Semiconductor processing equipment having improved process drift control

Abstract

A plasma processing chamber including a slip cast part having a surface thereof exposed to the interior space of the chamber. The slip cast part includes free silicon contained therein and a protective layer on the surface which protects the silicon from being attacked by plasma in the interior space of the chamber. The slip cast part can be made of slip cast silicon carbide- coated with CVD silicon carbide. The slip cast part can comprise one or more parts of the chamber such as a wafer passage insert, a monolithic or tiled liner, a plasma screen, a showerhead, dielectric member, or the like. The slip cast part reduces particle contamination and reduces process drift in plasma processes such as plasma etching of dielectric materials such as silicon oxide.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention relates to semiconductor processing equipment and more particularly to improved process drift control during processing such as plasma etching of semiconductor substrates. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] In the field of semiconductor processing, vacuum processing chambers are generally used for etching and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of materials on substrates by supplying an etching or deposition gas to the vacuum chamber and application of an RF field to the gas to energize the gas into a plasma state. Examples of parallel plate, transformer coupled plasma (TCP™) which is also called inductively coupled plasma (ICP), and electron-cyclotron resonance (ECR) reactors and components thereof are disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,340,462; 4,948,458; 5,200,232 and 5,820,723. Because of the corrosive nature of the plasma environment in such reactors and the requirement for minimizing particle and / or heavy metal contamination, i...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides a method for processing semiconductor substrates by plasma processing in a chamber with a slip cast part having free silicon and a protective layer. The method includes steps of placing the substrate on a substrate holder in the chamber, supplying process gas to the chamber, and energizing the process gas into a plasma state. The substrate is then removed and another substrate is processed while minimizing particle contamination and process drift. The slip cast part can be a heated liner, a plasma screen, or a wafer passage insert. The invention also provides a plasma processing system with the slip cast part and an elastomer joint or a ceramic liner between the chamber sidewall and the substrate support. The method and system can effectively protect the substrate from damage by plasma and improve the quality of processing.

Problems solved by technology

The '013 patent states that the differences in thermal expansion coefficients between aluminum and ceramic coatings such as aluminum oxide leads to cracking of the coatings due to thermal cycling and eventual failure of the coatings in corrosive environments.

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