METHOD OF SELF-CLEANING OF CARBON-BASED FILM

• US 20090090382A1
• Filed: 10/05/2007
• Published: 04/09/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: ASM Japan K.K. (ASM International NV)
• Original Assignee: ASM Japan K.K. (ASM International NV)
• Inventors: Morisada, Yoshinori, Goundar, Kamal Kishore, Satoh, Kiyoshi, Woo, Seongoh, Okura, Seiji
• Application Number:
  US11/868,437
• Publication Number:
  US 20090090382A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 134/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 7/0035 by radiant energy, e.g. UV, laser, light beam or the like
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4405 Cleaning of reactor or parts inside the reactor by using reactive gases

Abstract

A method of self-cleaning a plasma reactor upon depositing a carbon-based film on a substrate a pre-selected number of times, includes: (i) exciting oxygen gas and/or nitrogen oxide gas to generate a plasma; and (ii) exposing to the plasma a carbon-based film accumulated on an upper electrode provided in the reactor and a carbon-based film accumulated on an inner wall of the reactor.

Claims

1. A method of continuously forming carbon-based films on substrate, comprising:

(i) forming a carbon-based film on a substrate in a reactor a pre-selected number of times;

(ii) exciting a rare gas, an oxygen gas, and optionally an additive gas to generate a plasma for cleaning;

(iii) cleaning an inside of the reactor with the plasma to remove particles accumulated during step (i) on the inside of the reactor; and

(iv) repeating steps (i)-(iii) a pre-selected number of times.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (ii) comprises supplying the rare gas, the oxygen gas, and optionally the additive gas in a remote plasma unit.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (ii) is conducted in the reactor.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step (ii), the additive gas is used.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the additive gas is N₂ gas,

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the rare gas is Ar gas.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen gas is O₂ gas.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step (ii), a flow rate of the oxygen gas is set at 1,000 to 30,000 sccm.

9. The method according to claim 2, wherein in step (ii), applied plasma power of the remote plasma unit is 1,000 W to 15,000 W.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step (ii), a flow rate of the rare gas is set at 1,000 to 20,000 sccm.

11. The method according to claim 4, wherein in step (ii), a flow rate of the additive gas is set at 50 to 20,000 sccm.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein in step (ii), a flow rate of the oxygen gas is set at a value which is 40% to 80% of total flow rates of the rare gas, the oxygen gas, and optionally the additive gas.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein in steps (i) to (iii), a susceptor on which the substrate is placed is controlled at a temperature of about 300°

C. or higher.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a priority area of cleaning inside the reactor prior to step (ii).

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein step (iii) comprises controlling pressure inside the reactor according to the priority area of cleaning.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein step (iii) comprises controlling pressure inside the reactor at about 100 Pa to about 500 Pa when the priority area of cleaning is an inner wall of the reactor.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein step (iii) comprises controlling pressure inside the reactor at about 400 Pa to about 800 Pa when the priority area of cleaning is an upper electrode.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein step (iii) comprises controlling a gap between an upper electrode and a lower electrode according to the priority area of cleaning.

19. The method according to claim 14, further comprising selecting a cleaning gas including the oxygen gas and/or nitrogen oxide gas prior to step (ii) according to the priority area of cleaning.

20. The method according to claim 14, wherein step (iii) comprises a step for adjusting a ratio of a cleaning rate at an inner wall of the reactor to a cleaning rate at an upper electrode to 3/100 to 110/100 according to the priority area of cleaning.

21. The method according to claim 4, wherein the additive gas is N₂ gas and/or CO₂ gas.

22. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (ii) further comprises exciting a nitrogen oxide gas.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the nitrogen oxide gas is N₂O.

24. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (ii) further comprises exciting a reduction gas.

25. The method according to claim 1, wherein the carbon-based polymer film in step (i) is a carbon polymer film formed by:

vaporizing a hydrocarbon-containing liquid monomer (C_α

H_β

X_γ

, wherein α and

β

are natural numbers of 5 or more;

γ

is an integer including zero;

X is O, N or F) having a boiling point of about 20°

C. to about 350°

C. which is not substituted by a vinyl group or an acetylene group;

introducing said vaporized gas into a CVD reaction chamber inside which a substrate is placed; and

forming a hydrocarbon-containing polymer film on said substrate by plasma polymerization of said gas.