Polymer coating for vapor deposition tool

• US 7,595,271 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2006
• Issued: 09/29/2009
• 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 L.
• Primary Examiner(s): COLEMAN, WILLIAM D
• Application Number:
  US11/566,124
• Publication Number:
  US 20070128877A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,033 Days
• Field of Search: 118/56, 118/45, 118/504, 438/800
• US Class Current: 438/800
• 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 removable 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,

wherein the protective coating comprises at least one lift-off layer.

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

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

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the protective coating is an etch stop.

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

9. 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 removable protective coating comprising a polymer formed on the underlying reaction chamber surface,

wherein cleaning deposited material comprises lifting off the protective coating to remove the deposited material and at least a portion of the protective coating.

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

11. The method of claim 9, 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 9, wherein the protective coating comprises polybenzimidazole (PBI).

13. The method of claim 9, wherein cleaning comprises at least one of removing deposited material from the protective coating and removing at least a portion of the protective coating.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the protective coating includes at least one lift-off layer, and cleaning deposited material comprises removing at least one of the lift-off layers with the deposited material.

15. The method of claim 10, 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.

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

17. The method of claim 13, wherein cleaning comprises at least one of wet-chemical etching, dry etching, gas phase etching, plasma etching, ablation, bead blasting, and burn off.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein cleaning consists essentially of chemical etching.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein cleaning is performed ex situ.