International Business Machines Corporation

Nicole Susan Carpenter

William Alfred Syverson

Casey Jon Grant

Joel M Sharrow

Kenneth F McAvey, Jr

Alison K Easton

Kenneth H Yao

Joseph R Drennan

Andrew S Hoadley

Donald Walter Rakowski

Nicholas Mone, Jr

Richard S Ray

Rick H Gaylord

Mark A Pakulski

Gary Michael Prescott

Robert E Fields

Francis A Abramovich

An apparatus and method are provided for removing contaminate particulate matter from substrate surfaces such as semiconductor wafers. The method and apparatus use a material, preferably a liquid curable polymer, which is applied as a sacrificial coating to the surface of a substrate containing contaminate particulate matter thereon. An energy source is used to dislodge the contaminate particulate matter from the surface of the wafer into the sacrificial coating so that the particles are partially or fully encapsulated and suspended in the sacrificial coating. The sacrificial coating is then removed. The coating is preferably formed into a film to facilitate removal of the coating by pulling (stripping) the film providing a cleaner substrate surface.

Cleaning of semiconductor wafers by contaminate encapsulation

A method for preparing a workpiece surface utilizing two more fluids of differing density and miscibility which create one or more fluid interfaces wherein the fluids are chosen such that the solubility or affinity of one of the fluids is high for a material to be removed from the workpiece surface while the other fluid has a low solubility or affinity for the material to be removed. The workpiece surface is treated by passing the workpiece through the fluid interface. The two or more fluids are preferably dispensed into an apparatus and allowed to settle into two or more predominant layers separated by an interface. Surface preparation techniques which may benefit from the present invention include etching, cleaning or drying processes and the like.

Method for surface preparation of workpieces utilizing fluid separation techniques

The operating lifetime of a hot cathode discharge ion source is extended by introducing nitrogen into an ion implantation apparatus after introduction of an ion implantation gas, such as GeF , is stopped. The nitrogen is preferably introduced along with the GeF during implantation as well.

Method to reduce downtime while implanting GeF4

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Burlington, VT, United States of America

Nicole Susan Carpenter