Integrated Epitaxy and Pre-Cleaning System

Abstract

To provide an apparatus and a method for cleaning a surface of a substrate.SOLUTION: Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to a transfer chamber coupled to at least one vapor phase epitaxy chamber and a plasma oxide removal chamber coupled to the transfer chamber. The plasma oxide removal chamber includes: a lid assembly with a mixing chamber and a gas distributor; a first gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; a second gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; a third gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; and a substrate support having a substrate supporting surface and a lift member disposed in a recess of the substrate supporting surface and coupled through the substrate support to a lift actuator. The implementations further relate to a load lock chamber coupled to the transfer chamber.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to an apparatus and method for cleaning a surface of a substrate.

Background Art

[0002] Integrated circuits are formed in and on silicon and other semiconductor substrates. In the case of single crystal silicon, the substrate is made by growing an ingot from a bath of molten silicon and then sawing the solid ingot into a number of substrates. An epitaxial silicon layer can then be formed on the single crystal silicon substrate to form a defect-free silicon layer that may or may not be doped. Semiconductor devices such as transistors can be fabricated from this epitaxial silicon layer. The electrical properties of the formed epitaxial silicon layer are generally better than those of the single crystal silicon substrate.

[0003] The surfaces of single crystal silicon and epitaxial silicon layers are susceptible to contamination when exposed to typical substrate manufacturing ambient conditions. For example, a natural oxide layer may occur on the single crystal silicon surface due to handling of the substrate and / or exposure to the ambient environment within the substrate processing facility prior to deposition of the epitaxial layer. In addition, foreign contaminants such as carbon and oxygen species present in the ambient environment may deposit on the single crystal surface. The presence of a natural oxide layer or contaminants on the single crystal silicon surface adversely affects the quality of the epitaxial layer subsequently formed on the single crystal surface. Therefore, it is desirable to pre-clean the substrate to remove surface oxidation or other contaminants before the epitaxial layer is grown on the substrate. However, the pre-cleaning process is often performed in one or more stand-alone vacuum processing chambers, which can increase the substrate handling time and the opportunity to expose the substrate to the ambient environment.

[0004] Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide an improved substrate processing system that minimizes the time and exposure to ambient environment for handling the substrate to clean the substrate surface before performing an epitaxial deposition process. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] Disclosed herein is a processing system comprising a transfer chamber coupled to at least one film deposition chamber; a plasma oxide removal chamber coupled to the transfer chamber, the plasma oxide removal chamber comprising a remote plasma source and a substrate support including a cooling channel and a heater; and a load lock chamber coupled to the transfer chamber.

[0006] Also described herein is a method of processing a substrate, the method including removing oxides from the substrate by a process that includes exposing the substrate to a processing gas including NH3, HF, and radicals; and forming a film on the substrate by a vapor phase epitaxy process.

[0007] Also described herein is a processing apparatus comprising a first transfer chamber coupled to at least one vapor phase epitaxy chamber; a plasma oxide removal chamber coupled to the first transfer chamber, the plasma oxide removal chamber including a lid assembly having a mixing chamber and a gas distributor; a first gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; a second gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; a third gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; a substrate support including a substrate support surface, a cooling channel and one or more resistive heaters embedded in the substrate support, and a lift member disposed in a recess of the substrate support surface and coupled to a lift actuator through the substrate support, the processing apparatus further comprising a load lock chamber coupled to the first transfer chamber.

[0008] The embodiments of the present disclosure, briefly summarized above and discussed in more detail below, can be understood with reference to the illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure represented in the accompanying drawings. However, it should be noted that in the present disclosure, other equally effective embodiments can be recognized, so the accompanying drawings only show typical embodiments of the present disclosure and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2A

Figure 2B

Figure 2C

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] For ease of understanding, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same elements common to each figure where possible. The figures are not drawn to scale and may be simplified for clarity. It is contemplated that the elements and features of one embodiment may be advantageously incorporated into other embodiments even if not separately detailed.

[0011] FIG. 1 shows a processing sequence 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. At block 102, the oxide is removed from the surface of the semiconductor substrate using a cleaning process. The substrate includes a silicon-containing material, and its surface may include materials such as silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), or a silicon-germanium alloy (SiGe). In some embodiments, an oxide layer such as a native oxide layer and contaminants may be disposed on the Si, Ge, or SiGe surface. Due to the epitaxial deposition process being susceptible to the influence of oxides and contaminants such as carbon-containing contaminants, the surface contamination resulting from exposure to most typical cleanroom environments for several hours can become quite sufficient to affect the quality of the subsequently formed epitaxial layer by the accumulated oxides and contaminants.

[0012] The substrate surface can be cleaned by performing an oxide removal process and a contaminant removal process. In one embodiment, the oxide is removed from the surface of the substrate using a cleaning process (block 102), and contaminants such as carbon-containing contaminants are removed from the surface of the substrate using, for example, a reduction process. The cleaning process may include a plasma process. In the plasma process, a plasma formed from a gas containing hydrogen (H2), helium (He), argon (Ar), ammonia (NH3), a fluorine-containing gas such as NF3, HF, or any combination of these gases can be used. The plasma can be inductively coupled or capacitively coupled, or alternatively, the plasma can be formed by a microwave source within the processing chamber. The processing chamber can be a remote plasma chamber that is spatially separated from the processing region where the substrate is disposed. As used herein, the term "spatially separated" may refer to a plasma formation region that is separated from the substrate processing region by one or more chamber components such as the blocker plate 228 and the gas distributor 230 shown in FIG. 2A, or even by a conduit between the remote plasma chamber and the substrate processing chamber.

[0013] In one embodiment, the plasma is formed using a capacitively coupled plasma source. Radicals from the plasma can pass through a gas distribution plate disposed above the substrate, which is placed on a support at a temperature from about 5 degrees Celsius to about 100 degrees Celsius, such as about 10 degrees Celsius, for example from about 5 degrees Celsius to about 75 degrees Celsius. The processing pressure can be a pressure lower than the value in the atmosphere, for example, between about 500 millitorr and about 20 torr, such as between about 2 torr and about 10 torr. The radicals react with the surface oxide after reaching the substrate. Exemplary processing chambers that can be adapted to perform plasma etching processes include SiCoNi (trademark) or Selectra (trademark) chambers, which are available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, California. Chambers from other manufacturers can also be used.

[0014] In one exemplary embodiment, the plasma cleaning process is a remote plasma assisted dry cleaning process, which involves simultaneously exposing the substrate to HF and NH3 (optionally including one or more plasma by-products of these gases). Inert gases such as argon and helium can also be used. Any one or a combination of the three gases of inert / HF / NH3 can be subjected to the action of the above-mentioned energy to form the plasma. This plasma is mixed with other gases to fill the processing chamber. Alternatively, the plasma and other gases may be supplied to the processing chamber along separate paths and mixed when they arrive at the processing chamber. In one example, the plasma cleaning process may be similar to or include the SiCoNi (trademark) process available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, California.

