Atomic layer processing using metastable activated radical species

Abstract

A method for treating an exposed surface of a substrate includes purging a first chamber and a second chamber of a substrate processing system using a purge gas. A gas distribution device is disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber. The method includes flowing a processing gas to the second chamber but not to the first chamber to produce an adsorption layer on the surface of a substrate on a substrate support disposed in the second chamber. The method includes stopping the flow of the processing gas to the second chamber. The method includes flowing the purge gas to purge the first chamber and the second chamber. The method includes exciting a plasma in the first chamber to produce a metastable activated radical species while flowing the purge gas to the first chamber, and transporting the metastable activated radical species to the second chamber via the gas distribution device to surface activate the adsorption layer.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 62 / 729,124 filed on September 10, 2018. The entire disclosure of the above-referenced application is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to substrate processing systems, and more particularly to substrate processing systems that utilize metastable activated radical species to perform processing processes. Background Art

[0004] The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the present disclosure. The work of the presently designated inventors is neither explicitly nor implicitly admitted to be prior art against the present disclosure to the extent that it is described in this background section and in aspects of the specification that were not determined to be prior art at the time the application was filed.

[0005] Substrate processing systems can be used to process substrates such as semiconductor wafers. Substrate processing systems typically include a processing chamber, a substrate support (e.g., an electrostatic chuck), and a gas delivery system. Examples of substrate processing include etching, deposition, photoresist removal, cleaning, etc. During processing, the substrate is placed on the substrate support, and one or more process gases can be introduced into the processing chamber through the gas delivery system. Radio frequency (RF) power can be supplied to excite a plasma that starts a chemical reaction. An RF bias can be supplied to the substrate support to control the ion energy.

[0006] Features are defined on the substrate using deposition, etching and other processes. As technology continues to advance, feature sizes continue to decrease. In order to reliably manufacture substrates with small features, it is important to have very precise process control. Currently, feature sizes are less than 10nm and are advancing to below 5nm.

[0007] There is no etch stop during some oxidation processes. Conventional methods of performing oxidation rely on an oxide formed on the substrate during the oxidation process as a diffusion barrier that serves to reduce or stop further oxidation of the substrate. These methods experience large variations in oxide thickness, depending on the nature of the materials used and the surface conditions. For example, a smooth surface will experience less oxidation than a rough surface, even if the same material is used. Similarly, a porous surface will experience faster oxidation and be less effective at blocking diffusion than a less porous material. Summary of the invention

[0008] A method for processing an exposed surface of a substrate comprises: a) purging a first chamber and a second chamber of a substrate processing system using a purge gas, wherein a gas distribution device is disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber; b) after a), flowing a processing gas to the second chamber but not to the first chamber to produce an adsorption layer on the surface of a substrate on a substrate support disposed in the second chamber; c) stopping the flow of the processing gas to the second chamber; d) flowing the purge gas to purge the first chamber and the second chamber; and e) while flowing the purge gas to the first chamber, exciting a plasma in the first chamber to produce metastable activated radical species, and transporting the metastable activated radical species to the second chamber via the gas distribution device to surface activate the adsorption layer.

[0009] In other features, the substrate is oxidized or etched using monolayer control. The method includes supplying the purge gas to the first chamber during b). The purge gas includes helium (He), and the process gas includes molecular oxygen (O2).

[0010] In other features, the purge gas is selected from the group consisting of helium (He) and molecular nitrogen (N2), and the process gas is selected from the group consisting of molecular oxygen (O2), hydrochloric acid (HCl), molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and molecular hydrogen (H2).

[0011] The method includes etching the substrate by the following steps: selecting the processing gas from the group consisting of molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and molecular hydrogen (H2); and controlling the temperature of the substrate at a predetermined temperature during processing, the predetermined temperature being lower than the etching reaction temperature of the selected processing gas.

[0012] In other features, the metastable activated radical species surface activates the adsorption layer.

[0013] In other features, a) to f) are repeated one or more times. The first chamber and the second chamber are free of the process gas during f). A predetermined volume of the process gas is supplied during b).

