APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR LOW-K DIELECTRIC REPAIR
First Claim
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1. A vacuum chamber module for repair of plasma-damaged low-k dielectric thin films, the vacuum chamber module comprising:
- a vacuum chamber including a pedestal to support a workpiece, the pedestal surrounded by chamber walls;
a vapor cabinet mechanically coupled to the vacuum chamber by a support frame, the vapor cabinet containing;
a flash vaporizer coupled to a carrier gas mass flow controller (MFC) and coupled to a low-k repair liquid chemical flow meter (LFM); and
a gas stick coupling the flash vaporizer to the low-k repair chamber to inject a vapor-phase low-k repair chemical into the repair chamber, wherein the pedestal, the chamber walls, and the gas stick are controllable to a temperature of at least 60°
C.
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Abstract
A method, a system and a computer readable medium for integrated in-vacuo repair of low-k dielectric thin films damaged by etch and/or strip processing. A repair chamber is integrated onto a same platform as a plasma etch and/or strip chamber to repair a low-k dielectric thin film without breaking vacuum between the damage event and the repair event. UV radiation may be provided on the integrated etch/repair platform in any combination of before, after, or during the low-k repair treatment to increase efficacy of the repair treatment and/or stability of repair.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A vacuum chamber module for repair of plasma-damaged low-k dielectric thin films, the vacuum chamber module comprising:
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a vacuum chamber including a pedestal to support a workpiece, the pedestal surrounded by chamber walls; a vapor cabinet mechanically coupled to the vacuum chamber by a support frame, the vapor cabinet containing; a flash vaporizer coupled to a carrier gas mass flow controller (MFC) and coupled to a low-k repair liquid chemical flow meter (LFM); and a gas stick coupling the flash vaporizer to the low-k repair chamber to inject a vapor-phase low-k repair chemical into the repair chamber, wherein the pedestal, the chamber walls, and the gas stick are controllable to a temperature of at least 60°
C. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A plasma processing platform for integrated in-vacuo repair of plasma-damaged low-k dielectric thin films, the platform comprising:
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a plasma etch chamber module; and a low-k repair chamber module coupled to the plasma etch chamber module by a mainframe transport module to transport a workpiece etched in the plasma etch chamber module to the low-k repair chamber under vacuum, wherein the low-k repair chamber further comprises; a vacuum chamber including a pedestal to support a workpiece, the pedestal surrounded by chamber walls; a vapor cabinet mechanically coupled to the vacuum chamber by a support frame, the vapor cabinet containing a flash vaporizer, a carrier gas mass flow controller (MFC) coupled to the flash vaporizer, and a low-k repair liquid chemical flow meter (LFM) coupled to the flash vaporizer; and a gas stick coupling the flash vaporizer to the low-k repair chamber to inject a vapor-phase low-k repair chemical into the repair chamber, wherein the pedestal, the chamber walls, and the gas stick are controllable to a temperature of at least 60°
C. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method for repair of plasma-damaged low-k dielectric thin films, the method comprising:
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loading a workpiece into a vacuum processing platform, the workpiece including a low-k dielectric film having a dielectric constant below 2.5; exposing the low-k film to a plasma in an etch chamber of the platform; transporting, under vacuum, the workpiece from the etch chamber to a low-k repair chamber of the platform; performing a UV treatment of the low-k dielectric film by exposing the workpiece to UV radiation source external to the low-k repair chamber; performing a silylation treatment of the low-k dielectric film by exposing the workpiece to a vapor phase low-k repair chemistry in the low-k repair chamber; and unloading the workpiece from the vacuum processing platform. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification