Method of cleaning wafer after partial saw
First Claim
1. A process for cleaning a semiconductor wafer having partially completed structures, comprising the steps of:
- a) coating said semiconductor wafer with a protective layer;
b) partially sawing streets in said wafer;
c) applying a solution to said wafer including diluted hydrofluoric acid and an alkyl glycol;
d) processing said wafer to complete said structures; and
e) breaking said wafer along said partially sawn streets into individual chips.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A process of cleaning debris (24) from a partially-sawn semiconductor wafer (10). The method of the present invention includes cleaning a partially fabricated wafer (12) that may have fabricated on it a micromechanical device (16) which can be easily damaged by particles (24) generated by the partial-saw process, such as oxide particles. The present invention includes cleaning the partially-sawn wafer with a solution including diluted hydrofluoric acid and an alkyl glycol. Clean-up using this solution accomplishes two goals. First, it removes debris including oxide particles on the wafer surface and in the kerfs (22), and second, reduces the depth of damage in the surface (26) of a CMOS layer (14) proximate the kerf (22) which has been determined to be a source of particles generated after a wafer cleanup process. A subsequent megasonic process is utilized to acoustically vibrate the wafer while bathed in deionized water to further remove any other particles. After the clean-up process of the present invention, the semiconductor wafer is completed by performing at least one more semiconductor process. An substantially improved yield is realized by utilizing the cleaning process of the present invention.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A process for cleaning a semiconductor wafer having partially completed structures, comprising the steps of:
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a) coating said semiconductor wafer with a protective layer; b) partially sawing streets in said wafer; c) applying a solution to said wafer including diluted hydrofluoric acid and an alkyl glycol; d) processing said wafer to complete said structures; and e) breaking said wafer along said partially sawn streets into individual chips. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification