APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR USING A VISCOELASTIC CLEANING MATERIAL TO REMOVE PARTICLES ON A SUBSTRATE
First Claim
1. A method of removing particles from a surface of a substrate, comprising:
- dispensing a layer of a cleaning material on the surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate is rotated by a substrate support, and wherein the cleaning material is a viscoelastic solution which includes a polymeric compound, the polymeric compound being soluble in a cleaning solution to form the cleaning material, the cleaning material captures and entraps at least some of the particles from the surface of the substrate; and
dispensing a rinsing liquid on the layer of the cleaning material on the surface of the substrate to remove the layer of cleaning material, wherein an energy is applied on the cleaning material during or prior to dispensing the rinsing liquid on the layer of the cleaning material, wherein the energy applied increases a solid-like response of the cleaning material to facilitate removal of the cleaning material from the substrate surface, and wherein the at least some of the particles that are entrapped by the cleaning material are removed along with the cleaning material.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The embodiments provide apparatus and methods for removing particles from a substrate surface, especially from a surface of a patterned substrate (or wafer). The cleaning apparatus and methods have advantages in cleaning patterned substrates with fine features without substantially damaging the features on the substrate surface. The cleaning apparatus and methods involve using a viscoelastic cleaning material containing a polymeric compound with large molecular weight, such as greater than 10,000 g/mol. The viscoelastic cleaning material entraps at least a portion of the particles on the substrate surface. The application of a force on the viscoelastic cleaning material over a sufficiently short period time causes the material to exhibit solid-like properties that facilitate removal of the viscoelastic cleaning material along with the entrapped particles. A number of forces can be applied over a short period to access the solid-like nature of the viscoelastic cleaning material. Alternatively, when the temperature of the viscoelastic cleaning material is lowered, the visoelastic cleaning material also exhibits solid-like properties.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of removing particles from a surface of a substrate, comprising:
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dispensing a layer of a cleaning material on the surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate is rotated by a substrate support, and wherein the cleaning material is a viscoelastic solution which includes a polymeric compound, the polymeric compound being soluble in a cleaning solution to form the cleaning material, the cleaning material captures and entraps at least some of the particles from the surface of the substrate; and dispensing a rinsing liquid on the layer of the cleaning material on the surface of the substrate to remove the layer of cleaning material, wherein an energy is applied on the cleaning material during or prior to dispensing the rinsing liquid on the layer of the cleaning material, wherein the energy applied increases a solid-like response of the cleaning material to facilitate removal of the cleaning material from the substrate surface, and wherein the at least some of the particles that are entrapped by the cleaning material are removed along with the cleaning material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of removing particles from a surface of a substrate, comprising:
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dispensing a layer of a viscoelastic cleaning material on the surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate is rotated by a substrate support, and wherein the viscoelastic cleaning material captures and entraps at least some of the particles from the surface of the substrate; and dispensing a rinsing liquid on the layer of the cleaning material on the surface of the substrate to remove the layer of cleaning material, wherein an energy is applied on the cleaning material during or prior to dispensing the rinse liquid on the layer of the cleaning material, wherein the energy applied increases a solid-like response of the cleaning material to facilitate removal of the cleaning material from the substrate surface, and wherein the at least some of the particles that are entrapped by the cleaning material are removed along with the cleaning material.
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20. A method of removing particles from a surface of a substrate in an apparatus having a number of processing slots, comprising:
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moving the substrate to a first processing slot of the apparatus by a substrate support, wherein the first processing slot of the apparatus is separated from the processing slots below the first processing slot by the substrate support; dispensing a layer of a viscoelastic cleaning material on the surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate is rotated by a substrate support, and wherein the viscoelastic cleaning material captures and entraps at least some of the particles from the surface of the substrate; moving the substrate to a second processing slot of the apparatus by the substrate support, wherein the second processing slot of the apparatus is separated from the processing slots below the second processing slot by the substrate support; and dispensing a rinsing liquid on the layer of the cleaning material on the surface of the substrate to remove the layer of the viscoelastic cleaning material, wherein an energy is applied on the cleaning material during or prior to dispensing the rinse liquid on the layer of the cleaning material, wherein the energy applied increases a solid-like response of the cleaning material to facilitate removal of the cleaning material from the substrate surface, and wherein the at least some of the particles that are entrapped by the cleaning material are removed along with the cleaning material. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification