Method and Apparatus for Removing Contaminants from Substrate
AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorsJi Zhu, Arjun Mendiratta, David Mui
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cleaning material is applied to a surface of a substrate. The cleaning material includes one or more polymeric materials for entrapping contaminants present on the surface of the substrate. A rinsing fluid is applied to the surface of the substrate at a controlled velocity to effect removal of the cleaning material and contaminants entrapped within the cleaning material from the surface of the substrate. The controlled velocity of the rinsing fluid is set to cause the cleaning material to behave in an elastic manner when impacted by the rinsing fluid, thereby improving contaminant removal from the surface of the substrate.
Claims20
A method for cleaning contaminants from a substrate, comprising:
- applying a cleaning material to a surface of a substrate, wherein the cleaning material includes one or more polymeric materials for entrapping contaminants present on the surface of the substrate;
- and
- applying a rinsing fluid to the surface of the substrate at a controlled velocity to effect removal of the cleaning material and contaminants entrapped within the cleaning material from the surface of the substrate, wherein the controlled velocity of the rinsing fluid is set to cause the cleaning material to behave in an elastic manner when impacted by the rinsing fluid.
A system for cleaning contaminants from a substrate, comprising:
- a support structure defined to support a substrate;
- a cleaning material dispensing device defined to dispense a cleaning material over the support structure such that the cleaning material is applied over the substrate when present on the support structure;
- a rinsing fluid dispensing device defined to direct a flow of a rinsing fluid toward the support structure such that the rinsing fluid impacts the substrate when present on the support structure, wherein the rinsing fluid dispensing device is defined to control a flow velocity of the rinsing fluid within a velocity range which causes the cleaning material to behave in an elastic manner when impacted by the rinsing fluid.
A system for cleaning contaminants from a substrate, comprising:
- a support structure defined to support a substrate;
- a cleaning material dispensing device defined to dispense a cleaning material over the support structure such that the cleaning material is applied over the substrate when present on the support structure;
- and
- a proximity head disposed above the support structure such that a bottom surface of the proximity head is exposed to a top surface of the substrate when present on the support structure, wherein the proximity head is defined to dispense a rinsing fluid from the bottom surface of the proximity head and apply a vacuum suction at the bottom surface of the proximity head so as to form a fluid meniscus between the bottom surface of the proximity head and the top surface of the substrate when present on the support structure beneath the proximity head, wherein the proximity head is defined to control a flow velocity of the rinsing fluid within a velocity range which causes the cleaning material to behave in an elastic manner when impacted by the rinsing fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.