How to clean the chamber

Abstract

A chamber cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention is a method for cleaning a chamber for depositing a thin film, and includes the steps of: performing a primary cleaning of the chamber with a first gas that has been converted into plasma inside the chamber; and performing a secondary cleaning of the chamber by supplying a second gas that has been converted into plasma outside the chamber into the chamber to activate the first gas that has been converted into plasma, wherein the second gas includes a gas that is non-reactive with the first gas.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a chamber, and more particularly, to a method for cleaning a chamber that becomes contaminated during the process of depositing a thin film on a substrate. [Background technology]

[0002] In general, semiconductor devices are manufactured by depositing various materials on a substrate in the form of thin films and patterning the deposited materials. To achieve this, various different processes, such as a deposition process, an etching process, a cleaning process, and a drying process, are performed. Here, the deposition process is for forming a thin film having properties required for a semiconductor device on a substrate. However, during the deposition process for forming a thin film, by-products including deposition materials are deposited not only in desired areas on the substrate but also inside a chamber where the deposition process is performed.

[0003] If the by-products deposited inside the chamber increase in thickness, they will peel off and cause the generation of particles. The particles thus generated may enter the thin film formed on the substrate or adhere to the surface of the thin film and cause defects in semiconductor devices, increasing the product failure rate. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the by-products deposited inside the chamber before they peel off.

[0004] In the case of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), a chamber cleaning process is periodically performed to remove by-products deposited inside the chamber during deposition. In the case of a substrate processing apparatus performing MOCVD, the by-products inside the chamber can be removed by a wet etching method using a cleaning solution or a dry etching method using a cleaning gas. When the by-products deposited inside the chamber contain metal, it is often difficult to perform dry etching using a cleaning gas. Therefore, in the case of a substrate processing apparatus performing MOCVD, the inside of the chamber is mainly cleaned by wet etching. Cleaning by wet etching is almost always performed manually by an operator with the chamber open, which is inconvenient in that cleaning costs are high and it is difficult to ensure the reproducibility and operation rate of the apparatus. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Republic of Korea Publication Patent No. 10-2011-7011433 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention provides a method for cleaning a chamber, which can efficiently clean a chamber in which by-products have accumulated after a thin film is deposited on a substrate.

[0007] The present invention provides a chamber cleaning method capable of efficiently cleaning metal-containing by-products deposited inside a chamber of a substrate processing apparatus that performs metal-organic vapor phase deposition. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A chamber cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention is a method for cleaning a chamber for depositing a thin film, and includes the steps of: primarily cleaning the chamber with a first gas plasmatized inside the chamber; and secondly cleaning the chamber by supplying a second gas plasmatized outside the chamber to the inside of the chamber to activate the first gas plasma, wherein the second gas includes a gas that is non-reactive with the first gas.

[0009] The step of primarily cleaning the chamber may be performed by generating a direct plasma in the chamber, and the step of secondarily cleaning the chamber may be performed by supplying a remote plasma into the chamber.

[0010] The first gas may contain a chlorine component, and the second gas may contain at least one gas selected from the group consisting of nitrogen gas, argon gas, helium gas, and oxygen gas.

[0011] A gas injection unit for injecting the first gas may be disposed within the chamber, and the step of primarily cleaning the chamber and the step of secondly cleaning the chamber may be performed by adjusting a temperature of the gas injection unit to 200° C. or higher.

[0012] The step of primarily cleaning the chamber may include the steps of separately supplying a first component gas and a second component gas into the chamber, plasmatizing the first component gas and the second component gas in the chamber and reacting them to generate a plasmatized first gas, and primarily removing by-products in the chamber with the plasmatized first gas.

[0013] The step of generating the plasmatized first gas may include plasmatizing the first component gas outside the gas injection unit and plasmatizing the second component gas inside the gas injection unit.

[0014] The first component gas and the second component gas that have been turned into plasma may be reacted outside the gas ejection unit.

