Thermal Cleaning Gas Production and Supply System
AssigneeL'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
InventorYudai TADAKI
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus for cleaning undesired substances from a surface in a semiconductor processing chamber. An cleaning gas mixture is formed onsite and stored in a buffer tank for a time, prior to its introduction into a semiconductor processing chamber, to remove an undesired substance from a surface in the chamber. The undesired substance is removed without the generation of a plasma in the chamber, and at a temperature of less than 300° C.
Claims20
A method of for low temperature cleaning of a semiconductor processing chamber, comprising:
- a) providing at least one semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the chamber contains at least one undesired substance on at least one surface within the chamber;
- b) providing a cleaning gas mixture pre-reactor for production of a cleaning gas mixture, and a cleaning gas mixture buffer tank, wherein the pre-reactor, the buffer tank and the processing chamber are all in fluid communication with each other;
- c) preparing a cleaning gas mixture in the pre-reactor, wherein the cleaning gas mixture comprises:
- NF3;
- NO;
- FNO;
- N2F4;
- and N2;
- d) removing at least part of the cleaning gas mixture form the pre-reactor and storing the cleaning gas mixture in the buffer tank;
- e) introducing at least part of the cleaning gas mixture from the buffer tank into the processing chamber;
- and
- f) removing at least one of the undesired substances from the surfaces of the chamber through a chemical reaction between the cleaning gas mixture and the undesired substance, without generating a plasma in the chamber or increasing the temperature of the chamber to a temperature greater than about 300° C.
An apparatus for producing and supplying a low temperature thermal cleaning gas, comprising:
- a) at least one semiconductor processing chamber, wherein the chamber contains at least one undesired substance on at least one surface within the chamber;
- b) a buffer tank in fluid communication with at least one chamber, wherein the buffer tank is suitable for the storage of a cleaning gas;
- c) a pre-reactor in fluid communication with the buffer tank, wherein the pre-reactor comprises a cleaning gas generating means;
- d) a first bulk gas source containing gaseous NF3 and a second bulk gas source containing NO, wherein the first and second bulk gas sources are in fluid communication with the pre-reactor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.