DETECTION OF ARCING EVENTS IN WAFER PLASMA PROCESSING THROUGH MONITORING OF TRACE GAS CONCENTRATIONS

• US 20120175060A1
• Filed: 03/16/2012
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lam Research Corporation
• Inventors: Hudson, Eric, Fischer, Andreas
• Application Number:
  US13/422,670
• Publication Number:
  US 20120175060A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 156/345.24
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32935 Monitoring and controlling tubes by information coming from the object and/or discharge
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32972 Spectral analysis

Abstract

A method of detecting substrate arcing in a semiconductor plasma processing apparatus is provided. A substrate is placed on a substrate support in a reaction chamber of a plasma processing apparatus. Process gas is introduced into the reaction chamber. A plasma is generated from the process gas and the substrate is processed with the plasma. Intensities of real-time spectrometry signals of selected gas species produced in the reaction chamber during plasma processing are monitored. The selected gas species are generated by a substrate arcing event. The arcing event is detected when the intensities are above a threshold value.

Claims

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11. A plasma processing apparatus comprising:

a substrate holder for supporting a substrate within an interior of a reaction chamber;

a gas supply supplying process gas to the interior of the reaction chamber using a gas distribution member;

a power source supplying energy into the interior of the reaction chamber and energizing the process gas into a plasma state for processing the substrate;

a gas sensor adapted to monitor gas species in the reaction chamber during plasma processing to identify gas species produced by substrate arcing; and

an alarm to generate a warning signal when gas species produced by substrate arcing are identified.

12. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 11, wherein the gas sensor is a residual gas analyzer (RGA) mass spectrometer, an inductively coupled plasma optical emission (ICP-OE) spectrometer, an infrared absorption spectrometer or a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer.

13. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 11, wherein the gas sensor is a residual gas analyzer (RGA) mass spectrometer adapted to monitor a real-time signal from mass spectrometry of processes gases during plasma processing and the gas species produced by substrate arcing are decomposition products of an organic photoresist.

14. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 11, wherein the plasma processing apparatus is a plasma etcher adapted to semiconductors, metals or dielectrics;

or a deposition chamber adapted to deposit conductive or dielectric material.

15. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 11, wherein the gas distribution member is a showerhead.

16. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

a sampling structure adapted to collect gas species from the reaction chamber during plasma processing; and

a gas line adapted to transfer gas species to the gas sensor.

17. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 16, wherein the sampling structure is a channel in the showerhead or a tube adjacent to the substrate holder;

and the gas line is heated.

18. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 11, wherein the gas distribution member is a showerhead electrode;

and the power source is a radio-frequency (RF) power source.

19. The plasma processing apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a plasma confinement ring assembly located outwardly of the showerhead electrode and the substrate holder.