Use of a remote plasma source for CVD chamber clean and exhaust gas abatement applications

Summary form only given. Remote plasma sources have traditionally been used in semiconductor processing applications such as dry removal of photoresist, where the capability of delivering a large flux of atomic oxygen into a semiconductor process chamber, with little of the associated plasma used to dissociate the oxygen, has made them attractive. With the development of fluorine-compatible remote plasma sources, a range of new application opportunities has opened up. In remote cleaning of CVD chambers, the remote plasma source is positioned before the process chamber, and a stream of atomic fluorine from the source is flowed into the chamber, where it can effectively clean a wide variety of materials such as SiO/sub 2/, Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/, and W. The cleaning process is purely chemical, with no associated in-situ plasma which can cause degradation of the process chamber. In exhaust gas abatement, the remote plasma source is located between the outlet of the etch or deposition process chamber and the mechanical pump. By adding appropriate gases, the exhaust stream from the chamber can be converted to a form which can be managed more readily. Using an robust toroidal plasma source design, the ASTRON/sup TM/ remote plasma source has been used to address both of these areas.