Chemically controlled megasonic cleaning of patterned structures using solutions with dissolved gas and surfactant.

Acoustic cavitation is used for megasonic cleaning in the semiconductor industry, especially of wafers with fragile pattern structures. Control of transient cavitation is necessary to achieve high particle removal efficiency (PRE) and low pattern damage (PD). In this study, the cleaning performance of solutions with different concentrations of dissolved gas (H) and anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) in DIW (DI water) on silicon (Si) wafers was evaluated in terms of PRE and PD.