[0015] The method for cleaning the chamber may further include, after the step of secondarily cleaning the chamber, removing chlorine components remaining in the chamber.

[0016] The thin film and by-products within the chamber may include metal oxides. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the method for cleaning a chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention, the chamber is primarily cleaned with a first gas plasmatized inside the chamber, and then a second gas plasmatized outside the chamber is supplied into the chamber to activate the first gas plasmatized inside the chamber, thereby performing a second cleaning of the chamber. This allows various by-products remaining in the chamber to be removed step by step, thereby maximizing the cleaning efficiency. In particular, by-products including metals deposited inside the chamber of a substrate processing apparatus performing metal-organic vapor phase deposition can be efficiently cleaned.

[0018] Furthermore, according to the chamber cleaning method of the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to remove by-products from inside the chamber without excessively increasing the temperature inside the chamber. That is, by supplying activation energy to the first gas plasma by the second gas plasma, it is possible to remove by-products while keeping the temperature inside the chamber relatively low, which is particularly effective in substrate processing apparatuses applied to sealing processes where maintaining a low temperature is essential.

[0019] In addition, the chamber cleaning method according to the embodiment of the present invention makes it possible to perform in-situ cleaning without opening the chamber in a chemical vapor deposition process that requires frequent cleaning, thereby improving work efficiency and ensuring high equipment reproducibility and availability. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a gas injection section according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the gas injection unit shown in FIG. 2. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 illustrates how a direct plasma is formed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 1A-1C are schematic diagrams illustrating a method for cleaning a chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, and may be embodied in various different forms. These embodiments are provided merely to complete the disclosure of the present invention and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention. In order to accurately describe the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings may be exaggerated, and the same reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same components.

[0022] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a gas injection unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the gas injection unit shown in Fig. 2.

[0023] 1 to 3, the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a chamber 10 and a gas injection unit 300 disposed inside the chamber 10 and having a gas supply path for supplying gas. The substrate processing apparatus may further include a power supply unit (not shown) connected to the gas injection unit 300 for supplying power to the gas injection unit 300 and a remote plasma generating unit 400 disposed outside the chamber 10, and may further include a first gas supply unit (not shown) for providing a first component gas, a second gas supply unit (not shown) for providing a second component gas, and a control unit (not shown) for controlling the power supply unit. Here, a substrate support unit 20 for supporting at least one substrate may be disposed inside the chamber 10.

[0024] In the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the cleaning cycle of the chamber 10 arrives, after performing and completing a thin film deposition process, a cleaning process is continuously performed in a vacuum without opening the chamber 10. A substrate S is drawn into the chamber 10, a thin film is deposited on the substrate S, and when the thin film deposition process is performed and completed, the substrate S is discharged from the chamber 10, and a cleaning process is continuously performed to clean the inside of the chamber 10. After the cleaning process is performed and completed, another substrate S may be drawn into the chamber 10, and a thin film deposition process may be performed again. In this process, the chamber 10 is maintained without changing the pressure condition from that for performing the thin film deposition process to the pressure condition for opening the chamber 10.

[0025] Here, the thin film deposition process may be a process of depositing a metal oxide such as zinc oxide doped with at least one of indium (In) and gallium (Ga), for example, IZO, GZO, IGZO, etc., on the substrate S, and in this case, the by-product deposited in the chamber 10 may include a metal oxide such as zinc oxide doped with at least one of indium (In) and gallium (Ga).

[0026] The first component gas supply unit and the second component gas supply unit may be disposed outside the chamber 10, and supply the first component gas and the second component gas to the gas injection unit 300. In the thin film deposition process, the first component gas and the second component gas may include a source gas that is a component of the thin film, and in the cleaning process, the first component gas and the second component gas may include a cleaning gas, i.e., a cleaning gas that is a component of the first gas in the step (S100) of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 described below. Here, the first gas supply unit and the second gas supply unit do not necessarily supply one type of gas, and the first gas supply unit and the second gas supply unit may be configured to supply multiple types of gases simultaneously or to supply a gas selected from multiple types of gases.

