• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.157-165
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• 2018

In this study, the removal of $Si_3N_4$ particles from the surface of a silicon wafer was investigated by using supercritical carbon dioxide, the IPA co-solvent and cleaning additive chemicals. First, the solubility of several surfactants and binders in supercritical carbon dioxide solubility and particle dispersibility in the binders were evaluated in order to confirm their suitability for the supercritical cleaning process. Particle removal experiments were carried out with adjusting various process parameters and reaction conditions. The surfactants used in the experiment showed little particle removal effect, producing secondary contamination on the surface of wafers. On the other hand, 5 wt% (with respect to $scCO_2$) of the cleaning additive mixture of trimethyl phosphate, IPA, and trace HF resulted in 85% of particle removal efficiency after $scCO_2$ flowing for 4 minutes at $50^{\circ}C$, 2000 psi, and the flow rate of $15mL\;min^{-1}$.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.77-77
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• 1997

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.129-136
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• 2022

The line width of circuits in semiconductor devices continues to decrease down to a few nanometers. Since nanoparticles attached to the patterned wafer surface may cause malfunction of the devices, it is crucial to remove the contaminant nanoparticles. Physical cleaning that utilizes momentum of liquid for detaching solid nanoparticles has recently been tested in place of the conventional chemical method. Dropwise impaction has been employed to increase the removal efficiency with expectation of more efficient momentum exchange. To date, most of relevant studies have been focused on drop spreading behavior on a horizontal surface in terms of maximum spreading diameters and average spreading velocity of drop. More important is the local liquid velocity at the position of nanoparticle, very near the surface, rather than the vertical average value. In addition, there are very scarce existing studies dealing with microdroplet impaction that may be desirable for minimizing pattern demage of the wafer. In this study, we investigated the local velocity distribution in spreading liquid film under various impaction conditions through the CFD simulation. Combining the numerical results with the particle removal model, we estimated an effective cleaning diameter (ECD), which is a measure of the particle removal capacity of a single drop, and presented the predicted ECD data as a function of droplet's velocity and diameter particularly when the droplets are microns in diameter.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.364-365
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• 2006

Transverse some wave was generated by T type waveguide for single wafer cleaning application T type megasonic waveguide was analyzed by acoustic pressure measurements and particle removal efficiency. Compared to conventional longitudinal waves, not like longitudinal waves, transverse waves showed changes of direction and phase which increased the cleaning efficiency.

• Laser Solutions
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.9-15
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• 2002

Basic principles and unique characteristics of laser-induced shock cleaning have been described compared to a conventional laser cleaning method and the removal of small tungsten particles from silicon wafer surfaces was attempted using both methods. It was found that the conventional laser cleaning was not feasible to remove the tungsten particles whereas a successful removal of the particles was carried out by the laser-induced shock waves. From the quantitative analysis using a surface scanner, the average removal efficiency of the particles was more than 98% where smaller particles were slightly more difficult to remove probably due to the increased adhesion force with a decrease of the particle size. It was also seen that the gap distance between the laser focus and the wafer surface is an important processing parameter since the removal efficiency is strongly dependent on the gap distance.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.124-128
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• 2001

A present semiconductor cleaning technology is based upon RCA cleaning technology which consumes vast amounts of chemicals and ultra pure water(UPW) and is the high temperature Process. Therefore, this technology gives rise to the many environmental issues, and some alternatives such as functional water cleaning are being studied. The electrolyzed water was generated by an electrolysis system which consists of anode, cathode, and middle chambers. Oxidative water and reductive water were obtained in anode and cathode chambers, respectively. In case of NH$_4$Cl electrolyte, the oxidation-reduction potential and pH for anode water(AW) and cathode water(CW) were measured to be +1050mV and 4.8, and -750mV and 10.0, respectively. AW and CW were deteriorated after electrolyzed, but maintained their characteristics for more than 40 minutes sufficiently enough for cleaning. Their deterioration was correlated with CO$_2$ concentration changes dissolved from air. It was known that AW was effective for Cu removal, while CW was more effective for Fe removal. The particle distributions after various particle removal processes maintained the same pattern. In this work, RCA consumed about 9$\ell$chemicals, while EW did only 400$m\ell$ HCI electrolyte or 600$m\ell$ NH$_4$Cl electrolyte. It was hence concluded that EW cleaning technology would be very effective for eliminating environment, safety, and health(ESH) issues in the next generation semiconductor manufacturing.

