Method and system for in-situ cleaning of semiconductor manufacturing equipment using combination chemistries

• US 6,544,345 B1
• Filed: 07/12/2000
• Issued: 04/08/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ASML US Incorporated (ASML Holding NV)
• Original Assignee: ASML US Incorporated (ASML Holding NV)
• Inventors: Ingle, Nitin K., Chatham, Robert H. III, Yuan, Zheng, Mayer, Bruce E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Markoff, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US09/615,035
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• Field of Search: 134/1, 134/1.1, 134/1.2, 134/1.3, 134/2, 134/3, 134/22.1, 134/22.18, 134/26, 134/28, 134/30, 438/905
• US Class Current: 134/28
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 438/905 Cleaning of reaction chamber

Abstract

An in-situ, two step or combination, method and system for cleaning of semiconductor manufacturing equipment is provided. The present invention utilizes two separate fluorine based chemistries in each step which selectively target the removal of different types of deposits that build up on the equipment surfaces. In particular, powdery and dense film-like solid deposits, as well as a combination of both, build up on the chamber surfaces and associated equipment components. These two types of deposits are removed selectively by the present invention. Such selective targeting of combined cleaning steps, yields an improved cleaning technique. In another embodiment, the method and system of the present invention provides for cleaning of the chamber and associated equipment using separate steps with different chemicals, and then performing these steps in a variety of desired sequences.

Claims

1. A method of cleaning deposits in semiconductor manufacturing equipment wherein there are different types of deposits including powdery and dense film-like deposits, characterized in that the equipment is cleaned using two separate steps, each of said steps using different fluorine containing chemicals to selectively clean the different deposits.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the equipment is used to deposit silicon containing films and refractory metal films.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the silicon containing films are selected from the group of SiO_x B_ySiO_x, P_zSiO_x, B_yP_zSiO_x, SiN_x, SiC_x, W_xSi and amorphous or polycrystalline silicon, and the refractory metal films are selected from the group of W, Ta, Mo, Co, Ti and Ni.

4. The method of claim 1 where the fluorine containing chemicals are selected from the group of:

hydrogen fluoride (HF), atomic fluorine (atomic-F), anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (aHF), and ClF₃.

5. The method of claim 4 where the atomic-F is generated using plasma generator.

6. The method of claim 4 where the atomic-F generated from any one of:

NF₃, CF₄, C₂F₆, C₃F₈, SF₆F₂, or CIF₃.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the two separate steps uses anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (aHF) to selectively clean the powdery deposits.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the two separate steps uses atomic-F to selectively clean the dense film-like deposits.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the method is carried out at a pressure of less than or equal to about 100 Torr.

10. A method of in-situ cleaning a chamber containing both powdery and dense film-like silicate deposits, comprising the steps of:

first cleaning one of the powdery type or dense film-type deposits with a first fluorine containing cleaning gas that etches primarily the one type of deposit; and

second cleaning the other of the powdery type or dense film type deposit with a second fluorine containing cleaning gas that etches primarily the other type of deposit.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the silicate deposits may include any one of:

SiO_x B_ySiO_x, P_zSiO_x, B_yP_zSiO_x, SiN_x, SiC_x, W_xSi, amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon.

12. The method of claim 10 where the first and second fluorine containing chemical is selected from the group of:

hydrogen fluoride (HF), atomic fluorine (atomic-F), anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (aHF), and ClF₃.

13. The method of claim 12 where the atomic-F generated from any one of:

NF₃, CF₄, C₂F₆, C₃F₈, SF₆, F₂, or CIF₃.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the first and second fluorine containing gases are independently aHF and atomic-F.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the first fluorine containing gas is aHF and is used to clean primarily the powdery deposits.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the second fluorine containing gas is atomic-F and is used to clean primarily the dense film-like deposits.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein any one of, or both of, the first and second cleaning steps are repeated.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein the first and second cleaning steps are carried out at a pressure of less than or equal to about 100 Torr.

19. The method of claim 10 wherein one of the first or second cleaning steps is carried out at a pressure of about 5 Torr.

20. The method of claim 10 wherein the first and second cleaning steps are carried out at a temperature in the range of about 400 to 600°

C.

21. The method of claim 10 wherein the first and second cleaning steps are carried out independently for a time in the range of about 1 to 60 minutes.