[0014] A substrate processing system for selectively etching a substrate includes a first chamber and a second chamber, the second chamber including a substrate support. A gas delivery system selectively supplies at least one of a purge gas and a process gas to the first chamber and the second chamber. A plasma generation system selectively generates plasma in the first chamber. A gas distribution device defines a plenum cavity and includes a first plurality of through holes and a second plurality of through holes, the first plurality of through holes being from an upper surface of the gas distribution device to a lower surface of the gas distribution device, and the second plurality of through holes being from the plenum cavity to the lower surface. A controller is configured to: a) flow the purge gas to purge the first chamber and the second chamber; b) after a), flow the process gas to the plenum cavity to generate an adsorption layer on the surface of the substrate; c) stop the flow of the process gas; d) flow the purge gas to purge the first chamber and the second chamber; and e) while flowing the purge gas to the first chamber, energize plasma in the first chamber to generate metastable activated radical species, and deliver the metastable activated radical species to the second chamber through the gas distribution device.

[0015] In other features, the controller is configured to select helium (He) as the purge gas and molecular oxygen (O2) as the process gas. The controller is configured to select the purge gas from the group consisting of helium (He) and molecular nitrogen (N2), and select the process gas from the group consisting of molecular oxygen (O2), hydrochloric acid (HCl), molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and molecular hydrogen (H2).

[0016] In other features, the controller is configured to etch the substrate by: selecting the processing gas from a group consisting of molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and molecular hydrogen (H2); and controlling the temperature of the substrate at a predetermined temperature during processing, the predetermined temperature being lower than an etching reaction temperature of the selected processing gas.

[0017] In other features, the metastable activated radical species surface activates the adsorption layer. The controller is configured to repeat a) to e) one or more times. The first chamber and the second chamber are free of the process gas during e). The controller is configured to supply a predetermined volume of the process gas during b). The controller is configured to supply the purge gas to the first chamber during b).

[0018] Further scope of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, claims and drawings.The detailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The present disclosure will be more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

[0020] Figures 1A to 1D An atomic layer treatment process using metastable activated radical species for surface activation of treatment species adsorbed on a substrate surface according to the present disclosure is shown;

[0021] Figure 2 is an exemplary functional block diagram of a substrate processing system according to the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 3 is a plan view showing an example of a gas distribution device including a dual gas filling chamber according to the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 4 According to the present disclosure Figure 3 A first cross-sectional view of a gas distribution device including dual gas filling chambers;

[0024] Figure 5 According to the present disclosure Figure 3 A second cross-sectional view of a gas distribution device including dual gas filling chambers; and

[0025] Figure 6 Flow chart of an example of a method of an atomic layer treatment process using metastable activated radical species for surface activation of treatment species adsorbed on an exposed surface of a substrate according to the present disclosure.

[0026] Among the drawings, reference numerals may be repeated to identify similar and / or identical elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Systems and methods according to the present disclosure relate to substrate processing including controlled oxidation or etching using a monolayer level. Oxygen plasma or oxygen downstream plasma can be used for oxidation treatment of the substrate surface. Direct oxygen plasma has high energy oxygen ions that can damage the substrate surface. The porous materials of the substrate experience increased damage. Other processes use remote or downstream plasmas and are intended to filter out oxygen ions. However, some ions still pass through the filter and cause damage to the substrate.

[0028] Oxygen plasma provides extremely reactive oxygen radicals that rapidly oxidize the substrate. Controlling substrate-wide uniformity and maintaining substrate-to-substrate repeatability is very difficult. Oxidizing species are often oversupplied by oxygen plasma, which leads to uncontrolled oxidation and damages sensitive surfaces. If the substrate surface has several types of exposed materials, the loading effect will be significant if these materials have different oxidation behaviors due to local consumption variations limited by the rate of species delivery.

[0029] Systems and methods according to the present disclosure relate to processes for oxidizing or etching a substrate surface at a monolayer level with precise control. The oxidation or etching is limited to oxygen adsorbed at a rate of one monolayer at a time. For example, diffusion is minimized by using downstream He radicals to activate oxygen only at the top surface of the substrate. Advantages include oxidation at a monolayer level, minimized diffusion, no ion damage, and precise oxidation control. In some examples, the process includes atomic layer processing using molecular oxygen (O2) and helium (He), but other processes are also described herein.

