Reactor, system including the reactor, and methods of manufacturing and using same

Abstract

A reactor for processing substrates and methods for manufacturing and using the reactor are disclosed. Specifically, the reactor can include a material that forms gas compounds. The gas compounds are then easily removed from the reactor, thus reducing or avoiding contamination of the substrates in the reactor that would otherwise arise.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A semiconductor processing system comprising:
 a reaction chamber, the reaction chamber comprising a first material;   a susceptor, the susceptor comprising a second material and being configured to hold a substrate for processing;   a showerhead, the showerhead comprising a third material; and   a first gas source, the first gas source providing a first gas precursor to the reaction chamber through a gas line between the first gas source and the reaction chamber in a process of etching a film on the substrate, wherein the gas line is made of the first material, the second material or the third material;   wherein the first material, the second material, and the third material are configured to react with one or more of the first gas precursor and a second gas precursor to form a volatile gas compound;   wherein the volatile gas compound is configured to be removed from the semiconductor processing system.   
     
     
         2 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 1 , further comprising a reaction chamber lining. 
     
     
         3 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 2 , wherein the reaction chamber lining comprises a coating comprising a material deposited onto the reaction chamber. 
     
     
         4 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 3 , wherein a thickness of the reaction chamber lining is between 0.0001 and 0.001 mm. 
     
     
         5 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 2 , wherein the reaction chamber lining is made from a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, molybdenum, titanium, niobium, tantalum, vanadium, aluminum, hafnium, zirconium, zinc, vanadium alloy, zinc alloy, quartz, borosilicate quartz, and stainless steel. 
     
     
         6 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 2 , wherein the reaction chamber lining is made from the first material, wherein the first material comprises at least one of: tungsten, molybdenum, aluminum, zinc, and zinc alloy. 
     
     
         7 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 2 , wherein the reaction chamber lining is made from the first material, wherein the first material comprises at least one of: tungsten, molybdenum, aluminum, zinc, and zinc alloy. 
     
     
         8 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first gas precursor comprises one or more of or is derived from one or more of: TiCl4, TiF4, TiClx, TiFx, MoClx, MoFx, WClx, WFx, NbClx, NbFx, TaClx, TaFx, VClx, VFx, AlClx, HfClx, or ZrClx. 
     
     
         9 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the second gas precursor comprises a halide. 
     
     
         10 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the first gas precursor and the second gas precursor comprises NbF 5 , CCl 4 , or WOF 4 . 
     
     
         11 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the susceptor is made from the second material, wherein the second material comprises at least one of: tungsten, molybdenum, zinc, zinc alloy. 
     
     
         12 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the showerhead is made from the third material, wherein the third material comprises at least one of: tungsten, molybdenum, zinc, and zinc alloy. 
     
     
         13 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 1 , wherein the first gas source provides a gas comprising at least one of: a non-metal halide, an organic halide, and a metal oxyhalide. 
     
     
         14 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 1 , further comprising a remote plasma unit, wherein at least one of the first gas precursor and the second gas precursor are flowed through the remote plasma unit prior entering the showerhead. 
     
     
         15 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 14 , wherein both the first gas precursor and the second gas precursor are flowed through the remote plasma unit prior entering the showerhead. 
     
     
         16 . The semiconductor processing system of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the first gas precursor and the second gas precursor is additionally provided to the reaction chamber without flowing through the remote plasma unit.