US 11,710,647 B2
Hyperbaric clean method and apparatus for cleaning semiconductor chamber components
Richard Wells Plavidal, Ridgway, CO (US); Scott Osterman, Whitefish, MT (US); David W. Groechel, Los Altos Hills, CA (US); Gang Grant Peng, Santa Clara, CA (US); and John Z. Smith, Kalispell, MT (US)
Assigned to APPLIED MATERIALS, INC., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed by Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US)
Filed on Jan. 28, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/161,557.
Prior Publication US 2022/0238355 A1, Jul. 28, 2022
Int. Cl. H01L 21/67 (2006.01); H01L 21/02 (2006.01); B08B 3/02 (2006.01)
CPC H01L 21/67023 (2013.01) [B08B 3/024 (2013.01); H01L 21/02052 (2013.01); H01L 21/67207 (2013.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A cleaning system for cleaning components for use in substrate processing equipment, comprising:
a liquid supply having a fluid disposed therein;
a boiler coupled to the liquid supply via a supply valve and having a heater configured to heat the fluid supplied to the boiler;
a clean chamber fluidly coupled to the boiler via a gas line, wherein the clean chamber includes one or more fixtures in an interior volume therein for holding at least one component to be cleaned, and wherein the clean chamber includes a heater for heating the interior volume; and
an expansion chamber fluidly coupled to the clean chamber via a release line for evacuating the clean chamber, wherein the release line includes a release valve to selectively open or close a flow path between the expansion chamber and the clean chamber, wherein a bypass line extends from the release line to the expansion chamber, and wherein the expansion chamber includes a chiller for cooling the expansion chamber and a vacuum port configured to couple the expansion chamber to a vacuum pump.