Plasma abatement of compounds containing heavy atoms

US10449486B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Applied Materials, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Michael S. Cox · Gilroy, US
• Monique McIntosh · San Jose, US
• Colin John Dickinson · San Jose, US
• Paul Fisher · Brighton, US
• Yutaka Tanaka · Saitama, JP
• Zheng Yuan · San Jose, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 13, 2017
• Grant date: Oct 22, 2019
• Expiry date: Apr 13, 2037

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02C20/30
• WIPO field: Chemical engineering
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A plasma abatement process for abating effluent containing compounds from a processing chamber is described. A plasma abatement process takes gaseous foreline effluent from a processing chamber, such as a deposition chamber, and reacts the effluent within a plasma chamber placed in the foreline path. The plasma dissociates the compounds within the effluent, converting the effluent into more benign compounds. Abating reagents may assist in the abating of the compounds. The abatement process may be a volatizing or a condensing abatement process. Representative volatilizing abating reagents include, for example, CH4, H2O, H2, NF3, SF6, F2, HCl, HF, Cl2, and HBr. Representative condensing abating reagents include, for example, H2, H2O, O2, N2, O3, CO, CO2, NH3, N2O, CH4, and combinations thereof.