Method and apparatus for cleaning a substrate surface

Abstract

Embodiments described herein provide apparatus and methods for processing a substrate. One embodiment comprises a cleaning chamber. The cleaning chamber comprises one or more walls that form a low energy processing region, a plasma generating source to deliver electromagnetic energy to the low energy processing region, a first gas source to deliver a silicon containing gas or a germanium containing gas to the low energy processing region, a second gas source to deliver a oxidizing gas to the low energy processing region, an etching gas source to deliver a etching gas to the low energy processing region, and a substrate support having a substrate supporting surface, a biasing electrode, and a substrate support heat exchanging device to control the temperature of the substrate supporting surface.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising:
 a cleaning chamber, comprising:
 one or more walls that form a low energy processing region; 
 a plasma generating source to deliver electromagnetic energy to the low energy processing region; 
 a first gas source to deliver a silicon containing gas or a germanium containing gas to the low energy processing region; 
 a second gas source to deliver a oxidizing gas to the low energy processing region; 
 an etching gas source to deliver a etching gas to the low energy processing region; and 
 a substrate support having a substrate supporting surface, a biasing electrode, and a substrate support heat exchanging device to control the temperature of the substrate supporting surface. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the low energy processing region is utilized to contain a plasma having ion energies of less than 10 eV. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 an epitaxial layer deposition chamber comprising:
 one or more walls that form a processing region; and 
 a silicon gas source to deliver a silicon containing gas to the processing region. 
   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a transfer chamber having one or more walls that enclose a transfer region and a robot to transfer substrates between a first position within cleaning chamber and a first position with the epitaxial layer deposition chamber.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 a shield positioned between the substrate supporting surface and a lid of the cleaning chamber.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the shield has a plurality of holes formed therein and the shield is formed from a material selected from a group consisting of silicon, yttrium, yttrium oxide, germanium, boron, phosphorus, and silicon germanium. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the temperature of the substrate supporting surface is controlled to a temperature less than about 700° C., and the temperature of the at least one of the one or more walls is controlled to a temperature between about 20° C. and about 30° C. using a heat exchanging device. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the etching gas delivered from the second gas source comprises nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ) or chlorine ion (Cl − ). 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the etching gas delivered from the second gas source comprises helium, hydrogen, or neon. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , further comprising a UV light source that is positioned to deliver one or more wavelengths of UV light to a substrate disposed on the substrate support surface. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the plasma generating source is adapted to deliver a plurality of pulses of RF energy to the processing region. 
     
     
         12 . An apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising:
 a cleaning chamber, comprising:
 one or more walls that form a low energy processing region; 
 a plasma generating source to deliver electromagnetic energy to the low energy processing region; 
 a first gas source to deliver a silicon containing gas or a germanium containing gas to the low energy processing region; 
 a second gas source to deliver a oxidizing gas to the low energy processing region; 
 an etching gas source to deliver a etching gas to the low energy processing region; and 
 a substrate support having a substrate supporting surface, a biasing electrode, and a substrate support heat exchanging device to control the temperature of the substrate supporting surface; and 
   an epitaxial layer deposition chamber comprising:
 one or more walls that form a processing region; and 
 a silicon gas source to deliver a silicon containing gas to the processing region. 
   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12 , wherein the low energy processing region is utilized to contain a plasma having ion energies of less than 10 eV. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a transfer chamber having one or more walls that enclose a transfer region and a robot to transfer substrates between a first position within cleaning chamber and a first position with the epitaxial layer deposition chamber.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 a shield positioned between the substrate supporting surface and a lid of the cleaning chamber.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the shield has a plurality of holes formed therein and the shield is formed from a material selected from a group consisting of silicon, yttrium, yttrium oxide, germanium, boron, phosphorus, and silicon germanium. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for processing a substrate, comprising:
 a cleaning chamber, comprising:
 one or more walls that form a low energy processing region; 
 a plasma generating source to deliver electromagnetic energy to the low energy processing region; 
 a first gas source to deliver a silicon containing gas or a germanium containing gas to the low energy processing region; 
 a second gas source to deliver a oxidizing gas to the low energy processing region; 
 an etching gas source to deliver a etching gas to the low energy processing region; and 
 a substrate support having a substrate supporting surface, a biasing electrode, and a substrate support heat exchanging device to control the temperature of the substrate supporting surface; 
   an epitaxial layer deposition chamber comprising:
 one or more walls that form a processing region; and 
 a silicon gas source to deliver a silicon containing gas to the processing region; and 
   a transfer chamber having one or more walls that enclose a transfer region and a robot to transfer substrates between a first position within cleaning chamber and a first position with the epitaxial layer deposition chamber.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the low energy processing region is utilized to contain a plasma having ion energies of less than 10 eV. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a shield positioned between the substrate supporting surface and a lid of the cleaning chamber.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the shield has a plurality of holes formed therein and the shield is formed from a material selected from a group consisting of silicon, yttrium, yttrium oxide, germanium, boron, phosphorus, and silicon germanium.