Systems and methods for internal surface conditioning assessment in plasma processing equipment
First Claim
1. A method of assessing surface conditioning of one or more internal surfaces of a plasma processing system, the method comprising:
- introducing one or more plasma source gases within a plasma generation cavity of the plasma processing system, the plasma generation cavity being bounded at least in part by the one or more internal surfaces;
applying power across electrodes of the plasma processing system to ignite a plasma with the plasma source gases within the plasma generation cavity;
capturing optical emissions from the plasma with an optical probe that is disposed adjacent the plasma generation cavity and is oriented such that the captured optical emissions are not affected by interaction of the plasma with a workpiece; and
monitoring one or more emission peaks of the captured optical emissions to assess the surface conditioning of the one or more internal surfaces.
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Abstract
In an embodiment, a plasma source includes a first electrode, configured for transfer of one or more plasma source gases through first perforations therein; an insulator, disposed in contact with the first electrode about a periphery of the first electrode; and a second electrode, disposed with a periphery of the second electrode against the insulator such that the first and second electrodes and the insulator define a plasma generation cavity. The second electrode is configured for movement of plasma products from the plasma generation cavity therethrough toward a process chamber. A power supply provides electrical power across the first and second electrodes to ignite a plasma with the one or more plasma source gases in the plasma generation cavity to produce the plasma products. One of the first electrode, the second electrode and the insulator includes a port that provides an optical signal from the plasma.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of assessing surface conditioning of one or more internal surfaces of a plasma processing system, the method comprising:
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introducing one or more plasma source gases within a plasma generation cavity of the plasma processing system, the plasma generation cavity being bounded at least in part by the one or more internal surfaces; applying power across electrodes of the plasma processing system to ignite a plasma with the plasma source gases within the plasma generation cavity; capturing optical emissions from the plasma with an optical probe that is disposed adjacent the plasma generation cavity and is oriented such that the captured optical emissions are not affected by interaction of the plasma with a workpiece; and monitoring one or more emission peaks of the captured optical emissions to assess the surface conditioning of the one or more internal surfaces. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of maintaining process stability in a plasma processing system, comprising:
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loading a workpiece into a processing chamber; generating a hydrogen-containing plasma within an upstream plasma generation cavity, wherein; one or more internal surfaces bounding the upstream plasma generation cavity are coated with a refractory material, and one of the internal surfaces is an upstream face of a perforated plate; passing plasma products of the hydrogen-containing plasma downstream through the perforated plate toward the processing chamber to process the workpiece; generating a fluorine-containing plasma within the upstream plasma generation cavity to remove at least a portion of hydrogen from the hydrogen-containing plasma that is adhered to the refractory material; and capturing optical emissions from the fluorine-containing plasma with an optical probe that is disposed adjacent the upstream plasma generation cavity, and is oriented such that the optical probe has an effective view that is limited to optical emissions resulting from the fluorine-containing plasma, and interactions of those emissions with surfaces of the upstream plasma generation cavity. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification