Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B08—CLEANING
  • B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
  • B08B7/00—Cleaning by methods not provided for in a single other subclass or a single group in this subclass
  • B08B7/0035—Cleaning by methods not provided for in a single other subclass or a single group in this subclass by radiant energy, e.g. UV, laser, light beam or the like
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
  • C23C—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL
  • C23C16/00—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes
  • C23C16/44—Chemical coating by decomposition of gaseous compounds, without leaving reaction products of surface material in the coating, i.e. chemical vapour deposition [CVD] processes characterised by the method of coating
  • C23C16/4401—Means for minimising impurities, e.g. dust, moisture or residual gas, in the reaction chamber
  • C23C16/4405—Cleaning of reactor or parts inside the reactor by using reactive gases

Definitions

• RF plasma is generated inside the reactor and high-energy electrons in the plasma dissociate NF 3 by electron impact.
• In situ plasmas can become highly electronegative, such as, for example, by the formation of negative ions.
• negative ions dominate over electrons as the charge carrier, the plasma becomes unstable and/or collapses within the reactor thereby leading, inter alia, to incomplete chamber cleaning, poor NF 3 utilization, and low NF 3 dissociation efficiency.
• highly energetic ion bombardment that occurs during in situ cleaning may cause hardware damage.
• remote plasma cleaning alleviates the drawbacks of in situ cleaning, fluorine utilization efficiency is much lower, increasing the overall cost of ownership of the process.
• the negatively charged ions such as F ⁇ in equation (1), can act as active species which then react with the substance to be removed, such as SiO 2 in equation (2) below, to form one or more volatile products, such as SiF 4 and O 2 in equation (2): 4F ⁇ ( g )+SiO 2 ( s ) ⁇ SiF 4 ( g )+O 2 ( g )+4 e ⁇ (2)
• the free electrons may be neutralized at the grounded anode.
• the effect of inert gases can be very small or negligible because of their small or zero value of electron affinity (e.g. N 2 ).
• the method can be used as an alternative to remote plasma cleaning.
• the gas mixture comprising the reactive gas is passed through a target area and/or a remote negative ion generator, which contains a first and second electrode that act as a cathode and an anode.
• a remote negative ion generator is illustrated in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/819,277 which is currently assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
• the outlet of the remote negative ion generator may be in fluid communication with the reactor.
• some of these electrons may attach on the reactive gas molecules and form negatively charged ions by electron attachment.
• some positive ions are also created by ionization of the inert gas, which then drift toward the anode and are neutralized at the anode surface.
• a remote plasma source such as, but not limited to, a remote thermal activation source, a remote catalytically activated source, or a source which combines thermal and catalytic activation, may be used rather than an in situ plasma to generate the volatile product.
• a remote plasma source such as, but not limited to, a remote thermal activation source, a remote catalytically activated source, or a source which combines thermal and catalytic activation
• an intense discharge of cleaning gases is generated outside of the deposition chamber, reactive species such as reactive atoms and radicals then flow downstream into the deposition chamber to volatize the deposition residues.
• Either an RF or a microwave source can generate the remote plasma source.
• power ranging from 100 to 14,000 Watts may be used to activate the plasma.
• the method described herein may be used in several areas of semiconductor manufacturing other than chamber cleaning, such as etching silicon wafers and removing post-etch or post-ion implantation photoresist materials and sidewall passivations films.
• etching silicon wafers and removing post-etch or post-ion implantation photoresist materials and sidewall passivations films are used in these wafer-manufacturing processes.
• the use of a negatively charged cleaning gas may provide at least one of the following advantages: high etching rate; high anisotropy of etching; feasibility for etching high aspect ratio features; low operation cost; and low capital cost.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Metallurgy (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Drying Of Semiconductors (AREA)
• Chemical Vapour Deposition (AREA)

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Cited By (10)

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Citations (18)

• 2004
  • 2004-04-29 US US10/835,450 patent/US20050241670A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2005
  • 2005-04-29 CN CN200510071791.8A patent/CN1770390A/zh active Pending

Patent Citations (18)

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