System and method for cleaning semicondutor fabrication equipment parts

a technology for fabrication equipment and parts, applied in the direction of cleaning using liquids, inorganic non-surface active detergent compositions, instruments, etc., can solve the problems of contaminated equipment used in the semiconductor processing process, unusable, missed transfers, etc., to reduce cleaning defects, enhance cleaning process, and increase accuracy

US20050045209A1Inactive Publication Date: 2005-03-03TAN SAMANTHA
7 Cites 51 Cited by

Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
US · United States
Patent Type
Applications(United States)
Current Assignee / Owner
Publication Date
2005-03-03
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

Smart Images

  • Figure 1
    Figure 1
  • Figure 2
    Figure 2
  • Figure 3
    Figure 3
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

A process for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts includes determining a definition for a clean part including multiple maximum acceptable impurity levels; determining an initial multiple impurity levels of a part prior to its cleaning; determining a cleaning process to apply to the part; applying the cleaning process to the part, wherein the cleaning process creates reduced multiple impurity levels for the part below that of the initial multiple impurity levels; determining the reduced multiple impurity levels; comparing the reduced multiple impurity levels against the multiple maximum acceptable impurities levels of the definition; and repeating the application of the cleaning process to the part if the reduced multiple impurity levels do not meet the definition of a clean part. A dilute aqueous cleaning solution for cleaning parts includes 0.5-1.5% wt. HF; 0.1-0.5% wt. HNO3; and 1-10% wt H2O2. A method for reducing sub-surface damage to a part includes determining how deep is the sub-surface damage beneath a surface of a part; chemically etching said surface of said part; and stopping said chemical etching of said surface at about said depth of said sub-surface damage.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional application U.S. Ser. No. 60 / 224 / 582 (Atty. Docket No. 60081-300500), filed on Aug. 11, 2001, entitled “System and Method for Cleaning Semiconductor Fabrication Equipment Parts”, incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The commercial fabrication of semiconductor chips is performed on silicon wafer substrates, which are typically four to twelve inches in diameter. There are often more than 100 processing steps in the fabrication of semiconductor chips including oxidation, diffusion, ion implantation, deposition of conductors and insulators, photolithography, and etching. Various conducting and insulating layers are deposited uniformly over the wafer to a thickness of a few microns.

[0003] In critical applications, certain new parts of semiconductor processing equipment need to be cleaned prior to installation and use in order to remove residual contamination f...

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0024] An invention is described herein for cleaning semiconductor equipment parts (such as CVD and etch chamber parts) that achieve increased effectiveness in impurity removal. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention. In particular, this includes most of the analytical testing methods used to measure or confirm impurity levels.

[0025] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the aforementioned metallic impurity removal is substantially enhanced by the use of a new chemical formula in the various cleaning processes. This cleaning formula is particularly novel as applied to the cleaning...