Applied Materials, Inc.
Detection of surface particles on chamber components with carbon dioxide

Abstract:

Disclosed herein is a method comprising directing, from a distribution unit, a stream comprising at least one of solid CO.sub.2 particles or CO.sub.2 droplets toward an article, wherein the article comprises a plurality of surface particles, and wherein the stream comprising at least one of solid CO.sub.2 particles or CO.sub.2 droplets causes at least a portion of the plurality of surface particles on the article to dislodge from the surface of the article; collecting, on a surface of a substrate having a pre-determined initial state comprising initial surface particles on the surface of the substrate or a real-time aerosol sampling unit, at least some of the portion of the plurality of surface particles dislodged from the surface of the article; analyzing the surface of the substrate after performing the collecting; and determining at least one of a size, a morphology, a chemical composition, a particle number concentration, or a particle size distribution of the portion of the plurality of surface particles that were dislodged from the surface of the article and collected on the surface of the substrate.