[0030] In other examples, the systems and methods described herein can be used to etch the exposed surface of the substrate at the monolayer level. For example, the process gas can include HCl, and metastable activated radical species are used to surface activate chlorine to etch the monolayer. In other examples, Cl2, NF3, or H2 are adsorbed on the substrate surface at a temperature below the etching reaction temperature (e.g., below about 300° C. for Cl2 or NF3, and below about 400° C. for H2). Metastable activated radical species are used to surface activate surface adsorbed chlorine, fluorine, or hydrogen species to provide monolayer etching.

[0031] Figures 1A to 1D An example is shown. Figure 1A In the process, substrate 12 is disposed on a substrate support in a process chamber. In some examples, the substrate includes an exposed low-k dielectric layer and an exposed atomic layer deposition (ALD) silicon nitride (Si3N4) layer. A He flow is supplied through a gas distribution device 10 to purge the process chamber. Figure 1B In the process, after the purge is performed, a predetermined amount of process gas, such as O2, is supplied through the gas distribution device 10. For example only, 100 to 10,000 standard cubic centimeters (sccm) of O2 (e.g., 1,000 sccm) is supplied for 1 to 100 seconds (e.g., 10 seconds) so that O2 can be saturated on the substrate surface and O2 can be adsorbed on the substrate surface.

[0032] exist Figure 1C In the process, after sufficient O2 is supplied, the process gas (O2) is turned off and the process chamber is purged with a high flow rate of He to remove the residual O2 in the chamber. In some examples, 2500 to 20000 sccm (e.g., 5000 sccm) of He is supplied for 5 seconds to 60 seconds (e.g., 10 seconds). At this time, the plasma has not yet been ignited. Figure 1D In the ALD SiN process, the plasma is turned on after the He sweep. The He* metastable activated radical species are used to surface activate the adsorbed O2 and oxidize the monolayer on the surface. The process can be repeated one or more times as needed. As can be appreciated, the low-k dielectric film has negligible loss after oxidation of the ALD SiN film, but other methods may encounter a loss of about 100 angstroms of low-k dielectric film.

[0033] Advantages of the foregoing include controlled and minimized (about one monolayer) oxidation per cycle. Oxygen ion damage is eliminated because the plasma does not contain oxygen (e.g., using He plasma). Good uniformity results from saturation of all substrate surfaces with a monolayer of oxygen. The process achieves precise oxidation amount control by varying the number of cycles.

[0034] Several factors make the above process different. Oxygen is supplied at a fixed dose below the gas distribution device, while a sweep gas flows to the first chamber (and optionally to the second chamber). This approach prevents excessive oxygen from diffusing back into the ICP plasma region where oxygen ions may be generated and cause ion damage. Oxygen is adsorbed on the substrate surface at a monolayer level, and the remaining oxygen in the processing chamber is scavenged. This approach provides uniform coverage of the processing gas (e.g., oxygen) on the substrate surface. The surface dose of oxygen is self-limiting based on the desorption rate.

[0035] Only He plasma is generated above the gas distribution device. Therefore, only neutral He* radicals travel downstream and reach the surface of the substrate. The adsorbed oxygen is locally surface activated by the He* radicals on the surface of the substrate, and the oxygen oxidizes the underlying substrate surface. The oxygen dose depends on the adsorption. The process is less sensitive to loading effects caused by density variations of different materials exposed simultaneously.

[0036] As can be appreciated, while the foregoing examples relate to oxidation processes using He* radicals, other processes may be performed using other process gases. In some examples, the sweep gas may include molecular nitrogen (N2), or another inert gas such as argon (Ar), neon (Ne), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and mixtures thereof. As will be further described below, other process gases for etching a monolayer include hydrochloric acid (HCl), molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and molecular hydrogen (H2).

[0037] Now refer to Figure 2 , an exemplary substrate processing system 50 for selectively processing a substrate surface is shown. The substrate processing system 50 includes a plasma source 51 and a substrate support 52 such as an electrostatic chuck, a pedestal, or other type of substrate support. In some examples, the plasma source 51 includes an ICP source. As can be appreciated, the plasma source 51 may include other suitable plasma sources, such as CCP, ECR, or microwave plasma sources.

