Aluminum apparatus with aluminum oxide layer and method for forming the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10262839-B2
Application number	US-201615182334-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 14, 2016
Priority date	Jun 14, 2016
Publication date	Apr 16, 2019
Grant date	Apr 16, 2019

Abstract

In a method, an aluminum body is chemically treated with at least one of an alkaline solution and an acid solution. Anode-oxidization is performed on the chemically treated aluminum body to form an aluminum oxide layer. The aluminum oxide layer is treated with hot water at a temperature more than 75° C. or steam. The aluminum oxide layer after being treated with hot water or steam includes plural columnar grains, and an average width of the columnar grains is in a range from 10 nm to 100 nm.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
generating plasma in a plasma chamber; and
performing at least one of depositing a film, etching and cleaning by using the plasma, wherein:
the plasma chamber comprises:
an aluminum body; and
an aluminum oxide layer formed on the aluminum body,

the aluminum oxide layer is in contact with the generated plasma or radicals generated by the plasma,
the aluminum oxide layer includes plural columnar grains, and an average width of the columnar grains is in a range from 10 nm to 100 nm, and
widths of the columnar grains are substantially constant from an outer surface of the aluminum oxide layer to a depth of at least ½ T, where T is a thickness of the aluminum oxide layer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plasma is generated from a gas containing at least one of NH 3 , NF 3 , H 2 and F 2 .

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thickness T of the aluminum oxide layer is in a range from 20 μm to 200 μm.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the widths of the columnar grains are substantially constant from the outer surface of the aluminum oxide layer to an interface between the aluminum body and the aluminum oxide layer.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the average width of the columnar grains is has a width from 25 nm to 35 nm.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum oxide layer includes a Boehmite phase.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aluminum oxide layer shows a peak relating to —SO 4 ligand and a peak relating to at least one of Boehmite phase and OH ligand stronger than a peak relating to carbon in a Raman spectrum.

8. A method, comprising:
generating plasma in a plasma chamber; and
performing plasma etching by using the plasma, wherein:
the plasma chamber comprises:
an aluminum body; and
an aluminum oxide layer formed on the aluminum body,

the aluminum oxide layer is in contact with the generated plasma or radicals generated by the plasma,
the aluminum oxide layer includes plural columnar grains,
widths of the columnar grains are substantially constant from an outer surface of the aluminum oxide layer to a depth of at least ½ T, where T is a thickness of the aluminum oxide layer, and
the plasma is generated from a gas containing at least one of NH 3 , NF 3 , H 2 and F 2 .

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein widths of the columnar grains are substantially constant from an outer surface of the aluminum oxide layer to a depth of at least ½ T, where T is a thickness of the aluminum oxide layer.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein an average width of the columnar grains is in a range from 10 nm to 100 nm.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the average width of the columnar grains is has a width from 25 nm to 35 nm.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the aluminum oxide layer shows a peak relating to —SO 4 ligand and a peak relating to at least one of Boehmite phase and OH ligand stronger than a peak relating to carbon in a Raman spectrum.

13. A method, comprising:
generating plasma in a plasma chamber; and
performing at least one of depositing a film, etching and cleaning using the plasma wherein:
the plasma chamber comprises:
an aluminum body; and
an aluminum oxide layer formed on the aluminum body,

the plasma is generated from a gas containing at least one of NH 3 , NF 3 , H 2 and F 2 ,
the aluminum oxide layer is in contact with the generated plasma or radicals generated by the plasma,
the aluminum oxide layer includes plural columnar grains,
widths of the columnar grains are substantially constant from an outer surface of the aluminum oxide layer to a depth of at least ½T, where T is a thickness of the aluminum oxide layer, and
the aluminum oxide layer is formed by:
chemically treating an aluminum body with at least one of an alkaline solution and an acid solution;
performing anode-oxidation on the chemically treated aluminum body to form the aluminum oxide layer; and
treating the aluminum oxide layer with hot water at a temperature of more than 75° C. or steam.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein a voltage value applied in the anode-oxidization is substantially constant.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the substantially constant voltage value is in a range from 15 V to 25 V and variation during the anode-oxidization is equal to or less than 10%.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein an average growth rate of the aluminum oxide layer in the anode-oxidization is in a range from 30 nm/min to 70 nm/min.

17. The method of claim 13 , wherein the aluminum body before the chemically treating has a surface roughness Ra from 0.5 μm to 1.5 μm.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein an electrolyte in the anode-oxidization includes H 2 SO 4 .

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the anode-oxidization is performed at a temperature of −20° C. to 5° C.

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein, before the chemically treating, the aluminum body is annealed at a temperature of 250° C. to 350° C.

Assignees

• Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• Chiu Ru-Chien
• Chen Bing-Hung
• Koai Keith Kuang-Kuo

Classifications

• C25D11/246 Primary

  for sealing layers · CPC title

• C25D11/045

  for forming AAO templates · CPC title

• H01J37/32495 Primary

  Means for protecting the vessel against plasma · CPC title

• H01J37/32467

  Material · CPC title

• C25D11/16

  Pretreatment {, e.g. desmutting} · CPC title