Remote microwave technology for chamber clean to reduce PFC emissions

Applied Materials has developed a new chamber cleaning technology that has the potential to dramatically reduce PFC emissions from chamber cleaning on their D×Z^TM platform. The prototype product, known as μClean^TM, is a remote microwave clean using NF₃ that can be retrofitted to a D×Z chamber. Recent tests of μClean technology conducted by Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. at Applied Materials have demonstrated the high utilization efficiencies of NF₃ (>90%) and reduced clean times. To confirm these results in an actual manufacturing environment, Motorola installed a prototype unit on an 200 mm Applied Materials D×Z plasma enhanced TEOS (PETEOS) chamber. Both quadrapole mass spectrometry (QMS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to quantify the major fluorinated gases in the process effluent. Process impact was determined by clean times, particle generation, and film thickness uniformity in the tool. The Applied Materials μClean technology has been shown to be effective for 200 mm D×Z TEOS chamber cleaning. Throughout a 500 wafer marathon, and during subsequent product processing beyond 13,000 wafers, no negative effect on manufacturing parameters has been noted. There is no evidence of particle generation and film properties are seemingly unaffected by the remote NF₃ clean. The Applied Materials μClean technology has been shown to be a viable alternative to the standard C ₂F₆-NF₃ clean used in 200 mm D×Z TEOS chambers. PFC emissions are virtually eliminated without affecting the manufacturing process