Surface modification of aluminum by toluene plasma at low-pressure and its surface properties

Condition processes are commonly implemented in semiconductor fabrication to prepare plasma chamber for the optimal performance of plasma processes. When used with plasma ash and etch chambers, conditioning processes typically involve generating conditioning plasma in the plasma chamber for a predetermined length of time to prepare, or "season", the chamber for the performance of ash and etch processes with production wafers. We report on the seasoning of aluminum baffle surfaces by plasma with non-polar aromatic hydrocarbon such as toluene. The aluminum surface was simply treated by radio frequency (RF) plasma with toluene. The non-polar property of the sample increases with increasing plasma treatments. Therefore, the ashing rate of toluene coated baffle improved 1.3 times without scavenging activative species. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.