[0015] Remote plasma processing can be made almost conformal and selective to oxide layers, and thus does not immediately etch layers of silicon, germanium, or nitride, regardless of whether these layers are amorphous, crystalline, or polycrystalline. The selectivity of HF / NH3 plasma cleaning treatment for oxide to silicon or germanium is at least about 3:1, usually 5:1 or better, and in some cases 10:1. The HF / NH3 plasma cleaning treatment also has high selectivity for oxide to nitride. The selectivity of HF / NH3 plasma cleaning treatment for nitride is at least about 3:1, usually 5:1 or better, and in some cases 10:1.

[0016] In some embodiments, an amount of thermal energy can be applied to the processing substrate either during or after the remote plasma processing to assist in removing any by-products that are generated. In some embodiments, the thermal energy is supplied by radiative, convective and / or conductive heat transfer processes, thereby sublimating unwanted by-products seen on the substrate surface.

[0017] In optional box 103, a second cleaning process may be performed by removing carbon contaminants from the surface of the substrate. In box 106, an epitaxial layer is formed on the surface of the substrate. When pre-cleaned as described above, the surface of the substrate is a uniform oxide and free of contaminants, thus improving the quality of the layer subsequently formed on the surface of the substrate. Exemplary epitaxial processes can include selective epitaxial processes performed at temperatures below about 800 degrees Celsius, such as about 450 - 650 degrees Celsius. The epitaxial layer can be formed using a high temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The epitaxial layer can be made of any suitable semiconductor material such as crystalline silicon, germanium, or silicon germanium, or group III-V or group II-VI compounds. In one exemplary thermal CVD process, chlorosilane SiH x Cl 4-x (mono, di, tri, tetra), Si x H2X+2 Silane (silane, disilane, trisilane, etc.), germanium Ge x H 2x+2 (Germanium, digermanium, etc.), process gases such as hydrogen chloride HCl, chlorine gas Cl2, or combinations thereof are used to form an epitaxial layer. The processing temperature is less than 800 degrees Celsius, such as from about 300 degrees Celsius to about 600 degrees Celsius, for example about 450 degrees Celsius, and the processing pressure is between 5 Torr and 600 Torr. An exemplary processing chamber that can be used to perform the epitaxial deposition process is the Centura (trademark) Epi chamber available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, California. Chambers from other manufacturers can also be used.

[0018] Boxes 102, 103, and 106 can be executed in one processing system such as the processing system shown in FIG. 9 and will be further described below. Optional heat treatment can also be performed between or after processes 102 and 103 to remove any residual by-products or contaminants, if any, and to anneal and remove any surface defects, if any, before performing the layer formation process of 106. Such annealing can be optionally performed under a hydrogen atmosphere containing an inert gas such as argon and helium, and can also be performed at a temperature of 400 to 800 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 1 Torr to 300 Torr.

[0019] FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a processing chamber 200 adapted to perform at least a portion of the processes found in box 102, i.e., configured to remove contaminants such as oxides from the surface of the substrate. FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a portion of the processing chamber 200 of FIG. 2A.

[0020] The processing chamber 200 can be particularly useful for performing heat or plasma-based cleaning processes and / or plasma-assisted dry etching processes. The processing chamber 200 includes a chamber body 212, a lid assembly 214, and a support assembly 216. The lid assembly 214 is disposed at the upper end of the chamber body 212, and the support assembly 216 is at least partially disposed within the chamber body 212. A vacuum system can be used to remove gas from the processing chamber 200. This vacuum system includes a vacuum pump 218 coupled to a vacuum port 221 disposed in the chamber body 212. The processing chamber 200 also includes a controller 202 for controlling the processes within the processing chamber 200.

[0021] The lid assembly 214 includes a plurality of stacked components configured to supply precursor gas and / or plasma to a processing region 222 within the chamber 200. The first plate 220 is coupled to the second plate 240. The third plate 244 is coupled to the second plate 240. The lid assembly 214 can be coupled to a power supply 224 for supplying plasma to a conical chamber 242 formed within the lid assembly 214. The lid assembly 214 can also be coupled to a remote plasma source that generates plasma upstream of the lid stack. A remote plasma cavity (e.g., items 222, 220, 240 of FIGS. 2A-2B) is coupled to a gas source 252 (or the gas source 252 is directly coupled to the lid assembly 214 in the absence of the remote plasma source 224). The gas source 252 can include a gas source configured to supply helium, argon, or other inert gas. In some configurations, the gas supplied from the gas source 252 can be activated by using the remote plasma source 224 to form the plasma supplied to the lid assembly 214. In an alternative embodiment, the gas source 252 can supply a processing gas that can be activated by the remote plasma source 224 before being introduced to the surface of a substrate disposed within the processing chamber 200. Referring to FIG. 2B, the conical chamber 242 has an opening 246 through which the formed plasma can flow from the remote plasma source 224 to a volume 248 formed in a fourth plate 250 of the lid assembly 214.

[0022] In some configurations of the lid assembly 214, plasma is generated within the conical chamber 242 by applying energy sent from a plasma source. In one example, this energy can be supplied by biasing the lid assembly 214 to capacitively couple RF, VHF, and / or UHF energy to the gas within the conical chamber 242. In this configuration of the lid assembly 214, the remote plasma source 224 need not be used and need not be mounted within the lid assembly 214.

[0023] The central conduit 270 formed in the fourth plate 250 is adapted to supply the plasma generating species supplied from the volume portion 248 through the fifth plate 254 to the mixing chamber 266 formed in the sixth plate 268 of the lid assembly 214. The central conduit 270 communicates with the mixing chamber 266 through the opening 264 in the fifth plate 254. The opening 264 may have a diameter smaller than, larger than, or the same as the diameter of the central conduit 270. In the embodiment of FIG. 2B, the opening 264 has the same diameter as the central conduit 270.

[0024] The fourth plate 250 also includes a plurality of inlets 256 and 258 configured to supply gas to the mixing chamber 266. The inlet 256 is coupled to the first gas source 260, and the inlet 258 is coupled to the second gas source 262. The first gas source 260 and the second gas source 262 may include a process gas and an inert gas (e.g., a noble gas such as argon and / or helium) used as a carrier gas. The first gas source 260 may include ammonia (NH3) as well as argon. The second gas source 262 may contain a fluorine-containing gas, a hydrogen-containing gas, or a combination thereof. In one example, the second gas source 262 may contain hydrogen fluoride (HF) as well as argon.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2B, in some configurations, the inlet 256 is coupled to the mixing chamber 266 via a cylindrical channel 259 (illustrated by phantom lines) and a plurality of holes 265 formed in the plate 254. The inlet 258 is coupled to the mixing chamber 266 via a cylindrical channel 257 (illustrated by phantom lines) and a plurality of holes 267 formed in the fifth plate 254. The holes 265, 267 formed in the plate 254 are generally sized to allow a uniform flow of each gas, and these gases are supplied into the mixing chamber 266 from their respective gas sources 260, 262. In one configuration, the hole 267 has a diameter smaller than the width of the opening defined by the opposing sidewalls of the cylindrical channel 257 formed in the fourth plate 250. The holes 267 are typically distributed around the centerline of the cylindrical channel 257 so that the fluid flow into the mixing chamber 266 is uniform. In one configuration, the hole 265 has a diameter smaller than the width of the opening defined by the opposing sidewalls of the cylindrical channel 259 formed in the fourth plate 250. The holes 265 are typically distributed around the centerline of the cylindrical channel 259 so that the fluid flow into the mixing chamber 266 is uniform.

