Sorption Chamber Wall Lattice for In-Situ By-Product Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
In semiconductor processing systems, the accumulation of by-products on chamber walls leads to process drift, contamination, and reduced throughput due to frequent manual cleaning and harsh plasma chemistry used in automated cleaning procedures.
Innovation Solution
A sorption chamber wall with a large surface area, featuring a lattice structure like metal foam, that selectively adsorbs and desorbs by-products without opening the chamber, using coolant flow for adsorption and heat for desorption, thereby minimizing process drift and extending processing time between cleanings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual cleaning is performed to remove by-products from chamber walls, then chamber cleanliness is improved, but throughput is reduced due to chamber opening time and reconditioning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical cleaning with an automated thermal field-based cleaning system. The chamber walls are heated to a temperature sufficient to desorb by-products, and a gas flow removes the desorbed contaminants. This substitution eliminates the need to open the chamber for cleaning, thereby maintaining throughput while achieving cleaning objectives.
Solution Approach 2:
The chamber walls perform self-cleaning through controlled heating that causes by-products to desorb from the surface. The system uses the chamber walls themselves as the cleaning mechanism, eliminating the need for external manual intervention or complex cleaning tools, thus maintaining continuous operation without throughput loss.
2Reliability
If automated Waferless AutoClean procedures are used to remove by-products, then cleaning consistency is improved, but harsh plasma chemistry erodes chamber components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the cleaning parameter from harsh plasma chemistry to controlled thermal heating. By adjusting the temperature parameter of the chamber walls to a sufficient level, by-products are desorbed without exposing chamber components to erosive plasma chemistry, thus maintaining cleaning consistency while preventing component erosion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the normally harmful effect of heated chamber walls into a beneficial cleaning mechanism. The heating that would normally be considered a process parameter is instead used to actively desorb and remove by-products, transforming a potential source of contamination into a cleaning tool that avoids component erosion.
3Productivity
If by-products accumulate on chamber walls during substrate processing, then processing continues without interruption, but process drift occurs due to changing surface reflectance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous by-product removal through automated heating and gas flow during substrate processing. This maintains consistent chamber wall surface properties throughout the processing sequence, ensuring process consistency is preserved without interrupting production flow, thereby achieving both continuous processing and manufacturing precision.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The sorption chamber wall effectively reduces on-wafer defects, minimizes substrate-to-substrate process drift, and increases throughput by reducing the frequency of automated cleaning procedures, while maintaining chamber cleanliness without manual intervention.
Implementation Method 1
The lattice structure provides an increased surface area so that greater amount of the by-products can be adsorbed before the chamber needs to be cleaned
Implementation Method 2
the temperature of the sorption wall is maintained at a level that is sufficient to selectively adsorb particles, particularly the etch by-product particles generated during the substrate processing and condense them, while at the same time prevent condensation of the reactant gas(es)
Implementation Method 3
the sorption wall is heated to a temperature that is sufficient to release the deposited etch by-products from the sorption walls
Data Source
AI summary
A sorption structure used in a plasma process chamber includes an inner layer having one or more heating elements to heat the sorption structure, a middle section having a lattice structure and a coolant flow delivery network through which a coolant circulates to cool the sorption structure, and a vacuum flow network that is connected to a vacuum line to create low pressure vacuum. The lattice structure includes network of openings defined in a plurality of layers. The inner layer is disposed adjacent to the middle section and an outer layer of the lattice structure faces an interior region of the chamber. The openings in the layers of the lattice structure progressively increase in size from the inner layer to the outer layer. The lattice structure is used to adsorb by-products released in the process chamber and the vacuum flow network is used to remove the by-products.