[0027] For example, the first gas supply unit may be configured to selectively supply a first source gas or a first cleaning gas, and the second gas supply unit may be configured to selectively supply a second source gas or a second cleaning gas. The first gas supply unit may be configured to simultaneously supply a plurality of first source gases or to supply a first source gas selected from a plurality of first source gases, and this is also true for the second gas supply unit.

[0028] Here, the first source gas may be an organic source containing a metal element. For example, the first source gas may be a gas containing at least one of a gas containing indium (In) as a source material, a gas containing gallium (Ga) as a source material, and a gas containing zinc (Zn) as a source material, and the second source gas may contain a gas that reacts with the first source gas.

[0029] The first cleaning gas may contain a gas containing a chlorine (Cl) component, and the second cleaning gas may contain a gas containing a chlorine (Cl) component or a gas containing a component different from the first cleaning gas and reacting with the chlorine (Cl) component of the first cleaning gas. In this case, the first gas generated by the reaction of the first cleaning gas with the second cleaning gas may contain Cl2, HCl, or BCl3.

[0030] On the other hand, the first source gas, the second source gas, the first cleaning gas, and the second cleaning gas are not limited to those described above, and it goes without saying that a wide variety of gases can be used as necessary.

[0031] The gas injection unit 300 may be disposed inside the chamber 10, for example, on the lower surface of the chamber lid 12, and may include a first gas supply path 110 for supplying a first gas and a second gas supply path 210 for supplying a second gas. The first gas supply path 110 and the second gas supply path 210 are formed independent of and separated from each other, and the first gas and the second gas can be separately supplied to the inside of the chamber 10 so as not to be mixed.

[0032] The gas injection unit 300 may include an upper frame 310 and a lower frame 320. Here, the upper frame 310 is detachably coupled to the lower surface of the chamber lid 12, and a part of the upper surface, for example, a center part of the upper surface, is separated from the lower surface of the chamber lid 12 by a predetermined distance. This allows a first gas provided from a first gas supply unit to spread in a space between the upper surface of the upper frame 310 and the lower surface of the chamber lid 12. In addition, the lower frame 320 is disposed on the lower surface of the upper frame 310 at a predetermined distance. This allows a second gas provided from a second gas supply unit to spread in a space between the upper surface of the lower frame 320 and the lower surface of the upper frame 310. It goes without saying that the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320 may be integrally formed by being connected along the outer circumferential surface to form a spaced apart therein, or may have a structure in which the outer circumferential surface is sealed by a separate seal member 350.

[0033] The first gas supply path 110 may be formed such that a first gas provided from a first gas supply unit spreads in a space between a lower surface of the chamber lid 12 and the upper frame 310, and passes through the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320 to be supplied to the inside of the chamber 10. The second gas supply path 210 may be formed such that a second gas provided from a second gas supply unit spreads in a space between a lower surface of the upper frame 310 and an upper surface of the lower frame 320, and passes through the lower frame 320 to be supplied to the inside of the chamber 10. The first gas supply path 110 and the second gas supply path 210 may not be in communication with each other, and thus the first gas and the second gas can be supplied separately from the gas injection unit 300 to the inside of the chamber 10.

[0034] A temperature adjustment means 312 may be disposed inside at least one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320. Although a structure in which the temperature adjustment means 312 is disposed in the upper frame 310 is shown in Fig. 1, the temperature adjustment means 312 may be disposed in the lower frame 320, or may be disposed in each of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320.

[0035] Here, the temperature control means 312 may include a heating means for directly heating the gas injection part 300. In this case, the heating means may be a heating means with a resistance heating wire, or may be a heating means adopting other heating means. The heating means may be formed of a heating line.

