In-situ method of cleaning a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition chamber
AssigneesSharp Laboratories of America, Inc., Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsTue Nguyen, Lawrence J. Charneski
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Abstract
A method is provided to clean the interior surfaces, and especially the wafer chuck, of a metal vapor deposition chamber. The method takes advantage of the fact that the chamber controls the introduction and removal of chemical atmospheres, and the temperature inside the chamber. The method first oxidizes the surface to be cleaned with an oxygen plasma, and then removes the oxide products as a vapor with the use of Hhfac. The oxidization is controlled through the use of oxygen atmosphere, temperature, and radio frequency power levels. In this manner, the wafer chuck is cleaned of deposition byproducts without disassembly of the chamber.
Claims21
A method of cleaning metal deposition byproducts from interior surfaces of a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) in a CVD chamber without an integrated circuit substrate positioned therein, oxidizing the metal deposition byproducts on the interior CVD chamber surfaces to be cleaned;
- b) introducing hydrolyzed hexafluoroacetylacetonate (Hhfac) vapor into the chamber to volatilize the metal deposition byproducts oxidized in Step a);
- and
- c) removing the metal deposition byproducts volatilized in Step b), whereby the interior surfaces of the CVD chamber are cleaned without disassembly of the chamber.
In an environmental chamber for metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on Integrated Circuit (IC) surfaces, a method for in-situ cleaning of metal deposition byproducts from a wafer chuck surface, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) introducing an atmosphere including oxygen into the chamber to oxidize the metal deposition byproducts on the heated surface;
- b) establishing a vacuum in the chamber to remove the oxygen atmosphere introduced in Step a);
- c) introducing hydrolyzed hexafluoroacetylacetonate (Hhfac) vapor into the chamber to volatilize the metal deposition byproducts oxidized in Step a);
- and
- d) establishing a vacuum in the chamber to remove the metal deposition byproducts volatilized in Step a), whereby wafer chuck surfaces are cleaned without disassembly of the chamber.
A method for cleaning a thin metal film from a surface comprising the steps of:
- a) generating a high flux density of oxygen ions impinging and oxidizing the thin metal film from the surface to be cleaned;
- and
- b) volatilize the oxidized thin film byproducts created in Step a), whereby the thin metal film is oxidized and, then, removed as a vapor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.