THE EFFECTS OF THE REMOTE H-PLASMA TREATMENTS ON THE TRANSITION METALLIC IMPURITIES CONTAMINATED ON THE SI SUBSTRATE

The effects of the remote H-plasma treatments on the removal of the tr ansition metallic impurities (Cr, Ni, Fe, Cu and Zn) contaminated on t he Si substrate were investigated. The ICP-MS (inductively coupled pla sma-mass spectroscope) results showed that the concentration ranges of the transition metallic impurities in the distilled water and the ace tone were around 0.1 to 2.0 in ppb for Cr, Ni, Fe and Cu, and about 24 ppb for Zn. The amounts of the transition metallic impurities contami nated on the Si substrate were about 10(10) to 10(12) atoms/cm(2) and were reduced more than a factor of 10 similar to 100 by the remote ii- plasma treatments, which were analyzed by TXRF (total reflection X-ray fluorescence). From AFM (atomic force microscope) measurement, the RM S (root mean square) value of the reference substrate which was contam inated initially was around 4.1 Angstrom. But its surface roughness wa s improved to the levels of 2.0 Angstrom in RMS value after the remote II-plasma treatment. The transition metallic impurities on the Si sub strate are considered to be contaminated as the forms of the hydroxide s, silioxides and oxides on/into the chemical oxides which are formed during the chemical contamination. In this study, the removal mechanis m of the transition metallic impurities using the remote EI-plasma tre atments is proposed to be the combination of the gaseous and volatile compounds formation and the lift-off phenomena during the removal of t he underlying chemical oxides.