Surface treatment of silicon or silicon germanium surfaces using organic radicals
AssigneeMattson Technology, Inc.
InventorsMichael X. Yang, Hua Chung, Xinliang Lu
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Abstract
Processes for surface treatment of a workpiece are provided. In one example implementation, a method can include performing an organic radical based surface treatment process on a workpiece. The organic radical based surface treatment process can include generating one or more species in a first chamber. The surface treatment process can include mixing one or more hydrocarbon molecules with the species to create a mixture. The mixture can include one or more organic radicals. The surface treatment process can include exposing a semiconductor material on the workpiece to the mixture in a second chamber.
Claims24
A method for processing a workpiece, the workpiece comprising a semiconductor material, the method comprising performing an organic radical based surface treatment process on the workpiece, the organic radical based surface treatment process comprising:
- generating one or more species using a plasma induced in a first chamber;
- filtering the one or more species generated by the plasma to create a first mixture;
- injecting one or more hydrocarbon molecules into the first mixture post filtering to create a second mixture, the second mixture comprising one or more organic radicals;
- and
- exposing the semiconductor material to the second mixture in a second chamber.
A method of processing a semiconductor workpiece, the workpiece comprising a semiconductor material, the semiconductor material comprising silicon or silicon germanium, the method comprising performing an organic radical based surface treatment process on the semiconductor material, the organic radical based surface treatment process comprising:
- generating one or more excited species in an inert gas in a plasma chamber by inducing a plasma in the inert gas with an inductively coupled plasma source;
- filtering the one or more excited species generated by the plasma to create a first mixture;
- generating one or more organic radicals by injecting one or more hydrocarbon molecules into the first mixture post filtering, wherein the one or more hydrocarbon molecules have a chemical formula of CnH2n+2 or CnH2n, where n is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 10;
- and
- exposing the semiconductor material to the organic radicals in a processing chamber, the processing chamber being separated from the plasma chamber by a separation grid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.