Eliminating Polymer Flaking on a Passivation Etch Chamber using Carbon Polymer Coating Method

One of the major problems encountered by passivation etch in the semiconductor industry is chamber polymer flaking. This problem leads to frequent premature preventive maintenance (PM), low chamber availability or productivity and high costs for part consumption. Previous effort such as routine chamber dry clean using Carbon Tetrafluoride with Oxygen gas (CF4/O2) plasma to remove polymer coating buildup in the chamber was proven unsuccessful. This paper will discuss a solution to address chamber polymer flaking on a passivation etch chamber by generating carbon polymer coating method using dummy resist coating and reticle transmission (RT) control. This method significantly reduced premature PM monthly count by 36%, reduced part consumption cost by over 30% and improved tool availability by 100%.