Method for removing a residue from a substrate using supercritical carbon dioxide processing

• US 20060102204A1
• Filed: 11/12/2004
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation, Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation, Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Ramachandrarao, Vijayakumar S., Clark, Shan C., Jacobson, Gunilla, Palmer, Bentley, Iyer, Subramanyam A., Turkot, Robert
• Application Number:
  US10/987,594
• Publication Number:
  US 20060102204A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 134/26
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 7/0021 by liquid gases or supercritical fluids
• CPC Class Codes: C23G 5/00 Cleaning or de-greasing metallic material by other methods; Apparatus for cleaning or de-greasing metallic material with organic solvents
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/427 using plasma means only
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02063 the processing being the formation of vias or contact holes
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02101 only involving supercritical fluids
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/31133 by chemical means

Abstract

A method for cleaning a substrate containing a micro-feature having a residue thereon. The method includes treating the substrate with a supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution containing a peroxide to remove the residue from the micro-feature, where the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution is maintained at a temperature between about 35° C. and about 80° C. According an embodiment of the invention, the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution can further contain ozone. According to another embodiment of the invention, the substrate can be pre-treated with an ozone processing environment.

Claims

1. A method of cleaning a substrate in a film removal system, the method comprising:

providing a substrate containing a micro-feature having a residue thereon; and

treating the substrate with a supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution containing a peroxide to remove the residue from the micro-feature, where the temperature of the carbon dioxide cleaning solution is maintained between about 35°

C. and about 80°

C.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the residue comprises a post-etch residue.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the post-etch residue comprises photoresist remnants and etch residues.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the micro-feature comprises a porous dielectric layer, a carbon-containing dielectric layer, or an ultra-low-k dielectric layer, or a combination of two or more thereof.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the carbon-containing dielectric layer comprises a SiCOH layer.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution is maintained at a temperature between about 60°

C. and about 70°

C.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the peroxide comprises hydrogen peroxide or an organic peroxide.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the organic peroxide comprises 2-butanone peroxide, 2,4-pentanedione peroxide, peroxyacetic acid, benzoyl peroxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, or m-chloroperbenzoic acid, or a combination of two or more thereof.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution further comprises an acid.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the acid comprises hydrogen fluoride, trifluoroacidic acid, pyridine-hydrogen fluoride, ammonium fluoride, nitric acid, or phosphoric acid, or a combination of two or more thereof.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

rinsing the treated substrate with a supercritical carbon dioxide rinsing solution containing an organic solvent.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the organic solvent comprises an alcohol, a ketone, or both.

13. The method according to claim 12, where the organic solvent comprises methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, benzyl alcohol, acetone, butylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, dimethylsulfoxide, γ

-butyrolactone, dimethyl formamide, dimethyl acetamide, or ethyl lactate, or a combination of two or more thereof.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising treating the rinsed substrate with a second supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution containing an organic solvent and an acid containing fluorine atoms.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the second supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution comprises dimethyl acetamide and pyridine-HF.

16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, prior to treating the substrate with a supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution:

pre-treating the substrate with an ozone processing environment.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the pre-treating comprises maintaining a process pressure of between about 5 psig and about 100 psig.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein the pre-treating comprises maintaining a process pressure between about 15 psig and about 40 psig.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein the pre-treating comprises maintaining the substrate at a temperature between about 20°

C. and about 400°

C.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the pre-treating comprises exposing the substrate to the ozone processing environment for a time period between about 60 sec and about 300 sec.

21. The method according to claim 16, wherein the treating is performed in a supercritical fluid processing system and the pre-treating is performed in an ozone processing system operatively coupled to the supercritical fluid processing system.

22. The method according to claim 16, wherein both the pre-treating and the treating are performed in a supercritical fluid processing system.

23. A method of cleaning a substrate in a film removal system, the method comprising:

providing a substrate in a process chamber, the substrate containing a micro-feature having a residue thereon;

generating ozone in the process chamber;

forming a supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution containing a supercritical carbon dioxide, a peroxide, and ozone in the process chamber; and

treating the substrate with the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution to remove the residue from the micro-feature, where the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution is maintained at a temperature between about 35°

C. and about 80°

C.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the residue comprises a post-etch residue.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the post-etch residue comprises photoresist remnants and etch residues.

26. The method according to claim 23, wherein the micro-feature comprises a porous dielectric layer, a carbon-containing dielectric layer, or an ultra-low-k dielectric layer, or a combination of two or more thereof.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the carbon-containing dielectric layer comprises a SiCOH layer.

28. The method according to claim 23, wherein the generating comprises forming an ozone processing environment having a process pressure of between about 5 psig and about 100 psig.

29. The method according to claim 23, wherein the generating comprises forming an ozone processing environment having a process pressure between about 15 psig and about 40 psig.

30. The method according to claim 23, wherein the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution is maintained at a temperature between about 60°

C. and about 70°

C.

31. The method according to claim 23, wherein the peroxide comprises hydrogen peroxide or an organic peroxide.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the organic peroxide comprises 2-butanone peroxide, 2,4-pentanedione peroxide, peroxyacetic acid, benzoyl peroxide, t-butyl hydroperoxide, or m-chloroperbenzoic acid, or a combination of two or more thereof.

33. The method according to claim 23, wherein the supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution further comprises an acid.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the acid comprises hydrogen fluoride, trifluoroacidic acid, pyridine-hydrogen fluoride, ammonium fluoride, nitric acid, or phosphoric acid, or a combination of two or more thereof.

35. The method according to claim 23, further comprising rinsing the treated substrate with a supercritical carbon dioxide rinsing solution containing an organic solvent.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein the organic solvent comprises an alcohol, a ketone, or a combination of both.

37. The method according to claim 35, wherein the organic solvent comprises methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, benzyl alcohol, acetone, butylene carbonate, propylene carbonate, dimethylsulfoxide, γ

-butyrolactone, dimethyl formamide, dimethyl acetamide, or ethyl lactate, or a combination of two or more thereof.

38. The method according to claim 35, further comprising treating the rinsed substrate to second supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution containing an organic solvent and an acid containing fluorine atoms.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein the second supercritical carbon dioxide cleaning solution comprises dimethyl acetamide and pyridine-HF.