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. 27, 2010
Filed:
Jan. 17, 2006
Xinyu Fu, Fremont, CA (US);
John Forster, San Francisco, CA (US);
Jick Yu, San Jose, CA (US);
Ajay Bhatnagar, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Praburam Gopalraja, San Jose, CA (US);
Xinyu Fu, Fremont, CA (US);
John Forster, San Francisco, CA (US);
Jick Yu, San Jose, CA (US);
Ajay Bhatnagar, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Praburam Gopalraja, San Jose, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A plasma cleaning method particularly useful for removing photoresist and oxide residue from a porous low-k dielectric with a high carbon content prior to sputter deposition. A remote plasma source produces a plasma primarily of hydrogen radicals. The hydrogen pressure may be kept relatively low, for example, at 30 milliTorr. Optionally, helium may be added to the processing gas with the hydrogen partial pressure held below 150 milliTorr. Superior results are obtained with 70% helium in 400 milliTorr of hydrogen and helium. Preferably, an ion filter, such as a magnetic filter, removes hydrogen and other ions from the output of the remote plasma source and a supply tube from the remote plasma source includes a removable dielectric liner in combination with dielectric showerhead and manifold liner.