Post-CMP Megasonic Cleaning Using Dilute SCI Solution

Abstract

Non contact cleaning or wet-cleaning processes, were the megasonic play a key role in the separation of the particles from the wafer is a commonly used technique in semiconductor manufacturing. CMP process can be very damaging to the production yield if not followed by an effective post clean process. McQueen identified the effect of the acoustic boundary layer and its role in the removal of small particles at high frequency. Busnaina et alt studied ultrasonic and megasonic particle removal and the effect of acoustic streaming. They showed that the cleaning efficiency increased with power until a certain range and then decrease slightly. Busnaina et al result indicted that SCI removes more particles than DI water particularly at lower megasonic powers specially in the case were the slurry particles are deposited onto the wafer surface by dipping experiments. But they also demonstrated that it was possible to achieve 100 % removal in DI water when using the optimum conditions. This paper presents the latest results of the post-CMP megasonic cleaning process, this study is focused on the cleaning of thermal oxide silicone wafer polished using silica based slurry and cleaned using diluted SC1 (H20/H202/NH4OH: 40/2/1).