Complex cleaning process and system

The combined cleaning process for semiconductor wafers uses laser and gas/liquid reactive cleaning with ozone and hydrofluoric acid to meet stringent cleanliness demands, reducing water consumption and emissions, and enhancing contaminant removal efficacy.

JP2025164641AActive Publication Date: 2025-10-30HIGHLIGHT TECH CORP
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2024100464
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Priority Date
2024-04-19
Filing Date
2024-06-21
Publication Date
2025-10-30
Estimated Expiration
2044-06-21

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional cleaning technologies for semiconductor wafers are inadequate in meeting stringent cleanliness requirements, consume large amounts of water, and generate hazardous waste, while ozone-based cleaning methods are inefficient due to low solubility and sensitivity to environmental factors.

Method used

A combined cleaning process and system that integrates laser reactive cleaning with gas or liquid reactive cleaning, using ozone, hydrofluoric acid, and RCA cleaning agents, along with plasma treatment, to enhance cleaning efficacy and reduce water consumption and chemical emissions.

Benefits of technology

The integrated cleaning process achieves superior cleanliness, reduces process steps, water usage, and chemical emissions, and improves production capacity, while effectively removing contaminants such as particles, metal impurities, and organic matter.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

To provide a complex cleaning process and a system that meets process cleanliness requirements.SOLUTION: A complex cleaning system includes a platform 200 for an object 100 (object awaiting cleaning), a laser cleaning device 10, and a gas or liquid cleaning device 20. A combined cleaning process using the combined cleaning system includes a laser reactive cleaning step performed on an object's waiting area 110 for cleaning by the laser cleaning device, and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step performed on the object's waiting area for cleaning by the gas or liquid cleaning device. As a result, one of the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is assisted by the other, improving the cleaning effect on the object awaiting cleaning.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to cleaning processes and systems, and more particularly to combined cleaning processes and systems. [Background technology]

[0002] Five types of contaminants are present in semiconductor wafer processing: particles, metal impurities (e.g., metal ions), organic contaminants, native oxide layers, and microstructures on the wafer surface. The semiconductor wafer fabrication process is extremely complex, and each step, whether front-end or back-end processing, such as etching, oxidation, deposition, photoresist removal, chemical-mechanical polishing, packaging, and sawing, all contaminates the wafer surface. Because these contaminants have a significant impact on process quality and yield, multiple cleaning processes are required during wafer fabrication. Furthermore, with the development of very large scale integrated circuits (VLSI, ULSI), wafer cleanliness requirements are becoming increasingly stringent. Currently, manufacturers often use the RCA Standard Clean method for wafer cleaning. The RCA Standard Clean method was developed by RCA in 1960 and has been used for a long time. The reason for this is that no new cleaning technology has been developed that can effectively replace this (called SC-1, APM, C-2, or HPM). For example, in the case of cleaning substrates, the prior art uses SPM / SC-1 cleaning formulations, SC-2 / SPM / DHF cleaning formulations, and SC-1 cleaning formulations as reactive cleaning components to perform one or more cleaning steps. For example, in the case of cleaned front-end process objects (FEOLs), the prior art uses SPM / SC-1 cleaning formulations, SC-2 / SPM / DHF cleaning formulations, and SPM cleaning formulations as reactive cleaning components to perform one or more cleaning steps. Taking back-end (BEOL) cleaning processes as an example, conventional techniques use cleaning formulations such as EKC, NMP, IPA, and ACE solvents or solutions to perform one or more cleaning steps. NMP is N-methylpyrrolidon, EKC solution is a mixed solution of NMP (N-methylpyrrolidon) solvent and alkaline amine, IPA is isopropyl alcohol, and ACE is acetone. Taking packaging object cleaning as an example, conventional techniques use cleaning formulations such as EKC, NMP, IPA, and ACE solvents or solutions to perform one or more cleaning steps. However, conventional cleaning processes consume a significant amount of water and produce large amounts of hazardous waste.

[0003] In addition, nano-processing and "green production" are current and future common trends in the development of high-tech industries such as deep submicron semiconductors, TFT-LCDs, III-V communication components, ultra-precision processing, nanomaterial manufacturing, and nanoelectronics. As a result, research into ultra-miniaturized and ultra-clean components and other technologies is being actively conducted. In nano-processing environments, even trace amounts of fine particles, metal impurities, organic matter, or polymers present in the links can have a significant impact on process yield. However, increasingly stringent requirements for process cleanliness mean that conventional RCA cleaning technology is no longer able to meet the demands of electronic processes. Furthermore, these processes, which consume large amounts of water and discharge large amounts of highly polluted water, are predicted to have a serious impact on the development of the high-tech electronics industry.

