Increased Etch Chamber Productivity through the Reduction of Unscheduled Wet Cleans

Unscheduled wet cleans on etch chambers can have a large impact on tool availability. Metron has developed a cleaning technology which eliminates the need to open etch chambers to clean particulates off electrostatic chucks, handling equipment, and transfer chambers. Referred to as the chamber maintenance wafer (CMW), this new tool is able to embed particulates and remove them from the chamber without causing contamination. The cleaning wafer also eliminates backside metal contamination in vacuum systems. This paper will review the typical results of the CMW in high volume production fabs focusing on the impact to chamber availability on etch systems.