Central Glass Company, Limited

Masanori Watari

Akiou Kikuchi

Kenji Kameda

Yasutoshi Tsubota

Isamu Mori

Shin Hiyama

An etching fault is suppressed by use of an etching gas containing iodine heptafluoride. Provided is an attached substance removing method of removing an attached substance containing an iodine oxide attached to a component included in a chamber or a surface of a pipe connected with the chamber by use of a cleaning gas containing a fluorine-containing gas. Also provided is a dry etching method, including the steps of supplying an etching gas containing an iodine-containing gas into a chamber to perform etching on a surface of a substrate; and after the etching is performed on the surface of the substrate, removing an attached substance containing an iodine oxide attached to a component included in the chamber or a surface of a pipe connected with the chamber by use of a cleaning gas containing a fluorine-containing gas.

Method for removing adhering matter and dry etching method

An IF-derived iodine fluoride compound recovery method includes putting gas containing IFinto contact with a material to be fluorinated, thereby converting the IFinto IF; and cooling gas containing the IF, thereby trapping the IFas an IF-derived iodine fluoride compound. The recovered IFmay be reacted with fluorine to generate IF, which may be reused for a semiconductor production process.

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A dry etching method according to the present invention is for etching a silicon layer as a processing target in a processing room, characterized by supplying an iodine heptafluoride-containing etching gas from a gas supply source at a supply pressure of 66 kPa to 0.5 MPa, evacuating the processing room to an internal pressure lower than the supply pressure of the etching gas and, while maintaining the etching gas at the supply pressure, introducing the etching gas into the evacuated processing room so as to etch the silicon layer by the etching gas. It is possible by this dry etching method to etch the silicon upon adiabatic expansion of the etching gas under mild pressure conditions, with no fear of equipment load and equipment cost increase, and achieve good uniformity of in-plane etching amount distribution.

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Yamaguchi, Japan

Masanori Watari