Applied Materials, Inc.

Han Byoul Kim

John M White

Soo Young Choi

Beom Soo Park

Dong-Kil Yim

Jin Man Ha

Suhail Anwar

Chung-Hee Park

A method for preventing particle contamination within a processing chamber is disclosed. Preheating the substrate within the processing chamber may cause a thermophoresis effect so that particles within the chamber that are not adhered to a surface may not come to rest on the substrate. One method to increase the substrate temperature is to plasma load the substrate. Plasma loading comprises providing an inert gas plasma to the substrate to heat the substrate. Another method to increase the substrate temperature is high pressure loading the substrate. High pressure loading comprises heating the substrate while increasing the chamber pressure to between about 1 Torr and about 10 Torr. By rapidly increasing the substrate temperature within the processing chamber prior to substrate processing, particle contamination is less likely to occur.

Power loading substrates to reduce particle contamination

A method of PECVD deposition of silicon-containing films has been discovered and further developed. The method is particularly useful when the films are deposited on substrates having surface areas which are larger than 25,000 cm. The method prevents the deposition of partially reacted silicon-containing species which form a powdery material or haze (contaminant compound) on the substrate surface. The contaminant compounds are avoided by assuring that the power applied to form a plasma in the PECVD process is maintained, at least at a minimal level, until reactive silicon-containing precursor gases present above the surface of the substrate have been reacted or evacuated from the plasma processing area.

Method of avoiding haze formation on surfaces of silicon-containing PECVD-deposited thin films

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Chonan, South Korea

Han Byoul Kim