[0026] The inlets 256 and 258 provide respective fluid flow paths that penetrate horizontally through the fourth plate 250, turn toward the fifth plate 254, and penetrate to the mixing chamber 266. The lid assembly 214 also includes a seventh plate, i.e., a first gas distributor 272, which can be a gas distribution plate such as a showerhead, and the various gases mixed in the lid assembly 214 flow through the perforations 274 formed in the lid assembly. The perforations 274 are in fluid communication with the mixing chamber 266 to provide a flow path through which the fluid passes from the mixing chamber 266 to the first gas distributor 272. Returning to FIG. 2A, a blocker plate 228 and a gas distribution plate such as a second gas distributor 230, which can be a gas distribution plate such as a showerhead, are disposed below the lid assembly 214.

[0027] Alternatively, another cleaning process may be utilized to clean the substrate surface. For example, a remote plasma containing He and NF3 may be introduced into the processing chamber 200 through the lid assembly 214, and NH3 may be directly injected into the processing chamber 200 via a separate gas inlet 225 disposed on the side of the chamber body 212 and coupled to a gas source (not shown).

[0028] The support assembly 216 may include a substrate support 232 for supporting the substrate 210 thereon during processing. The substrate support 232 can be coupled to the actuator 234 by a shaft 236 extending through a centrally located opening formed in the bottom of the chamber body 212. The actuator 234 can be flexibly sealed to the chamber body 212 by a bellows (not shown) that prevents vacuum leakage around the shaft 236. The actuator 234 vertically moves the substrate support 232 between a processing position and a loading position within the chamber body 212. This loading position is slightly below the opening of a tunnel (not shown) formed in the sidewall of the chamber body 212.

[0029] The substrate support 232 has a flat or substantially flat substrate support surface for supporting the substrate to be processed thereon. The substrate support 232 can move vertically within the chamber body 212 by an actuator 234 coupled to the substrate support 232 by a shaft 236. In some steps, the substrate support 232 can be raised to a position near the lid assembly 214 to control the temperature of the substrate 210 being processed. Thus, the substrate 210 can be heated by radiation emitted from the second gas distributor 230 or another radiation source, or by convection or conduction from the second gas distributor 230 by an intervening gas. In some processing steps, additional heat treatment steps can be performed, such as placing the substrate on the lift pins 251 and performing an annealing step.

[0030] Figure 2C is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the substrate support 232 of Figure 2A. The substrate support 232 includes a thermal control plenum 235 that is fluidly connected to a fluid supply conduit 241 and a fluid return conduit 243, with each of the conduits 241 and 243 disposed through an axis 236. The thermal control plenum 235 can serve as a cooling function portion of the substrate support 232 by circulating a cooling fluid into the thermal control plenum 235 through the fluid supply conduit 241 and out through the fluid return conduit 243.

[0031] The substrate support 232 may also include a plurality of heaters 237 and 239. The plurality of heaters includes, in this embodiment, a first heater 237 and a second heater 239. The first heater 237 and the second heater 239 are disposed within the substrate support 232 in a substantially coplanar relationship at positions that enable thermal coupling between these heaters and the substrate support surface. For zone temperature control, the first heater 237 is disposed at a peripheral portion of the substrate support 232, and the second heater 239 is disposed in a central region of the substrate support 232. Each of the first heater 237 and the second heater 239 can be a resistive heater that is coupled to a power source (not shown) by respective power conduits 249 and 247 disposed through the axis 236.

[0032] During operation, temperature control can be performed by the parallel operation of the temperature control plenum 235 and the heaters 237 and 239. Cooling fluid can be supplied to the thermal control plenum 235 as described above, and power can be supplied to the heaters 237 and 239 as resistive heaters. In this way, separate control circuits can be adjusted such that a fast response is obtained with one item, for example the heaters 237 and 239, and a slow response is obtained with the thermal control plenum 235, or vice versa. At least, separate control parameters are applied to the thermal control plenum 235, the first heater 237, and the second heater 239 such that an optimized zone temperature control system can be achieved.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2C, a separate lift member 245 may be included in the support assembly 216. A recess may be provided in the substrate support surface to accommodate the lift pins 251 of the member 245 when the substrate is resting on the substrate support surface. The lift member 245 can be coupled to the lift actuator 255 by an extension of the lift member 245 disposed through the shaft 236. The lift actuator can vertically move the lift member 245 to lift the substrate from the substrate support surface toward the first gas distributor 272. The lift member 245 can be in the form of a ring, such as an open ring or a closed ring, which can be U-shaped, circular, horseshoe-shaped, or any convenient shape. The lift member 245 has a thickness that provides structural strength when lifting the substrate. In one example, the lift member is made of a ceramic material and is about 1 mm thick.

[0034] FIG. 3 shows a single substrate chemical vapor deposition (CVD) reactor 300 that includes a quartz processing chamber or reaction chamber 305, according to one embodiment. The reactor 300 can be utilized for the CVD of several different materials, including the SiGe and Ge films disclosed herein. Further, the illustrated reactor 300 can perform multiple deposition steps within the same chamber 305, as will become apparent in the following discussion.

[0035] The reactor 300 can generally have the shape of a rectangular box. A plurality of radiant heat sources are supported outside the processing chamber 305 to supply thermal energy to the processing chamber 305 without being appreciably absorbed by the walls of the processing chamber 305. Although the embodiments are described in relation to a "cold wall" CVD reactor for processing semiconductor substrates, it should be understood that the methods described herein are useful in combination with other heating / cooling systems, such as those that use induction heating or resistive heating.

[0036] The radiant heat source includes an upper heating assembly consisting of a plurality of elongated heating elements 310 (only one is shown in this figure). The heating element 310 is an elongated tubular radiant heating element such as a lamp. The heating elements 310 are arranged in a spaced parallel relationship and are also substantially parallel to the reactant gas flow path (indicated by arrow 312) passing through the processing chamber 305. The lower heating assembly includes similar heating elements 315 such as lamps, which are placed under the processing chamber 305 and are lateral to the heating elements 310. A portion of the radiant heat is diffusely reflected into the processing chamber 305 by upper and lower rough mirror plates (not shown) above and below the upper heating element 310 and the lower heating element 315 respectively. In addition, a plurality of spot lamps 320 supply concentrated heat to the lower side of the substrate support structure (described below) to offset the heat sink effect caused by the cold support structure extending through the bottom of the processing chamber 305. In some embodiments, each of the heating elements 310, 315 is a high-intensity tungsten filament lamp, generating radiant heat energy that is transmitted through the walls of the processing chamber 305 without being appreciably absorbed. As is known in the art of semiconductor processing equipment, the power of the various heating elements 310, 315, 320 can be controlled individually or within grouped zones in response to temperature sensors.

