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:
Apr. 06, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 12, 2002
Aree Hanprasopwattana, Milpitas, CA (US);
Edward J. Augustyniak, Tualatin, OR (US);
Jason L. Tian, West Linn, OR (US);
Bart J. Van Schravendijk, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Novellus Systems, Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A method useful for the cleaning of the inner surfaces, including the deposition station or showerhead area of a deposition chamber, are described herein. According to one embodiment of the invention, a fluorine-containing source gas, such as NF , SF , or C F , for example, is supplied to the deposition chamber, and energized by a radio frequency to form a plasma that contains fluorine atoms and ions. The radio frequency power is modulated between a maximum value (for a “plasma-ON period”) and a minimum value of zero (for a “plasma-OFF period”) at a frequency from about 150 Hz to about 50 kHz and a duty cycle of from about 40% to about 90%. The maximum value of RF power may be from about 300 to about 2500 Watts per deposition station or showerhead, and the minimum value is typically zero. The modulated-RF clean process may be conducted in situ after the deposition of a film on wafers, and may be followed by a conventional continuous-RF clean process.