Plasma cleaning gas with lower global warming potential than SF6

摘要

A process for cleaning a deposit from an interior surface of a processing chamber includes generating a plasma from a cleaning gas including SO₂F₂ and contacting the interior surface with the plasma for a time sufficient to convert the deposit into a volatile product, thereby cleaning the deposit from the interior surface, in which the process is conducted in the absence of SF₆. The deposits, which may be removed by the process of the invention, include silicone, silicone oxide, silicone nitride, tungsten, copper and aluminum.