CN1257999C

CN1257999C - Apparatus for exhaust white powder elimination in substrate processing

Info

Publication number: CN1257999C
Application number: CNB018218059A
Authority: CN
Inventors: S·亚达夫; Q·商
Original assignee: Applied Materials Inc
Current assignee: Applied Materials Inc
Priority date: 2001-01-09
Filing date: 2001-12-20
Publication date: 2006-05-31
Anticipated expiration: 2021-12-20
Also published as: TW536739B; JP2004537844A; CN1531606A; WO2002055756A1; KR20030065593A

Abstract

Provided herein is a substrate processing system for semiconductor manufacturing. Such system comprises a process chamber; and exhaust system; and a means to provide cleaning gas. The exhaust systemcomprises a vacuum pump, a vacuum exhaust line, and a filtering apparatus installed downstream for the vacuum pump, a vacuum exhaust line, and a filtering apparatus installed downstream from the vacuum pump and within ghte vacuum exhaust line. Also provided is a method for eliminating or reducing solid residue accumulation in an exhaust line by introducing cleaning gas to the process chamber and further to the exhaust line; traffing solid residue by a filtering apparatus downstream for vacuum pump and within the exhaust line; trapping solid residue by a filtering apparatus downstream from vacuum pump and within the exhaust line; heating the filtering apparatus to re-activate the cleaning gas, which reacts with trapped solid residue and convert it to gaseous residue; and releasing the gaseous residue through the exhaust line. In-situ or remote plasma resource cleaning may be employed in conjunction with the above method.

Description

Device for eliminating waste white powder in substrate treatment process

Background

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to the field of substrate processing, and more particularly to an apparatus and/or method for removing solid residues (i.e., white powder) that accumulate in the exhaust line of a vacuum pump during substrate processing.

Description of the related Art

In conventional substrate processing, the deposition gas within the process chamber forms a thin film on the surface of the substrate to be processed. Any residual reactive chemicals and byproducts are exhausted from the process chamber by a vacuum pump during the deposition process. This vacuum line is commonly referred to as the foreline.

Unconsumed gas molecules, and partially reacted compounds, as well as reaction by-products, are continually drawn out of the process chamber through the foreline and out through the exhaust outlet into a vacuum exhaust line. The effluent from the exhaust line is released to the environment or further treated, for example, with a scrubber, and then released.

Many compounds in the exhaust gas are still in a highly reactive state and/or contain residues or particulate matter that can form undesirable deposits in the exhaust pipe. This increase in the deposition of powdery residues over time can cause serious problems. For example, when a large amount of such deposition material accumulates in the exhaust duct, the exhaust duct may be clogged. Even with periodic cleaning, the accumulation of residue in the exhaust line can interfere with the proper operation of the vacuum pump and significantly shorten the useful life of the vacuum pump.

Thus, the vacuum pump needs to be maintained, repaired or replaced frequently, which becomes expensive and increases the cost of the equipment owner over time. Thus, the exhaust line typically needs to be cleaned over a period of time, depending on the type and number of deposition processes. Such cleaning requires removal of the substrate processing system from the production line and, as a result, increases costs due to reduced throughput.

To avoid this problem, the inner surface of the foreline is periodically cleaned to remove the deposited material. This process is typically performed during a standard chamber body cleaning operation that is used to remove unwanted deposited material from the chamber walls and other areas of the chamber. Common chamber body cleaning techniques include the use of an etching gas, such as fluorine or chlorine, to remove unwanted deposited material from the chamber walls and other areas. In this process, an etching gas is introduced into the chamber and a plasma is formed so that the etching gas reacts with and further removes the deposited material from the chamber walls. These cleaning steps are typically performed between multiple deposition steps every 1 substrate or every N substrates.

Removal of the deposited material from the chamber walls is relatively simple because the plasma is generated in the region of the chamber near the deposited material. Removal of the deposited material from the foreline is also not difficult due to the increased temperature during semiconductor processing. However, because the exhaust line is located downstream of the vacuum pump, it is much more difficult to remove the deposited material from within the exhaust line. Thus, although the chamber and foreline are adequately cleaned for a fixed period of time, residues and similar deposits can still be deposited in the exhaust line.

