Plasma cleaning method for removing residues in a plasma process chamber

Abstract

A method for cleaning and conditioning a plasma processing chamber wherein oxide residues have been previously formed on interior surfaces of the chamber. The method includes introducing a cleaning gas including a fluorine-based gas into the chamber followed by performing a plasma cleaning step. The plasma cleaning step is performed by activating the cleaning gas mixture and forming a plasma cleaning gas, contacting interior surfaces of the chamber with the plasma cleaning gas and removing oxide residues on the interior surfaces. The cleaning step is followed by coating the interior surfaces with silicon dioxide to adhere loose particles to the interior surfaces and a conditioning step wherein uncoated interior surfaces are treated to remove fluorine therefrom. An advantage of the cleaning and conditioning method is that it is not necessary to open the chamber. Also, it is possible to remove oxide residues during the cleaning step and remove fluorine remaining after the cleaning step during the conditioning step. The conditioning step is carried out by introducing a hydrogen-containing gas into the chamber as a purge gas or the chamber can be pressurized by the hydrogen-containing gas followed by evacuating the chamber.