• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2511-2514
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• 2008

As the minimum feature size decreases, techniques to avoid contamination and processes to maintain clean wafer surfaces have become very important. The deposition and detachment of nanoparticles from surfaces are major problem to integrated circuit fabrication. Therefore, cleaning technology which reduces nanoparticles is essential to increase yield. Previous megasonic cleaning technology has reached the limits to reduce nanoparticles. Megasonic cleaning is one of the efficiency method to reduce contamination nanoparticle. Two major mechanisms are active in a megasonic cleaning, namely, acoustic streaming and cavitation. Acoustic streaming does not lead to sufficiently strong force to cause damage to the substrates or patterns. Sonoluminescence is a phenomenon of light emission associated with the cavitation of a bubble under ultrasound. We studied a correlation between sonoluminescence and sound pressure distribution for the minimum of pattern damage in megasonic cleaning.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.21-27
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• 2023

In this article, a plate-type megasonic cleaning system with cooling pins is proposed for the sliced ingot, which is a raw material of silicon (Si) wafers. The megasonic system is operated with a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) actuator, which has high electric resistance, thus when it is being operated, it dissipates much heat. So this article proposes a megasonic system with cooling pins. In the design process, finite element analysis was performed and the results were used for the design of the waveguide. The frequency with the maximum impedance value was 998 kHz, which agreed well with the measured value of 997 kHz with 0.1 % error. Based on the results, the 1 MHz waveguide was fabricated. Acoustic pressures were measured, and analyzed. Finally, cleaning tests were performed, and 90 % particle removal efficiency (PRE) was achieved over 10 W power. These results imply that the developed 1 MHz megasonic will effectively clean sliced ingot wafer surfaces.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1107-1113
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• 2014

In this article, the megasonic cleaning system for cleaning micro/nano particles from flat panel display (FPD) surfaces was developed. A piezoelectric actuator and a waveguide were designed by finite element method (FEM) analysis. The calculated peak frequency value of the quartz waveguide was 1002 kHz, which agreed well with the measured value of 1003 kHz. The average acoustic pressure of the megasonic cleaning system was 43.1 kPa, which is three times greater than that of the conventional type of 13.9 kPa. Particle removal efficiency (PRE) tests were performed, and the cleaning efficiency of the developed system was proven to be 99%. The power consumption of the developed system was 64% lower than that of the commercial system. These results show that the developed megasonic cleaning system can be an effective solution in particle removing from FPD substrate with higher energy efficiency and lower chemical and ultra pure water (UPW) consumption.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.7-11
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• 2012

Among various wet cleaning methods, megasonic and jet spray gained their popularity in single wafer cleaning process for the efficient removal of particulate contaminants from the wafer surface. In the present study, we evaluated these two cleaning methods for particle removal efficiency (PRE) and pattern damage on the aluminum layered wafer surface. Also the effect of $CO_2$ dissolved water in jet spray cleaning is assessed by measuring PRE. It is observed that the jet spray cleaning process is more effective in terms of PRE and pattern damage compared to megasonic cleaning and the mixing of $CO_2$ in the water during jet sprays further increases the PRE. We believe that the outcome of the present study is useful for the semiconductor cleaning process engineers and researchers.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.17-23
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• 2023

In semiconductor manufacturing processes, a cleaning process is important that can remove sub-micron particles. Conventional wet cleaning methods using chemical have limits in removing nano-particles. Thus, physical forces of a mechanical vibration up to 1 MHz frequency, was tried to aid in detaching them from the substrates. In this article, we developed a 1 MHz quartz megasonic for a bare wafer cleaning using finite element analysis. At first, a 1 MHz megasonic prototype was manufactured. Using the results, a main product which can improve a particle removal performance, was analyzed and designed. The maximum impedance frequency was 992 kHz, which agreed well with the experimental value of 986 kHz (0.6% error). Acoustic pressure distributions were measured, and the result showed that maximum / average was 400.0~432.4%, and standard deviation / average was 46.4~47.3%. Finally, submicron particles were deposited and cleaned for the assessment of the system performance. As a result, the particle removal efficiency (PRE) was proved to be 92% with 11 W power. Reflecting these results, the developed product might be used in the semiconductor cleaning process.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1810-1814
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• 2008

A small L-type megasonic module for nano-pattern cleaning was designed and manufactured. The impedance graph of the quartz waveguide with a piezoelectric actuator was predicted using finite element method (FEM). The peak value of the piezoelectric actuator alone was 3.373 MHz, which was the same as the experimentally measured value of 3.373 MHz (0.0% error). In addition, the maximum impedance value of the quartz waveguide with the actuator was 3.373 MHz, which agreed well with the measured value of 3.362 MHz (0.3% error). The acoustic pressures of a conventional megasonic system (3 MHz) and the developed system under similar conditions were measured and compared. The results showed that the maximum values and standard deviations of the developed system decreased by 29% and 18%, respectively, compared with the conventional type. This suggests that the small L-type would have higher particle removal efficiency with lower possibilities of pattern damages.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.97.4-97
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• 2001

Recently, TFT LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) manufacturing industry is more concerned with the ways of cleaning large TFT LCD´s with high pixed density than ever Ultrasonic cleaners with high frequencies like 1MHz (megasonic cleaners) are effective in removing very small particles without causing mechanical damage to the surface. In this study a megasonic cleaner for TFT LCD manufacturing process is developed and the performance is evaluated through experiments. The experimental results show that the developed magasonic cleaners is effective in removing very small particle from the LCD panel.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.143-144
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• 2013

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.889-890
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• 2009

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.631-632
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• 2008