There is a prior art approach that attempts to adequately clean the exhaust duct, which includes increasing the duration of the cleaning operation. However, an increase in the cleaning operation time is undesirable because it adversely affects the throughput of the substrate. Moreover, such accumulated residues can only be cleaned to the extent that the reactants from the cleaning step are discharged into the exhaust line, where they can also react with the residues in the exhaust line. In some systems and applications, the life of the discharged reactants is not long enough to reach the discharge line, which makes the accumulation of residues more of a concern.

Raoux et al (Plasma Souces Sci. Technol., 6: 405-.

Other methods of removing undesirable deposits include heating the entire exhaust conduit to a set temperature. Unfortunately, heating to higher temperatures can cause problems. For example, combustion can form very fine powders that can clog the system.In addition, the particles are typically collected by water washing, and the wash water itself must be treated to remove the particles and water soluble impurities prior to use.

Therefore, the prior art is deficient in that it lacks an effective means to eliminate or reduce the impurities or residues (white powder) in the exhaust line connected downstream of the vacuum pump. The present invention fully satisfies these long-standing needs and desires in the art.

Summary of The Invention

In summary, the present invention provides a system and method for minimizing deposition of solid residues within a vacuum pump exhaust line.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a substrate processing system for substrate manufacturing. The system includes a process chamber; a gas discharge chamber; and an apparatus for supplying a cleaning gas to a process chamber. The exhaust system includes a vacuum pump, a vacuum exhaust line, and a filter device disposed downstream of the vacuum pump and within the vacuum exhaust line.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing system. The method comprises the following steps: (1) introducing at least one cleaning gas into the process chamber, the gas further flowing into an exhaust conduit; (2) capturing solid residues generated during substrate processing, wherein the residues are captured or filtered by a filtering device installed downstream of the vacuum pump and within the exhaust line; (3) heating the filter device, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated and further reacts with the captured solid residue, thereby converting the solid residue into a gaseous residue; and (4) releasing the gaseous residue through the exhaust conduit, thereby generally eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residue within the exhaust conduit.

Additionally, another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing system. The method comprises the following steps: (1) introducing at least one starting gas into a process chamber of a substrate processing system; (2) locally applying a plasma to a starting gas, wherein the plasma activates the starting gas to form a plasma of a cleaning gas, which further flows towards the exhaust duct; (3) capturing solid residues generated during substrate processing, wherein the residues are captured or filtered by a filtering device installed downstream of the vacuum pump and within the exhaust line; (4) heating the filter device, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated and further reacts with the captured solid residue, converting the solid residue into a gaseous residue; and (5) releasing the gaseous residue through the exhaust conduit, thereby generally eliminating the accumulation of solid residue within the exhaust conduit.

Additionally, another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing system. The method comprises the following steps: (1) introducing at least one starting gas into a separate chamber, wherein the separate chamber is coupled to an interior of a process chamber of a substrate processing system; (2) activating the starting gas in a separate chamber, thereby forming a plasma of cleaning gas; (3) introducing a plasma of a cleaning gas into the process chamber, wherein the plasma of the cleaning gas further flows to an exhaust conduit; (4) capturing solid residues generated during substrate processing, wherein the residues are captured or filtered by a filtering device installed downstream of the vacuum pump and in the exhaust line; (5) heating the filter device, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated, which further reacts with the captured solid residue, converting the solid residue into a gaseous residue; and (6) releasing the gaseous residue through the exhaust conduit, thereby generally eliminating the accumulation of solid residue within the exhaust conduit.

Other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of embodiments of the invention, which is provided for the purpose of disclosing the invention.

Brief description of the drawings

So that the manner in which the above recited features, advantages and objects of the present invention, as well as others which will become more apparent, are attained and can be better understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly summarized above may be had by reference to the specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Which form a part of the invention. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only a few embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a filtration apparatus 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus 100 includes a heater 101, a CAP white powder particle filter 102, an O-ring 103, a spool 104, a filter disk 105, and a spacer 106.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an aspect of the present invention. More specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates a cleaning gas being introduced into the process chamber and further directed toward the filter apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of the present invention, i.e., a split plasma source used in conjunction with the filtering apparatus of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

In part, the present invention provides a filter apparatus, referred to herein as a waste white powder eliminator or annihilator, which can be used to substantially prevent the accumulation of solid residues within and significant clogging of exhaust conduits of a substrate processing chamber.

