Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to an antenna for use in a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a process whereby chemical precursors are introduced into a processing chamber, chemically react to form a predetermined compound or material, and deposit the compound or material onto a substrate within the processing chamber. Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is a process whereby a plasma is ignited in the chamber to enhance the reaction between the precursors.
The PECVD process may be used to process large area substrates, such as flat panel displays or solar panels. PECVD may also be used to deposit layers such as silicon based films for transistors. In general, as substrate sizes increase, the size of components within the chamber must be increased. For large area substrates, servicing and maintaining the radio frequency (RF) hardware used to ignite the plasma within the chamber can be quite cumbersome. For example, in conventional systems, the plasma source typically includes a microwave antenna which spans the height of the processing chamber. Additionally, this antenna may form connections with a number of internal and external chamber components. Accessing and replacing RF hardware components such as the antenna may require the disassembly of multiple chamber components, resulting in extended downtime and decreased throughput. For example, in conventional systems, the removal and replacement of the antenna requires that the antenna be disconnected from the microwave launcher assemblies, a process which necessitates the disassembly of multiple RF components. Therefore, there is a need for enabling RF hardware components to be disassembled and serviced in a simple and efficient manner.