Patent EP0680072A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0680072A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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A method of operating a high density plasma CVD reactor with combined inductive and capacitive coupling
Assignee: Applied Materials Inc
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Filing: 1995-04-26
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2015-04-26
Abstract
Abstract The disclosure relates to a method of cleaning a plasma reactor by creating a vacuum in the chamber (10) while introducing an etchant gas into the chamber through the gas injection ports (14), and applying RF energy to a ceiling electrode (24) in the chamber while not necessarily applying RF energy to the coil antenna (26), so as to strike a predominantly capacitively coupled plasma in the vacuum chamber. In another embodiment the method includes, whenever the reactor is to be operated in an inductive coupling mode, applying RF power to the reactor's coil antenna while grounding the ceiling electrode, and whenever the reactor is to be operated in a capacitive coupling mode, applying RF power to the ceiling electrode, and whenever the reactor is to be cleaned, cleaning the reactor by applying RF power to the ceiling electrode and to the coil antenna while introducing an etchant gas into the vacuum chamber. In yet another embodiment the method includes performing chemical vapor deposition on a wafer by introducing a deposition precursor gas into the chamber while maintaining an inductively coupled plasma therein by applying RF power to the coil antenna while grounding the ceiling electrode, and cleaning the reactor by introducing a precursor cleaning gas into the chamber while maintaining a capacitively coupled plasma in the chamber by applying RF power to the ceiling electrode.
Inventors
- 👤 Turgut Sahin
- 👤 Fred C. Redeker
- 👤 Romuald Nowak
- 👤 Shijian Li
- 👤 Timothy Dyer
- 👤 Derek R. Witty
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 03:44
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/32; H01J37/32431; H01J37/32798; H01J37/32853; H01J37/32862; H10; H10P; H10P50/00; C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/4401; C23C16/4405; H01J37/32009; H01J37/32082
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 23
Claim 1
Independent Claim
141 words
A method of operating a plasma reactor having a vacuum chamber, a wafer-holding pedestal capable of supporting a wafer near the bottom of said vacuum chamber, gas inlets, and a vacuum pump, a generally planar conductive ceiling electrode at the top of said chamber, a coil antenna adjacent disposed around a space between said ceiling electrode and said wafer-holding pedestal, and a switch for individually connecting each one of said coil antenna, said ceiling electrode and said wafer pedestal to at least one of (a) a respective RF power source, (b) ground, (c) a floating potential, said method including a chamber cleaning operation comprising: creating a vacuum in said chamber with said vacuum pump while introducing an etchant gas into said chamber through said gas injection ports; operating said switch so as to apply a RF energy to said ceiling electrode.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of Claim 1 wherein said operating step is performed while at least initially refraining from applying RF energy to said wafer pedestal, so as to ignite a predominantly capacitively coupled plasma in said vacuum chamber.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of Claim 1 further comprising, after said plasma has been struck, applying RF energy to said coil antenna.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of Claim 2 wherein the refraining step comprises electrically isolating said wafer pedestal so as to permit the electric potential of said wafer pedestal to float.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of Claim 1 wherein said vacuum is in the range of between about 0.5 and 10 Torr.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of Claim 1 wherein said RF energy is characterized by a power level in the range of between about 1000 and 3000 watts at a frequency between about 300 kHz and 14 MHz.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method of Claim 1 wherein said etchant gas is of the class of etchant gases comprising nitrogen fluorides, silicon fluorides and carbon fluorides and wherein the flow rate of said etchant gas into said chamber is in the range between about 0.5 and 3 liters per minute.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of Claim 3 wherein the RF energy applied to said coil antenna is characterized by a power level on the order of between about 1000 and 5000 watts and a frequency of between about 300 kHz and 14 MHz.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of Claim 1 further comprising removing said etchant gases from said chamber and introducing a hydrogen-containing gas into said chamber so as to strike a hydrogen plasma, whereby to remove fluorine residue from said chamber.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method of Claim 1 further including a wafer processing operation performed at the completion of said chamber cleaning operation, comprising: removing said etchant gases from said chamber and placing a wafer to be processed onto said wafer pedestal; introducing at least a selected processing gas into said vacuum chamber while changing said vacuum to a selected processing vacuum level; operating said switch so as to ground said ceiling electrode, apply RF energy to said coil antenna and bias said wafer pedestal so as to strike an inductively coupled plasma.