US5868853A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Integrated film etching/chamber cleaning process
Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSMC Ltd
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Filing: 1997-06-18
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Granted: 1999-02-09
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Expires: 2017-06-18
Abstract
Abstract The present invention discloses a method for in-situ cleaning a reactive ion etching (RIE) chamber after a silicon nitride etching process by maintaining a vacuum and a radial frequency power in the chamber while flowing a chlorine gas into the chamber at a sufficient flow rate. The chlorine gas cleaning step can be integrated into the process recipe for the etching process without significantly affecting the cycle time and the yield of the process.
Inventors
- 👤 J. G. Chen
- 👤 L. M. Huang
- 👤 W. C. Chien
- 👤 C. P. Fan
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 02:22
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P50/00; H10P50/20; H10P50/28; H10P50/282; H10P50/283; H01; H01J; H01J37/00; H01J37/32; H01J37/32431; H01J37/32798; H01J37/32853; H01J37/32862
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
60 words
A method for in-situ cleaning an etch chamber after an etching process comprising the steps of: conducting a silicon nitride etching process on a film deposited on a semiconductor substrate, and flowing a chlorine cleaning gas into said chamber at a flow rate not less than 50 sccm while maintaining a vacuum and a radio frequency power in said chamber.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
60 words
A method for in-situ cleaning an etch chamber after an etching process comprising the steps of: conducting a silicon nitride etching process on a film deposited on a semiconductor substrate, and flowing a chlorine cleaning gas into said chamber at a flow rate not less than 50 sccm while maintaining a vacuum and a radio frequency power in said chamber.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said silicon nitride etching process is conducted by using at least one etchant gas selected from the group consisting of CF 4 , SF 4 , C 2 F 6 , SF 6 , C 3 F 8 and O 2 .
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method according to claim 1, wherein said silicon nitride etching process is conducted by using an etchant gas mixture of SF 6 and O 2 .
Claim 5
Independent Claim
50 words
A method for in-situ cleaning a reactive ion etching (RIE) chamber after a silicon nitride etching process comprising the steps of: maintaining a vacuum and a radio frequency power in said chamber, and flowing a chlorine gas into said chamber at a flow rate of not less than 50 sccm.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
50 words
A method for in-situ cleaning a reactive ion etching (RIE) chamber after a silicon nitride etching process comprising the steps of: maintaining a vacuum and a radio frequency power in said chamber, and flowing a chlorine gas into said chamber at a flow rate of not less than 50 sccm.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said silicon nitride etching process is conducted in a main etching step and an over etching step.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
49 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said silicon nitride etching process is conducted by using at least one etchant gas selected from the group consisting of CF 4 , SF 4 , C 2 F 6 , SF 6 , C 3 F 8 and O 2 .
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said silicon nitride etching process is conducted by using an etchant gas of SF 6 /O 2 or SF 6 .
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said chlorine gas is flown into said chamber preferably at a flow rate between about 50 sccm and about 500 sccm.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
A method according to claim 4, wherein said chlorine gas is flown into said chamber for a time period of at least 5 seconds.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
28 words
A method according to claim 5, wherein said main etching step is terminated by an end-point mode and said over etching step is terminated by a time mode.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
103 words
A reactive ion etching (RIE) method for silicon nitride comprising the steps of: positioning a semiconductor device having a silicon nitride layer deposited on top in a RIE chamber, depositing and patterning a photoresist layer on said silicon nitride layer, flowing a first process gas into said chamber, said process gas is at least one gas selected from the group consisting of CF 4 , SF 4 , C 2 F 6 , SF 6 , C 3 F 8 and O 2 , and flowing a cleaning gas of chlorine into said chamber at a flow rate of at least 50 sccm.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
103 words
A reactive ion etching (RIE) method for silicon nitride comprising the steps of: positioning a semiconductor device having a silicon nitride layer deposited on top in a RIE chamber, depositing and patterning a photoresist layer on said silicon nitride layer, flowing a first process gas into said chamber, said process gas is at least one gas selected from the group consisting of CF 4 , SF 4 , C 2 F 6 , SF 6 , C 3 F 8 and O 2 , and flowing a cleaning gas of chlorine into said chamber at a flow rate of at least 50 sccm.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method according to claim 11 further comprising the step of flowing a second process gas into said chamber in a second etching step after said etching step by said first process gas is completed.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
44 words
A method according to claim 12, wherein said second process gas is at least one gas selected from the group consisting of CF 4 , SF 4 , C 2 F 6 , SF 6 , C 3 F 8 and O 2 .
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method according to claim 12, wherein said first process gas is SF 6 and said second process gas is a mixture of SF 6 and O 2 .
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method according to claim 11, wherein said chlorine gas is flown into said chamber at a flow rate of preferably between about 50 sccm and about 500 sccm.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method according to claim 12, wherein said etching process by said first process gas is terminated by an end-point mode and said etching process by said second process gas is terminated by a time mode.
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