Session BB3.7

11:30 AM BB3.7
APPLICATION OF THERMAL SPRAY TECHNOLOGY IN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY. Hougong Wang, Peijun Ding, Gongda Yao, and Steve Lai, Applied Materials Inc., Santa Clara, CA.

Thermal spray technology has been used in the semiconductor equipment industry primarily for the purpose of particle reduction in the magnetron sputtering chambers, where metal interconnects of IC are built up on structured silicon wafers. During metal film deposition, the materials are not only deposited on the wafers, but also coated onto the process chamber kit components between the target and the wafer such as shields, clamp ring and collimator. When the sputtered material is brittle or the chamber components have complicated shape, the sputtered films tend to dislodge from the component surfaces, even though the surfaces are usually roughened by bead blasting to improve adhesion. Pealing of sputtered film from the component surfaces can lead to creation large amount of particles, which significantly reduces die yield on the wafer. Thermal sprayed coatings can provide the controlled surface finish by choosing the proper spray techniques, and optimizing spray parameters. Usually, a highly textured surface (rougher than bead-blasted surface) is desired for providing mechanical bonding between the sprayed coating surface and the sputtered film. This leads to an increased kit lifetime and extended chamber service time. Experimental results have shown that particle performance and kit lifetime are significantly improved by applying the thermal sprayed coatings. The application of the thermal spray technology can be extended to other areas. Another study has shown that with the application of a thermal sprayed coating on a component of an aluminum chamber, the aluminum films can be effectively deposited onto the bottom of the sub-micron contact/via holes.