Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for enhanced chamber cleaning

US6863077B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
6References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 15, 2002
Grant dateMar 8, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 22, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/67069
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system for processing substrates within a chamber and for cleaning accumulated material from chamber components is provided. The system includes a reactive species generator adapted to generate a reactive gas species for chemically etching accumulated material from chamber components, and a processing chamber having at least one component with a mirror polished surface which is exposed to the reactive species. Preferably to have the greatest impact on chamber cleaning efficiency, the mirror polished surface is a surface of a component such as a gas distribution plate or a backing plate, and/or is a surface of a plurality of smaller components (e.g., chamber wall liners, a gas conductance line, etc.) so as to constitute a large percentage of the surface area exposed to the reactive species. Most preferably all bare aluminum surfaces which the reactive species contacts are mirror polished.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.