[0036] The heating means may be disposed in at least one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320, or may be divided and disposed to heat a plurality of regions. In this case, the heating means divided and disposed in a plurality of regions can heat at least one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320 for each region. For example, the heating means may be disposed in two, three, or four regions in at least one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320, and more heating means may be disposed closer to the chamber wall in order to further increase the temperature of the chamber wall side, which has a lower temperature than the center side inside the chamber 10.

[0037] As mentioned above, the heating means may be arranged in each of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320, and in this case, the heating means arranged inside the upper frame 310 may be referred to as the first heating means, and the heating means arranged inside the lower frame 320 may be referred to as the second heating means.

[0038] Meanwhile, the temperature control means 312 may include a cooling means for directly cooling the gas injection unit 300. The cooling means may be formed of a cooling line that circulates a cooling fluid, and may be disposed in at least one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320, as described in the heating means section, or may be divided and disposed to cool a plurality of regions.

[0039] RF power may be applied from a power supply unit to one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320. The upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320 may be electrodes facing each other, the upper frame 310 being a first electrode 310, and the lower frame 320 being a second electrode 320 relative to the first electrode 310. The second electrode 320 may have a plurality of through-holes, and the first electrode 310 may be formed with a plurality of protrusions 342 extending and protruding toward the plurality of through-holes of the second electrode 320.

[0040] 4 is a diagram showing how direct plasma is generated according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the following, a case will be described in which the first electrode 310 and the substrate support 20 are grounded and power is supplied to the second electrode 320, but it goes without saying that the power supply structure is not limited thereto.

[0041] 4, a first component gas may be supplied into the chamber 10 along the arrows indicated by solid lines, and a second component gas may be supplied into the chamber 10 along the arrows indicated by dotted lines. The first component gas may be supplied into the chamber 10 through the inside of the first electrode 310, and the second component gas may be supplied into the chamber 10 through a space between the first electrode 310 and the second electrode 320. The first component gas may be supplied into the chamber 10 through a plurality of protrusions 342 of the first electrode 310.

[0042] When the first electrode 310 and the substrate support 20 are grounded and power is supplied to the second electrode 320, a region for generating a first direct plasma, i.e., a first direct plasma region DP1, is formed between the gas injection unit 300 and the substrate support 20, and a region for generating a second direct plasma, i.e., a second direct plasma region DP2, is formed between the first electrode 310 and the second electrode 320.

[0043] Therefore, when the first component gas is supplied through the first electrode 310, the first component gas is plasmatized in a first direct plasma region DP1 formed outside the gas injection unit 300. When the second component gas is supplied through a space between the first electrode 310 and the second electrode 320, the second component gas is plasmatized over a region between the first electrode 310 and the second electrode 320, which corresponds to the inside of the gas injection unit 300, that is, from the second direct plasma region DP2 to the first direct plasma region DP1. Therefore, the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can plasmatize the first component gas and the second component gas in plasma regions of different sizes. In addition, by plasmatizing the first component gas and the second component gas in plasma regions of different sizes, each component gas can be distributed through an optimal supply route for depositing a thin film or cleaning the chamber 10. In Figures 1 and 4, the substrate S is shown to be placed on the substrate support 20. However, this is applied when a thin film is deposited on the substrate S, and it goes without saying that the substrate S may be removed from the chamber 10 when cleaning the chamber 10 and not placed on the substrate support 20.

[0044] Meanwhile, the substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a remote plasma generating unit 400 disposed outside the chamber 10. The remote plasma generating unit 400 is disposed outside the chamber 10 and connected to the chamber 10 via a remote plasma inlet pipe 410. A region for generating remote plasma, i.e., a remote plasma region RP, is formed inside the remote plasma generating unit 400. Here, one end of the remote plasma inlet pipe 410 is connected to the remote plasma region RP, and the other end is connected to the internal space of the chamber 10. Here, the other end of the remote plasma inlet pipe 410 may be formed to extend and be inserted into the internal space of the chamber 10, and the other end of the inserted remote plasma inlet pipe 410 may be arranged to be reciprocating along the extension direction of the chamber 10. On the other hand, while FIG. 1 shows the remote plasma generating unit 400 being disposed apart in the lateral direction of the chamber 10, it goes without saying that the remote plasma generating unit 400 may be disposed apart in the vertical direction of the chamber 10 or in both the lateral and vertical directions.

