A-SI SEASONING EFFECT TO IMPROVE SIN RUN-TO-RUN UNIFORMITY

• US 20120040536A1
• Filed: 08/10/2011
• Published: 02/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Applied Materials Incorporated
• Inventors: Furuta, Gaku, Choi, Soo Young, Park, Beom Soo, Choi, Young-jin, Kenji, Omori
• Granted Patent: US 8,999,847 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 438/791
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/345 Silicon nitride
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4404 Coatings or surface treatment on the inside of the reaction chamber or on parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/0217 the material being a silicon nitride not containing oxygen, e.g. SixNy or SixByNz H01L21/02126 and H01L21/0214 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02274 in the presence of a plasma [PECVD]
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 21/02299 pre-treatment

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods for depositing a nitrogen-containing material on large-sized substrates disposed in a processing chamber. In one embodiment, a method includes processing a batch of substrates within a processing chamber to deposit a nitrogen-containing material on a substrate from the batch of substrates, and performing a seasoning process at predetermined intervals during processing the batch of substrates to deposit a conductive seasoning layer over a surface of a chamber component disposed in the processing chamber. The chamber component may include a gas distribution plate fabricated from a bare aluminum without anodizing. In one example, the conductive seasoning layer may include amorphous silicon, doped amorphous silicon, doped silicon, doped polysilicon, doped silicon carbide, or the like.

Claims

1. A method for depositing a nitrogen-containing material on a substrate, comprising:

processing a batch of substrates within a processing chamber to deposit a nitrogen-containing material on a substrate from the batch of substrates; and

performing a seasoning process at predetermined intervals during processing the batch of substrates to deposit a conductive seasoning layer over a surface of a chamber component disposed in the processing chamber.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to processing the batch of substrates, depositing a silicon nitride seasoning layer over the surface of the chamber component disposed in the processing chamber.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the nitrogen-containing material comprises silicon nitride material.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the conductive seasoning layer comprises amorphous silicon, doped amorphous silicon, doped silicon, doped polysilicon, doped silicon carbide, or the like.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the seasoning process is performed once about every 3 substrates to about 6 substrates.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate has a surface area of about 90,000 cm² or greater.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the chamber component comprising a gas distribution plate fabricated from a bare aluminum without anodizing.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after processing the batch of substrates, performing a chamber cleaning process using an in-situ dry cleaning process or a remote plasma cleaning process.

9. A method for depositing a nitrogen-containing material on a substrate placed in a processing chamber, comprising:

seasoning a surface of a chamber component disposed in a processing region of the processing chamber by depositing a silicon nitride seasoning layer over the surface of the chamber component; and

processing a substrate from a batch of substrates within the processing chamber using a plasma enhanced CVD (PECVD) technique, comprising;

depositing a nitrogen-containing material on 1^st substrate to N^th substrate by introducing a nitrogen-containing gas and a silicon-containing gas into the processing chamber;

seasoning the surface of the chamber component disposed in the processing region of the processing chamber at predetermined intervals by depositing a conductive seasoning layer over the surface of the chamber component; and

depositing a nitrogen-containing material on N+1^th to N+N^th substrate by introducing a nitrogen-containing gas and a silicon-containing gas into the processing chamber.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the nitrogen-containing material comprises silicon nitride material.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the seasoning process performed during the batch process is performed once about every 3 substrates to about 6 substrates.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

after processing the batch of substrates, performing a chamber cleaning process using an in-situ dry cleaning process or a remote plasma cleaning process.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the chamber component comprises a gas distribution plate fabricated from a bare aluminum without anodizing.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the conductive seasoning layer comprises amorphous silicon, doped amorphous silicon, doped silicon, doped polysilicon, doped silicon carbide, or the like.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the substrate has a surface area of about 90,000 cm² or greater.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the N is an integral number ranging between about 3 to about 12.

17. A method for depositing a nitrogen-containing material on a substrate in a processing chamber, comprising:

performing a first seasoning process to deposit a first seasoning layer over a surface of a chamber component disposed in the processing chamber;

processing a batch of substrates within the processing chamber to deposit a nitrogen-containing material on a substrate from the batch of substrates; and

performing a second seasoning process at predetermined intervals during processing the batch of substrates to deposit a second seasoning layer over the surface of the chamber component disposed in the processing chamber.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the chamber component comprises a gas distribution plate fabricated from a bare aluminum without anodizing.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the first seasoning layer comprises silicon nitride material.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the second seasoning layer comprises amorphous silicon, doped amorphous silicon, doped silicon, doped polysilicon, doped silicon carbide, or the like.