Method of forming film stacks with reduced defects

A method of forming a film stack with reduced defects, comprising:

• exposing a processing chamber to a conditioning plasma during a first conditioning process, wherein the processing chamber comprises a faceplate disposed above a substrate support;
• positioning a substrate on the substrate support within the processing chamber;
• moving the substrate support to an upper position separated from the faceplate by a narrow spacing, wherein the narrow spacing is about 50 mils to 1,000 mils, as measured between the substrate support and the faceplate;
• sequentially depositing polysilicon layers and silicon oxide layers to produce a lower portion of the film stack on the substrate;
• moving the substrate support containing the substrate to a lower position separated from the faceplate by a wide spacing, wherein the wide spacing is greater than 1,000 mils, as measured between the substrate support and the faceplate;
• maintaining a pressure of about 10 Torr to about 40 Torr within the processing chamber while moving the substrate support containing the substrate to the lower position;
• removing the substrate containing the lower portion of the film stack from the processing chamber;
• exposing the processing chamber to the conditioning plasma during a second conditioning process;
• positioning the substrate containing the lower portion of the film stack on the substrate support within the processing chamber;
• moving the substrate support to the upper position separated from the faceplate by the narrow spacing;
• sequentially depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers to produce an upper portion of the film stack on the lower portion of the film stack within the processing chamber;
• moving the substrate support to the lower position separated from the faceplate by the wide spacing;
• removing the substrate containing the upper portion of the film stack from the processing chamber;
• and
• exposing the processing chamber to the conditioning plasma during a third conditioning process.

A method of forming a film stack with reduced defects, comprising:

• exposing a processing chamber to a conditioning plasma at a power of about 100 watts to about 800 watts during a first conditioning process;
• positioning a substrate on a substrate support within the processing chamber;
• sequentially depositing polysilicon layers and silicon oxide layers to produce a lower portion of the film stack on the substrate, wherein depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers further comprises:
• supplying a current of greater than 5 ampere (A) to a plasma profile modulator while generating a deposition plasma within the processing chamber;
• exposing the substrate to the deposition plasma while depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers;
• and
• maintaining the processing chamber at a pressure of greater than 2 Torr to about 100 Torr while depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers;
• removing the substrate containing the lower portion of the film stack from the processing chamber;
• exposing the processing chamber to the conditioning plasma at the power of about 100 watts to about 800 watts during a second conditioning process;
• positioning the substrate containing the lower portion of the film stack on the substrate support within the processing chamber;
• sequentially depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers to produce an upper portion of the film stack on the lower portion of the film stack within the processing chamber, wherein depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers further comprises:
• supplying the current of greater than 5 A to the plasma profile modulator while generating the deposition plasma within the processing chamber;
• exposing the substrate to the deposition plasma while depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers;
• and
• maintaining the processing chamber at the pressure of greater than 2 Torr to about 100 Torr while depositing the polysilicon layers and the silicon oxide layers;
• removing the substrate containing the upper portion of the film stack from the processing chamber;
• and
• exposing the processing chamber to the conditioning plasma at the power of about 100 watts to about 800 watts during a third conditioning process.