Removal of transition metal ternary and/or quaternary barrier materials from a substrate
View Patent ↗A process for the selective removal of a substance from a substrate for etching and/or cleaning applications is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, there is provided a process for removing a substance from a substrate comprising: providing the substrate having the substance deposited thereupon wherein the substance comprises a transition metal ternary compound, a transition metal quaternary compound, and combinations thereof; reacting the substance with a process gas comprising a fluorine-containing gas and optionally an additive gas to form a volatile product; and removing the volatile product from the substrate to thereby remove the substance from the substrate.
1. A process for removing a substance from at least a portion of a substrate, said process comprising:
providing the substrate comprising the substance, wherein the substance is a transition metal ternary compound selected from the group consisting of TaN x C y , WN x C y , TaSi x C y , WSi x C y and mixtures thereof and wherein x and y independently range from 0.05 to 10.0;
reacting the substance with a process gas comprising a fluorine-containing gas and optionally an additive gas to form a volatile product; and
removing the volatile product from the substrate to thereby remove the substance from the substrate.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-containing gas is selected from NF 3 , ClF 3 , ClF, SF 6 , a perfluorocarbon, hydrofluorocarbon, HF, F 2 , a gas having the formula NF n Cl 3-n , where n is a number ranging from 1 to 2, and mixtures thereof.
3. The process of claim 2 , wherein the fluorine-containing gas is NF 3 .
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-containing gas is conveyed to the substance from a gas cylinder, a safe delivery system, a pipeline, a point of use delivery system, a vacuum delivery system, and combinations thereof.
5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-containing gas is formed in close proximity to the process chamber by a point-of-use generator.
6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process gas comprises the additive gas.
7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process gas further comprises an oxygen-containing gas.
8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process gas is substantially free of an oxygen-containing gas.
9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the reacting step is conducted by an in situ plasma, a remote plasma, an in-situ thermal source, a remote thermal source, a remote catalytic source, a photon activation source, and combinations thereof.
10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the reacting step is conducted by a remote plasma.
11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a semiconductor substrate and the process etches selected portions of the substance from the semiconductor substrate.
12. The process of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is a process chamber and the process cleans deposition from the process chamber.
13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the substance is coated on the substrate by atomic layer deposition.
14. A process for cleaning a substance from a process chamber surface, said process comprising:
providing a process chamber containing the process chamber surface wherein the process chamber surface is at least partially coated with a film comprising a transition metal ternary compound selected from the group consisting of TaN x C y , WN x C y , TaSi x C y , WSi x C y , and mixtures thereof and wherein x and y independently range from 0.05 to 10.0;
reacting the substance with a process gas comprising a fluorine-containing gas to form a volatile product wherein the fluorine-containing gas comprises at least one member selected from NF 3 , ClF 3 , ClF, SF 6 , a perfluorocarbon, a hydrofluorocarbon, HF, F 2 , a gas having the formula NF n Cl 3-n , where n is a number ranging from 1 to 2, and mixtures thereof; and
removing the volatile product from the process chamber to thereby remove the substance from the substrate.
15. The process of claim 14 , wherein the process chamber is one selected from an atomic layer deposition process chamber and an atomic layer chemical vapor deposition process chamber.
16. A process for removing a substance from at least a portion of a substrate, said process comprising:
providing the substrate having the substance comprising a transition metal carbonitride;
reacting the substance with a process gas comprising a fluorine containing gas and optionally an additive gas to form a volatile product; and
removing the volatile product from the substrate to thereby remove the substance from the substrate.
17. The process of claim 16 , wherein the transition metal carbonitrides is at least one selected from titanium carbonitride (TiNC), tantalum carbonitrides (TaNC), chromium carbonitride, tungsten carbonitride, molybdenum carbonitride, zirconium carbonitrides, and mixtures thereof.
18. A process for removing a substance from at least a portion of the substrate, said process comprising:
providing the substrate having the substance comprising a transition metal silicon carbide;
reacting the substance with a process gas comprising a fluorine containing gas and optionally, an additive gas to form a volatile product; and
removing the volatile product from the substrate to thereby remove the substance from the substrate.
19. A process for removing a substance from at least a portion of a substrate, said process comprising:
providing the substrate having the substance comprising a transition metal quaternary compound;
reacting the substance with a process gas comprising a fluorine containing gas and optionally, an additive gas to form a volatile product; and
removing the volatile product from the substrate to thereby remove the substance from the substrate.