• 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 Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.34.2-34.2
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• 2011

The demand for Ru has been increasing in the electronic, chemical and semiconductor industry. Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) is one of the fabrication processes for electrode formation and barrier layer removal. The abrasive particles can be easily contaminated on the top surface during the CMP process. This can induce adverse effects on subsequent patterning and film deposition processes. In this study, a post Ru CMP cleaning solution was formulated by using sodium periodate as an etchant and citric acid to modify the zeta potential of alumina particles and Ru surfaces. Ru film (150 nm thickness) was deposited on tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) films by the atomic layer deposition method. Ru wafers were cut into $2.0{\times}2.0$ cm pieces for the surface analysis and used for estimating PRE. A laser zeta potential analyzer (LEZA-600, Otsuka Electronics Co., Japan) was used to obtain the zeta potentials of alumina particles and the Ru surface. A contact angle analyzer (Phoenix 300, SEO, Korea) was used to measure the contact angle of the Ru surface. The adhesion force between an alumina particle and Ru wafer surface was measured by an atomic force microscope (AFM, XE-100, Park Systems, Korea). In a solution with citric acid, the zeta potential of the alumina surface was changed to a negative value due to the adsorption of negative citrate ions. However, the hydrous Ru oxide, which has positive surface charge, could be formed on Ru surface in citric acid solution at pH 6 and 8. At pH 6 and 8, relatively low particle removal efficiency was observed in citric acid solution due to the attractive force between the Ru surface and particles. At pH 10, the lowest adhesion force and highest cleaning efficiency were measured due to the repulsive force between the contaminated alumina particle and the Ru surface. The highest PRE was achieved in citric acid solution with NaIO4 below 0.01 M at pH 10.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.139-147
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• 2013

The performances of indoor air cleaners including particle cleaning capacity and collection efficiency are usually tested at the condition of the maximum air flow rate of the air cleaners. However, the power consumption of the air cleaners is highly dependent on the air flow rate of the individual air cleaners. Therefore, there seems to be an optimized air flow rate for the air cleaning capacity considering power consumption. In this study, clean air delivery rate(or standard useful area as suggested room size) and power consumption have been investigated for different maximum air flow rates of 15 air cleaners and then compared those for different air flow rate modes of the individual 5 air cleaners selected from the 15 cleaners. For the maximum air flow rate conditions of 15 air cleansers, the power consumption per unit area was less related to the maximum air flow rate. However, for the different air flow rate modes of the selected 5 air cleaners, the lower power consumption per unit area was corresponding to the lower air flow rate mode of the individual air cleaners. When considering the operation time to the desired particle concentrations, there was an optimized one in the medium air flow rate modes for the individual air cleaners. Therefore, not only the maximum air flow rate but also lower air flow rates of individual air cleaners should be considered for estimating air cleaning capacity based on energy consumption per unit area.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.795-801
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• 2010

As the fabrication technology of LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) advances, the size of mother glass substrates is getting larger, and the fabrication process is becoming finer. Accordingly, the importance of cleaning processes grows in the fabrication process of LCDs. In this study, we have compared and evaluated the particle removal efficiency for three different methods of physical cleaning, which are brush, bubble jet, and aqua/air cleaning. Using the seventh generation glass substrate, the particle removal efficiency has been investigated by changing operation conditions such as a flow rate of deionized water, pressure, contact depth between a brush bristle and a glass substrate, and so forth. In the case of brush cleaning, the cleaning efficiency barely changes after a critical point when the contact depth is varied. While the cleaning efficiency of bubble jet cleaning is almost independent of pressure, that of aqua/air cleaning is affected by pressure up to a critical point, but is not changed after it. We note the brush cleaning is the most effective among the three cleaning methods under our experimental conditions.