Patent ID: 11955318
Assignee: APPLIED MATERIALS, INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  C  G | IPC C  G  H

Claim 16:
17. A method for processing substrates, the method comprising:
positioning a passivation substrate having an exposed silicon-containing surface in a first processing volume of a plasma processing chamber;
exposing the passivation substrate to an etching gas mixture comprising a chlorine-containing gas to form silicon chloride residue on the exposed silicon-containing surface;
transferring the passivation substrate to a second processing volume of the processing chamber;
heating the passivation substrate to evaporate the silicon chloride residue from the exposed silicon-containing surface onto a gas distribution plate positioned in the second processing volume;
exposing the silicon chloride residue on the gas distribution plate to an oxidizing environment to convert the silicon chloride residue to form a silicon oxide passivation layer over the gas distribution plate; and
ashing a layer from a production substrate in the second processing volume of the processing chamber having the silicon oxide passivation layer on the gas distribution plate.