Aerosol surface processing
US6203406A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 11, 1999 |
| Grant date | Mar 20, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 11, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH05K3/26
- WIPO fieldMachine tools
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A scheme for removing foreign material from the surface of a substrate by directing a high velocity aerosol of at least partially frozen particles against the foreign material to be removed. Different schemes are described for accelerating the frozen particles to very high velocities sufficient for particle removal, removal of organic layers (e.g., hard baked photoresist or ion implanted photoresist) and removal of metallic layers. In one embodiment, liquid droplets are entrained in a high velocity gas flow and the resulting gas/liquid mixture is passed through an expansion nozzle to produce a high velocity aerosol of frozen particles. In another embodiment, frozen aerosol particles are entrained in, e.g., a sonic or supersonic gas jet before impacting a surface to be cleaned. The cleaning aerosols may be applied to substrates inside a vacuum chamber or directly from a hand-held device. Also, various scanning systems are described for achieving substantially uniform exposure of the substrate to the cleaning aerosol.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.