[0038] During processing, a substrate 54 is disposed on a substrate support 52. In some examples, the substrate support 52 is temperature controlled (heated and / or cooled) using one or more temperature control elements (TCEs) 55, such as resistive heaters 56, coolant channels 58, or other types of thermal control devices. The substrate support 52 may include a single temperature controlled zone or multiple temperature controlled zones that are each controlled.

[0039] In some examples, the substrate processing system 50 includes an upper chamber 60. In some examples, the upper chamber 60 has a dome shape, but other shapes can be used. When using ICP plasma, a coil 64 is disposed around the outer surface of the upper chamber 60. A gas injector 68 injects plasma gas into the upper chamber 60.

[0040] The gas distribution device 84 includes a first plurality of through holes 86 extending from a top surface of the gas distribution device 84 to a bottom surface of the gas distribution device 84. The gas distribution device 84 also includes a plenum cavity 85 and a second plurality of through holes 83 extending from the plenum cavity 85 to the bottom surface of the gas distribution device 84. The first plurality of through holes 86 are not in fluid communication with the plenum cavity 85.

[0041] If an ICP plasma is used, an RF generation system 87 generates RF power and outputs it to the coil 64. By way of example only, the RF generation system 87 may include an RF generator 88 that generates RF power that is fed to the coil 64 by a matching network 89.

[0042] The gas delivery system 90-1 includes one or more gas sources 92-1, 92-2, ..., and 92-N (collectively referred to as gas sources 92), where N is an integer greater than zero. The gas sources 92 are connected to the manifold 98 through valves 94-1, 94-2, ..., and 94-N (collectively referred to as valves 94) and mass flow controllers 96-1, 96-2, ..., and 96-N (collectively referred to as mass flow controllers 96). Another gas delivery system 90-2 can be used to deliver process gas to the gas filling chamber 85 of the gas distribution device 84.

[0043] The temperature controller 106 can be connected to the TCE 55, for example, to the resistive heater 56. The temperature controller 63 can be in communication with one or more temperature sensors (not shown) that sense the temperature of the substrate support or substrate and the temperature of the coolant controller 108 to control the coolant flowing through the coolant channel 58. For example, the coolant controller 108 can include a coolant pump, a reservoir, and / or one or more temperature sensors (not shown). The valve 130 and pump 132 can be used to control the pressure in the process chamber and to exhaust reactants from the process chamber. The system controller 140 can be used to control Figure 2 Components of a substrate processing system 10 are shown.

[0044] The system and method according to the present disclosure utilizes an inert gas to generate a plasma to produce a high density of metastable radical-activated species that carry chemical energy high enough to excite other active radical species that are deposited as a monolayer on the surface of the substrate 54 .

[0045] In some examples, the process uses an ICP chamber operating with an ICP power in the range of 500 W to 5 kW. In some examples, the RF power applied to the induction coil is at 13.56 MHz, but other frequencies may also be used. In some examples, the process is performed at a chamber pressure range of 10 mTorr to 10 Torr.

[0046] Reference now Figure 3 The gas distribution device 200 includes a dual gas plenum 202 to deliver the process gas species and the excited gas species including the metastable activated radical species according to the present disclosure. The dual gas plenum 202 delivers the mixture of the process gas and the metastable activated radical species to the lower chamber without mixing in the upper chamber.

[0047] In some examples, the process temperature is in a range from 75° C. to 400° C., although other process temperatures may be used. In other examples, the process temperature is in a range from 100° C. to 200° C., although other process temperatures may be used.

[0048] The gas distribution device 200 includes an upper flange 204, sidewalls 206, and a bottom surface 208, which forms an upper surface of the dual-gas plenum 202. The dual-gas plenum 202 includes a gas inlet 210 to receive the process gas.

[0049] The dual gas plenum 202 defines an annular channel 220 and a connecting channel 224. The connecting channel 224 extends across an interior portion of the bottom surface 208 between opposite sides of the annular channel 220. The annular channel 220 may be formed at a location between the sidewall 206 and the bottom surface 208. Both the annular channel 220 and the connecting channel 224 are in fluid communication with the gas inlet 210. The process gas mixture flows through the annular channel 220 and enters the connecting channel 224. Figure 5 The downwardly directed through holes shown direct the process gas mixture from the connecting passage 224 into the lower chamber and toward the substrate.