During substrate processing operations, such as Flat Panel Display (FPD) processing, various gaseous waste products and impurities are exhausted from the chamber into a vacuum line. Depending on the particular operation to be performed, these exhaust products may include partially reacted products and/or by-products, which can leave residues or similar powdery substances in the exhaust line. The filter device of the present invention can prevent the accumulation of these particulate matters in the exhaust pipe. Such a filter device is located downstream of the vacuum pump in the exhaust duct. The device may also be connected to or replace a portion of an exhaust outlet, which is located downstream of the vacuum pump. The gas exhausted from the process chamber and containing the solid residues then passes through a filtering device in which the solid residues are captured. Upon heating, the captured solid residue can be removed by a cleaning gas flowing in a chamber cleaning cycle to the filtration device.

Two or more filter devices may be connected to the exhaust outlet. Such a configuration may be used, for example, two filtering devices adapted for particle collection may be used to further protect the exhaust conduit from particle and residue build-up.

Theapparatus of the present invention may be used with any of various substrate processing methods that produce harmful byproducts, such as Flat Panel Display (FPD) processing, chemical vapor deposition processing, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition processing or PECVD processing, etch processing or thermal processing.

Accordingly, as set forth above, one aspect of the present invention provides a substrate processing system for semiconductor manufacturing. The system includes a processing chamber; an exhaust system; and an apparatus for supplying a cleaning gas to the process chamber. The exhaust system includes a vacuum pump, a vacuum exhaust line, and a filter device disposed downstream of the vacuum pump and within the vacuum exhaust line. The filter device can capture solid residues. At elevated temperatures, the solid residue trapped is removed by the cleaning gas flowing to the exhaust line, thereby reducing or preventing the accumulation of solid residue within the vacuum exhaust line.

More specifically, the filter device is a closed system comprising one or more filter discs, a heater, and a conduit enclosing the heater. The filter disc is sealingly arranged in the wall of the closed system and in the wall of the heating conduit. More specifically, the filter tray has a filter aperture of a size small enough to capture solid residue. For example, the filter pores of the filter disks may be about 10 μm to 30 μm in size. In the case of multiple filter discs, the discs are arranged: a disc with large filter holes is placed upstream of a disc with small filter holes.

More specifically, the process chamber may be a Flat Panel Display (FPD) chamber or a semiconductor process chamber (e.g., a PECVD chamber or an etch process chamber.) representative examples of solid residues filtered by the filtration apparatus of the present invention include SiN, SiO, α -Si, (NH)₄)₂SiF₆、NH₄F. And sorbents therefor, e.g. SiH₄、NH₃And HF. The cleaning gas may be a fluorine-containingA gas, a chlorine-containing gas or a halogen-containing gas. Representative examples of fluorine-containing gases include HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄、C₃F₈O and C_xFy。

In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing system. The method comprises the following steps: (1) introducing at least one cleaning gas into the process chamber, the gas further flowing to an exhaust conduit; (2) capturing solid residues generated during substrate processing, wherein the residues are captured or filtered by a filter installed downstream of the vacuum pump and within the exhaust line; (3) heating the filter device, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated and further reacts with the captured solid residue to convert the solid residue into a gaseous residue; and (4) releasing the gaseous residue through the exhaust line, thereby generally eliminating the accumulation of solid residue within the exhaust line.

In particular, the filter device is heated to a temperature of about 100 ℃ to about 250 ℃, the process chamber may be a Flat Panel Display (FPD) chamber, a CVD chamber, an etch chamber or a thermal process chamber, representative examples of solid residues that can be filtered by the filter device of the present invention include SiN, SiO, α -Si, (NH)₄)₂SiF₆、NH₄F. And sorbents therefor, e.g. SiH₄、NH₃And HF. The cleaning gas may be a fluorine-containing gas, a chlorine-containing gas, or a halogen-containing gas. Representative examples of fluorine-containing gases include HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄、C₃F₈O and C_xF_y。

In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues within an exhaust line of a substrate processing chamber. The method comprises the following steps: (1) introducing at least one starting gas into a process chamber of a substrate processing system; (2) locally applying a plasma to a starting gas, wherein the plasma activates the starting gas to form a plasma of a cleaning gas that further flows to an exhaust conduit of a substrate processing system; (3) capturing solid residues generated during substrate processing, wherein the residues are captured or filtered by a filtering device installed downstream of the vacuum pump and within the exhaust conduit; (4) heating the filter device, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated and further reacts with the captured solid residue to convert the solid residue to a gaseous residue; and (5) releasing said gaseous residue through said exhaust conduit, whereby accumulation of said solid residue within said exhaust conduit is generally eliminated.