[0004] Currently, there are technologies that use ozone for cleaning, but the solubility of ozone in aqueous solutions is low and it is very sensitive to environmental factors, being easily affected by the concentration of ozone in the gas phase, the solution temperature, pH, etc., so the cleaning efficiency is not stable. Meanwhile, currently, conventional technologies simply change the physical conditions, for example, by improving the operating range of the temperature and pressure of the ozone water gas-liquid contact system and the cleaning system, to increase the concentration of ozone water and improve the reaction rate, but the improvement effect is small, so ozone water technology has not yet been widely used in the industry.

[0005] Although the goal of increasing the concentration of ozone water and improving the reaction rate can be achieved as much as possible by controlling the physical conditions, such as the operating range of the temperature and pressure of the improved ozone water gas-liquid contact system and the cleaning system, it is not possible to obtain an ideal effect. This is because there is a limit to the improvement in increasing the concentration of ozone water by simply changing the physical conditions to approach the thermodynamic saturation concentration of ozone. For this reason, ozone water technology has not been widely used in the market until now. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a combined cleaning process and system capable of meeting increasingly stringent demands on process cleanliness. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The integrated cleaning process of the present invention includes the steps of providing at least one object, the object having at least one cleaning standby object located in a cleaning standby area, and a integrated cleaning step of performing integrated cleaning of the object in the cleaning standby area by an integrated cleaning system, the integrated cleaning step including the steps of performing laser reactive cleaning of the object in the cleaning standby area by a laser cleaning device, and performing gas or liquid reactive cleaning of the object in the cleaning standby area by a gas or liquid cleaning device, wherein one of the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step improves the cleaning effect of the cleaning standby object in the cleaning standby area with the assistance of the other.

[0008] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the combined cleaning step performs the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step simultaneously, sequentially, or in reverse order on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0009] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step are selected from the group consisting of a dry cleaning method and a wet cleaning method, respectively.

[0010] In the composite cleaning process of the present invention, the composite cleaning step performs the laser reactive cleaning step on a part or all of the areas having the cleaning standby objects on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object, and performs the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step on the part or all of the areas of the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

[0011] In the combined cleaning process according to the present invention, in the combined cleaning step, the laser cleaning device performs the laser reactive cleaning step only on the cleaning standby target object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

[0012] In the composite cleaning process of the present invention, the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step performs a cleaning step selected from the group consisting of an ozone cleaning method, a hydrofluoric acid cleaning method, and an RCA cleaning agent cleaning method on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0013] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the ozone cleaning method uses ozone water, ozone, and / or hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, the hydrofluoric acid cleaning method uses hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, and the RCA cleaning agent cleaning method uses RCA cleaning agent to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0014] In the integrated cleaning process of the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device of the integrated cleaning system further comprises an oscillation member, which oscillates the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object when the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is performed on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0015] In the composite cleaning process of the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device of the composite cleaning system is equipped with a temperature control and adjustment member, and the temperature control and adjustment member controls and adjusts the temperature when the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is performed on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0016] In the combined cleaning process according to the present invention, the combined cleaning system includes a turntable, and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is performed while the cleaning waiting area for the object is rotated by the turntable.

[0017] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the combined cleaning step of the combined cleaning system further includes a step of grinding and polishing the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object before, during, or after performing the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step.

[0018] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the combined cleaning step further includes a step of supplying plasma to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object by a plasma device before or after performing the grinding / polishing step.

[0019] In the combined cleaning process according to the present invention, the combined cleaning step includes a step of performing the grinding and polishing step on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object in an environment containing ozone or ozone water.

[0020] In the combined cleaning process according to the present invention, the combined cleaning step further includes a step of supplying plasma to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object by a plasma device.

[0021] In the combined cleaning process according to the present invention, the plasma device is a remote type plasma device, and the plasma is a remote plasma.

[0022] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the laser reactive cleaning step supplies pulse energy to the cleaning standby area of ​​the object by a laser beam scanning method.

[0023] In the combined cleaning process according to the present invention, the laser reactive cleaning step causes the object to be cleaned on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object to absorb the pulse energy and leave the object's cleaning standby area.