[0050] The region 228 between the connecting channels 224 includes a plurality of through holes 230 through the bottom surface 208. As can be appreciated, only some of the plurality of through holes 230 are shown for purposes of illustration and clarity. In some examples, the plurality of through holes 230 have a circular cross-section and uniform spacing, although other cross-sections and / or uneven spacing may also be used. In some examples, the plurality of through holes 230 have a diameter in the range of from 3 mm to 10 mm, although other diameters may also be used.

[0051] Now refer to Figure 4-5 , shows a cross-sectional view of the bottom surface 208 of the dual gas plenum 202. Figure 4 , a first cross-sectional view taken along the connecting channel 224 is shown. Process gas is supplied to the annular channel 220, and the annular channel 220 supplies the process gas to the connecting channel 224. A plurality of through holes 232 fluidly connect the connecting channel 224 to the lower chamber. In some examples, the plurality of through holes 232 have a diameter in a range from 0.1 mm to 1 mm, but other diameters may also be used. The plurality of through holes 232 may be positioned along the connecting channel 224 at uniform or non-uniform intervals.

[0052] exist Figure 5 , a second cross-sectional view is shown taken through region 228. A plurality of through holes 230 extend from the upper chamber through the bottom surface 208 to the lower chamber. As can be seen, the flow paths of the excited gas species and the process gas species are separated until they reach the lower chamber.

[0053] Additional examples of gas distribution devices can be found in commonly assigned U.S. Patent Publication US 20180174870-A1, filed on December 18, 2017, entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR METASTABLEACTIVATED RADICAL SELECTIVE STRIP AND ETCH USING DUAL PLENUM SHOWERHEAD", and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. As described therein, if necessary for a particular application, the first plurality of through holes can provide an indirect path to avoid a direct line of sight from the upper chamber to the lower chamber, and / or a light blocking structure can be used between the plasma and the gas distribution device. In some examples, a purge gas is supplied when the process gas is supplied to create a positive pressure and prevent the process gas from flowing into the upper chamber.

[0054] Now refer to Figure 6, a method 600 for processing a substrate is shown. At 604, a substrate is disposed in a processing chamber. At 608, a purge gas, such as He, is supplied to purge the processing chamber for a predetermined period of time. At 610, after the purge, a predetermined amount of a processing gas is supplied so that it can be saturated on the surface of the substrate and adsorbed on the surface of the substrate. In some examples, the processing gas is selected from molecular oxygen (O2), hydrochloric acid (HCl), molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and molecular hydrogen (H2). By way of example only, 1000 sccm of O2 is supplied for 10 seconds so that O2 can be saturated on the surface of the substrate and O2 can be adsorbed on the surface of the substrate. The purge gas can be supplied to prevent oxygen from diffusing back into the upper chamber.

[0055] After sufficient O2 is supplied, the process gas (O2) is turned off at 614, and the process chamber is purged with a high flow rate of He to remove residual O2 in the process chamber. In some examples, 5000 sccm of He is supplied for 10 seconds. At 618, the plasma is turned on after the purge. Metastable activated radical species are used to activate O2 adsorbed on the surface of the substrate and oxidize the surface. At 622, the process can be repeated one or more times to adjust the thickness of the oxide layer using single layer control.

[0056] In other examples, the systems and methods described herein can be used to etch the exposed surface of the substrate at a monolayer level. For example, the process gas can include HCl, and metastable activated radical species are used to surface activate chlorine to etch the monolayer. In other examples, Cl2, NF3, or H2 are adsorbed on the surface of the substrate at a temperature below the etching reaction temperature (e.g., below about 300° C. for Cl2 or NF3, and below about 400° C. for H2), and then metastable activated radical species are used to surface activate chlorine, fluorine, or hydrogen to provide controlled monolayer etching.

