Apparatus and method for cleaning a semiconductor substrate

A substrate cleaning apparatus which comprises:

• a substrate holder for holding a substrate;
• a high-pressure cleaning liquid jetting mechanism having
• a sponge with a solid portion and a hollow portion, and
• a high-pressure nozzle mounted within the hollow portion of the sponge,
• wherein said solid portion contacts one planer surface of said substrate held by said substrate holder and said nozzle jets the cleaning liquid in the hollow portion at said one planer surface to form cavities of the cleansing liquid on the planer surface of the semiconductor substrate, wherein breakage of the cavities generates high frequency sonic waves including frequency components continuous in a band of several hundred kHz and not more than 1 MHz;
• a chamber housing said substrate holder and said high-pressure cleaning liquid jetting mechanism;
• a gas-feeding port communicated with said chamber;
• a gas exhaust port communicated with said chamber;
• and
• which further comprises a cleaning tank having a bottom surface which is common with that of the chamber, which is capable of storing the cleaning liquid therein and which is housed inside said chamber, said cleaning tank being capable of housing therein said high-pressure cleaning liquid jetting mechanism and said substrate holder.

A cleaning method of semiconductor substrate, which comprises:

• placing a semiconductor substrate on a substrate holder installed inside a substrate cleaning chamber;
• housing said substrate holder in a cleaning tank placed inside said substrate cleaning chamber, the cleaning tank having a bottom surface which is common with that of the chamber;
• filling said cleaning tank with a cleaning liquid thereby dipping said semiconductor substrate in said cleaning liquid;
• mounting a high-pressure nozzle within a hollow portion of a sponge;
• contacting a solid portion of said sponge with one planer surface of said semiconductor substrate held by said substrate holder;
• and
• jetting, in the hollow portion from said nozzle, a high pressure cleaning liquid at said one planer surface to form cavities of the cleaning liquid on the planer surface of the semiconductor substrate, wherein breakage of the cavities generates high frequency sonic waves including frequency components continuous in a band of several hundred kHz and not more than 1 MHz.