In-situ chamber treatment and deposition process

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide a method for treating the inner surfaces of a processing chamber and depositing a material on a during a vapor deposition process, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD) or by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). In one embodiment, the inner surfaces of the processing chamber and the substrate may be exposed to a reagent, such as a hydrogenated ligand compound during a pretreatment process. The hydrogenated ligand compound may be the same ligand as a free ligand formed from the metal-organic precursor used during the subsequent deposition process. The free ligand is usually formed by hydrogenation or thermolysis during the deposition process. In one example, the processing chamber and substrate are exposed to an alkylamine compound (e.g., dimethylamine) during the pretreatment process prior to conducting the vapor deposition process which utilizes a metal-organic chemical precursor having alkylamino ligands, such as pentakis(dimethylamino) tantalum (PDMAT).