In particular, the filter device may be heated to a temperature of about 100 ℃ to 250 ℃. The processing chamber may be a Flat Panel Display (FPD) chamber, a CVD chamber, an etch chamber or a thermal processing chamber.

Representative examples of solid residues that can be filtered by the filtration device of the present invention include SiN, SiO, α -Si, (NH)₄)₂SiF₆、NH₄F. And sorbents therefor, e.g. SiH₄、NH₃And HF. The cleaning gas may be a fluorine-containing gas, a chlorine-containing gas, or a halogen-containing gas. Representative examples of fluorine-containing gases include HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄、C₃F₈O and C_xF_y。

In yet another aspect, the present invention also provides a method for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing chamber. The method comprises the following steps: (1) introducing at least one starting gas into a separate chamber, the separate chamber being coupled to an interior of a process chamber of a substrate processing system; (2) activating the starting gas in the separate chamber to form a plasma of cleaning gas; (3) applying a plasma of the cleaning gas to the process chamber, which further flows to an exhaust conduit; (4) capturing said solid residue generated during substrate processing, wherein said residue is captured or filtered by a filter device located downstream of said vacuum pump and within said exhaust conduit; (5) heating the filter device, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated and further reacts with the captured solid residue, converting the solid residue into a gaseous residue; and (6) releasing said gaseous residue through said exhaust conduit, whereby accumulation of said solid residue within said exhaust conduit is generally eliminated.

In particular, the filter device may be heated to a temperature of about 100 ℃ to about 250 ℃, the process chamber may be a Flat Panel Display (FPD) chamber, a CVD chamber, an etch chamber or a thermal process chamber, representative examples of solid residues that can be filtered by the filter device of the present invention include SiN, SiO, α -Si, (NH)₄)₂SiF₆、NH₄F. And sorbents therefor, e.g. SiH₄、NH₃And HF. The cleaning gas may be a fluorine-containing gas, a chlorine-containing gas, or a halogen-containing gas. Representative examples of fluorine-containing gases include HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄、C₃F₈O and C_xF_y。

The following examples are given solely for the purpose of illustrating various embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention in any manner.

Example 1

Waste white powder eliminator

The filtering apparatus of the present invention (referred to herein as an eliminator, or a waste white powder eliminator) is installed at an exhaust outlet of a vacuum pump and is connected to a Flat Panel Display (FPD) processing chamber or a semiconductor processing chamber. Referring to fig. 1, the filtration device 100 is a closed system having a first connection to an upstream vacuum pump and a second connection to an exhaust system. The apparatus comprises a heater 101, a CAP white powder particle filter 102, an O-ring 103, a spool 104, a filter disc 105, and a spacer 106. The heater 101 is sealed into a conduit that is not exposed to the cleaning gas flowing into the filter chamber. During a cleaning cycle, cleaning gas flows from an upstream vacuum pump into this filter chamber, through the filter discs, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated and the end product is released into the exhaust system.

The filter device comprises one or more filter discs sealingly arranged within the inner wall of the filter chamber and the wall of the heating conduit. Each disc provides a ring of filter areas. The trays upstream of the gas stream typically have larger filter holes than the trays downstream. A filter disc with large pores can filter through large particles, which then pass through the discs in the downstream where only very fine particles can be filtered through. A disc with smaller holes is better at providing higher filtration efficiency, but it reduces gas conductance, affecting the pumping rate.

Referring to fig. 1, an example of a three-stage particle filter is shown, three discs providing a three-stage filtration for higher capture efficiency. The filter openings of the two discs in the upstream may be, for example, 30 μm, while the filter openings of the third disc may be, for example, about 10 μm.

The material used to construct the filter may generally be any material that is resistant to corrosive environments, for example, the filter may be made of porous aluminum or ceramic (Al)₂O₃Or AlN) to accommodate a high temperature fluorine etch environment.

Example 2

Deposition and cleaning process combined with waste white powder eliminator

In a deposition process, a dielectric (SiOx, SiNx, SiOxNy, etc.) or semiconductor (α -Si, p-Si, etc.) CVD film is deposited on a substrate₂，NF₃，SF₆，C₂F₆Or CF₄Are often used for cleaning.