[0045] The chamber cleaning method of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to Fig. 5. In describing the chamber cleaning method of the present invention, descriptions that overlap with the description of the above-mentioned substrate processing apparatus will be omitted.

[0046] 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a chamber cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the chamber cleaning method according to the embodiment of the present invention is a method for cleaning a chamber 10 for depositing a thin film as described above, and includes a step (S100) of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 with a first gas that has been converted into plasma inside the chamber 10, and a step (S200) of secondly cleaning the chamber 10 by supplying a second gas that has been converted into plasma outside the chamber 10 into the chamber 10. Here, the second gas may include a gas that is non-reactive with the first gas.

[0047] For ease of explanation, the following description will be given taking as an example a structure in which the gas injection unit 300 has the above-mentioned upper frame 310 and lower frame 320; however, it goes without saying that the gas injection unit 300 may be a gas injection plate, a shower head, a gas injection plate having an electrode for forming plasma, or a lid itself.

[0048] Before the step (S100) of primarily cleaning the chamber 10, a step of depositing a thin film on the substrate S may be performed, and in the step of depositing a thin film on the substrate S, a thin film including a metal oxide may be deposited on the substrate S. That is, in the step of depositing a thin film on the substrate S, a metal oxide such as zinc oxide doped with at least one of indium (In) and gallium (Ga), for example, IZO, GZO, IGZO, etc., may be deposited on the substrate, and thus, a metal oxide such as zinc oxide doped with at least one of indium (In) and gallium (Ga) can be deposited as a by-product in the chamber 10.

[0049] Meanwhile, after the step of depositing a thin film on the substrate S and before the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S100), a step of adjusting the temperature of the gas injection unit 300 to a set temperature may be performed. Here, in the step of adjusting the temperature of the gas injection unit 300 to a set temperature, the temperature of the gas injection unit 300 may be adjusted to a temperature of 200° C. or more. That is, after the step of depositing a thin film on the substrate S, the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 in situ (S100) may be performed while maintaining a vacuum state without opening the chamber 10, and between the step of depositing a thin film and the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S100), a step of adjusting the gas injection unit 300 to a set temperature may be performed. This is because cleaning efficiency can be maximized when the temperature of the gas injection unit 300 is high, and by increasing the temperature of the gas injection unit 300 in this manner, the reaction between the by-products in the chamber 10 and the first gas can be more actively caused.

[0050] Here, the step of adjusting the gas injection unit 300 to the set temperature may include a step of directly heating the gas injection unit 300. That is, as described above, a heating means may be disposed inside at least one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320 included in the gas injection unit 300, so that in the step of adjusting the gas injection unit 300 to the set temperature, the heating means directly heats at least one of the upper frame 310 and the lower frame 320 to adjust the gas injection unit 300 to a temperature of 200° C. or more. At this time, it goes without saying that the step of directly heating the gas injection unit 300 may be performed simultaneously with heating the substrate support unit 20 for supporting the substrate S. In this way, when the heating means directly heats the gas injection unit 300 while heating the substrate support unit 20, it becomes possible to quickly adjust the temperature of the gas injection unit 300 to the set temperature.

[0051] In the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S100), the chamber 10 may be primarily cleaned by reacting a first gas with a component of the metal oxide deposited as a by-product in the chamber 10 that reacts at a relatively low temperature.

[0052] Here, the step (S100) of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 may be performed by forming a direct plasma in the chamber 10. The step (S100) of primarily cleaning the chamber may include the steps of separately supplying a first component gas and a second component gas into the chamber 10, plasmatizing the first component gas and the second component gas in the chamber 10 and reacting them to generate a plasmatized first gas, and primarily removing by-products in the chamber 10 with the plasmatized first gas.