[0024] In the composite cleaning process of the present invention, the liquid absorbs the pulse energy through the laser reactive cleaning step, generating an explosive pressure wave, thereby achieving a cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object with the assistance of the liquid.

[0025] In the composite cleaning process of the present invention, the pulse energy is focused at a focal position near the object to be cleaned by the laser reactive cleaning step, and the cleaning effect on the object to be cleaned is generated by a plasma shock wave formed at the focal position.

[0026] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the laser cleaning device supplies adjustable pulse energy to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object via the laser beam in the laser reactive cleaning step.

[0027] In the complex cleaning process according to the present invention, the object to be cleaned is selected from the group consisting of organic matter, polymer, metal impurities, particles, fine unevenness, and native oxide layer.

[0028] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the object is a crystal ingot, a cut wafer before grinding and polishing, or a cut wafer after grinding and polishing.

[0029] In the composite cleaning process of the present invention, the object is a substrate, a front-end processed (FEOL) object, a back-end processed (BEOL) object, or a packaging object.

[0030] In the composite cleaning process of the present invention, the object is a semiconductor material selected from the group consisting of silicon, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium nitride, and silicon carbide.

[0031] In the complex cleaning process of the present invention, the object is a low energy gap semiconductor (<1.5 eV) or a high energy gap semiconductor (>3.0 eV).

[0032] The composite cleaning system of the present invention is characterized in that it is for performing a composite cleaning step on a cleaning standby area of ​​at least one object, and includes a platform for placing the object, the object having at least one cleaning standby object located in the cleaning standby area of ​​the object; a laser cleaning device for performing a laser-reactive cleaning step on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object; and a gas or liquid cleaning device for performing a gas or liquid-reactive cleaning step on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object, wherein one of the laser-reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid-reactive cleaning step is assisted by the other to improve the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area.

[0033] In the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, the combined cleaning step performs the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step simultaneously, sequentially, or in reverse order on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0034] In the combined cleaning system of the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device is for performing a cleaning step selected from the group consisting of an ozone cleaning method, a hydrofluoric acid cleaning method, and an RCA cleaning agent cleaning method on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0035] In the combined cleaning system of the present invention, the ozone cleaning method uses ozone water, ozone, and / or hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, the hydrofluoric acid cleaning method uses hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, and the RCA cleaning agent cleaning method uses an RCA cleaning agent to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0036] In the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device further comprises a tank, and the cleaning waiting area for the object is in the tank, where the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is carried out.

[0037] In the composite cleaning system of the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device further comprises a tank, and the objects are multiple, and the multiple objects are placed in the tank simultaneously to perform the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step.

[0038] In the integrated cleaning system of the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device of the integrated cleaning system further comprises an oscillation member, which oscillates the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object simultaneously when the integrated cleaning step is performed on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0039] In the integrated cleaning system of the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device of the integrated cleaning system is provided with a temperature control / adjustment member, and the temperature control / adjustment member is for controlling / adjusting the temperature of the integrated cleaning step when the integrated cleaning step is performed on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

[0040] In the integrated cleaning system of the present invention, the platform is a rotating platform for rotating the object, and the gas or liquid cleaning device uses the platform to perform the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object in a rotating state.

[0041] In the combined cleaning system of the present invention, the gas or liquid cleaning device includes a gas or liquid supply source, and the gas or liquid supply source is selected from the group consisting of an ozone water generator, an ozone generator, a hydrofluoric acid supply device, and an RCA cleaning agent supply device.

[0042] The combined cleaning system of the present invention further includes a grinding / polishing step, which performs grinding / polishing processing on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object before, during, or after performing the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step.

[0043] The integrated cleaning system of the present invention further includes a plasma device that supplies plasma to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object before, during, or after performing the grinding and polishing step.

[0044] In the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, the combined cleaning step performs the grinding and polishing step on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object in an environment containing ozone or ozone water.

[0045] In the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, the combined cleaning step further includes a step of supplying plasma to the cleaning standby area of ​​the object by a plasma device.

[0046] In the integrated cleaning system according to the present invention, the plasma device is a remote type plasma device, and the plasma is remote plasma.

[0047] In the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, the laser cleaning device generates a laser beam to scan the cleaning standby area of ​​the object with pulsed energy.

[0048] In the integrated cleaning system of the present invention, in the laser cleaning device, during the laser reactive cleaning step, the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object absorbs the pulse energy and moves away from the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

[0049] In the integrated cleaning system of the present invention, the laser cleaning device generates the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object with the assistance of the liquid in the laser reactive cleaning step by the liquid absorbing the pulse energy and generating an explosion pressure wave.

