International Business Machines Corporation

Lnternational Business Machines Corporation

Kenneth John McCullough

Wayne Martin Moreau

Charles Jesse Taft

John Patrick Simons

John Michael Cotte

Keith Randal Pope

Dario Leonardo Goldfarb

David Lee Rath

Rangarajan Jagannathan

Harald F Okorn-Schmidt

Karen P Madden

Richard Paul Volant

Robert J Purtell

Jesse Stephen Jur

Kevin Shawn Petrarca

David Robert Medeiros

William Alfred Syverson

Glenn Walton Gale

Matteo Flotta

Laura Beth Rothman

Donald J Delehanty

Pamela E Jones

Jin-Jwang Wu

Katherine Lynn Saenger

Christopher Vincent Jahnes

Satyanarayana Venkata Nitta

Frank J Schmidt, Jr

George Francis Ouimet, Jr

George F Ouimet, Jr

Bryan N Rhoads

Robert W Zigner, Jr

Donna Diane Miura

Catherine Ivers

A surface cleaning apparatus comprising a chamber, and a thermal transfer device. The chamber is capable of holding a semiconductor structure therein. The thermal transfer device is connected to the chamber. The thermal transfer device has a surface disposed inside the chamber for contacting the semiconducting structure and controlling a temperature of the semiconductor structure in contact with the surface. The thermal transfer device has a thermal control module connected to the surface for heating and cooling the surface to thermally cycle the surface. The thermal control module effects a substantially immediate thermal response of the surface when thermally recycling the surface.

Apparatus and method for the rapid thermal control of a work piece in liquid or supercritical fluid

A dielectric material formed by contacting a low dielectric constant polymer with liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide, under thermodynamic conditions which maintain the carbon dioxide in the liquid or supercritical state, wherein a porous product is formed. Thereupon, thermodynamic conditions are changed to ambient wherein carbon dioxide escapes from the pores and is replaced with air.

Dielectric material

A composition which includes liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide and an acid having a pKa of less than about 4. The composition is employed in a process of removing residue from a precision surface, such as a semiconductor sample, in which the precision surface is contacted with the composition under thermodynamic conditions consistent with the retention of the liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide in the liquid or supercritical state.

Process of removing residue from a precision surface using liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide composition

A method for cleaning a semiconductor structure including providing a chamber for holding the semiconductor structure and a dense phase fluid, providing a thermal transfer device having a thermal transfer surface, connecting the thermal transfer device to the chamber, placing the semiconductor structure in the chamber in contact with the thermal transfer surface and thermally cycling the thermal transfer surface.

Method for the rapid thermal control of a work piece in liquid or supercritical fluid

Methods are provided for making microfilters by subtractive techniques which remove a component or part of a filter material to form pores in the filter material and additive techniques which deposit a filter material onto a porous underlying substrate. All the methods employ a supercritical fluid or mixture which have very high solvency properties and low viscosity and COis the preferred supercritical fluid.

Method to build a microfilter

Process of insulating a semiconductor device using a polymeric material

Apparatus and method for rapid thermal control of a workpiece in liquid or dense phase fluid

The present invention provides an apparatus for cleaning a workpiece with a cleaning medium that is maintained at a single fluid phase. The apparatus comprises means for providing the cleaning medium; a pressurizable cleaning vessel for receiving the cleaning medium and the workpiece; and means for maintaining a single fluid phase of the cleaning medium in the cleaning vessel. The present invention further provides a process for cleaning the workpiece with cleaning medium under conditions such that the workpiece is exposed to a single fluid phase of the cleaning medium. The present invention further includes a process for a storage media that includes instructions for controlling a processor for the process of the present invention. The storage media comprises means for controlling the processor to control contacting conditions of the workpiece and the cleaning medium such that the workpiece is exposed to a single fluid phase of the cleaning medium.

Apparatus and process for supercritical carbon dioxide phase processing

A method and apparatus are provided for in situ monitoring and analyzing of process parameters for semiconductor fabrication processes including cleaning semiconductor wafers utilizing a supercritical fluid or a high pressure liquid such as CO. The method and apparatus utilize a spectrometer having a reflective mirror proximate the vessel holding the high pressure fluid. NIR radiation transmitted into the vessel through a window and out of the vessel through an opposed window is reflected and detected and measured and the composition of the fluid in the pressure vessel is determined allowing the user to control process parameters based on the measured composition.

Method of in situ monitoring of supercritical fluid process conditions

A process of removing residue from an etched precision surface. In this process the etched precision surface is contacted with a composition which includes liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide and a fluoride-generating species.

Process of removing residue material from a precision surface

A method and apparatus are provided for removing solid and/or liquid residues from electronic components such as semiconductor wafers utilizing liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide which is solidified on the surface of the wafer and then vaporized and removed from the system. In a preferred embodiment the solidification and vaporizing steps are repeated (cycled) before removal of the COfrom the vessel. The residues are carried away with the vaporized carbon dioxide.

Solid CO2 cleaning

Liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide composition

A check valve for micro electro mechanical structure devices (MEMS), and in particular pertains to a check valve which is adapted to be employed in connection with micro electro mechanical structure devices which are intended to be employed with supercritical fluids constituting working fluids. In a preferred embodiment, the check valve is equipped with a bypass channel including a freely moveable plug structure which, in the open position of the valve enables the ingress of supercritical fluids under high superatmospheric pressures, and subsequent to the filling of the system, let down to atmospheric pressure, causes the plug to be moved into a permanent valve-closed position.

Check valve for micro electro mechanical structure devices

Growing community of inventors

Fishkill, NY, United States of America

Kenneth John McCullough