Emissions characterization during remote nitrogentrifluoride and oxygen chamber clean of silicon carbide

The semiconductor industry uses multiple long-lived fluorinated gases for chemical vapor deposition chamber cleaning. These gases when emitted into atmosphere have an impact on the environment through global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and industry have instituted programs to measure and reduce perfluorocompond (PFC) emissions. One of the reduction strategies adopted is alternative technology.;This thesis presents the results of a research designed to optimize a Remote Plasma Source (RPS) clean process for silicon carbide film deposition. The best clean time was obtained for 700sccm NF3/2300 sccm Ar/500sccm O2/2.6Torr/450W RF. NF3 utilization efficiency was better than 98%. A fluorine mass balance of only 78% was achieved suggesting that some solids containing residues might have been formed. Increasing the clean time by 25% helps reducing the particle formation. A design of experiment around the optimized clean recipe was performed and the PFCs emissions modeled.