Passivating ALD reactor chamber internal surfaces to prevent residue buildup

摘要

This invention is directed to an improved method for preventing deposition residue buildup on the internal surfaces of an ALD reactor chamber. In an ALD deposition process, the surfaces of a substrate are treated with an initiating precursor generating a labile atom reactive with a deposition precursor. Excess initiating precursor is removed from the reactor and the substrate surface then is exposed to a deposition precursor reactive with the labile atom under conditions for generating a fugitive reaction product containing the labile atom and leaving a deposition product. The process is repeated generating alternate layers of initiation and deposition precursor reaction products. The improvement in the ALD process resides in passivating the internal surfaces of the reactor by removing labile atoms reactable with either the initiating or deposition precursors prior to effecting ALD deposition.