[0050] In the integrated cleaning system of the present invention, the laser cleaning device focuses pulse energy at a focal position a certain distance from the object to be cleaned in the laser reactive cleaning step, thereby generating the cleaning effect on the object to be cleaned in the cleaning standby area through a plasma shock wave formed at the focal position.

[0051] In the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, the laser cleaning device supplies adjustable pulse energy to the cleaning standby area of ​​the object via the laser beam in the laser reactive cleaning step.

[0052] In the complex cleaning system according to the present invention, the laser beam is a nanosecond pulse laser with a wavelength of 1,064 nm. [Effects of the Invention]

[0053] The combined cleaning process and system of the present invention has the following advantages: (1) Instead of the prior art RCA detergent cleaning method, the object is cleaned by a laser reactive cleaning step and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step, which can meet the increasingly stringent requirements for process cleanliness.

[0054] (2) By combining pulsed energy with a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step, the number of process steps can be significantly reduced, water consumption can be reduced, chemical usage and emissions can be reduced, processing time can be shortened, and production capacity can be improved.

[0055] (3) By combining pulse energy with a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step, it has excellent cleaning effects on various cleaning targets (e.g., organic substances, polymers, metal impurities, particles, and native oxide layers), and the surface roughness is better than that of those subjected to conventional standard cleaning processes.

[0056] (4) By combining pulse energy with a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step and supplying plasma using a plasma device, the cleaning waiting area can achieve effects such as reducing roughness, removing micro-defects (at the crystal level), high-temperature annealing, and fine growth of epitaxial crystals.

[0057] (5) Ozone (UV-Ozone) or ozone water (DI-Ozone) used in the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step can combine with or replace harmful chemicals in traditional cleaning processes, reducing water consumption, chemical usage and emissions, shortening processing time, improving production capacity, and achieving better cleaning results and surface roughness than those achieved by traditional standard cleaning processes.

[0058] (6) By using pulse energy to clean the cleaning standby area, the objects waiting to be cleaned there absorb the high-energy light of the short pulse of the laser, and then are ionized and released.

[0059] (7) Using pulse energy, the reactive cleaning components of the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step can meet stringent requirements for process cleanliness by using ozone (gas or water solution), ozone (gas or water solution) and hydrofluoric acid (gas or water solution), or RCA cleaning agent.

[0060] In order to better understand the technical features and achievable technical effects of the present invention, better embodiments and detailed descriptions are provided below. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0061] [Figure 1] 3 is a flowchart showing a combined cleaning process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing a combined cleaning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a laser cleaning device and a gas or liquid cleaning device are separate devices, and FIG. 2(A) shows a system performing a laser reactive cleaning step, and FIG. 2(B) shows a system performing a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step. [Figure 3]1 is a schematic diagram showing a combined cleaning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a laser cleaning device and a gas or liquid cleaning device are integrated into the same device. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing a combined cleaning process according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams showing a combined cleaning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 5A shows a grinding / polishing step, FIG. 5B shows a laser reactive cleaning step, and FIG. 5C shows a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step. [Figure 6] 6A and 6B are flow charts showing a combined cleaning process according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 6A shows a first process mode and FIG. 6B shows a second process mode. [Figure 7] 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams showing a combined cleaning system according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 7A shows a plasma supplying step, FIG. 7B shows a grinding / polishing step, FIG. 7C shows a laser reactive cleaning step, and FIG. 7D shows a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step. [Figure 8] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration in which a laser beam of a laser cleaning device according to the present invention is irradiated onto an object to be cleaned at an inclined angle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0062] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The proportions of the components in the drawings of the embodiments of the present invention are shown for ease of understanding and are not actual proportions. Furthermore, the dimensional proportions of the assemblies shown in the drawings are for the purpose of explaining the components and their structures, and the present invention is not limited thereto. Meanwhile, for ease of understanding, the same components in the following embodiments will be described with the same reference numerals.

[0063] Furthermore, terms used throughout the specification and claims generally have their ordinary meanings as used in the art, in the context disclosed herein, and in the particular context, unless otherwise specified. Some terms used to describe the present invention are explained below or elsewhere in this specification to provide those of ordinary skill in the art with additional guidance regarding the description of the present invention.

[0064] The use of "first," "second," "third," etc. in this article does not denote a specific order or sequence, nor is it used to limit the invention, but is used only to distinguish between components or operations that are described with the same terminology.