[0037] A workpiece including a silicon substrate 325 is shown in the figure, supported on a substrate support structure 330 within the processing chamber 305. The illustrated support structure 330 includes a substrate holder 332 on which the substrate 325 is placed and a support spider 334. The spider 334 is attached to a shaft 336, which extends downward through a tube 338 that extends through the lower wall of the chamber. The tube 338 communicates with a source of purge gas that can flow during the processing of the substrate. The purge gas can be used to suppress the entry of the process gas into the lower region of the processing chamber 305. The purge gas can also flow horizontally under the substrate 325.

[0038] A plurality of temperature sensors are placed in the vicinity of the substrate 325. The temperature sensors can take various forms, such as an optical pyrometer or a thermocouple. In the illustrated embodiment, the temperature sensors comprise a thermocouple including a first or central thermocouple 340 suspended below the substrate holder 332 in any suitable manner. The central thermocouple 340 passes through the spider 334 in the vicinity of the substrate holder 332. The reactor 300 further includes a plurality of second or peripheral thermocouples, namely a leading edge or front thermocouple 345, a trailing edge or rear thermocouple 350, and a side thermocouple (not shown), also in the vicinity of the substrate 325. Each of the peripheral thermocouples is housed within a slip ring 352 that surrounds the substrate holder 332 and the substrate 325. Each of the central and peripheral thermocouples is connected to a temperature controller that sets the power of various heating elements 310, 315, 320 according to the readings of the thermocouples.

[0039] In addition to housing the peripheral thermocouples, the slip ring 352 absorbs and emits radiant heat during high-temperature processing. The slip ring 352 can be utilized to compensate for the significant heat loss or heat absorption at the substrate edge, a phenomenon known to occur due to the large surface area to volume ratio in the region near the substrate edge. By minimizing the edge losses, the slip ring 352 can reduce the risk of radial temperature non-uniformity across the substrate 325. The slip ring 352 can be suspended by any suitable means. For example, the illustrated slip ring 352 rests on a support member 354 extending from the front chamber partition 356 and the rear chamber partition 358. The partitions 356, 358 are preferably made of quartz. In some devices, the rear partition 358 can be omitted.

[0040] The illustrated processing chamber 305 includes an inlet port 360 for injecting reactants and carrier gas, and the substrate 325 can also receive from this inlet port. An outlet port 364 is on the opposite side of the processing chamber 305, and the substrate support structure 330 is positioned between the inlet port 360 and the outlet port 364.

[0041] The inlet component 365 is fitted into the processing chamber 305 and adapted to surround the inlet port 360 and includes a horizontally elongated slot 367 into which the substrate 325 can be inserted. An overall vertical inlet 368 receives gas from a gas source and sends such gas to the slot 367 and the inlet port 360. Although not shown separately in FIG. 3, the gas source may include a controller (e.g., a pre-programmed computer) that controls a series of steps described herein, including flowing hydrogen, a silicon precursor, and a germanium precursor, and a surface-active compound into the chamber during the entire cooling step prior to Si and / or Ge deposition. The inlet 368 may include a gas injector designed to maximize the uniformity of the gas flow in a single-substrate reactor.

[0042] Similarly, the outlet component 370 attaches to the processing chamber 305 such that the exhaust opening 372 aligns with the outlet port 364 and connects to an exhaust conduit 374. As a result, the conduit 374 can communicate with suitable vacuum means (not shown) for exhausting the processing gas from the processing chamber 305. In one embodiment, the processing gas is drawn from the processing chamber 305 and a downstream scrubber (not shown). A pump or fan is preferably included to assist in drawing the processing gas from the processing chamber 305 and to evacuate the chamber to a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure but higher than the ultra-high vacuum pressure range, i.e., for a reduced-pressure process, as discussed below.

[0043] The illustrated reactor 300 also includes a source 376 of excited species positioned upstream of the reactor 300. The excited species source 376 of the illustrated embodiment comprises a remote plasma generator that includes a magnetron power generator and an applicator along a gas line 378. In the illustrated embodiment, microwave energy from the magnetron is combined with the flowing gas within the applicator along the gas line 378. A precursor gas source 380 is coupled to the gas line 378 for introduction into the excited species source 376. A carrier gas source 382 is also coupled to the gas line 378. One or more branch lines 384 can also be provided for additional reactants. As is known in the art, the gas sources 380, 382 can comprise gas tanks, bubblers, etc., depending on the shape and volatility of the reactant species. Each gas line can be provided with a separate mass flow controller (MFC) and valve, as illustrated, to enable selection of the relative amounts of carrier and reactant species entering the processing chamber 305 after being introduced into the source 376. The excited species source 376 can be used for plasma enhanced deposition, but can also be utilized to excite an etchant for cleaning the chamber 305 of excessive deposits when no substrate is present within the chamber 305.

[0044] The total volume capacity of the single-wafer processing chamber 305 designed to process a 200 mm wafer is less than about 30 liters, such as less than about 20 liters, and in one embodiment is less than about 10 liters. The illustrated chamber 305 has a capacity of about 7.5 liters. The illustrated processing chamber 305 is partitioned by partitions 356, 358, wafer holder 332, and ring 352, and the purge gas flowing from tube 338, so the effective volume through which the process gas flows is approximately half of the total volume (e.g., about 3.77 liters in the illustrated embodiment). It should be understood that the capacity of the single-wafer processing chamber 305 can vary depending on the size of the target wafer that the processing chamber 305 is designed to accommodate. For example, a single-wafer processing chamber 305 for a 300 mm wafer has a capacity of less than about 100 liters, such as about 60 liters, and in one embodiment is less than about 30 liters. In one example, a single-wafer processing chamber 305 for a 300 mm wafer has a total capacity of about 24 liters and an effective volume of about 12 liters.

[0045] The deposition temperature of the Ge-containing layer is typically in the range of about 250 degrees Celsius (°C) to about 600 °C, such as from about 300 °C to about 450 °C. For example, as the thermal stability of the precursor decreases, a lower deposition temperature tends to be more appropriate. The total pressure within the single-wafer processing chamber 305 is in the range of 10 -5 torr to about 800 torr. In some embodiments, the pressure is from about 200 millitorr to about 760 torr, such as from about 1 torr to about 200 torr, for example from about 1 torr to about 60 torr.

[0046] FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a backside heat treatment chamber 400 configured for low-pressure epitaxial deposition. Using the processing chamber 400, one or more substrates can be processed, including the deposition of materials onto the upper surface of the substrate 325. The processing chamber 400 can include, among other components, an array of radiant heating lamps 402 for heating the backside 404 of a substrate support 406 disposed within the processing chamber 400. The substrate support 406 can be the disk-shaped substrate support 406 shown in the figure, or alternatively a ring-shaped substrate support (having a central opening), which supports the substrate from the edge of the substrate and facilitates exposure of the substrate to the thermal radiation of the lamp 402.

