AVS 50th International Symposium
    High-k Gate Dielectrics and Devices Topical Conference Tuesday Sessions
       Session DI-TuP

Paper DI-TuP7
Plasma and Thermal Etching of High-k Materials for ALD Chamber Cleaning

Tuesday, November 4, 2003, 5:30 pm, Room Hall A-C

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: D. Wu, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Authors: B. Ji, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
D. Wu, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
R.M. Pearlstein, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
S.A. Motika, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
E.J. Karwacki, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
M.J. Plishka, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
High dielectric constant (high-k) materials such as Al@sub 2@O@sub 3@, HfO@sub 2@, and ZrO@sub 2@ are deposited onto semiconductor wafer surfaces by atomic layer deposition (ALD) in integrated circuits manufacturing. High-k ALD reactors must undergo periodic chamber cleaning to remove deposition residues from the internal surfaces of the reactor in order to maintain production yield. Due to their high chemical inertness and extremely low volatility, etching and cleaning high-k deposition residues has been technically challenging. By combining thermochemical calculations and experimental screening, we have identified BCl@sub 3@ as the most effective reagent for removing high-k materials from ALD chambers. We will report both plasma and thermal etching of Al@sub 2@O@sub 3@, HfO@sub 2@, and ZrO@sub 2@ using BCl@sub 3@. We will discuss the chemical mechanism of BCl@sub 3@-metal oxide reaction, and the influence of various process parameters on high-k materials etch rate.