[0065] Secondly, when this article uses terms such as "including," "comprising," "having," and "containing," they are all open terms, meaning including but not limited to.

[0066] The composite cleaning process and system of the present invention performs at least two or more reactive cleaning steps on different objects using at least two or more cleaning devices. According to the present invention, the cleaning effect of the cleaning target located in the cleaning standby area on the object is better than that of a conventional single reactive cleaning step, and the cleaning effects can be mutually complementary, thereby meeting increasingly stringent requirements for process cleanliness. The combined cleaning process and system according to the present invention can remove various contaminants (e.g., particles, metal impurities, organic contaminants, native oxide layers, and micro-textures on the object's surface) in various semiconductor object processes and can also be used as a substitute for plasma ashing, which is used in conventional photoresist stripping techniques. The term "cleaning" as used in the present invention generally refers to washing or cleaning the cleaning target located in the cleaning standby area of ​​the object and / or removing the cleaning target located in the cleaning standby area of ​​the object, and also includes overcoming or weakening van der Waals forces or electrostatic forces between the cleaning target and other substances (e.g., objects attached to the cleaning target or objects composed of the cleaning target). The object awaiting cleaning may be any of a variety of objects, such as various substrates, objects that have undergone front-end (FEOL) processing, objects that have undergone back-end (BEOL) processing, or packaging objects, and there is no limitation on the structure to be formed thereon. The object may be, for example, a crystal ingot, a cut wafer before grinding and polishing, or a wafer after grinding and polishing. For example, the object applicable to the present invention may be a semiconductor, such as, but not limited to, a Class 1 semiconductor, a Class 2 semiconductor, or a Class 3 semiconductor, including semiconductor materials selected from the group consisting of silicon, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium nitride, and silicon carbide, or may be a low-energy gap semiconductor (<1.5 eV) or a high-energy gap semiconductor (>3.0 eV). From the above description, it can be seen that the object to be cleaned applicable to the present invention can be one or more types of materials or material layers, depending on the type of object to be cleaned and the processing steps that the object underwent before cleaning, but is not limited to these. The object to be cleaned may be, for example, attached to the object or part of a structure that constitutes the object. However, it should be noted that while the present invention has listed examples of applicable objects and objects to be cleaned, the present invention is not limited thereto. Any object or object to be cleaned that can achieve a cleaning effect using the combined cleaning process or combined cleaning system of the present invention is within the scope of the present invention.

[0067] Fig. 1 is a flowchart showing a combined cleaning process according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a combined cleaning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a laser cleaning device and a gas or liquid cleaning device are separate devices, Fig. 2(A) shows a laser reactive cleaning step, and Fig. 2(B) shows a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a combined cleaning system according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a laser cleaning device and a gas or liquid cleaning device are integrated into the same device. 1, 2 and 3, the combined cleaning process according to the present invention includes at least a step (S10) of providing an object 100, the object 100 having at least one object 120 waiting to be cleaned located in a cleaning standby area 110, and a step (S20) of performing combined cleaning on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100 using a combined cleaning system. The combined cleaning step (S20) includes a step (S210) of performing laser reactive cleaning on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100 using a laser cleaning device 10, and a step (S220) of performing gas or liquid reactive cleaning on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100 using a gas or liquid cleaning device 20. One of the features of the present invention is that one of the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) can improve the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object 120 on the cleaning standby area 110 with the assistance of the other.

