US 2014/0227882 A1 · CLEANING METHOD, PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Abstract

Deposits such as particles deposited on a surface of a target object can be easily removed while suppressing damage to the target object such as destruction of pattern formed on the surface of the target object or film roughness on the surface of the target object. In a pre-treatment, vapor of a hydrogen fluoride is supplied to a wafer W to dissolve a natural oxide film 11, so that a deposit 10 attached to a surface of the natural oxide film 11 is slightly separated from a surface of the wafer W. A carbon dioxide gas that does not react with an underlying film 12 is supplied to a processing gas atmosphere where the wafer W is placed, so that a gas cluster of the carbon dioxide gas is generated. Then, the gas cluster in a non-ionized state is irradiated toward the wafer W to remove the deposit 10.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A cleaning method of removing a deposit from a surface of a target object to which the deposit is attached, the cleaning method comprising:

performing a pre-treatment including an etching process on at least one of the surface of the target object and the deposit;
generating a gas cluster as an atomic or molecular cluster of a cleaning gas by discharging the cleaning gas, which does not react with a film exposed at the surface of the target object, at a processing gas atmosphere where the target object is placed from a region having a higher pressure than the processing gas atmosphere and adiabatically expanding the cleaning gas;
and
removing the deposit by irradiating the gas cluster of the cleaning gas to the surface of the target object on which the pre-treatment is performed.

1 more element

A processing apparatus that removes a deposit from a surface of a target object to which the deposit is attached, the processing apparatus comprising:

a pre-treatment chamber in which the target object is mounted;
a pre-treatment module including a pre-treatment device configured to perform a pre-treatment having an etching process on at least one of the surface of the target object mounted in the pre-treatment chamber and the deposit;
a cleaning chamber in which the target object is mounted;
a gas cluster nozzle that is provided within the cleaning chamber, and configured to discharge a cleaning gas, which does not react with a film exposed at the surface of the target object, at a processing gas atmosphere within the cleaning chamber from a region having a higher pressure than the processing gas atmosphere to adiabatically expand the cleaning gas and generate the gas cluster as an atomic or molecular cluster of the cleaning gas, and configured to supply the gas cluster to the target object, on which the pre-treatment is performed, in order to remove the deposit;
and
a transfer device configured to transfer the target object into the pre-treatment chamber and the cleaning chamber.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Cleaning method, processing apparatus, and storage medium

Life of this patent

Cleaning method, processing apparatus, and storage medium

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16