Aerosol surface processing

An apparatus for removing foreign material from the surface of a substrate by directing a high velocity aerosol of at least partially frozen particles against the foreign material to be removed, said apparatus comprising:

• a vacuum chamber having a selected chamber pressure while foreign material is being removed from the substrate;
• an aerosol-forming expansion nozzle having a plenum and at least one orifice adapted to inject an aerosol jet containing at least partially frozen particles in a carrier gas into said vacuum chamber;
• and
• a high velocity gas nozzle separate from said aerosol-forming expansion nozzle and having an orifice spaced apart from said aerosol-forming expansion nozzle and located downstream of the orifice of said aerosol-forming expansion nozzle, said high velocity gas nozzle being adapted to provide a high velocity gas flow of velocity substantially greater than the velocity of the aerosol particles leaving the aerosol-forming expansion nozzle, the high velocity gas nozzle being arranged so that its flow intersects the aerosol jet of particles injected into said vacuum chamber by said aerosol-forming expansion nozzle and accelerates said aerosol particles toward said foreign material.

An apparatus for removing foreign material from the surface of a substrate by directing a high velocity aerosol of at least partially frozen particles of argon against the foreign material to be removed, said apparatus comprising:

• a vacuum chamber having a selected chamber pressure while foreign material is being removed from a substrate;
• an aerosol-forming expansion nozzle having a plenum and at least one orifice adapted to inject an aerosol jet containing at least partially frozen particles of argon in a carrier gas into said vacuum chamber;
• and
• a high velocity gas nozzle located proximal to the foreign material to be removed from said substrate, said high velocity gas nozzle adapted to provide a high velocity gas flow of velocity substantially greater than the velocity of the aerosol particles leaving the aerosol-expansion nozzle, the high velocity gas nozzle being arranged so that its high velocity flow entrains said aerosol of at least partially frozen argon particles and delivers said frozen particles to said foreign material at a velocity substantially greater than the velocity of said particles prior to being entrained in said high velocity gas flow.