Implementations of the present disclosure generally relate to an improved vacuum processing system. In one implementation, the vacuum processing system includes a first transfer chamber coupling to at least one epitaxy process chamber, a second transfer chamber, a transition station disposed between the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, a first plasma-cleaning chamber coupled to the second transfer chamber for removing oxides from a surface of a substrate, and a load lock chamber coupled to the second transfer chamber. The transition station connects to the first transfer chamber and the second transfer chamber, and the transition station includes a second plasma-cleaning chamber for removing carbon-containing contaminants from the surface of the substrate.

A method for treating a compound semiconductor substrate, in which method in vacuum conditions a surface of an In-containing III-As, III-Sb or III-P substrate is cleaned from amorphous native oxides and after that the cleaned substrate is heated to a temperature of about 250-550° C. and oxidized by introducing oxygen gas onto the surface of the substrate. The invention relates also to a compound semiconductor substrate, and the use of the substrate in a structure of a transistor such as MOSFET.

Deposits such as particles deposited on a surface of a target object can be easily removed while suppressing damage to the target object such as destruction of pattern formed on the surface of the target object or film roughness on the surface of the target object. In a pre-treatment, vapor of a hydrogen fluoride is supplied to a wafer W to dissolve a natural oxide film 11, so that a deposit 10 attached to a surface of the natural oxide film 11 is slightly separated from a surface of the wafer W. A carbon dioxide gas that does not react with an underlying film 12 is supplied to a processing gas atmosphere where the wafer W is placed, so that a gas cluster of the carbon dioxide gas is generated. Then, the gas cluster in a non-ionized state is irradiated toward the wafer W to remove the deposit 10.

A precleaning chamber (100, 200, 300) and a plasma processing apparatus, comprising a cavity (20) and a dielectric window (21, 21′) disposed at the top of the cavity (20), a base (22 ) and a process assembly (24) surrounding the base (22) are disposed in the precleaning chamber (100, 200, 300), and the base (22), the process assembly (24 ) and the dielectric window (21, 21′) together form a process sub-cavity (211) above the base (22); and a space of the cavity (20) located below the base (22) is used as a loading/unloading sub-cavity (202), the precleaning chamber (100, 200, 300) further comprises a gas is device (32), the gas inlet device (32) comprises a gas inlet (323), and the gas inlet (323) is configured to directly transport a process gas into the process sub-cavity (211) from above the process assembly (24). The precleaning chamber (100, 200, 300) not only shortens the gas inlet path of the process gas, but also reach a desired plasma density under the conditions where a relatively small amount of process gas is introduced, thereby reducing the usage cost.

Implementations of the present disclosure generally relates to a transfer chamber coupled to at least one vapor phase epitaxy chamber a plasma oxide removal chamber coupled to the transfer chamber, the plasma oxide removal chamber comprising a lid assembly with a mixing chamber and a gas distributor; a first gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; a second gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; a third gas inlet formed through a portion of the lid assembly and in fluid communication with the mixing chamber; and a substrate support with a substrate supporting surface; a lift member disposed in a recess of the substrate supporting surface and coupled through the substrate support to a lift actuator; and a load lock chamber coupled to the transfer chamber.

On an RAMO.sub.4 substrate containing a single crystal represented by the general formula RAMO.sub.4 (wherein R represents one or a plurality of trivalent elements selected from a group of elements including: Sc, In, Y, and a lanthanoid element, A represents one or a plurality of trivalent elements selected from a group of elements including: Fe(III), Ga, and Al, and M represents one or a plurality of divalent elements selected from a group of elements including: Mg, Mn, Fe(II), Co, Cu, Zn, and Cd), a buffer layer containing a nitride of In and a Group III element except for In is formed, and a Group III nitride crystal is formed on the buffer layer.

Provided is a method of epitaxial deposition, which involves dry-etching a semiconductor substrate with a fluorine containing species and exposing the dry-etched substrate to hydrogen atoms, prior to epitaxially depositing a semiconductor layer to the surface of the substrate.

The invention provides chunk polycrystalline silicon having a concentration of carbon at the surface of 0.5-35 ppbw. A process for cleaning polycrystalline silicon chunks having carbon contaminations at the surface, includes a thermal treatment of the polycrystalline silicon chunks in a reactor at a temperature of 350 to 600° C., the polycrystalline silicon chunks being present in an inert gas atmosphere during the thermal treatment, and the polycrystalline silicon chunks after the thermal treatment having a concentration of carbon at the surface of 0.5-35 ppbw.

The present disclosure generally relates to methods for removing contaminants and native oxides from substrate surfaces. The method includes exposing a surface of the substrate to first hydrogen radical species, wherein the substrate is silicon germanium having a concentration of germanium above about 30%, then exposing the surface of the substrate to a plasma formed from a fluorine-containing precursor and a hydrogen-containing precursor, and then exposing the surface of the substrate to second hydrogen radical species.

A method of cleaning a plasma processing apparatus includes: disposing a first dummy substrate at a first position with respect to a stage inside a chamber and performing a first dry cleaning process inside the chamber; and disposing a second dummy substrate at a second position with respect to the stage inside the chamber and performing a second dry cleaning process inside the chamber, wherein each of a center of the first position and a center of the second position is located at a different position from a center of the stage in a plan view, and wherein the first position and the second position are different from each other in a plan view.