[0068] 1, 2 and 3, a combined cleaning system according to the present invention includes at least a laser cleaning device 10 that provides pulsed energy (e.g., one or more laser beams 16) and a gas or liquid cleaning device 20 that provides reactive cleaning components (e.g., one or more reactive gases and / or liquids). The complex cleaning system optionally includes a mounting table 200. The mounting table 200 is configured to mount at least one object 100 waiting to be cleaned. The object 100 may be one or more. The object 100 includes at least one object 120 waiting to be cleaned, which is positioned in a cleaning standby area 110. The laser cleaning device 10 includes, for example, a laser beam generator 12 and a lens set 14. The laser beam generator 12 generates one or more laser beams 16, which are irradiated onto the object 100 waiting to be cleaned via the lens set 14, thereby performing the laser-reactive cleaning step (S210). The lens set 14 may be selectively omitted, or the lens set 14 may be integrated into the laser beam generator 12. The gas or liquid cleaning device 20 includes, for example, a gas or liquid supply source 22. The gas or liquid supply source 22 is for supplying reactive cleaning components (e.g., reactive gas and / or liquid) to the object 100 awaiting cleaning. The gas or liquid cleaning device 20 may further include a tank 24. The tank 24 is, for example, a hollow container that can accommodate one or more objects 100 awaiting cleaning. The gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) is performed by supplying reactive cleaning components (e.g., liquid 25) to the tank 24. The gas or liquid supply source 22 of the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 may optionally employ a conventional commercial product, but is not limited to this, and may be selected from the group consisting of an ozone water generator, an ozone generator, a hydrofluoric acid supply device, and an RCA cleaning agent supply device. This allows for the supply of one or more reactive gases and / or liquids. The ozone water generator is conventionally used to provide ozone water for cleaning. The ozone generator is conventionally used to provide ozone gas for cleaning. The hydrofluoric acid supply device is conventionally used to provide gas or liquid hydrofluoric acid for cleaning. The RCA cleaning agent supply device is conventionally used to provide RCA cleaning agents for cleaning, including but not limited to SC-1 cleaning formulations and SC-2 cleaning formulations.

[0069] The gas or liquid cleaning device 20 may further include an oscillation member 26. The oscillation member 26 may be, for example, an ultrasonic oscillation member, and may improve the cleaning effect of the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) by oscillating ultrasonic waves. The gas or liquid cleaning device 20 may further include a temperature control / adjustment member 28. The temperature control / adjustment member 28 may be, for example, a conventional commercial temperature controller, and may control and adjust the temperature when the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) is performed on the object 100. For example, the temperature of the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) may be instantly adjusted based on the reactive cleaning components supplied in the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) and the temperature required for cleaning the object 120 awaiting cleaning. The object 100 awaiting cleaning may be selectively placed on a platform 200, and the platform 200 may be moved to place it in the tank 24. The laser cleaning device 10 and the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 may be separate devices as shown in Figure 2, or may be integrated with each other as shown in Figure 3. This allows the present invention to selectively perform the above-mentioned laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) in different devices or in the same device.

[0070] In the combined cleaning process of the present invention, the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 are selected from the group consisting of dry cleaning and wet cleaning methods, for example. The laser cleaning device 10 of the present invention generates and scans one or more laser beams 16 to directly or indirectly supply pulse energy (e.g., pulse reactive energy) to the cleaning waiting area 110 of the object 100. This performs a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) on the cleaning waiting area 110 of the object 100. The laser reactive cleaning step (S210) is selected from the group consisting of, for example, a dry cleaning method and a wet cleaning method. This can achieve the effect of cleaning the cleaning waiting area 110 dry or wet.

[0071] In particular, laser cleaning apparatus 10 generates laser beam 16 via laser beam generator 12 to selectively provide constant or adjustable pulse energy. For example, laser cleaning apparatus 10 provides adjustable pulse energy by selectively adjusting, for example, the scan speed, pulse width, pulse output period, wavelength, repetition frequency, angle of incidence, penetration depth, and / or thermal diffusion length of laser beam 16. Generally, the shorter the wavelength of the laser beam 16, the more energy is absorbed by the object 120 waiting to be cleaned, and the faster the temperature rises. Meanwhile, in the present invention, the laser beam 16 can be used to selectively achieve cleaning effects, such as removing only the object 120 waiting to be cleaned in the cleaning waiting area 110 while leaving other structures or materials in the cleaning waiting area 110 untouched. The laser beam provided by the laser cleaning device 10 may be, for example, but is not limited to, a nanosecond pulsed laser. When the pulse width of the laser beam 16 is greater than the nanosecond (nS) class, it is more aggressive but can target fewer materials. When the pulse width of the laser beam 16 is less than the nanosecond (nS) class, it is classified as cold ablation, and its material specificity is lower. The pulse width of the laser beam 16 employed in the present invention is preferably in the nanosecond (nS) range. This allows for higher temperature rise and fall frequencies and better material specificity than pulse widths of other classes. For example, the laser beam generator 12 of the laser cleaning apparatus 10 may selectively employ a conventional commercial product, such as, but not limited to, a Nd:YAG pulsed laser source, a Nd:YVO4 pulsed laser source, or a KrF pulsed laser source. For example, a Nd:YAG pulsed laser source has a wavelength of approximately 1,064 nm, a frequency of approximately 20 kHz, and a pulse width of approximately 150 nS. The wavelength of the laser beam generated by the laser beam generator 12 may be, for example, 266 nm or 532 nm. For example, the travel speed of the laser beam 16 preferably ranges from approximately 10 mm / sec to approximately 1,000 mm / sec, and the wavelength of the laser beam 16 preferably ranges from approximately 266 nm to approximately 1,600 nm. The pulse width is less than approximately 1,000 nS, the repetition frequency ranges from approximately 30 Hz to approximately 10 MHz, the pulse energy (E) ranges from approximately 0.1 μJ to approximately 10,000 μJ, and the spot diameter ranges from approximately 0.5 μm to approximately 100 mm.

