Granted Patent B2

US 12,371,781 · App. 17/309,032 · Granted Jul 29, 2025

Inventors: Akhil Singhal (Beaverton, OR); David Charles Smith (Lake Oswego, OR); Karl Frederick Leeser (West Linn, OR)

Assignee: Lam Research Corporation

C23C16/4404C23C16/345C23C16/402C23C16/403C23C16/405C23C16/45536C23C16/52C23C16/45544H01J37/32477

Abstract

Claims (24)

1. A method comprising:

introducing a first reactant in a gas phase into a reaction chamber to adsorb onto surfaces of a plurality of chamber components, wherein the plurality of chamber components are part of the reaction chamber;

introducing a second reactant in a gas phase into the reaction chamber;

controlling a radio-frequency (RF) signal supplied to the reaction chamber to cause a portion of a plasma glow discharge of the second reactant to form in areas outside an area between an upper electrode and a lower electrode, wherein the first reactant and the second reactant react to deposit a first protective coating on the surfaces of the plurality of chamber components without a wafer present in the reaction chamber; and

depositing a second protective coating on a surface of the wafer in the reaction chamber and on the first protective coating in the reaction chamber, wherein the second protective coating is etched at a substantially greater etch rate than the first protective coating when exposed to a fluorine-based species, a chlorine-based species, a bromine-based species, and/or an iodine-based species.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a phase difference between a first phase of the RF signal supplied to the upper electrode and a second phase of the RF signal supplied to the lower electrode is between about 180 degrees out-of-phase and 0 degrees out-of-phase.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the phase difference is about 0 degrees out-of-phase.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the each of the first and second protective coating includes an oxide, a nitride, a carbide, or combinations thereof.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the each of the first and second protective coating includes silicon oxide (SiO 2 ), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ), hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ), tin oxide (SnO 2 ), or silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more materials of the plurality of chamber components include aluminum (Al).

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of chamber components include at least chamber walls of the reaction chamber.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

etching the second protective coating on the surface of the wafer and on the first protective coating, wherein the second protective coating is etched at a substantially greater rate than the first protective coating so as to substantially preserve the first protective coating during etching.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein an etchant used for etching the second protective coating includes a fluorine-based species, a chlorine-based species, a bromine-based species, an iodine-based species, or combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

re-depositing the first protective coating on the surfaces of the plurality of chamber components in the reaction chamber after etching the second protective coating.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first reactant reacts with the second reactant to deposit the first protective coating on the surfaces of the plurality of chamber components at a temperature between 450° C. and 650° C.

12. A method comprising:

depositing a first protective coating on surfaces of a plurality of chamber components in a reaction chamber without a wafer present in the reaction chamber, wherein the plurality of chamber components are part of the reaction chamber, wherein the first protective coating is deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), wherein depositing the first protective coating by PEALD or PECVD comprises controlling a radio-frequency (RF) signal supplied to the reaction chamber to cause a portion of a plasma glow discharge to form in areas outside an area between an upper electrode and a lower electrode; and

depositing a second protective coating on a surface of the wafer in the reaction chamber and on the first protective coating in the reaction chamber, wherein the second protective coating is etched at a substantially greater etch rate than the first protective coating when exposed to a fluorine-based species, a chlorine-based species, a bromine-based species, and/or an iodine-based species.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

re-depositing the first protective coating on the surfaces of the plurality of chamber components in the reaction chamber after exposure to the fluorine-based species, chlorine-based species, bromine-based species, or iodine-based species.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein a phase difference between a first phase of the RF signal supplied to the upper electrode and a second phase of the RF signal supplied to the lower electrode is about 0 degrees out-of-phase.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the each of the first and second protective coating includes silicon oxide (SiO 2 ), aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ), zirconium oxide (ZrO 2 ), hafnium oxide (HfO 2 ), tin oxide (SnO 2 ), or silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ), and wherein one or more materials of the plurality of chamber components include aluminum (Al).

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (400)