Hyperbaric clean method and apparatus for cleaning semiconductor chamber components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11710647-B2
Application number	US-202117161557-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 28, 2021
Priority date	Jan 28, 2021
Publication date	Jul 25, 2023
Grant date	Jul 25, 2023

Abstract

Embodiments of a methods and cleaning systems for cleaning components for use in substrate processing equipment are provided herein. In some embodiments, a cleaning system includes a boiler having a heater configured to heat a fluid; a clean chamber fluidly coupled to the boiler via at least one of a gas line and a liquid line, wherein the clean chamber includes one or more fixtures in an interior volume therein for holding at least one component to be cleaned, and wherein the clean chamber includes a heater for heating the interior volume; and an expansion chamber fluidly coupled to the clean chamber via a release line for evacuating the clean chamber, wherein the release line includes a release valve to selectively open or close a flow path between the expansion chamber and the clean chamber, and wherein the expansion chamber includes a chiller and a vacuum port.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cleaning system for cleaning components for use in substrate processing equipment, comprising:
a liquid supply having a fluid disposed therein;
a boiler coupled to the liquid supply via a supply valve and having a heater configured to heat the fluid supplied to the boiler;
a clean chamber fluidly coupled to the boiler via a gas line, wherein the clean chamber includes one or more fixtures in an interior volume therein for holding at least one component to be cleaned, and wherein the clean chamber includes a heater for heating the interior volume; and
an expansion chamber fluidly coupled to the clean chamber via a release line for evacuating the clean chamber, wherein the release line includes a release valve to selectively open or close a flow path between the expansion chamber and the clean chamber, wherein a bypass line extends from the release line to the expansion chamber, and wherein the expansion chamber includes a chiller for cooling the expansion chamber and a vacuum port configured to couple the expansion chamber to a vacuum pump.

2. The cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising a process gas supply line coupled to the gas line via a three-way valve, the process gas supply line coupled to a process gas supply consisting essentially of nitrogen gas (N 2 ), oxygen gas (O 2 ), nitrogen trifluoride (NF 3 ), ozone (O 3 ), or ammonia (NH 3 ).

3. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the release valve is an on-off valve, and the release line further includes a metering valve for controlling a flow through the release line.

4. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the release valve is a control valve.

5. The cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising a condensation particle counter (CPC) disposed downstream of the clean chamber and upstream of the expansion chamber.

6. The cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising a filter disposed in the gas line between the boiler and the clean chamber and configured to reduce particle contamination from the boiler to the clean chamber.

7. The cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising a liquid line that extends from the boiler to the clean chamber, and a return line that extends from the clean chamber to the boiler.

8. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the expansion chamber has a larger internal volume than the clean chamber.

9. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the boiler includes a first drain line, the cleaning chamber includes a second drain line, and the expansion chamber includes a third drain line.

10. The cleaning system of claim 1 , further comprising a viewport or camera coupled to the clean chamber to observe the at least one component.

11. The cleaning system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more fixtures include one or more wall supports extending from sidewalls of the cleaning chamber.

12. The cleaning system of claim 3 , wherein the metering valve is disposed downstream of the bypass line.

13. A cleaning system for cleaning components for use in substrate processing equipment, comprising: a liquid supply having a fluid disposed therein; a boiler coupled to the liquid supply via a supply valve and having a heater configured to heat the fluid supplied to the boiler; a clean chamber fluidly coupled to the boiler via a gas line and a process gas supply line coupled to the gas line via a three-way valve, wherein a filter is disposed in the gas line between the boiler and the clean chamber upstream from the three-way valve, wherein the clean chamber includes one or more fixtures in an interior volume therein for holding at least one component to be cleaned, and wherein the clean chamber includes a heater for heating the interior volume; and an expansion chamber fluidly coupled to the clean chamber via a release line for evacuating the clean chamber, wherein the release line includes a release valve to selectively open or close a flow path between the expansion chamber and the clean chamber, wherein a bypass line extends from the release line to the expansion chamber, and wherein the expansion chamber includes a chiller for cooling the expansion chamber and a vacuum port configured to couple the expansion chamber to a vacuum pump.

14. The cleaning system of claim 13 , further comprising a liquid line that extends from the boiler to the clean chamber, and a return line that extends from the clean chamber to the boiler.

15. The cleaning system of claim 13 , wherein the boiler includes a first drain line, the cleaning chamber includes a second drain line, and the expansion chamber includes a third drain line.

Assignees

• Applied Materials Inc

Inventors

• Plavidal Richard Wells
• Osterman Scott
• Groechel David W
• Peng Gang Grant
• Smith John Z

Classifications

• H10P72/0468

  comprising a chamber adapted to a particular process · CPC title

• H10P70/15

  by wet cleaning only (H10P70/52 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H10P72/0404 Primary

  for general liquid treatment, e.g. etching followed by cleaning · CPC title

• H10P72/0602

  Temperature monitoring · CPC title

• H10P72/0432

  mainly by conduction · CPC title