Novellus Systems Incorporated

William R Entley

John Giles Langan

Amith Kumar Murali

Randy Hall

Kathleen Bennett

Methods of determining the endpoint of cleaning residues from the internal surfaces of a chemical vapor deposition chamber are described. The methods are especially useful for determining when organic-based residues deposited from an ultra low-k film precursor deposition are removed from the chamber. The methods involve cleaning the chamber with a plasma comprising fluorine and oxygen while monitoring the intensity of the optical emission lines of one or more atomic or molecular species that correlate to the removal of the organic-based residues. Techniques and apparatuses for monitoring different appropriate emission lines are described. Methods of the invention can be used to prevent particle contamination during CVD operations following ultra low-k film precursor depositions and improve wafer throughput in manufacturing environments.

Method for endpointing CVD chamber cleans following ultra low-k film treatments

In accordance with an embodiment of the present intention, a fluorine residue removing method includes: supplying an oxygen-containing gas and a hydrogen-containing gas into a CVD chamber; producing a plasma of a mixture of the oxygen-containing gas and the-hydrogen containing gas, so that the plasma reacts with the fluorine residue, exothermically generating water; and evacuating from the CVD chamber a product of the reaction between the plasma and the fluorine residue. For the hydrogen-containing gas, NHis often used, and for the oxygen-containing gas, NO, O, or air is used. Exemplary mixtures of the oxygen-containing and the hydrogen-containing gases include 70 mol % NO/NH, 50 mol % NO/NH, and 52 mol % O/NH. An inert gas, such as He, Ne, Ar, or Kr, can be optionally supplied into the chamber to stabilize the plasma.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

William R Entley