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US 6,643,893 B2Granted
Apparatus for cleaning semiconductor wafers in a vacuum environment
AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsYoshinori Momonoi, Kenetsu Yokogawa, Masaru Izawa, Shinichi Tachi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A dry cleaning device, wherein a pad is moved towards a surface of a wafer, cleaning gas is injected into a space formed between the pad and the wafer to generate a high-speed gas flow along the surface of the wafer whereby particles left on the surface of the wafer are removed with the high-speed gas flow. In addition, in order to assist this physical cleaning action, either a chemical or an electrical cleaning method such as a plasma additionally may be used.
Claims25
A dry cleaning apparatus for cleaning a wafer, comprising:
- a container having a vacuum evacuating means for evacuating the container;
- a wafer mounting means;
- a least one pad arranged near a surface of the wafer;
- means for supplying gas in a space between said pad and said wafer from at least one gas injection port provided in said pad;
- means for controlling a separation distance of said space between said pad and said wafer;
- and
- means for moving said pad and said wafer relative to each other, wherein:
- particles on said surface of the wafer are removed by a flow of gas supplied by said gas supplying means through said at least one gas injection port.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.