Cleaning of semiconductor process equipment chamber parts using organic solvents
AssigneeChemTrace Corporation
InventorSamantha Tan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method are provided for using an organic solvent to clean chamber parts used in semiconductor manufacturing. The chamber parts are exposed to the solvent using a dipping system or a vapor contact system in order to soften or dissolve the organic polymers. The solvent may be heated up to a temperature of 100° C. The organic cleaning solvent may be a pyrrole-based, amine-based, fluoro/ether-based or ether-based solvent. Additionally, a system and method are provided for establishing criteria to verify that the chamber parts are clean with respect to organic, metallic and particulate impurities and establishing criteria to verify that the physical surface morphology remains intact.
Claims41
A process for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts comprising:
- at least partially immersing a part into an organic solvent;
- removing said part from said organic solvent;
- inspecting said part for a presence of visible contaminants;
- at least partially re-immersing said part in said organic solvent if said inspection indicates the presence of visible contaminants;
- testing said part for a presence of non-visible contaminants;
- and
- at least partially re-immersing said part if said presence of non-visible contaminants is above an acceptable impurity level.
An apparatus for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts comprising:
- a tank;
- an organic solvent disposed within said tank wherein said organic solvent is composed of at least one of pyrrole-based, amine-based, fluoro/ether-based, hydrocarbon ether-based and glycol ether acetate based solvents;
- and
- a heat source coupled to said tank whereby said organic solvent may be heated above room temperature.
A process for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts comprising:
- placing a part to be cleaned into a chamber;
- heating a liquid organic solvent to produce a vapor phase organic solvent within said chamber which contacts said part to be cleaned;
- purging said enclosed chamber;
- and
- removing said part from said chamber.
A process of claim 20 wherein an acceptable impurity level for metallic impurities is about less than about 1013 atoms/cm2.
An apparatus for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts comprising:
- a container defining a chamber;
- a grate disposed within said chamber to hold a part to be cleaned;
- a purge inlet in fluid communication with said chamber;
- an exhaust outlet in fluid communication with said container;
- a liquid organic solvent source;
- and
- a heat source thermally coupled to said liquid organic solvent source to create a vapor organic solvent within said chamber.
A process for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts comprising:
- providing a fluid organic solvent including at least one of pyrrole-based, amine-based, fluoro/ether-based, hydrocarbon ether-based and glycol ether acetate based solvents;
- and
- contacting said fluid organic solvent with a surface of a workpiece to be cleaned.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.