Chamber dry cleaning

• US 7,862,683 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2005
• Issued: 01/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Original Assignee: Tokyo Electron Limited
• Inventors: Fukiage, Noriaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Hassanzadeh; Parviz
• Assistant Examiner(s): DHINGRA, RAKESH KUMAR
• Application Number:
  US11/292,293
• Publication Number:
  US 20070128876A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,859 Days
• Field of Search: 118/715, 118/723.ME, 118/723.IR, 118/723.ER, 156/345.35, 438/727, 438/730
• US Class Current: 156/345.35
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4405 Cleaning of reactor or parts inside the reactor by using reactive gases
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/32357 Generation remote from the workpiece, e.g. down-stream
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/3244 Gas supply means

Abstract

An apparatus and method for improving the chamber dry cleaning of a PECVD system. The apparatus includes an annular gas ring with multiple outlets for introducing a cleaning gas into the process chamber, and the method includes using the gas ring to introduce a cleaning species from a remote plasma source into the processing chamber.

Claims

1. A substrate processing chamber comprising:

a chamber wall defining a substrate processing space;

an asymmetrical annular groove disposed around the inner wall of the processing chamber, wherein a remote plasma space is configured using the asymmetrical annular groove, the asymmetrical annular groove having a height and a depth used to configure the remote plasma space;

a baffle plate disposed in the asymmetrical annular groove, wherein the baffle plate is configured to divide the remote plasma space into an upstream region and a down stream region the baffle plate having a plurality of holes for controlling a plasma species flow;

an upper shield disposed between the processing space and the remote plasma space, wherein the upper shield comprises a number of supply holes configured to flow the remote plasma supply species from the down stream region into the processing space; and

a remote plasma source connected to the upstream region in the remote plasma space in the asymmetrical annular groove, the remote plasma source being configured for generating chamber cleaning species, the chamber cleaning species being introduced from the remote plasma source into the upstream region through the holes in the baffle plate to the down stream region and through the supply holes in the upper shield into the processing space to clean components of the processing chamber.

2. A substrate processing chamber of claim 1, wherein the asymmetrical annular groove is coupled to the chamber wall.

3. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing chamber includes a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process chamber.

4. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing chamber includes a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process chamber.

5. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing chamber comprises a substrate holder disposed therein which holds a substrate.

6. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source generates the chamber cleaning species using a fluorine-containing gas.

7. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 6, wherein the fluorine-containing gas flows at a rate ranging from approximately 0 sccm to approximately 5000 sccm.

8. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 6, wherein the fluorine-containing gas also includes an inert gas.

9. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 8, wherein the inert gas flows at a rate ranging from approximately 0 sccm to approximately 10000 sccm.

10. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 8, wherein the inert gas comprises Ar, He, Neon, Xenon or N₂, or a combination of two or more thereof.

11. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source generates the chamber cleaning species using a chlorine-containing gas.

12. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 11, wherein the chlorine-containing gas flows at a rate ranging from approximately 0 sccm to approximately 5000 sccm.

13. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 12, wherein the chlorine-containing gas also includes an inert gas.

14. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 13, wherein the inert gas flows at a rate ranging from approximately 0 sccm to approximately 10000 sccm.

15. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 13, wherein the inert gas comprises Ar, He, Neon, Xenon, or N₂, or a combination of two or more thereof.

16. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source generates the chamber cleaning species using an oxygen-containing gas.

17. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 16, wherein the oxygen-containing gas flows at a rate ranging from approximately 0 sccm to approximately 5000 sccm.

18. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 16, wherein the oxygen-containing gas also includes an inert gas.

19. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 18, wherein the inert gas flows at a rate ranging from approximately 0 sccm to approximately 10000 sccm.

20. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 18, wherein the inert gas comprises Ar, He, Neon, Xenon or N₂, or a combination of two or more thereof.

21. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an upper electrode in the processing chamber and an RF signal source coupled to the upper electrode, wherein the RF signal is in a frequency range from approximately 0.1 MHz. to approximately 200 MHz, and the power ranges from approximately 0.1 watts to approximately 5000 watts.

22. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an upper electrode in the processing chamber and an RF signal source coupled to the upper electrode, wherein the RF signal is in a frequency range from approximately 0.1 MHz. to approximately 200 MHz, and the RF signal power is less than approximately 10 watt/cm².

23. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source, a transformer-coupled plasma (TCP) source, a microwave powered plasma source, an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasma source, a Helicon wave plasma source, or a surface wave plasma source, or a combination of two or more thereof, coupled to the processing chamber for cleaning the processing chamber.

24. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a vacuum system coupled to the processing chamber so that the cleaning occurs at a chamber pressure in a range from approximately 0.1 mTorr to approximately 100 Torr.

25. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a showerhead assembly and a substrate holder disposed in the process chamber, wherein a gap between the showerhead assembly and the substrate holder ranges from approximately 1 mm to approximately 200 mm during the cleaning.

26. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the baffle plate controls a flow direction, or a flow rate, or a combination thereof for the remote plasma species into the down steam region.

27. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 26, wherein a surface on the baffle plate is inactive to the remote plasma species.

28. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 27, wherein the inactive surface comprises Teflon, Al₂O₃, AlN, AlF, Y₂O₃, or YF, or any combination of two or more thereof.

29. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the number of supply holes are tapered to control a flow direction, or a flow rate, or a combination thereof for the remote plasma species into the process chamber.

30. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein a surface of the asymmetrical annular groove is inactive to the remote plasma species.

31. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 30, wherein the inactive surface comprises Teflon, Al₂O₃, AN, AlF, Y₂O₃, or YF, or any combination of two or more thereof.

32. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein a surface on the multiple outlets is inactive to the remote plasma species.

33. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 32, wherein the inactive surface comprises Teflon, Al₂O₃, AlN, AlF, Y₂O₃, or YF, or any combination of two or more thereof.

34. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a showerhead assembly coupled to the process chamber and a chamber cleaning gas supply coupled to the showerhead.

35. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 34, wherein the chamber cleaning gas supply supplies a fluorine-containing gas, chlorine-containing gas, oxygen containing-gas, argon, helium, neon, xenon or nitrogen, or any combination of two or more thereof.

36. The substrate processing chamber as claimed in claim 1, wherein the remote plasma source operates in a power range from approximately 1 W to approximately 3000 W.