[0053] In the step (S100) of primarily cleaning the chamber 10, in order to clean the chamber 10 having by-products including metal oxides deposited therein, a first component gas and a second component gas may be plasmatized in different regions and reacted to generate a plasmatized first gas, which may then be used to remove by-products from within the chamber 10. That is, in the chamber cleaning method according to the embodiment of the present invention, the first component gas and the second component gas are plasmatized in different regions, thereby enabling dry cleaning of the chamber 10 having by-products including metal oxides deposited therein.

[0054] In the step of separately supplying the first component gas and the second component gas into the chamber 10, the first component gas provided from a first gas supply unit and the second component gas provided from a second gas supply unit are supplied into the chamber 10 via the gas injection unit 300. That is, the first component gas and the second component gas may be supplied into the chamber 10 along a first gas supply path 110 and a second gas supply path 210 formed as different paths in the gas injection unit 300.

[0055] The first component gas and the second component gas are for generating a reaction gas by reacting with each other in the internal space of the chamber 10, and at least one of the first component gas and the second component gas may be a gas containing a chlorine (Cl) component. In this case, the gas containing a chlorine (Cl) component may contain Cl2, HCl, or BCl3. In addition to the chlorine (Cl)-containing gas, the first component gas or the second component gas may further contain at least one inert gas selected from argon (Ar), xenon (Ze), and helium (He). In this case, the inert gas can act as a carrier gas or prevent the first component gas or the second component gas from flowing backward, and when power is supplied, the discharge efficiency for forming direct plasma can be improved.

[0056] The first component gas and the second component gas are separately supplied into the chamber 10 along separate paths in the gas injection unit 300. That is, the first component gas is supplied into the chamber 10 along the first gas supply path 110 formed in the gas injection unit 300, and the second component gas is supplied into the chamber 10 along the second gas supply path 210 formed in the gas injection unit 300 and not connected to the first gas supply path 110. In this way, by supplying the first component gas and the second component gas into the chamber 10 along separate paths in the gas injection unit 300, it is possible to prevent the first component gas and the second component gas from reacting with each other in the gas injection unit 300, thereby preventing damage to the gas injection unit 300 and enabling the inside of the chamber 10 to be cleaned more effectively.

[0057] In the step of generating a plasmatized first gas, the first component gas and the second component gas are plasmatized in a direct plasma region formed inside the chamber 10, and the first component gas and the second component gas plasmatized in the direct plasma region are reacted in a reaction space inside the chamber 10 to generate a plasmatized first gas.

[0058] Here, in the step of generating the plasmatized first gas, as described above in FIG. 4, when the first component gas is supplied through the first electrode 310, the first component gas is plasmatized in the first direct plasma region DP1. When the second component gas is supplied through the space between the first electrode 310 and the second electrode 320, the second component gas is plasmatized from the second direct plasma region DP2 and then to the first direct plasma region DP1. As a result, in the step of generating the plasmatized first gas, the first component gas and the second component gas can be plasmatized in direct plasma regions of different sizes, and the region in which the direct plasma is formed can be expanded to the region between the first electrode 310 and the second electrode 320 to improve the plasma density in the chamber 10, and the first component gas and the second component gas can be distributed through an optimal supply route for generating the plasmatized first gas.

[0059] The first and second component gases converted into plasma can be supplied into the chamber 10 through separate routes and can be used in part as cleaning gases for cleaning the chamber 10 directly, but when a chlorine (Cl)-containing gas is used as the first component gas and a hydrogen (H)-containing gas is used as the second component gas, hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas resulting from the reaction of the first and second component gases can be used as a cleaning gas. In this case, the chlorine (Cl)-containing gas converted into plasma and the hydrogen (H)-containing gas converted into plasma are highly reactive with each other, so that a first gas for etching by-products in the chamber 10, for example, hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas, is generated, and the generated hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas can be used as a main reactive gas for efficiently removing by-products including organometallic oxides such as zinc oxide deposited in the chamber 10.

