The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 03, 2000
Filed:
Jul. 11, 1997
Chien-Teh Kao, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Karl Anthony Littau, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Anand Vasudev, San Jose, CA (US);
Dong Won Koo, Rahway, NJ (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for a multiple-stage microwave plasma cleaning technique for efficiently cleaning a substrate processing chamber. In a specific embodiment, a two-stage cleaning process is described. The first stage begins by flowing a reactive gas from a gas source into a processing chamber where microwaves ignite and maintain a plasma from the reactive gas. Reactive radicals generated which react with residues on the interior surfaces of the processing chamber. In the second stage, an inert gas is flowed into the processing chamber in addition to the reactive gas. Microwaves then ignite and maintain a plasma from the reactive gas and optionally, the inert gas as well. Optionally, an inert gas can be flowed into the processing chamber prior to the first stage to remove loose particles from the processing chamber. The reactive gas in such embodiments is preferably NF.sub.3, but other fluorine-containing gases such as carbon tetrafluoride (CF.sub.4) or sulfur hexafluoride (SF.sub.6) may also be used. Moreover, chlorine- or other halogen-containing gases may also be used as the reactive gas in other embodiments in place of fluorine-containing gases.