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AssigneeAir Products and Chemicals, Inc.
InventorsDavid A. Roberts, Raymond N. Vrtis, Arthur K. Hochberg, Robert G. Bryant, John G. Langan
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The present invention is directed to the etching of a material selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, boronphosphorus silicate glass, fluorosilicate glass, siliconoxynitride, tungsten, tungsten silicide and mixtures thereof under plasma etch conditions, particularly for cleaning operations to remove silicon dioxide or silicon nitride from the walls and other surfaces within a reaction chamber of a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition reactor. The etching chemicals used in the etch process are trifluoroacetic acid and it derivatives, such as; trifluoroacetic anhydride, trifluoromethyl ester of trifluoroacetic acid and trifluoroacetic acid amide and mixtures thereof.
A method for etching a material selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, boronphosphorus silicate glass, fluorosilicate glass, siliconoxynitride, tungsten, tungsten silicide and mixtures thereof under plasma reaction conditions with an etching chemical, the improvement comprising using an etching chemical selected from the group consisting of trifluoroacetic acid, trifluoroacetic anhydride, trifluoromethyl ester of trifluoroacetic acid, trifluoroacetic acid amide and mixtures thereof.
A method for etching a material selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, boronphosphorus silicate glass, fluorosilicate glass, siliconoxynitride, tungsten, tungsten silicide and mixtures thereof under plasma reaction conditions of approximately 400-2000 standard cubic centimeters per minute flow of etching chemical, an oxygen flow of approximately 400-2500 standard cubic centimeters per minute, a plasma power of approximately 600-3500 watts, a pressure of approximately 0.7-8 torr and a reactor temperature of approximately 350.degree.-420.degree. C. using trifluoroacetic anhydride as said etchant chemical in a plasma reactor chamber.
A method for etching a material selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, boronphosphorus silicate glass, fluorosilicate glass, siliconoxynitride, tungsten, tungsten silicide and mixtures thereof under plasma reaction conditions of approximately 1600-2000 standard cubic centimeters per minute flow of etching chemical, an oxygen flow of approximately 1600-2500 standard cubic centimeters per minute, a plasma power of approximately 2500-3500 watts, a pressure of approximately 0.7-2.7 torr and a reactor temperature of approximately 400.degree. C. using trifluoroacetic anhydride as said etching chemical in a plasma reactor chamber.
A method for etching a material selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, boronphosphorus silicate glass, fluorosilicate glass, siliconoxynitride, tungsten, tungsten silicide and mixtures thereof under plasma reaction conditions of approximately 400-1200 standard cubic centimeters per minute flow of etching chemical, an oxygen flow of approximately 400-1200 standard cubic centimeters per minute, a plasma power of approximately 600-1200 watts, a pressure of approximately 1.5-8 torr and a reactor temperature of approximately 400.degree. C. using trifluoroacetic anhydride as said etching chemical in a plasma reactor chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.