Method of cleaning wafer after partial saw
US5872046A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 3, 1997 |
| Grant date | Feb 16, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 3, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/78
- WIPO fieldSemiconductors
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A process of cleaning debris (24) from a partially-sawn semiconductor wafer (10). The method of the present invention includes cleaning a partially fabricated wafer (12) that may have fabricated on it a micromechanical device (16) which can be easily damaged by particles (24) generated by the partial-saw process, such as oxide particles. The present invention includes cleaning the partially-sawn wafer with a solution including diluted hydrofluoric acid and an alkyl glycol. Clean-up using this solution accomplishes two goals. First, it removes debris including oxide particles on the wafer surface and in the kerfs (22), and second, reduces the depth of damage in the surface (26) of a CMOS layer (14) proximate the kerf (22) which has been determined to be a source of particles generated after a wafer cleanup process. A subsequent megasonic process is utilized to acoustically vibrate the wafer while bathed in deionized water to further remove any other particles. After the clean-up process of the present invention, the semiconductor wafer is completed by performing at least one more semiconductor process. An substantially improved yield is realized by utilizing the cleaning process of …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.