Apparatus and method for preventing etch chamber contamination
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorCheng Chih Lin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and a method for preventing particle contamination in a plasma etch chamber equipped with a middle chamber by residual etchant gas is provided. In the apparatus, a bypass exhaust conduit is provided for connecting between a middle chamber cavity and a main chamber cavity such that when a pump means is turned on to evacuate the main chamber cavity, any residual etchant gas in the middle chamber cavity can be rapidly evacuated without the dancer of causing metal corrosion in the middle chamber cavity. Any chamber contamination caused by the metal corrosion can thus be avoided.
Claims9
A plasma etch chamber comprising:
- a main chamber having a first cavity, a wafer platform and a spent etchant gas outlet in fluid communication with a pump means for exhausting a spent etchant gas;
- a middle chamber having a second cavity therein situated inside said first cavity and suspended over said wafer platform, said first cavity in said main chamber has a volume that is at least twice the volume of said second cavity in said middle chamber;
- said middle chamber being formed by a top ceramic plate, a bottom ceramic plate and a metal sidewall;
- said second cavity being in fluid communication with said first cavity through an apertured opening situated in said bottom ceramic plate for feeding an etchant gas plasma into said first cavity, said second cavity being in fluid communication with an etchant gas source through an etchant gas inlet situated in said top ceramic plate;
- and
- a bypass conduit providing fluid communication between said second cavity in said middle chamber through an opening in said top ceramic plate and said first cavity in said main chamber such that any residual etchant gas in said second cavity is evacuated by said pump means through said first cavity without causing corrosion in said metal sidewall of said middle chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.