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:
Sep. 18, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 11, 1999
Zaki Saleh, Newbury Park, CA (US);
Richard A. Comunale, Ipswich, MA (US);
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Chlorine trifluoride (ClF,) is an excellent chemistry for in-situ cleaning of process equipment for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of metals. ClF,is a weakly-bound molecule that breaks down exothermically on contact with most hot conducting films such as Ti and TiN without plasma, giving it an advantage over other chemistries. The energy released from the reaction is used to volatize the reaction byproducts. Cooler reactor surfaces, however, are coated with a halogen-rich, less conductive film that may not be as reactive with ClF,. To improve the ClF,reaction, additives such as nitrous dioxide are employed. These additives react with ClF,and supply reactive ions energetic enough to volatize the byproduct.