In Situ Remote H‐Plasma Cleaning of Patterned Si ‐ SiO2 Surfaces

Articles you may be interested inDilute hydrogen plasma cleaning of boron from silicon after etching of Hf O 2 films in B Cl 3 plasmas: Substrate temperature dependence Structural, microstructural, and electrical properties of gold films and Schottky contacts on remote plasmacleaned, n -type ZnO{0001} surfaces Enhancement of secondary electron emission by annealing and microwave hydrogen plasma treatment of ionbeam-damaged diamond films Due to the extreme chemical inertness of silicon carbide (SiC), in-situ thermal desorption is commonly utilized as a means to remove surface contamination prior to initiating critical semiconductor processing steps such as epitaxy, gate dielectric formation, and contact metallization. In-situ thermal desorption and silicon sublimation has also recently become a popular method for epitaxial growth of mono and few layer graphene. Accordingly, numerous thermal desorption experiments of various processed silicon carbide surfaces have been performed, but have ignored the presence of hydrogen, which is ubiquitous throughout semiconductor processing. In this regard, the authors have performed a combined temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) investigation of the desorption of molecular hydrogen (H 2 ) and various other oxygen, carbon, and fluorine related species from ex-situ aqueous hydrogen fluoride (HF) and in-situ remote hydrogen plasma cleaned 6H-SiC (0001) surfaces. Using XPS, the authors observed that temperatures on the order of 700-1000 C are needed to fully desorb C-H, C-O and Si-O species from these surfaces. However, using TPD, the authors observed H 2 desorption at both lower temperatures (200-550 C) as well as higher temperatures (>700 C). The low temperature H 2 desorption was deconvoluted into multiple desorption states that, based on similarities to H 2 desorption from Si (111), were attributed to silicon mono, di, and trihydride surface species as well as hydrogen trapped by subsurface defects, steps, or dopants. The higher temperature H 2 desorption was similarly attributed to H 2 evolved from surface O-H groups at $750 C as well as the liberation of H 2 during Si-O desorption at temperatures >800 C. These results indicate that while ex-situ aqueous HF processed 6H-SiC (0001) surfaces annealed at <700 C remain terminated by some surface C-O and Si-O bonding, they may still exhibit significant chemical reactivity due to the creation of surface dangling bonds resulting from H 2 desorption from previously undetected silicon hydride and surface hydroxide species.

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“…74 The remote H-plasma exposures were performed at 400 C and approximately 40 cm downstream from a 13.56 MHz inductively coupled H 2 plasma.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogen desorption from hydrogen fluoride and remote hydrogen plasma cleaned silicon carbide (0001) surfaces

King¹,

Tanaka²,

Davis³

et al. 2015

Journal of Vacuum Science &Amp; Technology A: Vacuum, Surfaces, and Films

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“…Due to the existence of radicals, ion bombardment, and radiation, plasmas can provide the activation energy to attack these residues; hence, plasma "ashing" is a common approach for residue removal. [3][4][5][6] In liquid-based fluorocarbon residue removal, undercut ͑or attack at the interface of the residue and the substrate͒ is a common mechanism rather than chemical attack of C-F bonds. 7 For CO 2 -based approaches, dissolution of the un-cross-linked and unmodified photoresist in a CO 2 -cosolvent mixture is the primary mechanism.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Post Plasma Etch Residue Removal Using CO[sub 2]-Based Mixtures: Mechanistic Considerations

Myneni

Hess

2005

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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High-pressure CO2 -based fluids have recently been proposed for post plasma etch residue removal as an environmentally benign alternative to current liquid-based methods. Specifically, CO2 -tetramethylammonium bicarbonate (TMAHCO3) methanol mixtures have been used to remove photoresist residues from a CORAL low-dielectric constant film. In this work, detailed studies are performed to improve the understanding of the residue removal mechanism using these mixtures. Attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and interferometry are used for in situ and ex situ monitoring during the cleaning process; model residue films are used to facilitate interpretation of results from these studies. The role of CO2 and the additives in the mixture is also delineated. The primary cleaning mechanism appears to be attack of the interface between the residue and the capping layer by OH− ions generated by dissociation of TMAHCO3 . Methanol promotes dissociation of the bicarbonate, while the role of CO2 is to promote diffusion of the additives to the interface.

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“…Plasma based etching techniques include argon ion sputtering [15], halogen [16] and hydrogen based plasma [17] etching of silicon and CH 4 /H 2 based plasma etching of II-VI compounds [18]. These processes involve the interaction of active species formed in the plasma discharge with the substrate surface.…”

Section: Plasma Based Etchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Carter et al [17] cleaned the surface of Si-SiO 2 patterned wafers using rfhydrogen plasma etching. Prior to the insertion into the vacuum system for the in situ cleaning, the patterned surfaces were prepared with the two-step UV/ozone followed by a HF-based spin etch.…”

Section: Hydrogen-plasma Etchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substrate cleaning using a remote hydrogen rf-plasma

Prasanna¹

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My sincere thanks to Katie Ziemer; who helped me in carrying out my experiments and also in the analysis of my data. I would also like to thank Jeff Gold and Vikram Tolani for their help in the lab I am really thankful to my friends Ganesh, Ravi, Srikanth, Ramani and Anand for making my stay in Morgantown truly memorable. Finally, I wish to thank my family in India for their love and support through the course of my education in the United States v

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In Situ Remote H‐Plasma Cleaning of Patterned Si ‐ SiO2 Surfaces

Cited by 21 publications

References 6 publications

Hydrogen desorption from hydrogen fluoride and remote hydrogen plasma cleaned silicon carbide (0001) surfaces

Hydrogen desorption from hydrogen fluoride and remote hydrogen plasma cleaned silicon carbide (0001) surfaces

Post Plasma Etch Residue Removal Using CO[sub 2]-Based Mixtures: Mechanistic Considerations

Substrate cleaning using a remote hydrogen rf-plasma

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