[0047] The substrate support 406 is located between an upper dome 428 and a lower dome 414 within the processing chamber 400. The upper dome 428, the lower dome 414, and a base ring 436 disposed between the upper dome 428 and the lower dome 414 together define the internal region of the processing chamber 400. The substrate 325 (not to scale) is transferred into the processing chamber 400 and placed on the substrate support 406 via a loading port not shown in this figure.

[0048] The substrate support 406 is supported by a central axis 432, which moves in the vertical direction 434 during loading and unloading of the substrate 325 and, in some cases, during processing of the substrate 325. The substrate support 406 is shown in FIG. 4 in an elevated processing position, but can be moved vertically by an actuator (not shown) coupled to the central axis 432 to a loading position below the processing position. When lowered below the processing position, lift pins (not shown) contact the substrate 325 and lift the substrate 325 from the substrate support 406. Next, a robot (not shown) enters the processing chamber 400 and engages the substrate 325, moving the substrate through the loading port out of the processing chamber. The substrate support 406 can then be driven vertically to the processing position to place the substrate 325, with its device surface 416 facing upward, on the front surface 410 of the substrate support 406.

[0049] The substrate support 406 is in the processing position and divides the internal volume of the processing chamber 400 into a processing gas region 456 above the substrate 325 and a purge gas region 458 below the substrate support 406. The substrate support 406 is rotated about the central axis 432 during processing to minimize the effects of heat and spatial anomalies in the processing gas flow within the processing chamber 400, thus facilitating uniform processing of the substrate 425. The substrate support 406 can be made of graphite coated with silicon carbide or silicon carbide so as to absorb radiant energy from the lamp 402 and transfer the radiant energy to the substrate 325.

[0050] Generally, the central window portion of the upper dome 428 and the bottom of the lower dome 414 are made of an optically transparent material such as quartz. The thickness and curvature of the upper dome 428 can be configured to obtain a flatter geometry for uniform flow uniformity within the processing chamber.

[0051] The array of lamps 402 is arranged adjacent to and below the lower dome 414 in a specific optimal desired manner around the central axis 432 to individually control the temperatures of various regions of the substrate 325 as the processing gas passes through, thereby facilitating the deposition of material on the upper surface of the substrate 325. Although not discussed in detail here, the material to be deposited can include gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, or aluminum gallium nitride. In some embodiments, an array of radiant heating lamps such as the lamp 402 may be arranged above the upper dome 428.

[0052] The lamp 402 can be configured to include a bulb configured to heat the substrate 325 to a temperature within a range of from about 200 degrees C to about 1600 degrees C. Each lamp 402 is coupled to a power distribution board (not shown) that supplies power to each lamp 402. The lamp 402 is disposed within a lamp head 445, which can be cooled, for example, by introducing a cooling fluid into a channel 449 between the lamps 402 during or after processing. The lamp head 445 conducts and radiatively cools the lower dome 414, at least in part due to the lamp head 445 being in proximity to the lower dome 414. The lamp head 445 can also cool the lamp wall and the wall of a reflector around the lamp (not shown). Alternatively, the lower dome 414 can be cooled by a convective approach. Depending on the application, the lamp head 445 may or may not contact the lower dome 414.

[0053] A circular shield 467 can optionally be disposed around the substrate support 406 and surrounded by a liner assembly 463. The shield 467 prevents or minimizes leakage of heat / light noise from the lamp 402 to the device side 416 of the substrate 325 while forming a preheating zone for the process gas. The shield 467 can be made from CVD SiC, sintered graphite coated with SiC, grown SiC, opaque quartz, or coated quartz, or any other suitable material resistant to chemicals decomposed by the process and purge gases.

[0054] The liner assembly 463 is dimensioned to be nested within or surrounded by the inner circumference of the base ring 436. The liner assembly 463 shields the process volume (i.e., the process gas region 456 and the purge gas region 458) from the metal wall of the process chamber 400. The metal wall can react with the precursor and cause contamination of the process volume. The liner assembly 463 is shown as a single body, but the liner assembly 463 can include one or more liners of different configurations.

[0055] As a result of heating the substrate 325 from the back side by the substrate support 406, the use of the pyrometer 418 for temperature measurement / control of the substrate support can be implemented. Since heating the front side 410 of the substrate in this way is independent of the emissivity, temperature measurement by the pyrometer 418 can also be performed on the device side 416 of the substrate 325 even when the emissivity is unknown. As a result, the pyrometer 418 can detect only the radiation from the hot substrate 325 that transfers heat from the substrate support 406 with minimal background radiation from the lamp 402 that directly reaches the pyrometer 418.

[0056] The reflector 422 may optionally be arranged outside the upper dome 428 so as to reflect the light radiated from the substrate 325 and return it to the substrate 325. The reflector 422 can be fixed to the upper dome 428 using a clamp ring 430. The reflector 422 can be made of a metal such as aluminum or stainless steel. The reflection efficiency can be improved by coating the reflector area with a highly reflective film such as gold. The reflector 422 can have one or more channels 426 connected to a cooling source (not shown). The channels 426 lead to a passage (not shown) formed on the side surface of the reflector 422 for cooling the reflector 422. The passage is configured to convey a fluid flow such as water and can extend horizontally along the side surface of the reflector 422 in any desired pattern covering a part or the entire surface of the reflector 422.

[0057] The processing gas supplied from the processing gas source 472 is introduced into the processing gas region 456 through a processing gas inlet 474 formed in the side wall of the base ring 436. The processing gas inlet 474 is generally configured to direct the processing gas radially inwards. During the film formation process, the substrate support 406 is in a processing position adjacent to the processing gas inlet 474 at approximately the same height, whereby the processing gas can flow upwards and around along the flow path 473 in a laminar flow over the entire upper surface of the substrate 325. The processing gas exits the processing gas region 456 (along the flow path 475) through a gas outlet 478 installed on the side surface of the processing chamber 400 on the opposite side of the processing gas inlet 774. Removing the processing gas through the gas outlet 478 can be facilitated by a vacuum pump 480 coupled to the gas outlet. Since the processing gas inlet 474 and the gas outlet 478 are aligned in a straight line with each other and arranged at approximately the same height, such a parallel arrangement is considered to enable a generally planar and uniform gas flow over the entire substrate 325 when combined with the flatter upper dome 428. Furthermore, radial uniformity can be provided by rotating the substrate 325 by the substrate support 406.

[0058] Purge gas may be supplied from a purge gas source 462 to a purge gas region 458 through an optional purge gas inlet 464 formed in a sidewall of a base ring 436 (or through a process gas inlet 474). The purge gas inlet 464 is disposed at a height below the process gas inlet 474. If a circulation shield 467 or a preheating ring (not shown) is used, this circulation shield or preheating ring can be disposed between the process gas inlet 474 and the purge gas inlet 464. In either case, the purge gas inlet 464 is configured to generally direct the purge gas radially inwardly. During film formation processing, the substrate support 406 can be positioned such that purge gas flows in a laminar flow along a flow path 465 across the entire backside 404 of the substrate support 406. Without being bound to any particular theory, the flow of the purge gas is thought to prevent or substantially avoid the flow of the process gas from entering the purge gas region 458, or to reduce the diffusion of the process gas entering the purge gas region 458 (i.e., the region below the substrate support 406). The purge gas exits the purge gas region 458 (along the flow path 466) and is discharged from the process chamber through a gas outlet 478 installed on a side surface of the process chamber 400 opposite the purge gas inlet 464.

