The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 12, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 28, 1995
Li Li, Meridian, ID (US);
Richard C Hawthorne, Nampa, ID (US);
Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, ID (US);
Abstract
Disclosed is a method for dry cleaning a silicon surface on an in-process integrated circuit wafer which can be conducted in situ in a cluster tool or a reaction chamber where a previous etch or oxide removal step is conducted. The first step in the method is providing a silicon surface on the wafer which is to be cleaned of contaminates. Next, the wafer is located in a reaction chamber where the etch or oxide removal step is conducted. An adsorbent surface diffusion layer typically comprising a thin water or solvent layer in liquid state is then adhered to the silicon surface in the reaction chamber. Finally, the silicon surface is exposed to ultraviolet radiation and at least one gaseous cleaning agent while the surface diffusion layer is adhered on the silicon surface. A clean silicon surface results which does not exhibit the surface roughness typical of conventional dry cleaning processes.