Ion-plasma Cleaning Module for Vacuum Thin-film Deposition Systems as Alternative to Acid-alkaline Cleaners
E. F. Shevchenko and M. Yu. Shevchenko
Scientific Educational Center of Nanotechnologies, North Caucasus Federal University, Russia
Abstract- The ion-plasma flow generated by a novel DC gas discharge plasma source with cold hollow cathode and 3D control system of current density distribution was applied for the cleaning of thin-film microcircuit substrates on a microelectronics factory. The atmospheric air was used as the plasma-forming gas. A separate group of substrates was cleaned by liquid reagents according to the current manufacturing technological multi-step process. The comparison of performance indicators of the ion-plasma and liquid cleaning was carried out. The hydrophilicity and adhesion strength of the films for all treated substrates were tested. The improved method for determining the adhesive strength of the films was developed. Conclusions about the expediency of the using of the ion-plasma cleaning for substrates in the thin-film microcircuit production process as an alternative to liquid acid-alkaline cleaning were made.
Keywords- Gas discharge plasma, ion source, substrate cleaning, film deposition, thin-film microcircuits