| 摘要 |
The present invention pertains to methods for cleaning semiconductor wafers, more specifically, for removing polymeric and other residues from a wafer using dry plasmas generated with microwave (MW), electromagnetic field (inductively-coupled plasma (ICP)), and radio frequency (RF) energy. First, a wafer is treated by applying a microwave-generated plasma or an inductively-coupled plasma. Second, a radio frequency generated plasma is applied. Each of the microwave-generated plasma and the inductively-coupled plasma is produced from a gas mixture, which includes an oxygen source gas, a fluorine source gas, and a hydrogen source gas. Using such plasmas provides more controllable etch rates than conventional plasmas via control of fluorine concentration in the plasma. Application of a radio frequency generated (preferably oxygen-based) plasma is used for additional photoresist and polymer removal. The use of this two-step approach provides superior wafer cleaning compared to conventional wet and dry clean methods.
|
