Use of ethylene glycol as a corrosion inhibitor during cleaning after metal chemical mechanical polishing

A post tungsten chemical-mechanical polishing cleaning 15 process that effectively inhibits corrosion of a tungsten plug, comprising:

• providing a partially fabricated IC substrate including a tungsten plug that is formed by subjecting a tungsten layer on a surface of said IC substrate to chemical-mechanical polishing, which produces particle contaminants and a contaminated dielectric layer containing metallic contaminants;
• removing particle contaminants from said substrate surface by scrubbing with a brush said substrate surface in the presence of sufficient amounts of ammonium hydroxide such that a pH of about 9.5 and above is maintained above said substrate surface and whereby tungsten oxide separates from said substrate surface and said brush;
• and
• scrubbing said IC substrate surface in the presence of a mixture including ethylene glycol and hydrofluoric acid to thereby remove said contaminated dielectric layer and to effectively inhibit corrosion of said metallic plug, wherein said mixture has ethylene glycol in an amount that is between about 2 times and about 7 times the amount of hydrofluoric acid.