[0059] FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a CVD or epitaxial deposition process chamber 500, which may be part of a CENTURA® integrated processing system available from Applied Materials, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. The process chamber 500 includes a housing structure 501 made of a process-resistant material such as aluminum or stainless steel, such as 316L stainless steel. The housing structure 501 surrounds various functional elements of the process chamber 500, such as a quartz chamber 530, which includes an upper chamber 505 and a lower chamber 524, within which a process volume 518 is accommodated. Reactive species are supplied to the quartz chamber 530 by a gas distribution assembly 550, and process by-products are removed from the process volume 518 through an outlet port 538 that typically communicates with a vacuum source (not shown).

[0060] The substrate support 517 is adapted to receive the substrate 325 that is transferred to the processing volume 518. The substrate support 517 is disposed along the vertical axis 502 of the processing chamber 500. The substrate support 500 can be made of a ceramic material, or a graphite material coated with a silicon material such as silicon carbide, or other process-resistant materials. Reactive species from the precursor reactant material can be added to the surface 516 of the substrate 325, and then by-products can be removed from the surface 516. Heating of the substrate 325 and / or the processing volume 518 can be performed by radiation sources such as the upper lamp module 510A and the lower lamp module 510B.

[0061] In one embodiment, the upper lamp module 510A and the lower lamp module 510B are infrared (IR) lamps. The non-thermal energy, i.e., radiation, from the lamp modules 510A and 510B is transmitted through the upper quartz window 504 of the upper quartz chamber 505 and through the lower quartz window 503 of the lower quartz chamber 524. If necessary, the cooling gas of the upper quartz chamber 505 enters from the inlet 512 and exits from the outlet 513. The precursor reactant material, as well as the diluent, purge gas and vent gas of the processing chamber 500, enter through the gas distribution assembly 550 and exit from the outlet port 538. The upper quartz window 504 is shown as being curved or convex, but since the pressures on both sides of the upper quartz window 504 are substantially the same (i.e., atmospheric pressure), the upper quartz window 504 can be planar or concave.

[0062] The short-wavelength radiation in the processing volume 518, which is used to activate the reactive species and assist in the adsorption of the reactants and the desorption of the processing by-products from the surface 516 of the substrate 325, is typically in the range from about 0.8 μm to about 1.2 μm, for example, between about 0.95 μm and about 1.05 μm, and various combinations of wavelengths are provided, for example, depending on the composition of the epitaxially grown film.

[0063] The component gas enters the processing volume 518 via the gas distribution assembly 550. The gas flows out of the gas distribution assembly 550 and exits through port 538, as generally indicated at 522. The combination of component gases used to clean / passivate the substrate surface or to form an epitaxial silicon- and / or germanium-containing film is typically mixed before entering the processing volume. The overall pressure of the processing volume 518 can be adjusted by a valve (not shown) at the outlet port 538. At least a portion of the inner surface of the processing volume 518 is covered by a liner 531. In one embodiment, the liner 531 comprises an opaque quartz material. In this way, the chamber walls are insulated from the heat of the processing volume 518.

[0064] The temperature of the surface of the processing volume 518 can be controlled within a temperature range of from about 200 °C to about 600 °C or more, in combination with the radiation from the upper lamp module 510A placed above the upper quartz window 04, by the flow of cooling gas entering through the inlet 512 and exiting through the outlet 513. The temperature within the lower quartz chamber 524 can be controlled within a temperature range of from about 200 °C to about 600 °C or more, by adjusting the speed of a blower (not shown) and by the radiation from the lower lamp module 510B disposed below the lower quartz chamber 524. The pressure of the processing volume 518 can be between about 0.1 Torr and about 600 Torr, such as between about 5 Torr and about 30 Torr.

[0065] The temperature of the surface 516 of the substrate 325 can be controlled by adjusting the power of the lower lamp module 510B of the lower quartz chamber 524, or by adjusting the power of both the upper lamp module 510A above the upper quartz window 504 and the lower lamp module 510B of the lower quartz chamber 524. The power density within the processing volume 518 can be between about 40 W / cm 2 and about 120 W / cm 2 such as between about 40 W / cm 2 and about 400 W / cm 2 up to.

[0066] In one aspect, the gas distribution assembly 550 is disposed at a right angle to the vertical axis 502 of the processing chamber 500 or the substrate 325, i.e., in the radial direction 506. In this orientation, the gas distribution assembly 550 is adapted to flow the processing gas in the radial direction 506 across or parallel to the surface 516 of the substrate 325. In one processing application, the processing gas is preheated at the time of introduction into the processing chamber 500 to initiate preheating of the gas prior to introduction into the processing volume 518 and / or to break certain bonds of the gas. In this way, the surface reaction kinetics can be modified independently of the thermal temperature of the substrate 325.

[0067] During operation, precursors for forming Si and SiGe blankets or selective films are supplied from one or more gas sources 540A and 540B to the gas distribution assembly 550. The IR lamp 556 (only one is shown in FIG. 5) can be utilized to heat the precursors inside the gas distribution assembly 550 and along the flow path 522. The gas sources 540A, 540B can be coupled to the gas distribution assembly 550 in a manner configured to facilitate introduction zones within the gas distribution assembly 550, such as a radially outer zone and a radially inner zone between the outer zones when viewed in plan view. The gas sources 540A, 540B can include valves (not shown) for controlling the introduction rate into these zones.

[0068] The gas sources 540A and 540B may include silicon precursors such as silane, including silane (SiH4), disilane (Si2H6), dichlorosilane (SiH2Cl2), hexachlorodisilane (Si2Cl6), dibromosilane (SiH2Br2), higher-order silanes, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof. The gas sources 540A and 540B may also include germanium-containing precursors such as germane (GeH4), digermane (Ge2H6), germanium tetrachloride (GeCl4), dichlorogermane (GeH2Cl2), derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof. The silicon and / or germanium-containing precursors can be used together with hydrogen chloride (HCl), chlorine gas (Cl2), hydrogen bromide (HBr), and combinations thereof. The gas sources 540A and 540B may include one or more silicon and germanium-containing precursors in one or both of the gas sources 540A and 540B.

[0069] In this excited state, the precursor material enters the processing volume 518 through the openings or plurality of holes 558 (only one is shown in FIG. 5) of the perforated plate 554, which, in one embodiment, is a quartz material in which the holes 558 are formed therethrough. The perforated plate 554 is permeable to IR energy and can be made of a transparent quartz material. In another embodiment, the perforated plate 554 can be made of any material that is permeable to IR energy and resistant to the processing chemical and other processing chemicals. The activated precursor passes through the plurality of holes 558 of the perforated plate 554 and through the plurality of channels 552 N (only one is shown in FIG. 5) and flows towards the processing volume 518. A portion of the photons and non-thermal energy from the IR lamp 556 is also facilitated by the reflective material and / or surface disposed on the inner surface of the gas distribution assembly 550 to pass through the holes 558, the perforated plate 554, and the channels 552 N so that the flow path of the precursor material (shown as arrow 522 in FIG. 5) is illuminated. In this way, the vibrational energy of the precursor material can be maintained along the flow path from the introduction location to the processing volume 518.

