Plasma clean method for deposition chamber

Abstract

Improved methods and apparatuses for removing residue from the interior surfaces of the deposition reactor are provided. The methods involve increasing availability of cleaning reagent radicals inside the deposition chamber by generating cleaning reagent radicals in a remote plasma generator and then further delivering in-situ plasma energy while the cleaning reagent mixture is introduced into the deposition chamber. Certain embodiments involve a multi-stage process including a stage in which the cleaning reagent mixture is introduced at a high pressure (e.g., about 0.6 Torr or more) and a stage the cleaning reagent mixture is introduced at a low pressure (e.g., about 0.6 Torr or less).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of cleaning a residue from interior surfaces of a semiconductor deposition chamber, the method comprising:
 a first stage performed at a chamber pressure of at least about 0.6 Torr, the first stage comprising:
 (a) introducing one or more cleaning reagents into a remote plasma generator; 
 (b) generating activated species from the cleaning reagents in the remote plasma generator by delivering a first plasma energy to the cleaning reagents; 
 (c) introducing a cleaning mixture into the deposition chamber, wherein the cleaning mixture comprises the activated species; 
 (d) exposing the interior surfaces of the deposition chamber to the cleaning mixture while delivering a second plasma energy to the cleaning reagents from an in-situ plasma generator, wherein delivering the second plasma energy comprises applying a power to the deposition chamber; and 
 (e) reacting the residue with the cleaning mixture to form volatile products to be removed from the deposition chamber; 
   a second stage performed at a chamber pressure of no more than 0.6 Torr, the second stage comprising repeating operations (a) through (e), wherein the applied power during the first stage is less than the applied power during the second stage.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first stage is performed prior to the second stage. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second stage is performed prior to the first stage. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cleaning reagents comprise an oxygen containing compound and a fluorine containing compound and a flow rate of the oxygen containing compound is at least ten times greater than a flow rate of the fluorine containing compound during the first stage and at least three times greater during the second stage. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second plasma energy is delivered at between about 1,000 W and 2,000 W during the first stage and at between about 2,000 W and 3,000 W during the second stage. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second set of reagents comprise an oxygen containing compound and fluorine containing compound. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 introducing a third set of one or more cleaning reagents into the remote plasma generator, the third set of one or more cleaning reagents comprising a third amount of a fluorine containing compound and substantially no oxygen containing compound; and   repeating operations (b)-(d) using the third set of one or more cleaning reagents.   
     
     
         8 . A semiconductor apparatus configured to clean a residue from interior surfaces after deposition process, comprising:
 a semiconductor process chamber;   a first plasma generator configured to generate an in-situ plasma within the process chamber;   a remote plasma generator; and   a controller comprising program instructions for performing first and second cleaning stages, wherein the instructions for the first cleaning stage comprise:
 instructions for introducing a first set of one or more cleaning reagents into the remote plasma generator; 
 instructions for powering the remote plasma generator to generate activated species from the first set of cleaning reagents; 
 instructions for introducing the first set of activated species to the process chamber; 
 instructions for applying a first power to the first plasma generator while the first set of activated species are in the process chamber; and 
 instructions for maintaining a first deposition chamber pressure; 
   further wherein the instructions for the second cleaning stage comprise:
 instructions for introducing a second set of one or more cleaning reagents into the remote plasma generator; 
 instructions for powering the remote plasma generator to generate activated species from the second set of cleaning reagents; 
 instructions for introducing the second set of activated species to process chamber; 
 instructions for applying a second power to the first plasma generator while the second set of activated species are in the process chamber; and 
 instructions for maintaining a second deposition chamber pressure, 
   wherein the first deposition chamber pressure is at least about 0.6 Torr, and the first applied power is less than the second applied power.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for performing the first cleaning stage performed prior to the second cleaning stage. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for performing the second cleaning stage performed prior to the first cleaning stage. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the instructions for introducing the first set of cleaning reagents comprise instructions for introducing an oxygen containing compound and a fluorine containing compound, the instruction further comprise instruction for introducing the oxygen containing compound at a flow rate of at least ten times the flow rate of the fluorine containing compound. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions for introducing the second set of cleaning reagents comprise instructions for introducing an oxygen containing compound and a fluorine containing compound, the instruction further comprise instruction for introducing the oxygen containing compound at a flow rate of at least three times the flow rate of the fluorine containing compound. 
     
     
         13 . A semiconductor apparatus configured to clean a residue from interior surfaces after deposition process, comprising:
 a semiconductor process chamber;   a first plasma generator configured to generate an in-situ plasma within the process chamber;   a remote plasma generator; and   a controller comprising program instructions for performing first and second cleaning stages, wherein the instructions for the first cleaning stage comprise:
 instructions for introducing a first set of one or more cleaning reagents into the remote plasma generator, the first set of one or more cleaning reagents comprising a first amount of an oxygen containing compound and a first amount of a fluorine containing compound; 
 instructions for powering the remote plasma generator to generate activated species from the first set of cleaning reagents; 
 instructions for introducing the first set of activated species to process chamber; 
 instructions for applying a first power to the first plasma generator while the first set of activated species are in the process chamber; and 
 instructions for maintaining a first deposition chamber pressure; 
   further wherein the instructions for the second cleaning stage comprise:
 instructions for introducing a second set of one or more cleaning reagents into the remote plasma generator, the second set of one or more cleaning reagents comprising a second amount of an oxygen containing compound and a second amount of a fluorine containing compound; 
 instructions for powering the remote plasma generator to generate activated species from the second set of cleaning reagents; 
 instructions for introducing the second set of activated species to process chamber; 
 instructions for applying a second power to the first plasma generator while the second set of activated species are in the process chamber; an 
 instructions for maintaining a second deposition chamber pressure, 
   wherein a ratio of the first amount of the fluorine containing compound to the first amount of the oxygen containing compound is less than a ratio of the second amount of the fluorine containing compound to the second amount of the oxygen containing compound, the first applied power is less than the second applied power, and the first deposition chamber pressure is greater than the second deposition chamber pressure.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the first deposition pressure is at least about 0.6 Torr. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the second deposition chamber pressure is no more than about 0.6 Torr.