Methods and apparatus for processing a substrate

1. A method for processing a substrate in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber, comprising:

selectively etching from a substrate disposed in the PVD chamber an exposed first layer of material, covering an underlying second layer of material, and adjacent to a third layer of material having a top surface exposed above an entirety of the first layer of material, using both process gas ions and metal ions formed from a target of the PVD chamber, in an amount sufficient to expose the second layer of material while simultaneously depositing a layer of metal to passivate the third layer of material to protect the third layer from breakdown during an outgassing procedure; and

subsequently depositing metal from the target onto the second layer of material.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein subsequently depositing metal from the target onto the second layer of material comprises depositing metal from the target onto the layer of material deposited on the third layer of material.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein selectively etching the first layer of material comprises using both a DC power source and an RF power source.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein depositing metal comprises using only a DC power source.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first layer of material is a layer of metal oxide, the second layer of material is a metal, and the third layer of material is a layer of polymer.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the layer of metal oxide is aluminum oxide, the layer of metal is aluminum, and the layer of polymer is one of polyimides (PI) or polybenzoxazoles (PBO).

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target is made from at least one of titanium, tungsten, or copper.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the outgassing procedure is performed after selectively etching the substrate to remove spent process gas from the PVD chamber.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the process gas ions are at least one of argon or nitrogen.

10. A physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber for processing a substrate, comprising:

a DC power source and an RF power source;

a gas source for providing at least one process gas into a processing volume of the PVD chamber; and

a controller coupled to the DC power source and the RF power source and configured to:

form metal ions to be sputtered on a surface of a substrate disposed within the processing volume of the PVD chamber, selectively etch from the substrate an exposed first layer of material, covering an underlying second layer of material, and adjacent to a third layer of material having a top surface exposed above an entirety of the first layer of material, using both process gas ions and metal ions, in an amount sufficient to expose the second layer of material while simultaneously depositing a layer of metal to passivate the third layer of material to protect the third layer from breakdown during an outclassing procedure; and

subsequently deposit metal onto the second layer of material.

11. The PVD chamber of claim 10 , wherein subsequently depositing metal onto the second layer of material comprises depositing metal onto the layer of material deposited on the third layer of material.

12. The PVD chamber of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to selectively etch the first layer of material using both the DC power source and the RF power source.

13. The PVD chamber of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to deposit the metal using only the DC power source.

14. The PVD chamber of claim 10 , wherein the first layer of material is a layer of metal oxide, the second layer of material is a metal, and the third layer of material is a layer of polymer.

15. The PVD chamber of claim 14 , wherein the layer of metal oxide is aluminum oxide, the layer of metal is aluminum, and the layer of polymer is one of polyimides (PI) or polybenzoxazoles (PBO).

16. The PVD chamber of claim 10 , wherein a target when used to form the metal ions is at least one of titanium, tungsten, or copper.

17. The PVD chamber of claim 10 , wherein the process gas ions are at least one of argon or nitrogen.

18. A nontransitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor perform a method for processing a substrate in a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamber, comprising:

selectively etching from a substrate disposed in the PVD chamber an exposed first layer of material, covering an underlying second layer of material, and adjacent to a third layer of material having a top surface exposed above an entirety of the first layer of material, using both process gas ions and metal ions formed from a target of the PVD chamber, in an amount sufficient to expose the second layer of material while simultaneously depositing a layer of metal to passivate the third layer of material to protect the third layer from breakdown during an outgassing procedure; and

subsequently depositing metal from the target onto the second layer of material.

19. The nontransitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein subsequently depositing metal from the target onto the second layer of material comprises depositing metal from the target onto the layer of material deposited on the third layer of material.

20. The nontransitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein selectively etching the first layer of material comprises using both a DC power source and an RF power source.