[0060] In the step of removing by-products in the chamber 10 with the plasmatized first gas, the plasmatized first gas physicochemically reacts with the by-products in the chamber 10 to etch and remove them. For example, a chlorine (Cl) component contained in the first gas physicochemically reacts with the by-products deposited in the chamber 10 to efficiently etch and primarily remove by-products including organometallic oxides such as zinc oxide generated from a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) process.

[0061] The step (S200) of secondarily cleaning the chamber 10 may be performed by supplying a remote plasma into the chamber. In the step (S200) of secondarily cleaning the chamber 10, a second gas supplied into the chamber 10 activates the first gas that has been converted into plasma inside the chamber 10 in the step (S100) of primarily cleaning the chamber 10, and the first gas converted into plasma by the second gas reacts with a component that reacts at a relatively high temperature among the metal oxides deposited as by-products in the chamber 10, thereby secondarily cleaning the chamber 10.

[0062] To explain this in more detail, in the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S100), the first gas is converted into plasma by direct plasma to primarily remove by-products having components that react at relatively low temperatures and that are deposited in the chamber 10. However, as described above, the by-products may include metal oxides, and the metal oxides may include by-products that have components that react at relatively high temperatures and are not removed by the first gas converted into plasma in this manner. In this case, when the second gas converted into plasma outside the chamber 10 is supplied to the inside of the chamber 10 in the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S100), the first gas may be activated by the supplied second gas converted into plasma. That is, the second gas is turned into plasma by a high-temperature remote plasma and supplied to the inside of the chamber 10, and the second gas turned into plasma outside the chamber 10 and supplied to the inside of the chamber 10 supplies activation energy such as light energy, heat energy, and kinetic energy to the first gas turned into plasma inside the chamber 10, and the first gas is excited to a higher energy state and activated not only by the direct plasma in the chamber 10 but also by the activation energy supplied from the second gas. At this time, the second gas includes a gas that is non-reactive with the first gas, and such a second gas may include at least one gas selected from nitrogen (N2) gas, argon (Ar) gas, helium (He) gas, and oxygen (O2) that does not react with the chlorine (Cl) component contained in the first gas. Here, "non-reactive with the first gas" does not mean that it does not react completely with the first gas, and it goes without saying that it includes a case where a part of the gas reacts with the first gas, but the amount of the gas that reacts is extremely small, so that almost no reaction occurs.As a result, in the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S100), by-products are primarily removed by the first gas that is plasmatized by forming direct plasma in the chamber 10, and after the by-products are primarily removed, most of the high-density by-products are chlorinated and removed, and by-products having components that react at relatively high temperatures can be removed by the plasma of the activated first gas. Here, the step of primarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S100) and the step of secondly cleaning the chamber 10 (S200) may be performed while the temperature of the gas injection unit 300 is maintained at a set temperature, for example, 200° C. or higher, and activation energy is supplied to the first gas by heating the gas injection unit 300.

[0063] Meanwhile, the method for cleaning a chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a step of removing chlorine (Cl) components remaining in the chamber 10 after the step of secondarily cleaning the chamber 10 (S200). In this manner, the step of removing the chlorine (Cl) components remaining in the chamber 10 may be performed by supplying a third gas, for example, a hydrogen (H2)-containing gas, which reacts with the chlorine (Cl) components, to the chamber 10. The third gas may be turned into plasma outside the chamber 10 and then supplied. Hydrogen (H) radicals formed by such a hydrogen plasma treatment react with the chlorine (Cl) components, thereby removing the residue of the chlorine (Cl) components remaining in the chamber 10.