[0072] The reactive cleaning components provided by the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 of the present invention are, for example, reactive gases and / or liquids, such as ozone gas (UV-Ozone) and / or ozone water (DI-Ozone), and optionally hydrofluoric acid, which can improve cleaning effects, reduce or replace harmful chemicals used in conventional cleaning processes, or reduce adverse effects on objects. The reactive cleaning composition may employ, for example, gaseous ozone (O), either directly or in combination with other gases (e.g., hydrofluoric acid) or liquids (e.g., hydrofluoric acid solution or RCA cleaning agent) to perform a cleaning step on the cleaning waiting area 110. Ozone can be formed or generated in various ways, including by generating ozone using conventional commercial ozone generators, for example, by passing oxygen through an energy field (e.g., ultraviolet light, plasma, or ion field). Meanwhile, the reactive cleaning composition of the present invention may employ, for example, a water solution containing ozone (referred to as ozone water, or DI-ozone), either directly or in combination with other gases (e.g., hydrofluoric acid) or liquids (e.g., hydrofluoric acid solution or RCA cleaning agent) to perform a cleaning step on the cleaning waiting area 110. The concentration of ozone in the DI water solution is about 1 ppm to about 300 ppm. For example, the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) of the present invention uses ozone water with a concentration of about 30 ppm and a flow rate of about 2 lpm (l / min) to clean the object 120 waiting to be cleaned for about one hour. Meanwhile, the DI water solution may contain ozone cleaning aids, such as carbonate and bicarbonate anions, and organic acids (e.g., formic acid, oxalic acid, acetic acid, glycolic acid, etc.). For example, in the prior art, in the process of removing photoresist using a plasma etching method in combination with an SPM cleaning solution, the plasma removes most of the photoresist (about 99%), and then the RCA cleaning method is used to remove the remaining 1% of photoresist residue. However, the present invention's combined cleaning step (S20) replaces the conventional RCA cleaning method by performing a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220), or by substituting certain cleaning formulations in the conventional RCA cleaning method. For example, the present invention replaces the H2O2 in the SC-1 cleaning formulation of the conventional RCA cleaning method with ozone water (DI-Ozone), or, for example, replaces the high-temperature (approximately 100°C to approximately 130°C) SPM cleaning solution (H2SO4 / H2O2 / H2O, i.e., Piranha cleaning solution) by using diluted hydrofluoric acid (DHF) in combination with ozone water (e.g., at room temperature) to remove the remaining 1% of photoresist residue. Furthermore, the present invention also replaces the plasma etching method described above with a laser reactive cleaning step (S210), thereby removing the majority (approximately 99%) of the photoresist. The volume ratio of hydrofluoric acid to ozone water ranges, for example, from about 1:1 to about 10:1.

[0073] In the first embodiment, for example, by performing a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) simultaneously, sequentially, and in reverse order on the cleaning standby area 110 of the above-mentioned object 100, it is possible to obtain the effect of assisting in cleaning the cleaning standby object 120. As described above, the laser cleaning device 10 and the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 according to the present invention may be separate and distinct devices or integrated into the same device, thereby allowing the present invention to selectively perform the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) in different devices or the same device.

[0074] In a first aspect of the first embodiment, for example, first, the laser cleaning device 10 generates and scans the laser beam 16 to directly or indirectly supply pulse energy to the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100. This performs a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100. Next, the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 performs a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) on the cleaning standby area 110 cleaned in the laser reactive cleaning step (S210). The laser cleaning device 10 first performs a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100, and with the assistance of the laser reactive cleaning step (S210), the cleaning effect of the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) on the cleaning standby object 120 in the cleaning standby area 110 can be improved.

