Test of opticlean strip coating material for removing surface contamination

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Semiconductor Manufacturing
• Surface Chemistry

Background:

• Silicon wafer cleaning is critical in semiconductor fabrication.
• Contamination and particles can significantly impact device yield.
• Existing cleaning methods may leave residues or be insufficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a reformulated strip coating material, Opticlean.
• To assess its particle and contamination removal capabilities on used silicon wafers.
• To determine if Opticlean leaves any scattering-inducing residue on fresh silicon wafers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a reformulated strip coating material (Opticlean).
• Applied Opticlean to used silicon wafers to remove particles (1-5 micrometers) and contamination.
• Applied and stripped Opticlean from fresh silicon wafers.
• Employed total integrated scattering (TIS) technique with He-Ne laser light to measure scattering levels down to parts per million (ppm).

Main Results:

• Opticlean successfully removed 1-5 micrometer particles and residual contamination from used silicon wafers.
• No scattering-inducing residue was detected on fresh silicon wafers after Opticlean application and stripping.
• The TIS technique detected scattering levels as low as a few ppm, correlating to <1 Å rms surface roughness.

Conclusions:

• The reformulated Opticlean is highly effective for silicon wafer cleaning.
• It removes particulate and residual contamination without leaving detectable scattering residue.
• Opticlean meets stringent purity requirements for advanced semiconductor processes.