[0064] The hydrogen (H) radicals formed by such hydrogen plasma treatment react with chlorine (Cl) components, thereby removing the chlorine (Cl) component residue remaining in the chamber 10. After the hydrogen plasma treatment, the hydrogen (H) component residue may remain in the chamber 10. Therefore, in order to remove the hydrogen (H) component residue, a fourth gas, for example, an oxygen (O2)-containing gas, may be supplied into the chamber 10. Here, the fourth gas may be plasmatized outside the chamber 10 and supplied, and the oxygen (O) radicals formed by such oxygen plasma treatment react with the hydrogen (H) component, thereby removing the chlorine (H) component residue remaining in the chamber 10.

[0065] As described above, according to the method for cleaning a chamber according to the embodiment of the present invention, the chamber is primarily cleaned with a first gas plasmatized inside the chamber, and then a second gas plasmatized outside the chamber is supplied into the chamber to activate the first gas plasmatized inside the chamber, thereby performing a second cleaning of the chamber. This allows various by-products remaining in the chamber to be removed step by step, thereby maximizing the cleaning efficiency. In particular, by-products including metals deposited inside the chamber of a substrate processing apparatus performing metal-organic vapor phase deposition can be efficiently cleaned.

[0066] Furthermore, according to the chamber cleaning method of the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to remove by-products from inside the chamber without excessively increasing the temperature inside the chamber. That is, by supplying activation energy to the first gas plasma by the second gas plasma, it is possible to remove by-products while keeping the temperature inside the chamber relatively low, which is particularly effective in substrate processing apparatuses applied to sealing processes where maintaining a low temperature is essential.

[0067] In addition, the chamber cleaning method according to the embodiment of the present invention makes it possible to perform in-situ cleaning without opening the chamber in a chemical vapor deposition process that requires frequent cleaning, thereby improving work efficiency and ensuring high equipment reproducibility and availability.

[0068] Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described and illustrated using specific terms, these terms are merely for the purpose of clearly describing the present invention, and it is clear that the embodiments of the present invention and the described terms can be modified and changed in various ways without departing from the technical spirit and scope of the claims. These modified embodiments should not be understood separately from the spirit and scope of the present invention, but should be considered to belong to the scope of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. 1. A method for cleaning a chamber for depositing a thin film, comprising the steps of: a step of primarily cleaning the chamber with a first gas plasmatized inside the chamber; supplying a second gas plasmatized outside the chamber into the chamber to activate the first gas plasmatized to a higher energy state, and secondarily cleaning the chamber with the activated first gas; Including, The method of claim 1, wherein the second gas comprises a gas that is non-reactive with the first gas.

2. The step of primarily cleaning the chamber is performed by forming a direct plasma in the chamber; The method for cleaning a chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the step of secondarily cleaning the chamber is performed by supplying a remote plasma into the chamber.

3. the first gas contains a chlorine component; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second gas includes at least one gas selected from the group consisting of nitrogen gas, argon gas, helium gas, and oxygen gas.

4. a gas injection unit for injecting the first gas is disposed in the chamber; 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of primarily cleaning the chamber and the step of secondarily cleaning the chamber are performed by controlling the temperature of the gas injection part to 200[deg.] C. or higher.

5. The step of first cleaning the chamber includes: supplying a first component gas and a second component gas separately into the chamber; generating a plasma of the first component gas and the second component gas in the chamber and reacting the first component gas to generate a plasma of the first gas; a step of primarily removing by-products in the chamber by using the first gas plasma; The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

6. The step of generating a first gas plasma includes:

6. The method for cleaning a chamber according to claim 5, wherein the first component gas is turned into plasma outside the gas injection unit, and the second component gas is turned into plasma inside the gas injection unit.

7. 7. The method for cleaning a chamber according to claim 6, wherein the first component gas and the second component gas that have been converted into plasma are reacted outside the gas injection part.

8. After the step of secondly cleaning the chamber, The method for cleaning a chamber according to claim 3 , further comprising the step of removing chlorine components remaining in the chamber.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thin film and by-products in the chamber include metal oxides.

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