Plasma clean method for deposition chamber
AssigneeNovellus Systems, Inc.
InventorsZhiyuan Fang, Pramod Subramonium, Jon Henri, Keith Fox
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Improved methods and apparatuses for removing residue from the interior surfaces of the deposition reactor are provided. The methods involve increasing availability of cleaning reagent radicals inside the deposition chamber by generating cleaning reagent radicals in a remote plasma generator and then further delivering in-situ plasma energy while the cleaning reagent mixture is introduced into the deposition chamber. Certain embodiments involve a multi-stage process including a stage in which the cleaning reagent mixture is introduced at a high pressure (e.g., about 0.6 Torr or more) and a stage the cleaning reagent mixture is introduced at a low pressure (e.g., about 0.6 Torr or less).
Claims16
A method of cleaning a residue from interior surfaces of a semiconductor deposition chamber, the method comprising:
- a first stage comprising:
- (a) introducing a first set of one or more cleaning reagents into a remote plasma generator, the first set of one or more cleaning reagents comprising a first amount of an oxygen containing compound and a first amount of a fluorine containing compound;
- (b) generating activated species from the introduced cleaning reagents in the remote plasma generator by delivering a first plasma energy to the cleaning reagents;
- (c) introducing a cleaning mixture into the deposition chamber, wherein the cleaning mixture comprises the activated species;
- and
- (d) exposing the interior surfaces of the deposition chamber to the cleaning mixture while delivering a second plasma energy by applying a power to the deposition chamber to the cleaning mixture for at least one period of time from an in-situ plasma generator;
- a second stage comprising:
- (f) introducing a second set of one or more cleaning reagents into the remote plasma generator, the second set of one or more cleaning reagents comprising a second amount of an oxygen containing compound and a second amount of a fluorine containing compound, wherein a ratio of the first amount of the fluorine containing compound to the first amount of the oxygen containing compound is less than a ratio of the second amount of the fluorine containing compound to the second amount of the oxygen containing compound;
- wherein the deposition chamber pressure during the first stage is greater than the deposition chamber pressure during the second stage, and wherein the applied power in the first stage is less than the applied power during the second stage such that the second plasma energy in the first stage is less than the second energy during the second stage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.