Fig. 2 shows an aspect of the invention in which clean gas is introduced into the process chamber and further directed to the filtering means of the invention to remove the build-up of white powder from the exhaust gas duct downstream of the pump.

The cleaning gas may be dissociated using an in-situ plasma cleaning process. In this system, a starting gas is supplied into the chamber. The activated species are then generated by locally applying a glow discharge plasma to the starting gas within the chamber. The surfaces of the vacuum chamber can be cleaned by the activated species forming volatile compounds with the process residues on the chamber surfaces.

In addition, the plasma may be remoteAnd (4) supplying. The remote plasma source cleaning system includes a cleaning gas sourceconnected to the remote activation chamber. The cleaning gas source includes an initiation gas source, an electrically operated valve, and a flow control mechanism for controlling the flow of the initiation gas, and a conduit for flowing the gas into a separate activation chamber located outside and at a distance from the process chamber. The starting gas in the separate activation chamber can be activated by a power activation source, for example a high-power microwave generator. The separation chamber can be a sapphire tube and the power supply is a 2.54GHz microwave power source, the output of which is aimed at the sapphire tube. The starting gas may be a fluorine-containing gas, a chlorine-containing gas or a halogen-containing gas. For example, NF₃. The flow rate of the activated species is about 2 liters per minute and the chamber pressure is about 0.5 torr. To activate the starting gas, the microwave source delivers about 3000-12000W of power to the separate activation chamber. 5000W is available under many application conditions. After activation, a plasma of a cleaning gas is generated within the separate chamber, and then a portion of the plasma is introduced into the process chamber.

Figure 3 shows another aspect of the invention in which a separate plasma source is used to clean the process chamber and the cleaning gas is further directed to the filtering apparatus of the invention to remove white powder that has accumulated in the exhaust line downstream of the pump.

During substrate processing operations, various gaseous waste and impurities are exhausted from the process chamber to the vacuum line. Depending on the particular operation to be performed, these exhaust products may include partially reacted products and/or by-products, which can leave residues or similar powdery substances in the exhaust line. With the filter device of the invention, particles can be captured by the powder particle filter discs in the device during the cleaning cycle. The remaining unused cleaning gas, such as F2 or F, flows to the exhaust line. The filter device was heated to about 100-. At elevated temperatures, the cleaning gas is reactivated to react with the solid residue and then convert it to the gaseous state. For example, solid residues such as SiN and cleaning gases such as F₂Or F reacts by the following equation:

(gas)

The converted gaseous residue is then pumped away. As can be seen visually, the trapping and self-cleaning method of the present invention reduces the white powder in the exhaust duct.

Example 3

Application of waste white powder eliminator

One example of the use of the techniques and apparatus of the present invention is an AKT PECVD system in which the process chamber requires periodic cleaning after CVD silane processing (oxidation, nitridation, and porous silicon). Solid residues (white powder) accumulate in the exhaust line of the vacuum pump and in the exhaust lineThe solid residue reduces the diameter of the exhaust line, or even completely blocks the exhaust line₄)₂SiF₆，NH₄F，SiH₄，NH₃And HF. By installing the discharged white powder eliminator at the exhaust outlet of the vacuum pump, white powder in the filter chamber can be captured and eliminated. This process extends the useful life of the vacuum pump, greatly reduces system downtime, and significantly reduces maintenance costs.

In conclusion, the filter apparatus of the present invention uses existing vacuum chamber resources and a reactivation process (e.g., heating) to clean the exhaust lines of the substrate processing chamber. Compared with the cleaning device in the prior art, suchas Raoux plasma cleaning Device (DPA), the filtering device disclosed by the invention has the following advantages: raoux's DPA is housed in the foreline of the chamber, which affects pump performance. In order to operate the DPA, control systems such as additional plasma sources and electrostatic energy are essentially required. In contrast, the filtration device of the present invention is relatively simple: the exhaust duct does not require the application of additional plasma, and does not require additional gas to clean; and little or no maintenance. Since such a filter device is installed downstream of the vacuum pump and in the exhaust line, the performance of the pump is not affected.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while the invention has been described with a number of embodiments and applications in carrying out the invention, numerous variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, and it is intended to cover all modifications, variations and other applications of the invention covered by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A substrate processing system comprising:

a processing chamber;

an exhaust system comprising:

a vacuum pump, a vacuum pump and a vacuum pump,

a vacuum exhaust duct, and

a filter device mounted as a closed system downstream of the vacuum pump and within the vacuum exhaust duct, the filter device having one or more filter disks having filter holes therethrough, a heater, and a conduit enclosing the heater, the filter disks being sealingly disposed within the walls of the closed system and the walls of the conduit; and

a means for providing atleast one cleaning gas to said process chamber.

2. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the processing chamber is selected from a flat panel display chamber or a semiconductor processing chamber.

3. The substrate processing system of claim 2, wherein the semiconductor processing chamber is selected from a chemical vapor deposition chamber or an etch processing chamber.

4. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the filter pores of the filter disks are from 10 μ ι η to 30 μ ι η in size.

5. A substrate processing system according to claim 1, wherein said filter disks are arranged such that a disk with larger filter holes is disposed upstream of a disk with smaller filter holes.

6. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the cleaning gas is selected from a fluorine-containing gas or a chlorine-containing gas.

7. The substrate processing system of claim 6, wherein the fluorine-containing gas is selected from HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄And C₃F₈O。

8. A method for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing system, comprising the steps of:

introducing at least one cleaning gas into the process chamber, wherein the cleaning gas further flows to an exhaust conduit;

capturing solid residues generated during substrate processing, wherein the residues are captured or filtered by a filtering device located downstream of the vacuum pump and within the exhaust conduit;

heating the filter device, wherein the cleaning gas is reactivated and further reacts with the captured solid residue, thereby converting the solid residue into a gaseous residue; and

releasing the gaseous residue through the exhaust conduit to eliminate or reduce the accumulation of solid residue in the exhaust conduit.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the solid residue is SiN, SiO, α -Si, (NH)₄)₂SiF₆Or NH₄F. Or a sorbent of the solid residue, wherein the sorbent is SiH₄、NH₃And HF.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the cleaning gas is selected from a fluorine-containing gas or a chlorine-containing gas.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the fluorine-containing gas is selected from HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄And C₃F₈O。

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the processing chamber is selected from a flat panel display chamber or a semiconductor processing chamber.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the semiconductor processing chamber is selected from a chemical vapor deposition chamber or an etch processing chamber.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the filtration device is heated to a temperature of 100 ℃ to 250℃.

15. A method for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing system, comprising the steps of:

introducing at least one starting gas into a process chamber of the substrate processing system;

applying a plasma to the starting gas in the process chamber, wherein the plasma activates the starting gas to form a plasma of a cleaning gas, and wherein the cleaning gas further flows to an exhaust conduit;

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the solid residue is SiN, SiO, α -Si, (NH)₄)₂SiF₆Or NH₄F. Or a sorbent of the solid residue, wherein the sorbent is SiH₄、NH₃And HF.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the cleaning gas is selected from a fluorine-containing gas or a chlorine-containing gas.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the fluorine-containing gas is selected from HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄And C₃F₈O。

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the processing chamber is selected from a flat panel display chamber or a semiconductor processing chamber.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the semiconductor processing chamber is selected from a chemical vapor deposition chamber or an etch processing chamber.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the filtration device is heated to a temperature of 100 ℃ to 250 ℃.

22. A method for eliminating or reducing the accumulation of solid residues in an exhaust line of a substrate processing system, comprising the steps of:

introducing at least one starting gas into a separate chamber, wherein the separate chamber is coupled to an interior of a process chamber of the substrate processing system;

activating the starting gas in the separate chamber, thereby forming a plasma of cleaning gas;

applying a plasma of the cleaning gas to the process chamber, wherein the cleaning gas further flows to an exhaust conduit;

releasing the gaseous residue through the exhaust conduit to eliminate or reduce the accumulation ofsolid residue in the exhaust conduit.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the solid residue is selected from SiN, SiO, α -Si, (NH)₄)₂SiF₆Or NH₄F. Or a sorbent of the solid residue, wherein the sorbent is SiH₄、NH₃And HF.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the cleaning gas is selected from a fluorine-containing gas or a chlorine-containing gas.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the fluorine-containing gas is selected from HF, F₂、NF₃、SF₆、C₂F₆、CF₄And C₃F₈O。

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the process chamber is selected from a flat panel display chamber and a semiconductor process chamber.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the semiconductor processing chamber is selected from a chemical vapor deposition chamber or an etch processing chamber.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the filtration device is heated to a temperature of 100 ℃ to 250 ℃.