Hyrodgen partial pressure control in a vacuum process chamber

Abstract

Implementations described herein generally relate to methods for removing one or more processing by-products found in deposition systems, such as in vacuum forelines of vapor deposition systems. More specifically, implementations of the present disclosure relate to methods of reducing the buildup of hydrogen in systems. In one implementation, a method of processing a substrate in a deposition chamber is provided. The method comprises depositing a layer on the substrate, wherein hydrogen-containing by-products are produced in a vacuum foreline fluidly coupled with the deposition chamber during the depositing process. The method further comprises flowing an oxidizing agent gas into the vacuum foreline to react with at least a portion of the hydrogen-containing by-products in the foreline.

1 . A system for processing a substrate, comprising:
 a deposition chamber;   a vacuum foreline that connects a vacuum pump to the deposition chamber;   a reaction chamber fluidly coupled with and positioned along the vacuum foreline in between the vacuum pump and the deposition chamber;   a valve to control flow between the deposition chamber and the vacuum foreline; and   a reactive gas supply system, comprising:
 at least one reactive gas source; 
 an inlet line that fluidly couples the at least one reactive gas source to the vacuum foreline; and 
 at least one valve connected to the inlet line to control the flow of a reactive gas from the at least one reactive gas source into the vacuum foreline. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an energy source coupled with the vacuum foreline. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one reactive gas source is selected from an oxygen (O 2 ) gas source, an ozone (O 3 ) gas source, a nitrous oxide (N 2 O) gas source, a nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ) source, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the deposition chamber is a vacuum-assisted deposition chamber. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an energy source coupled with the inlet line. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an energy source coupled with the deposition chamber. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the inlet line and the vacuum foreline join at a location on the vacuum foreline that is upstream of the vacuum pump. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an energy source coupled with the reaction chamber. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the energy source is selected from a UV source, a remote RF plasma source, a capacitively coupled plasma source, an inductively coupled plasma source, a transformer coupled plasma source, a microwave source, a thermal energy source, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         10 . A system for processing a substrate, comprising:
 a deposition chamber, comprising a chamber exhaust;   a vacuum foreline that connects a vacuum pump to the deposition chamber;   a plasma source comprising a plasma source exhaust and positioned directly in-line with the vacuum foreline;   an exhaust conduit coupling the plasma source to a pump; and   a reactive gas supply system, comprising:
 at least one reactive gas source; 
 an inlet line that fluidly couples the at least one reactive gas source to either the vacuum foreline or the plasma source; and 
 at least one valve connected to the inlet line to control the flow of a reactive gas from the at least one reactive gas source into the vacuum foreline. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the plasma source is selected from a remote RF plasma source, a capacitively coupled plasma source, an inductively coupled plasma source, a transformer coupled plasma source, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the at least one reactive gas source is selected from an oxygen (O 2 ) gas source, an ozone (O 3 ) gas source, a nitrous oxide (N 2 O) gas source, a nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ) source, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the deposition chamber is a vacuum-assisted deposition chamber. 
     
     
         14 . A method, comprising:
 flowing one or more process gases comprising a silicon-containing gas into a processing volume of a deposition chamber;   depositing a silicon oxide layer on a substrate disposed in the processing volume, wherein a gaseous hydrogen-containing by-product is formed from the one or more process gases within the processing volume during depositing the silicon oxide layer;   flowing a reactive gas into a vacuum foreline coupled with the processing volume, wherein the vacuum foreline contains the gaseous hydrogen-containing by-product and the reactive gas is selected from the group of oxygen (O 2 ) gas, ozone (O 3 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ), or a combination thereof;   reacting the reactive gas with at least a portion of the gaseous hydrogen-containing by-product in the vacuum foreline to form a gaseous reaction product, wherein the gaseous reaction product contains a molecule that has a molecular mass greater than a molecular mass of the gaseous hydrogen-containing by-product; and   pumping the gaseous reaction product out of the vacuum foreline.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more process gases further comprises an oxidizing gas. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the hydrogen-containing by-products comprise atomic hydrogen, hydrogen ions, hydrogen radicals, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the silicon-containing gas is selected from silane, dimethylsilane, trimethylsilane, tetramethylsilane, diethylsilane, tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS), tetraethyl-orthosilicate (TEOS), octamethyltetrasiloxane (OMTS), octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (OMCTS), tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane (TOMCATS), or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising energizing the reactive gas prior to flowing the reactive gas into the vacuum foreline. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising energizing the reactive gas in the vacuum foreline. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein energizing the reactive gas comprises exposing the oxidizing agent gas to at least one of an ultraviolet source, a remote RF plasma, a capacitively coupled plasma, an inductively coupled plasma, a transformer coupled plasma, a microwave, thermal energy, or a combination thereof.