METHOD OF DETERMINING WHETHER NON-GASEOUS MATERIAL IS CAPABLE OF GENERATING AT LEAST ONE VOLATILE

摘要

PURPOSE: A method of determining whether a non-gaseous material is capable of generating at least one volatile is provided to convert contaminant deposits on the surfaces of the process chamber to volatile species which can be easily removed from the process chamber. CONSTITUTION: A method comprises the steps of: (a) placing a non-gaseous source of reactive-species-generating material within the processing chamber, the source being adequate to provide reactive species generation for at least one complete plasma cleaning operation; (b) exposing the non-gaseous source of reactive-species-generating material to a plasma generated from a gas fed into the process chamber, whereby volatile reactive species are generated; and (c) contacting surfaces of the processing chamber with a plasma comprising the volatile reactive species generated in step (b) from the non-gaseous source, whereby at least a portion of the involatile contaminants on the surfaces are converted to volatile molecules.