[0057] The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is by no means intended to limit the present disclosure, its application or use. The broad teachings of the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms. Therefore, although the present disclosure includes specific examples, the true scope of the present disclosure should not be so limited, because when studying the drawings, the specification and the appended claims, other modifications will become apparent. It should be understood that, without changing the principles of the present disclosure, one or more steps in the method can be performed in different orders (or simultaneously). In addition, although each embodiment is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described relative to any embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented in the features of any other embodiment and / or combined with the features of any other embodiment, even if the combination is not clearly described. In other words, the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and the replacement of one or more embodiments with each other remains within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0058] Various terms are used to describe the spatial and functional relationships between elements (e.g., between modules, between circuit elements, between semiconductor layers, etc.), including "connected," "engaged," "coupled," "adjacent," "next to," "on top of," "above," "below," and "disposed." Unless the relationship between a first and a second element is explicitly described as "direct," when such a relationship is described in the above disclosure, the relationship can be a direct relationship, in which there are no other intervening elements between the first and second elements, but can also be an indirect relationship, in which there are one or more intervening elements (spatially or functionally) between the first and second elements. As used herein, the phrase "at least one of A, B, and C" should be interpreted to mean a logical (A or B or C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be interpreted to mean "at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C."

[0059] In some implementations, the controller is part of a system, which can be part of the above examples. Such a system can include a semiconductor processing device, which includes one or more processing tools, one or more chambers, one or more platforms for processing, and / or specific processing components (wafer pedestals, gas flow systems, etc.). These systems can be integrated with electronic devices for controlling their operation before, during, and after the processing of semiconductor wafers or substrates. The electronic device can be referred to as a "controller", which can control various components or subcomponents of one or more systems. Depending on the processing requirements and / or the type of system, the controller can be programmed to control any process disclosed herein, including the delivery of process gases, temperature settings (e.g., heating and / or cooling), pressure settings, vacuum settings, power settings, radio frequency (RF) generator settings, RF matching circuit settings, frequency settings, flow rate settings, fluid delivery settings, position and operation settings, wafer transfer in and out of tools and other transfer tools and / or load locks connected to or connected to a specific system through an interface.

[0060] In general, a controller can be defined as an electronic device having various integrated circuits, logic, memory, and / or software that receive instructions, issue instructions, control operations, enable cleaning operations, enable endpoint measurements, etc. The integrated circuit can include a chip in the form of firmware that stores program instructions, a digital signal processor (DSP), a chip defined as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and / or one or more microprocessors, or a microcontroller that executes program instructions (e.g., software). The program instructions can be instructions sent to the controller in the form of various individual settings (or program files) that define operating parameters for performing a specific process on or for a semiconductor wafer or system. In some embodiments, the operating parameters can be part of a recipe defined by a process engineer to complete one or more processing steps during the manufacture of one or more (kinds of) layers, materials, metals, oxides, silicon, silicon dioxide, surfaces, circuits, and / or dies of a wafer.

[0061] In some implementations, the controller may be part of or coupled to a computer that is integrated with the system, coupled to the system, otherwise networked to the system, or a combination thereof. For example, the controller may be in the "cloud" or all or part of a wafer fab host system that may allow remote access to wafer processing. The computer may enable remote access to the system to monitor the current progress of a manufacturing operation, check the history of past manufacturing operations, check trends or performance criteria for multiple manufacturing operations, change parameters of a current process, set processing steps to follow the current process, or start a new process. In some examples, a remote computer (e.g., a server) may provide a process recipe to the system via a network (which may include a local network or the Internet). The remote computer may include a user interface that enables input or programming of parameters and / or settings, which are then sent from the remote computer to the system. In some examples, the controller receives instructions in the form of data that specify parameters for each processing step to be performed during one or more operations. It should be understood that the parameters may be specific to the type of process to be performed and the type of tool that the controller is configured to interface with or control. Thus, as described above, the controller may be distributed, for example, by including one or more discrete controllers networked together and working toward a common purpose (e.g., the process and control described herein). An example of a distributed controller for such a purpose is one or more integrated circuits on a chamber communicating with one or more integrated circuits remotely (e.g., at a platform level or as part of a remote computer), which combine to control the process on the chamber.

[0062] Example systems may include, but are not limited to, plasma etch chambers or modules, deposition chambers or modules, spin rinse chambers or modules, metal plating chambers or modules, cleaning chambers or modules, chamfer edge etch chambers or modules, physical vapor deposition (PVD) chambers or modules, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chambers or modules, atomic layer deposition (ALD) chambers or modules, atomic layer etch (ALE) chambers or modules, ion implantation chambers or modules, track chambers or modules, and any other semiconductor processing system that may be associated with or used in the manufacture and / or preparation of semiconductor wafers.