[0070] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary vacuum processing system 600 that can be used to complete the processing sequence 100 shown in FIG. 1, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of processing chambers 602a, 602b, 602c, 602d are coupled to a first transfer chamber 604. The processing chambers 602a-602d can be used to perform any substrate-related processes, such as annealing, chemical vapor deposition, physical vapor deposition, epitaxial processing, etching, thermal oxidation or thermal nitridation, degassing, etc. In one embodiment, the processing chamber 602a can be a film-forming chamber, such as a vapor phase epitaxial deposition chamber, e.g., an Epi chamber available from Applied Materials of Santa Clara, Calif., which can form crystalline silicon or silicon germanium. In another embodiment, the processing chamber 602a can be an epitaxial deposition chamber, such as a single substrate processing chamber (e.g., the reactor 300 described in connection with FIG. 3). In another embodiment, the processing chamber 602a can be the processing chamber 400 described in connection with FIG. 4. In another embodiment, the processing chamber 602a can be the processing chamber 500 described in connection with FIG. 5.

[0071] The processing chamber 602b can be a rapid thermal processing chamber (RTP). The processing chamber 602c is a plasma etching chamber or a plasma cleaning chamber. For example, the processing chamber 602c can be the processing chamber 200 described in connection with FIG. 2A, or the processing chamber 300 described in connection with FIG. 3. The processing chamber 602d can be a degassing chamber. The first transfer chamber 604 is also coupled to at least one transfer station, such as a pair of pass-through stations 606, 608. The pass-through stations 606, 608 maintain a vacuum while allowing the substrate to be transferred between the first transfer chamber 604 and the second transfer chamber 610. The first transfer chamber 604 has a robotic substrate handling mechanism (not shown) for transferring the substrate between the pass-through stations 606, 608 and any of the processing chambers 602a - 602d. The processing chambers 602a - 602d are shown configured in a specific order in FIG. 6, but may be configured in any desired order.

[0072] One end of the pass-through stations 606, 608 is coupled to the second transfer chamber 610. Thus, the first transfer chamber 604 and the second transfer chamber 610 are separated and connected by the pass-through stations 606, 608. The second transfer chamber 610 is coupled to a first plasma cleaning chamber 614, which can be a plasma chamber such as the processing chamber 200 (FIG. 2A) adapted to perform at least a portion of the processes found in the box 602 for removing oxides from the surface of the substrate. In one embodiment, the first plasma cleaning chamber 614 is a Siconi (trademark) chamber or a Selectra (trademark) chamber, available from Applied Materials of Santa Clara, California. In another embodiment, the plasma cleaning chamber 614 can be the processing chamber 200 described in connection with FIG. 2A. In another embodiment, the plasma cleaning chamber 614 can be the processing chamber 300 described in connection with FIG. 3.

[0073] In one embodiment, at least one transfer station, such as one of the pass-through stations 606, 608, is configured to be a plasma cleaning chamber. Alternatively, a plasma cleaning chamber may be coupled to one of the pass-through stations 606, 608 to remove contaminants from the surface of the substrate. Thus, the processing system 600 may have a second plasma cleaning chamber that is one of the pass-through stations 606, 608 or is coupled to one of them. In one embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the pass-through station 606 includes a second plasma cleaning chamber 616. The second plasma cleaning chamber 616 can be a version of the processing chamber 300 (FIG. 3) that is adapted to perform at least a portion of the processing found in the box 102 to remove contaminants from the surface of the substrate. Note that although only one plasma cleaning chamber 616 is shown coupled to the pass-through station, in this case the pass-through station 606, the plasma cleaning chamber (e.g., one version of the processing chamber 300) may be coupled to both pass-through stations 606 and 608.

[0074] The second transfer chamber 610 also has a robotic substrate handling mechanism (not shown) for transferring substrates between a set of load lock chambers 612 and the first plasma cleaning chamber 614 or the second plasma cleaning chamber 616. A factory interface 620 is coupled to the second transfer chamber 610 by the load lock chamber 612. The factory interface 620 is coupled to one or more pods 630 on the opposite side of the load lock chamber 612. The pod 630 is typically a front opening unified pod (FOUP) accessible from a cleaning chamber (not shown).

[0075] Although two transfer chambers are shown, it is contemplated that either of these transfer chambers may be omitted. In one embodiment where the second transfer chamber 610 is omitted, the second plasma cleaning chamber 616 may be disposed within or coupled to the first transfer chamber 604 in the position currently shown as being occupied by the pass station 606 or 608. The first transfer chamber 604 can be coupled to one or more processing chambers capable of forming crystalline silicon or silicon germanium, such as an epitaxy chamber, for example, a Centura (trademark) Epi chamber available from Applied Materials Inc. of Santa Clara, California. Alternatively, the first transfer chamber 604 may be omitted, and the second plasma cleaning chamber 616 may be disposed within or coupled to the pass station 606 that is coupled to the second transfer chamber 610. In such a case, the second transfer chamber 610 can be configured to be coupled to one or more processing chambers capable of forming crystalline silicon or silicon germanium.

[0076] During operation, the substrate is placed in a transport cassette (not shown) in one of the load lock chambers 612 from the pod 630 and transported into the vacuum processing system 600. The robot transport mechanism in the second transfer chamber 610 transports the substrate one by one from the load lock chamber 612 to the first plasma cleaning chamber 614. In this first plasma cleaning chamber, a cleaning process such as the process seen in box 102 is performed to remove oxides from the surface of the substrate. After the oxides are removed from the substrate surface, the robot transport mechanism arranged in the second transfer chamber 610 transfers the substrate from the first plasma cleaning chamber 614 to the second plasma cleaning chamber 616. In this second plasma cleaning chamber, a reduction process such as the process seen in box 103 is performed to remove contaminants such as carbon or hydrocarbons from the substrate surface. Each step here may also be performed in the reverse order, that is, using the robot transport mechanism to transfer the substrate from the second plasma cleaning chamber 616 to the first plasma cleaning chamber 614. In either case, the clean substrate is then transferred from the second plasma cleaning chamber 616 (or the first plasma cleaning chamber 614) to one or more processing chambers 602a - 602d by the robot transport mechanism arranged in the first transfer chamber 604. One or more of the processing chambers 602a - 602d may include an epitaxial processing chamber where layer formation processes such as epitaxial deposition described in box 106 are performed.

[0077] When the processing in one or more of the processing chambers 602a - 602d is completed, the robot transport mechanism arranged in the first transfer chamber 604 moves the substrate from any one of the processing chambers 602 to the pass - through station 608. Next, the substrate is taken out from the pass - through station 608 by the robot transport mechanism arranged in the second transfer chamber 610 and transferred to another load lock chamber 612, through which the substrate is withdrawn from the vacuum processing system 600.

