In-situ photoresist removal by an attachable chamber with light source

A method of fabricating integrated circuit wafers, comprising:

• providing an integrated circuit wafer having devices formed therein;
• forming a metal layer over said integrated circuit wafer;
• forming a photoresist layer over said metal layer;
• selectively exposing said photoresist layer;
• developing said selectively exposed photoresist layer thereby forming a photoresist mask;
• and
• performing the multi-chamber steps as follows:
• a) introducing said wafer into a multi-chamber system,
• b) etching away that part of said metal layer not covered by said photoresist mask,
• c) exposing said mask to light in a cooled chamber wherein
• 1) said light is derived from a source selected from a mercury lamp and a laser,
• 2) said light passes through a filter system which removes red and infrared light therefrom before exposure of said wafer thereto,
• 3) said cooled chamber is cooled by a refrigerant selected from water and liquefied gas circulated through cooling coils by a pump, and
• d) removing said wafer from said multi-chamber system, and
• loading said wafer into a photoresist stripping tank thereby removing said photoresist mask using a wet photoresist stripper;
• and
• placing said wafer in a batch type plasma chamber after removing said photoresist mask;
• establishing a plasma discharge in said batch type plasma chamber for a first time while flowing oxygen gas through said batch type plasma chamber;
• terminating said plasma discharge;
• and
• removing said wafer from said batch type plasma chamber.

Apparatus for fabricating integrated circuit wafers, comprising a multi-chamber system as follows:

• a) input load lock means for introducing a workpiece into said multi-chamber system,
• b) an etching chamber for etching away a metal layer not covered by a photoresist mask,
• c) means for exposing said mask to light in a cooled chamber, and
• d) output load lock means for removing said wafer from said multi-chamber system.