Passivating, stripping and corrosion inhibition of semiconductor substrates

A process for stripping and passivating a substrate having etchant byproducts thereon, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing a substrate into a vacuum chamber;
• (b) introducing passivating gas into the vacuum chamber, forming a plasma from the passivating gas, and maintaining the chamber at a first higher pressure;
• (c) stopping the flow of passivating gas, extinguishing the plasma, and maintaining the chamber at a second lower pressure;
• (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) at least once to passivate the etchant byproduct on the substrate;
• and
• (e) removing the passivated substrate from the chamber.

A process for stripping and passivating a substrate with remnant resist and etchant byproducts thereon, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing the substrate into a vacuum chamber;
• (b) passivating etchant byproducts on the substrate by introducing a passivating gas into the vacuum chamber and forming a plasma from the passivating gas;
• (c) before or after step (b), stripping resist from the substrate by introducing a stripping gas into the vacuum chamber and forming a plasma from the stripping gas;
• (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) at least once in the same order that steps (b) and (c) were done;
• and
• (e) removing the passivated and stripped substrate from the chamber.

A process for passivating a substrate with etchant byproducts thereon, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing the substrate into a vacuum chamber;
• (b) introducing a process gas into the vacuum chamber, the process gas comprising water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen, the ratio of the volumetric flow of water vapor to the combined volumetric flow of oxygen and nitrogen ranging from about 1:2 to about 2:1;
• and
• (c) forming a plasma from the process gas for a sufficient time to passivate the etchant byproducts on the substrate.

A process for simultaneously stripping and passivating a substrate with remnant resist and etchant byproducts thereon, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing the substrate into a vacuum chamber;
• (b) introducing a process gas into the vacuum chamber, the process gas comprising water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen, the ratio of the volumetric flow of water vapor to the combined volumetric flow of oxygen and nitrogen ranging from about 1:4 to about 1:40;
• and
• (c) forming a plasma from the process gas to passivate the etchant byproducts, and strip the remnant resist, on the substrate.

A process for inhibiting corrosion of a substrate having etchant byproducts thereon, comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing the substrate into a vacuum chamber;
• (b) forming an amine vapor;
• and
• (c) introducing the amine vapor into the vacuum chamber for adsorping the amine vapor onto the substrate, the adsorbed amine substantially inhibiting corrosion of the substrate when the substrate is exposed to the atmosphere,
• wherein the amine comprises (R.sub.x).sub.3 --N, where at least one R.sub.x is an alkyl moiety and the other R.sub.x are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl moieties, and
• wherein the vapor pressure of the amine is sufficiently high that at least a portion of the amine is gaseous in the vacuum chamber and sufficiently low that at least a portion of the amine is adsorbed onto the substrate.

A process for stripping and passivating a substrate with remnant resist and etchant byproducts thereon, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing the substrate into a vacuum chamber maintained at a pressure of about 1 Torr to about 100 Torr;
• (b) passivating etchant byproducts on the substrate by introducing a passivating gas into the vacuum chamber and forming a plasma from the passivating gas;
• (c) before or after step (b), stripping resist from the substrate by introducing a stripping gas into the vacuum chamber and forming a plasma from the stripping gas;
• (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) at least once in the same order that steps (b) and (c) were done;
• and
• (e) inhibiting corrosion of the substrate by introducing amine vapor into the vacuum chamber for adsorping the amine vapor onto the substrate, the adsorbed amine substantially inhibiting corrosion of the substrate when the substrate is exposed to the atmosphere,
• wherein the amine comprises (R.sub.x).sub.3 --N, where at least one R.sub.x is an alkyl moiety and the other R.sub.x are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl moieties, and
• wherein the vapor pressure of the amine is sufficiently high that at least a portion of the amine is gaseous in the vacuum chamber and is sufficiently low that at least a portion of the amine is adsorbed onto the substrate.

A process for stripping, passivating, and inhibiting corrosion of a substrate with remnant resist and etchant byproducts on a substrate, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing the substrate into a vacuum chamber at pressure ranging from about 1 Torr to about 100 Torr;
• (b) simultaneously passivating etchant byproducts and stripping remnant resist on the substrate by (i) introducing a process gas into the vacuum chamber, the process gas comprising water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen, the ratio of the volumetric flow of the water vapor to the combined volumetric flow of oxygen and nitrogen ranging from about 1:4 to about 1:40, and (ii) forming a plasma from the process gas;
• (c) inhibiting corrosion of the substrate by introducing amine vapor into the vacuum chamber for adsorbing amine onto the substrate, the adsorbed amine substantially inhibiting corrosion of the substrate when the substrate is exposed to the atmosphere,
• wherein the amine comprises (R.sub.x).sub.3 --N, where at least one R.sub.x is an alkyl moiety and the other R.sub.x are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl moieties, and
• wherein the vapor pressure of the amine is sufficiently high that at least a portion of the amine is gaseous in the vacuum chamber and is sufficiently low that at least a portion of the amine is adsorbed onto the substrate.

A process for stripping, passivating, and inhibiting corrosion of a substrate with remnant resist and etchant byproducts thereon, the process comprising the steps of:

• (a) placing the substrate into a vacuum chamber at pressure ranging from about 1 Torr to about 100 Torr;
• (b) passivating etchant byproduct on the substrate by introducing a process gas into the vacuum chamber and forming a plasma from the process gas, the process gas comprising water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen, the ratio of the volumetric flow of water vapor to the combined volumetric flow of oxygen and nitrogen ranging from about 1:2 to about 2:1;
• (c) stripping remnant resist from the substrate by introducing a stripping gas into the vacuum chamber and forming a plasma from the stripping gas;
• and
• (d) inhibiting corrosion of the substrate by introducing amine vapor into the vacuum chamber for adsorping amine onto the substrate, the adsorbed amine substantially inhibiting corrosion of the substrate when the substrate is exposed to the atmosphere,
• wherein the amine comprises (R.sub.x).sub.3 --N, where at least one R.sub.x is an alkyl moiety and the other R.sub.x are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and alkyl moieties, and
• wherein the vapor pressure of the amine is sufficiently high that at least a portion of the amine is gaseous in the vacuum chamber and is sufficiently low that at least a portion of the amine is adsorbed onto the substrate.