Development of Yttrium Oxide Film Deposition Method using Low-temperature Microwave Excited Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet

Due to the continued scale-down of integrated circuits, contaminant particles on the wafer due to process chamber wall erosion by plasma-wall interaction cause significant damage, resulting in defective semiconductor device [1]. Therefore, advanced ceramics are widely used as plasma-facing materials including Yttrium Oxide (Y₂O₃) due to their high resistance and chemical stability [2]. And the mechanism of interaction between plasma and Y₂O₃ in deposition process using an organic solvent is not completely understood. In semiconductor manufacturing etching processes, corrosive gas plasma is more harshly rushing the components inside of the chamber. To deal with this issue, it is necessary to utilize a Y₂O₃ film with a thick and high density to meet the requirements of the complex structure inside the chamber for this application. In addition, cost-effective methods are crucial in semiconductor manufacturing.

We have been developing the cost-efficient plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition method for Y₂O₃ film deposition by microwave excited atmospheric pressure plasma jet (MW-APPJ), introducing an organic precursor solution mixing with working gas. The deposited films by MW-APPJ have investigated for their properties and performance under dependence of temperature, gas flow rate, and distance in order to suit industrial applications.

Preliminary we could succeed to obtain the Y₂O₃ film with a deposition rate of ~0.8 um/min. The observed results, which include optical emission spectroscopy observation, film property analysis, mechanism of deposition, and future plans, are discussed in detail.