[0063] As described above, depending on one or more processing steps to be performed by the tool, the controller can communicate with one or more other tool circuits or modules, other tool components, cluster tools, other tool interfaces, adjacent tools, neighboring tools, tools located throughout the factory, a host computer, another controller, or tools used in material transport to transport wafer containers to and from tool locations and / or load ports in a semiconductor manufacturing facility.

Claims

1. A method for treating an exposed surface of a substrate, comprising: a) purging a first chamber and a second chamber of a substrate processing system using a purge gas, wherein a gas distribution device is disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber; b) after a), flowing a process gas to the second chamber but not to the first chamber to produce an adsorption layer on a surface of a substrate on a substrate support disposed in the second chamber; c) stopping the flow of the process gas to the second chamber; d) flowing the purge gas to purge the first chamber and the second chamber; as well as e) exciting plasma in the first chamber to generate metastable activated radical species while flowing the sweep gas to the first chamber, and transporting the metastable activated radical species to the second chamber via the gas distribution device to surface activate the adsorption layer; The gas distribution device defines a gas-filled cavity and includes a first plurality of through holes and a second plurality of through holes, wherein the first plurality of through holes are from the upper surface of the gas distribution device to the lower surface of the gas distribution device, and the second plurality of through holes are from the gas-filled cavity to the lower surface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate is oxidized or etched using single layer control. 3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising supplying the purge gas to the first chamber during b).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sweep gas comprises helium (He) and the process gas comprises molecular oxygen (O2).

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the purge gas is selected from the group consisting of helium (He) and molecular nitrogen (N 2 ), and the process gas is selected from the group consisting of molecular oxygen (O 2 ), hydrochloric acid (HCl), molecular chlorine (Cl 2 ), nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ) and molecular hydrogen (H 2 ).

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The substrate is etched by the following steps: selecting the process gas from the group consisting of molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and molecular hydrogen (H2); and The temperature of the substrate is controlled to be a predetermined temperature during processing, the predetermined temperature being lower than an etching reaction temperature of the selected process gas. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a) to e) are repeated one or more times.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first chamber and the second chamber are free of the process gas during e).

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a predetermined volume of the process gas is supplied during b).

10. A substrate processing system for selectively etching a substrate, the substrate processing system comprising: Room 1; a second chamber including a substrate support; a gas delivery system for selectively supplying at least one of a purge gas and a process gas to the first chamber and the second chamber; a plasma generating system for selectively generating plasma in the first chamber; a gas distribution device disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber, defining a plenum cavity and comprising a first plurality of through holes and a second plurality of through holes, the first plurality of through holes extending from an upper surface of the gas distribution device to a lower surface of the gas distribution device, the second plurality of through holes extending from the plenum cavity to the lower surface; as well as A controller configured to: a) flowing the purge gas to purge the first chamber and the second chamber; b) after a), flowing the process gas into the gas-filled cavity to produce an adsorption layer on the surface of the substrate; c) stopping the flow of the process gas; d) flowing the purge gas to purge the first chamber and the second chamber; as well as e) exciting a plasma in the first chamber to generate metastable activated radical species while flowing the purge gas to the first chamber, and delivering the metastable activated radical species to the second chamber through the gas distribution device. 11 . The substrate processing system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to supply helium (He) as the purge gas and molecular oxygen (O 2 ) as the process gas.

12. The substrate processing system of claim 10 , wherein the controller is configured to select the purge gas from the group consisting of helium (He) and molecular nitrogen (N 2 ), and select the process gas from the group consisting of molecular oxygen (O 2 ), hydrochloric acid (HCl), molecular chlorine (Cl 2 ), nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ) and molecular hydrogen (H 2 ).

13. The substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to etch the substrate by: selecting the process gas from the group consisting of molecular chlorine (Cl2), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3), and molecular hydrogen (H2); and The temperature of the substrate is controlled to be a predetermined temperature during processing, the predetermined temperature being lower than an etching reaction temperature of the selected process gas.

14. The substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the metastable activated radical species surface activates the adsorption layer.

15. The substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to repeat a) to e) one or more times.

16. The substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the first chamber and the second chamber are free of the process gas during e).

17. The substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to supply a predetermined volume of the process gas during b).

18. The substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to supply the purge gas to the first chamber during b).

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