[0078] Since all the processes of the three boxes 102, 103, and 106 in FIG. 1 are executed within the same vacuum processing system 600, the vacuum is not lost when the substrate is transferred between different chambers, thereby reducing the possibility of contamination and improving the quality of the deposited epitaxial film. It should be understood that the movement of the substrate is described herein for purposes of illustration. A controller (not shown) can be used to schedule the movement of the substrate in the vacuum processing system 600 according to a desired sequencing program that can vary depending on the application example.

[0079] Advantages of the present disclosure include an improved vacuum processing system that integrates two different types of pre-cleaning chambers with an epitaxial processing chamber of the same vacuum processing system. The pre-cleaning processing chamber can include a first plasma cleaning processing chamber and a second plasma cleaning processing chamber. When two types of surface material removal chambers coexist in the same vacuum processing system, the substrate can remain in a vacuum between surface pretreatment and epitaxial deposition, thereby reducing the time the substrate is exposed to the outside world and eliminating the need to prepare the substrate in another processing chamber or system. In this architecture, the passage station between the two transfer chambers also functions as a pre-cleaning processing chamber, maximizing the number of processing chambers on the vacuum system and thereby also reducing the total handling time of the substrate.

[0080] An example of the process 102 of FIG. 1 can be executed in the process chamber 200 of FIG. 2A. Argon is passed through the remote plasma unit 224, a first mixture consisting of 5-10% HF of argon is passed through the inlet 256, and a second mixture consisting of 25% NH3 of argon is passed through the inlet 258. The remote plasma is formed by applying 500 W of microwave or RF power to the argon gas flowing at 2 sLm. The first mixture is flowed at 500 sccm to the first inlet 256, and the second mixture is flowed at 500 sccm to the second inlet 258. The substrate is maintained at a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius by passing a temperature control fluid through the thermal control plenum 235. Power can be supplied to the substrate support 232 for radial temperature control. The chamber is maintained at a pressure of 5 torr, and the substrate is processed for a time suitable to convert all desired oxides on the substrate surface to a sublimable solid, for example, 300 seconds. The substrate is then moved near the second gas distributor 230 which is heated to about 200 degrees Celsius for radiant or conductive heating of the substrate surface. The substrate is held in the vicinity of the thermal radiation from the second gas distributor 230 for 1-5 minutes to sublime the solid formed on the substrate surface, leaving an oxygen-free surface. Next, the substrate can be optionally heat-treated in an inert atmosphere to remove any residual species of the oxygen removal treatment such as fluorine-containing species. This heat treatment may include placing the substrate in the heat treatment chamber and energizing the heat treatment device in the chamber to heat the substrate to a temperature of about 300 degrees Celsius for about 1 minute.

[0081] The foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, but other additional embodiments of the present disclosure can be devised without departing from the basic scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A processing system, comprising: A transfer chamber coupled to at least one film formation chamber; A chamber including a lid assembly, coupled to the transfer chamber; The lid assembly including: A central inlet in fluid communication with a conical chamber formed within the lid assembly; A mixing chamber formed within the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the conical chamber via a central conduit; A gas distribution plate in fluid communication with the mixing chamber, the mixing chamber including a side wall that tapers inwardly from the central conduit toward the gas distribution plate; A plurality of inlets formed within the lid assembly, in fluid communication with the mixing chamber and disposed between the conical chamber and the gas distribution plate, each of the plurality of inlets being adapted to deliver a separate processing gas to the mixing chamber; The processing system.

2. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein the film formation chamber is an epitaxial chamber.

3. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein the chamber is a fluorine processing chamber and the film formation chamber is an epitaxial chamber.

4. The processing system according to claim 1, further comprising a substrate support including a heater, the heater within the substrate support being a zone-designated resistive heater.

5. The processing system according to claim 1, further comprising an annealing chamber coupled to the transfer chamber.

6. The processing system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of inlets extend perpendicular to the central conduit.

7. The processing system according to claim 6, wherein the mixing chamber is bounded on one side by the gas distribution plate and an opening is formed in the gas distribution plate.

8. A processing system, comprising: A transfer chamber coupled to at least one film formation chamber; A chamber coupled to the transfer chamber, comprising a lid assembly having a plurality of stacked plates, the lid assembly including a volume formed at the center of a first plate among the plurality of stacked plates, the first plate being bounded by a second plate among the plurality of stacked plates, the volume being in fluid communication with a mixing chamber via a plurality of central conduits, the mixing chamber being formed at the center of a third plate among the plurality of stacked plates and bounded by a gas distribution plate, the mixing chamber including side walls that taper inwardly from the central conduits toward the gas distribution plate, a chamber; a plurality of inlets formed at right angles to the plurality of central conduits in the second plate among the plurality of stacked plates; a shower head disposed below the lid assembly and spaced apart from the lid assembly; a substrate support including cooling channels and heaters; a load lock chamber coupled to the transfer chamber; A processing system comprising.

9. The processing system according to claim 8, wherein the chamber includes a lid assembly having a conical chamber formed in a fourth plate among the plurality of stacked plates, the conical chamber being fluidly coupled to the volume.

10. The processing system according to claim 9, wherein the volume includes a cylindrical conduit and two inlets both fluidly coupled to the mixing chamber.

11. The processing system according to claim 9, wherein the mixing chamber is bounded on one side by a fifth plate among the plurality of stacked plates.

12. The processing system according to claim 8, wherein the film forming chamber is an epitaxial chamber.

13. The processing system according to claim 8, wherein the chamber is a fluorine processing chamber and the film forming chamber is an epitaxial chamber.

14. The processing system according to claim 8, wherein the heater in the substrate support is a zone-designated resistance heater.

15. The processing system according to claim 8, further comprising an annealing chamber coupled to the transfer chamber.

16. A method of processing a substrate, comprising: placing the substrate in a processing chamber; Flowing a reaction mixture from a conical chamber disposed in the lid assembly of the processing chamber into a volume portion disposed in the lid assembly, wherein the volume portion is upstream of a conduit, and flowing the reaction mixture; Flowing the reaction mixture into a mixing chamber disposed in the lid assembly via the conduit in fluid communication with the conical chamber, wherein the reaction mixture contains NH 3 and HF, and the mixing chamber has side walls that taper inwardly from the conduit towards the processing chamber, flowing the reaction mixture; Flowing the reaction mixture into the processing chamber; Removing oxides from the substrate by a process including exposing the substrate to the reaction mixture; Forming a film on the substrate by vapor phase epitaxy processing A method comprising.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising cooling the substrate while removing oxides from the substrate.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising performing a heat treatment process on the substrate after removing oxides from the substrate.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the heat treatment process is performed in an inert atmosphere at a temperature of 400 degrees Celsius or higher.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein the oxide removal process further comprises heating the substrate to a temperature of at least 100 degrees Celsius after exposing the substrate to the reaction mixture.

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