US Patent 7172657 Cleaning method of treatment equipment and treatment equipment

In a state of the inside of a treatment chamber of treatment equipment being evacuated, therein a cleaning gas containing trifluoroaceticacid (TFA) as a cleaning agent is supplied. Metal such as copper used in the formation of an interconnection or an electrode and stuck on an inner wall surface of the treatment chamber, when coming into contact with the cleaning agent (TFA) in the cleaning gas, without forming an oxide or a metallic salt, is directly complexed. The complex is sublimed due to the evacuation and is exhausted outside the treatment chamber. Accordingly, at less labor and low cost, the cleaning can be efficiently implemented.