PLASMA CHAMBER CLEANING
Most CVD processes include a Plasma Chamber Clean step to remove deposited silicon, metals, oxides or other CVD by-products from the chamber walls between wafer processing steps.
Most commonly in silicon CVD, an upstream „remote“ plasma source is used to generate fluorine as an etchant from Nitrogen Trifluoride, NF3.
The intermittent high flows of corrosive gases used in chamber cleaning pose a challenge to many non-dry abatement technologies. CLEANSORB dry bed absorber technology allows at-source scrubbing of aggressive acidic gases and avoids costly waste water treatment of chlorides and fluorides.
| Chamber Clean Process | Typical Gases Used |
|---|---|
| Silicon Chamber Clean | F2 (from remote NF3 plasma) |
| MOCVD Chamber Clean | Cl2, HCl |
| Photovoltaic Chamber Clean | F2 (from Fluorine Generator) |
