Nondispersive Ultraviolet Visible Gas Analyzer for Monitoring Molybdenum Chloride and Oxychloride Precursors During Vapor Deposition Processes

Abstract

Nondispersive ultraviolet visible gas analyzer designs were evaluated for monitoring molybdenum-containing chloride and oxychloride precursor delivery during microelectronics vapor deposition processes. The performances of three analyzer designs, which differed only in the bandpass filter employed for wavelength selection, were compared for measuring the partial pressure of molybdenum pentachloride, molybdenum oxytetrachloride (MoOCl₄), and molybdenum dioxydichloride (MoO₂Cl₂). The analyzer's optical response with a 369 nm center wavelength filter for molybdenum pentachloride was determined by measuring the molybdenum pentachloride absorbance as a function of vapor molar density. The calibrated analyzer was transferred to a process line on a deposition chamber and used to measure the molybdenum pentachloride partial pressure during delivery in a flowing carrier gas. The molybdenum pentachloride minimum detectable density was determined to be 1 × 10^–4 mol m^–3 (0.35 Pa for a cell temperature of 145 °C), for data collected at 1 kHz and referenced to a 0.2 s duration background. The analyzer optical response for molybdenum pentachloride with the two other filters and the response for MoOCl₄ and MoO₂Cl₂ with all three filters were simulated with a simple model. These data were used to evaluate the sensitivity and selectivity of analyzers incorporating the different filters to some likely combinations of analytes and interferents.

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