Chamber undercoat preparation method for low temperature ald films
AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorsHu Kang, Jun Qian, Adrien LaVoie
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus disclosed herein relate to the formation and use of undercoats on the interior surfaces of reaction chambers used to deposit films on substrates. The undercoats are deposited through atomic layer deposition methods. The disclosed undercoats help prevent metal contamination, provide improved resistance to flaking, and are relatively thin. Because of the superior resistance to flaking, the disclosed undercoats allow more substrates to be processed between subsequent cleaning operations, thereby increasing throughput.
Claims22
A method of forming an undercoat on interior surfaces of a reaction chamber for processing substrates, comprising:
- (a) introducing a flow of a first reactant in vapor phase into the reaction chamber and allowing the first reactant to adsorb onto the interior surfaces of the reaction chamber;
- (b) introducing a flow of a second reactant in vapor phase into the reaction chamber while the first reactant is adsorbed on the interior surfaces of the reaction chamber;
- and
- (c) exposing the reaction chamber to plasma when the flow of at least one of the first and second reactants has ceased, in order to drive a reaction between the first and second reactants on the interior surfaces of the reaction chamber to form the undercoat, wherein the undercoat conformally coats the interior surfaces of the reaction chamber;
- wherein operations (a)-(c) occur when there is no substrate present in the reaction chamber, and
- wherein operations (a)-(c) are repeated until the undercoat is at least about 0.1 μm thick.
A method of treating a reaction chamber for depositing films on substrates, comprising:
- (a) removing previously deposited film from interior surfaces of the reaction chamber to clean the reaction chamber;
- and
- (b) depositing an undercoat on the cleaned interior surfaces of the reaction chamber by an atomic layer deposition process;
- wherein operation (b) occurs when there is no substrate present in the reaction chamber.
A reaction chamber ready for depositing films on substrates, comprising:
- one or more inlets for introducing vapor phase reactants to the reaction chamber;
- one or more outlets for removing vapor phase material from the reaction chamber;
- a plasma generator for generating a plasma that is exposed to the reaction chamber;
- and
- an undercoat on the interior surfaces of the reaction chamber, wherein the undercoat is about 0.5 μm thick or less, and wherein the undercoat conformally covers interior surfaces of the reaction chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.