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of Claim 10 wherein said wafer processing operation comprises a chemical vapor deposition process and wherein said selected processing gas is a precursor gas of a material to be deposited onto said wafer.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of Claim 11 wherein said selected processing vacuum level is on the order of not more than about 100 milliTorr.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of Claim 11 wherein said RF energy applied to said coil antenna is characterized by a power level of between about 1000 and 5000 watts at a frequency of between about 300 kHz and 14 MHz.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method of Claim 1 further comprising a wafer processing operation performed at the completion of said chamber cleaning operation, comprising: removing said etchant gases from said chamber and placing a wafer to be processed onto said wafer pedestal; introducing at least a selected processing gas into said vacuum chamber while changing said vacuum to a selected processing vacuum level; operating said switch so as to ground said coil antenna, apply RF energy to said ceiling electrode and bias said wafer pedestal so as to strike a capacitively coupled plasma.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of Claim 14 wherein said selected processing vacuum level is in the range of between about 0.5 and 10 Torr.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of Claim 14 wherein said RF energy applied to said ceiling electrode is characterized by a power level of between about 1000 and 3000 watts at a frequency between 300 kHz and 14 MHz.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
183 words
A method of operating a plasma reactor having a vacuum chamber, a wafer-holding pedestal near the bottom of said vacuum chamber, gas injection ports and a vacuum pump, a generally planar disk-shaped conductive ceiling electrode at the top of said chamber, a coil antenna wound around a space between said ceiling electrode and said wafer-holding pedestal, and a switch for individually connecting each one of said coil antenna, said ceiling electrode and said wafer pedestal to at least one of (a) a respective RF power source, (b) ground (c) a floating potential, said method comprising: whenever said reactor is to be operated in an inductive coupling mode, operating said switch so as to apply RF power to said coil antenna while grounding said ceiling electrode; whenever said reactor is to be operated in a capacitive coupling mode, operating said switch so as to apply RF power to said ceiling electrode; and whenever said reactor is to be cleaned, cleaning said reactor by applying RF power to said ceiling electrode and to said coil antenna while introducing an etchant gas into said vacuum chamber.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of Claim 17 further comprising permitting a potential of said wafer-holding pedestal to float so as to protect said pedestal from etching during said cleaning step.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of Claim 17 further comprising applying a potential to said wafer-holding pedestal which tends to enhance removal of deposits near said pedestal.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
179 words
A method of operating a plasma chemical vapor deposition reactor having a vacuum chamber, a wafer-holding pedestal near the bottom of said vacuum chamber, gas injection ports and a vacuum pump, a generally planar plate-shaped conductive ceiling electrode at the top of said chamber, a coil antenna disposed about a space between said ceiling electrode and said wafer-holding pedestal, and a switch for individually connecting each one of said coil antenna, said ceiling electrode and said wafer pedestal to at least one of (a) a respective RF power source, (b) ground, (c) a floating potential, said method comprising: performing a chemical vapor deposition on a wafer in said pedestal by introducing a deposition precursor gas into said chamber while maintaining an inductively coupled plasma therein by operating said switch so as to apply RF power to said coil antenna while grounding said ceiling electrode; cleaning said reactor by introducing a precursor cleaning gas into said chamber while maintaining a capacitively coupled plasma in said chamber by operating said switch so as to apply RF power to said ceiling electrode.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of Claim 20 wherein said step of cleaning further comprises applying RF power to said coil antenna.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of Claim 20 further comprising permitting a potential of said wafer-holding pedestal to float so as to protect said pedestal from etching during said cleaning step.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of Claim 20 further comprising applying a potential to said wafer-holding pedestal which tends to enhance removal of deposits near said pedestal.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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