma generation gas, a flow rate of helium is 1 liter / minute, a flow rate of argon is 3 liter / minute, oxygen is used. Was set to 50 cc / min. The high-frequency electrode 3 was applied with a high frequency of 200 MHz and an applied power of 200 W.
And a plasma treatment was performed for 5 seconds. As a result, the bonding strength of the circuit 64 without the plasma treatment was 5.1 g.
On the other hand, by performing the plasma treatment, the bonding strength was improved to 10.2 g.

[0050]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention comprises a cylindrical reaction tube having one side open as a blow-out port, a high-voltage electrode, and a ground electrode. By introducing a gas for generation and applying an AC electric field between the high-voltage electrode and the ground electrode, a glow discharge is generated in the reaction tube at atmospheric pressure, and a plasma jet is blown out from the outlet of the reaction tube to discharge the workpiece. And a plasma processing apparatus driving means for driving the plasma processing apparatus three-dimensionally to adjust the blowing angle of the plasma jet to the object to be processed, so that the plasma jet is blown from directly above In such a case, the plasma processing apparatus can be three-dimensionally operated by the operation of the plasma processing apparatus driving unit, even if there is a place where the plasma jet is difficult to be supplied to the workpiece. By adjusting the angle at which the plasma jet is blown to the object to be processed, the plasma jet can be reliably supplied even to places where the plasma jet is difficult to be supplied from directly above the plasma jet. The object can be uniformly plasma-treated over substantially the entirety.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cylindrical reaction tube having one side open as an outlet, a high voltage electrode and a ground electrode, and a plasma generating gas is introduced into the reaction tube. Then, by applying an AC electric field between the high-voltage electrode and the ground electrode, a glow discharge is generated in the reaction tube under the atmospheric pressure, and a plasma jet is blown out from the outlet of the reaction tube to blow the object to be processed. When,
An object driving means for driving the object to be processed three-dimensionally and adjusting the blowing angle of the plasma jet with respect to the object is provided, so that the plasma jet is hardly supplied by blowing the plasma jet directly from above. Even if the portion is present in the workpiece, the workpiece is driven three-dimensionally by the operation of the workpiece driving means and the blowing angle of the plasma jet with respect to the workpiece is adjusted. The plasma jet can reliably supply the plasma jet even to a place where the plasma jet is difficult to be supplied, and can uniformly perform the plasma processing on the object to be processed over substantially the entirety.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, an obstacle is formed above a portion to be processed, which is a target of plasma processing of the object, and the obstacle is supplied to the object from directly above the object. 3. An object to be processed, wherein a plasma jet to be processed is blocked by an obstacle and is not sprayed on a portion to be processed.
Since the plasma jet is sprayed on the portion to be processed by using the plasma processing system of the above, the plasma processing device or the object to be processed is driven three-dimensionally by the operation of the plasma processing device driving means or the object driving means. By adjusting the jet angle of the plasma jet with respect to the object, the plasma jet can be reliably supplied to the processing target part where the plasma jet is difficult to be supplied from directly above, avoiding obstacles. In addition, it is possible to uniformly perform the plasma processing on the processing object over substantially the entirety.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the same plasma processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a high-voltage electrode and a ground electrode according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the operation of the above.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing an example of another embodiment of the above.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the operation of the above.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing another conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a problem of the conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a problem of the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 blow-out port 2 reaction tube 3 high-voltage electrode 4 ground electrode 5 plasma jet 6 workpiece 30 plasma processing device driving means 66 obstacle part 70 processing part 85 workpiece driving means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Noriyuki Taguchi, Inventor, Matsushita Electric Works, Inc. 72) Inventor Keiichi Yamazaki 1048 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Inside the Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. 1048 Kadoma Kadoma, Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. F-term (reference) 4K057 DA01 DD01 DM28 DM35 DN01 5F004 AA14 BA17 BD01

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A fuel cell system comprising: a tubular reaction tube having one side open as an outlet; a high-voltage electrode; and a ground electrode.
A plasma generating gas is introduced into the reaction tube, and an AC electric field is applied between the high-voltage electrode and the ground electrode, thereby generating a glow discharge in the reaction tube at atmospheric pressure and blowing out a plasma jet from the outlet of the reaction tube. And a plasma processing apparatus driving means for driving the plasma processing apparatus three-dimensionally to adjust a blowing angle of a plasma jet to the processing object. Plasma processing system. 2. A fuel cell system comprising: a tubular reaction tube having one side open as an outlet; a high-voltage electrode; and a ground electrode.
A plasma generating gas is introduced into the reaction tube, and an AC electric field is applied between the high-voltage electrode and the ground electrode, thereby generating a glow discharge in the reaction tube at atmospheric pressure and blowing out a plasma jet from the outlet of the reaction tube. A plasma processing apparatus for spraying the object to be processed and an object driving means for adjusting the blowing angle of the plasma jet to the object by driving the object three-dimensionally. Plasma processing system. 3. An obstacle is formed above a portion to be processed, which is a target of plasma processing of the object, and a plasma jet supplied to the object from directly above the object is blocked by the obstacle. A plasma processing method, comprising: using a plasma processing system according to claim 1 or 2 to spray a plasma jet to an object to be processed which is not sprayed on the area to be processed.