POLYMER COATING FOR VAPOR DEPOSITION TOOL

• US 20070128877A1
• Filed: 12/01/2006
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ASM IP Holding B.V. (ASM International NV)
• Original Assignee: ASM America Incorporated (ASM International NV)
• Inventors: White, Carl
• Granted Patent: US 7,595,271 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 438/725
• CPC Class Codes: C23C 16/4404 Coatings or surface treatment on the inside of the reaction chamber or on parts thereof

Abstract

Described herein is an apparatus useful for depositing a material on a substrate. At least one component of the apparatus comprises a protective coating, which facilitates the cleaning and/or removal of the deposited material from the component. Also described are methods for depositing a material on a substrate using the disclosed apparatus, for fabricating the apparatus, and for cleaning the apparatus.

Claims

1. An apparatus for thin film deposition comprising:

a reaction chamber;

a substrate support disposed in the reaction chamber;

at least one inlet for reactant gas; and

a protective coating comprising a polymer, wherein the protective coating is formed on at least a portion of a surface of the reaction chamber susceptible to build up of deposited material and susceptible to damage during cleaning.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reaction chamber is a single wafer reaction chamber.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reaction chamber is at least one of a chemical vapor deposition reaction chamber and an atomic layer deposition reaction chamber.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of a surface of the reaction chamber comprises at least one of metal, titanium, titanium alloy, nickel, nickel alloys, stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, metal oxide, aluminum oxide, ceramic, carbon fiber, glass, polymer resins, and combinations and composites thereof.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the at least a portion of a surface of the reaction chamber comprises titanium.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a protective coating is formed on substantially all surfaces of the reaction chamber susceptible to build up of deposited material.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the polymer comprises polybenzimidazole (PBI).

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising depositing the material on additional semiconductor substrates before cleaning the deposited material from the surface of the reaction chamber.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least a portion of the deposited material reaches a predetermined thickness before cleaning the deposited material from the surface of the reaction chamber.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein depositing a material comprises depositing a material by at least one of chemical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein depositing a material comprises depositing alumina by atomic layer deposition.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the protective coating comprises polybenzimidazole (PBI).

14. The method of claim 7, wherein cleaning comprises at least one of removing deposited material from the protective coating and removing at least a portion of the protective coating.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein cleaning comprises at least one of wet-chemical etching, dry etching, gas phase etching, plasma etching, ablation, bead blasting, and burn off.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein cleaning consists essentially of chemical etching.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein cleaning is performed ex situ.

8. A method for processing a semiconductor substrate comprising:

depositing a material on a semiconductor substrate in a reaction chamber, wherein at least some of the material is also deposited on a surface of the reaction chamber; and

cleaning deposited material from the surface of the reaction chamber, wherein

the surface of the reaction chamber comprises a protective coating comprising a polymer formed on the surface, and

cleaning deposited material damages the surface of the reaction chamber in the absence of the protective coating.

18. A method for protecting a surface of a thin-film-deposition apparatus, the method comprising:

applying a protective coating comprising a polymer to a surface of a thin-film-deposition apparatus, wherein

the surface of the thin-film-deposition apparatus is susceptible to build up of deposited material in depositing a material on a substrate, and

the protective coating protects the surface from damage during cleaning.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein applying a protective coating comprises at least one of dispersion coating, spray coating, thermal spray coating and plasma spray coating.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein applying a protective coating comprises applying a plurality of layers.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein applying a protective coating comprises applying polybenzimidazole (PBI).

22. The method of claim 18, wherein applying a protective coating is performed in refurbishing the thin-film-deposition apparatus.