Minimizing radical recombination using ald silicon oxide surface coating with intermittent restoration plasma

Abstract

Certain embodiments herein relate to an apparatus used for remote plasma processing. In various embodiments, the apparatus includes a reaction chamber that is conditioned by forming a low recombination material coating on interior chamber surfaces. The low recombination material helps minimize the degree of radical recombination that occurs when the reaction chamber is used to process substrates. During processing on substrates, the low recombination material may become covered by relatively higher recombination material (e.g., as a byproduct of the substrate processing), which results in a decrease in the amount of radicals available to process the substrate over time. The low recombination material coating may be reconditioned through exposure to an oxidizing plasma, which acts to reform the low recombination material coating. The reconditioning process may occur periodically as additional processing occurs on substrates. The apparatus may be configured to cause formation and reconditioning of the low recombination material coating.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A remote plasma processing apparatus for processing a substrate, the apparatus comprising:
 a reaction chamber comprising:
 interior chamber surfaces, 
 a substrate support for supporting the substrate within the reaction chamber, and 
 an exhaust port for removing material from the reaction chamber; 
   a remote plasma chamber comprising:
 a plasma generator for generating plasma within the remote plasma chamber, 
 an inlet for delivering gas to the remote plasma chamber, 
 an outlet for providing plasma generated in the remote plasma chamber to the reaction chamber; and 
   a controller having instructions for:
 causing formation of a low recombination material coating on the interior chamber surfaces of the reaction chamber through an atomic layer deposition process while no substrate is present in the reaction chamber, and 
 after a remote plasma operation is performed on the substrate, causing the reaction chamber to be exposed to an oxidizing plasma to recondition the interior chamber surfaces and thereby reform the low recombination material coating. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller further has instructions for:
 after forming the low recombination material coating, causing the substrate to be provided in the reaction chamber, and   causing generation of plasma in the remote plasma chamber, and causing the plasma to be provided to the reaction chamber to perform the remote plasma operation on the substrate.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions for causing the plasma to be provided to the reaction chamber to perform the remote plasma operation on the substrate comprise instructions for causing formation of a second coating on at least a portion of the interior chamber surfaces, the second coating promoting a higher rate of radical recombination during the remote plasma operation than the low recombination material coating. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 3 , wherein the instructions causing the reaction chamber to be exposed to the oxidizing plasma cause the second coating to be modified to thereby reform the low recombination material coating. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the outlet of the remote plasma chamber is a showerhead that separates the remote plasma chamber from the reaction chamber. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions for causing the reaction chamber to be exposed to the oxidizing plasma comprise instructions to cause the reaction chamber to be exposed to the oxidizing plasma for a duration between about 0.05-5 seconds. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating on the interior chamber surfaces of the reaction chamber through the atomic layer deposition process comprise instructions for:
 (a) causing a first reactant to flow into the reaction chamber where it adsorbs onto the interior chamber surfaces within the reaction chamber;   (b) causing the first reactant to be purged from the reaction chamber;   (c) causing a second reactant to flow into the reaction chamber;   (d) causing the reaction chamber to be exposed to a deposition plasma to thereby drive a surface reaction between the first reactant and the second reactant to cause formation of the low recombination material coating on the interior chamber surfaces within the reaction chamber; and   (e) causing (a)-(d) to repeat until the low recombination material coating reaches a final coating thickness.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the controller further comprises instructions for causing the reaction chamber to be exposed to a fluorine-containing plasma. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating comprise instructions for causing the low recombination material coating to be formed of a material selected from the group consisting of: silicon oxide, zirconium oxide, aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, yttrium oxide, yttria-stabilized zirconia, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating comprise instructions for causing the low recombination material coating to be formed of silicon oxide. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating comprise instructions for causing the low recombination material coating to be formed of zirconium oxide. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating comprise instructions for causing the low recombination material coating to be formed of aluminum oxide. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating comprise instructions for causing the low recombination material coating to be formed of hafnium oxide. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating comprise instructions for causing the low recombination material coating to be formed of yttrium oxide. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions for causing formation of the low recombination material coating comprise instructions for causing the low recombination material coating to be formed of yttria-stabilized zirconia.