Reduction of PFC emissions to the environment through advances in CVD and etch processes

One the most focused environmental health and safety (EHS) goals for the semiconductor industry has been to reduce perfluorocompound (PFC) emissions because of their high global warming potentials and long residence times in the atmosphere. During the last decade, significant achievements have been reached in attaining this goal. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber cleaning and plasma etch are two processes that use PFCs in which studies have been conducted to reduce emissions. Two successful strategies for reducing PFC emissions and enhancing process performance are described.