Stiction-free drying process with contaminant removal for high-aspect ratio semiconductor device str
AssigneeApplied Materials, Inc.
InventorsSteven VERHAVERBEKE, Han-Wen CHEN, Roman GOUK
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a method of cleaning a substrate and a substrate processing apparatus that is configured to perform the method of cleaning the substrate. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of cleaning a substrate in a manner that reduces or eliminates the negative effects of line stiction between semiconductor device features. Other embodiments of the present invention relate to a substrate processing apparatus that allows for cleaning of the substrate in a manner that reduces or eliminates line stiction between semiconductor device features formed on the substrate.
Claims20
A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
- exposing a substrate having high aspect ratio features formed thereon to a first solvent to remove an amount of a residual cleaning solution disposed on a surface of the substrate;
- exposing the substrate to a second solvent to remove the first solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate;
- and
- exposing the substrate to a supercritical fluid to remove the second solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate, wherein exposing the substrate to the supercritical fluid comprises:
- delivering a gas in a liquid state to a surface of the substrate that is disposed in a processing volume of a first processing chamber to remove at least a portion of the second solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate;
- phase transitioning the gas that is disposed within the processing volume from the liquid state to a supercritical state;
- and
- isothermally depressurizing the gas disposed in the processing volume from the supercritical state to a gaseous state.
A method of processing a substrate, comprising:
- exposing a substrate having high aspect ratio features formed thereon to a first solvent to remove an amount of a residual cleaning solution disposed on a surface of the substrate;
- exposing the substrate to a second solvent to remove the first solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate;
- and
- exposing the substrate to a supercritical fluid to remove the second solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate, wherein exposing the substrate to the supercritical fluid comprises:
- delivering carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in a liquid state to a surface of the substrate that is disposed in a processing volume of a first processing chamber to remove at least a portion of the second solvent disposed on the surface of the substrate;
- and
- phase transitioning the carbon dioxide (CO2) gas that is disposed within the processing volume from the liquid state to a supercritical state.
A system for processing a substrate, comprising:
- a transfer chamber;
- a first processing chamber that is coupled to the transfer chamber and comprises a first substrate support and a first fluid source, wherein the first fluid source is adapted to dispense a first solvent on high aspect ratio features formed a surface of a substrate that is disposed on the first substrate support;
- a second processing chamber that is coupled to the transfer chamber and comprises a second substrate support and a second fluid source, wherein the second fluid source is adapted to dispense a second solvent on the high aspect ratio features formed the surface of the substrate that is disposed on the second substrate support;
- and
- a third processing chamber that is coupled to the transfer chamber, wherein the third processing chamber comprises:
- a third substrate support that is disposed in a processing volume of the third processing chamber;
- a condenser that is fluidly coupled to the processing volume and is configured to condense a gas from a gaseous state to a liquid state;
- a pump that is configured to deliver a gas that is in the liquid state from the condenser to processing volume;
- and
- a heating element that is in thermal communication with the processing volume and the third substrate support.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.