Apparatus and method for dispensing processing fluid toward a substrate surface

A spray processor for dispensing a fluid toward a plurality of semiconductor wafers held in the spray processor in a stacked relationship and having respective surfaces to be processed, the spray processor comprising a plurality of nozzles located outside of said stacked wafers and being fluidly coupled to a source of a processing fluid and through which a respective plurality of streams of the processing fluid are dispensed at an inclined angle from the surfaces.

A method for dispensing ozonated water toward a substrate surface for processing the substrate surface, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a substrate having a surface to be processed that exists in a plane;
• and
• causing a stream of ozonated water to be directed toward the surface at an angle that is inclined from the plane containing the surface, the stream of ozonated water impacting the surface at the angle to process the surface of the substrate.

A method for removing photoresist from a semiconductor wafer, comprising the steps of:

• loading a semiconductor wafer into a spray processor, wherein a surface of the wafer includes the photoresist, and wherein the spray processor includes a nozzle fluidly coupled to a source of a processing fluid, the nozzle being disposed relative to the wafer to dispense the processing fluid onto the wafer surface at angle that is inclined from the surface, said angle being in the range of from greater than about 0 degrees to about 30 degrees;
• and
• dispensing a stream of the processing fluid from the nozzle toward the surface of the semiconductor wafer such that the processing fluid impacts the surface of the semiconductor wafer at the inclined angle to strip photoresist from the surface of the semiconductor wafer.