Cryogenic liquid cleaning apparatus and methods
OwnerJianshe Tang, Sidney P. Huey +1inventors
InventorsJianshe Tang, Sidney P. Huey, Lakshmanan Karuppiah
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Abstract
A cryogenic cleaning apparatus is disclosed. The cryogenic cleaning apparatus has a source of cryogen, a nozzle coupled to the source of cryogen, the nozzle including a main passage adapted to receive the cryogen, one or more auxiliary gas inlets adapted to supply an auxiliary gas to mix with the cryogen either within the nozzle or at a nozzle exit of the nozzle to produce cryogen droplets, and a heated holder adapted to receive a substrate to be cleaned. Cryogenic cleaning methods adapted to clean substrates are provided, as are numerous other aspects.
Claims16
A cryogenic cleaning apparatus, comprising:
- a source of cryogen adapted to deliver a cryogen;
- a nozzle coupled to the source of cryogen, the nozzle including a main passage adapted to receive the cryogen and one or more auxiliary gas inlets adapted to supply an auxiliary gas from an auxiliary gas source and to mix with the cryogen either within the nozzle or at a nozzle exit of the nozzle;
- and
- a heated holder adapted to receive a substrate to be cleaned.
A method of cleaning a substrate, comprising:
- providing a substrate in a heated holder;
- heating the substrate to an operational temperature above room temperature;
- and
- spraying a cryogen onto a surface of the substrate from a nozzle wherein particles are dislodged from the surface using a combination of momentum transfer and a thermophoretic force.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.