[0075] In the second aspect of the first embodiment, for example, first, a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) is performed on the cleaning standby area 110 by the gas or liquid cleaning device 20. Next, the laser cleaning device 10 generates and scans the laser beam 16, directly or indirectly supplying pulse energy to the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100. In this way, a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) is performed on the cleaning standby area 11 that has been cleaned in the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220). The gas or liquid cleaning device 20 performs a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100, so that the cleaning effect of the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) on the cleaning standby object 120 in the cleaning standby area 110 can be improved with the assistance of the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220).

[0076] In a third aspect of the first embodiment, for example, a laser cleaning device 10 and a gas or liquid cleaning device 20 simultaneously perform a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) on the cleaning waiting area 110 of the object 100. The laser cleaning device 10 and the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 simultaneously perform a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100, so that the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) can assist each other to improve the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object 120 in the cleaning standby area 110.

[0077] In the complex cleaning process according to the present invention, the object 100 is placed on, for example, a platform 200 of a complex cleaning system. The stage 200 may be any of various fixed or movable work tables, and may optionally be any of various fixed or rotating work tables. The form and shape of the stage 200 are not limited and are determined by the type of object 100 waiting to be cleaned and the form and shape of the laser cleaning device 10 and the gas or liquid cleaning device 20. In the case of a rotating work table, the stage 200 may be selected from the group consisting of horizontal, vertical, and inclined work tables, and may be, for example, a rotating work table used in a conventional commercial grinding / polishing step (e.g., mechanical grinding / polishing or chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP)). Alternatively, the gas or liquid cleaning device 20 may be, for example, a conventional commercial photoresist removal cleaning machine (e.g., a spray solvent tool (SST)), and the stage 200 may be a rotating mounting frame of the SST tool. This allows, for example, a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step to be simultaneously performed on the cleaning waiting area 110 of the rotating object 100.

[0078] Furthermore, the combined cleaning step according to the present invention can selectively perform the above-mentioned laser reactive cleaning step (S210) on some or all of the areas having the cleaning standby objects 120 on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100, and can selectively perform the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) on some or all of the areas on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object. In other words, in the present invention, the areas to be cleaned in the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) preferably overlap, but do not have to be exactly the same, and as long as they can provide an effect of assisting cleaning, they all fall within the scope of the present invention. To explain by way of example, in the combined cleaning step of the present invention, the laser cleaning device 10 can perform the above-mentioned laser reactive cleaning step (S210) only on the cleaning standby object 120 on the cleaning standby area 110, and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) is performed on the cleaning standby area 110 including the cleaning standby object 120.

[0079] The laser cleaning device 10 according to the present invention performs the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) by, for example, an etching cleaning method, a liquid-assisted laser cleaning method, and / or a laser shock wave cleaning method. Taking the etching cleaning method as an example, when performing the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) of the combined cleaning process, the object 100 according to the present invention is not limited to an air environment. Even if the object 100 is located in a liquid or gas environment, the present invention directly irradiates (e.g., focuses) the laser beam 16 generated by the laser cleaning device 10 onto the object 100 waiting to be cleaned 120. The object 120 in the cleaning waiting area 110 directly absorbs the pulse energy of the laser beam 16 (e.g., a short pulse), becomes ionized, and leaves the cleaning waiting area 110. For example, the strength of the link (van der Waals link) between the object 100 and the object 120 waiting to be cleaned is weakened, or defects or instability occurs. This improves the cleaning effect of the combined cleaning step (S20) on the cleaning waiting area 110. The liquid or gas may be the same as or different from the reactive cleaning component used in the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220). On the other hand, in the etching cleaning method, the laser beam 16 selectively irradiates, for example, the object 120 (e.g., metal impurities or fine particles) awaiting cleaning and the junction 19 (shadow interface) of the object 100 shown in FIG. 8 directly. Due to differences in material properties (e.g., thermal expansion coefficients) between the object 120 awaiting cleaning and the object 100, stress occurs at the junction 19, making it easier for the object 120 awaiting cleaning to separate from the object 100. The laser beam 16 according to the present invention is irradiated directly onto the object 120 awaiting cleaning from directly above, i.e., the irradiation direction of the laser beam 16 is perpendicular to the object 100, but is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the laser beam 16 may be selectively irradiated onto the junction 19 between the object 120 awaiting cleaning and the object 100 at an inclination angle θ so that the junction 19 between the object 120 awaiting cleaning and the object 100 can effectively absorb the pulse energy of the laser beam 16 (e.g., a short pulse). This prevents the top of the object 120 from blocking the laser beam 16 from reaching the junction 19. Alternatively, in the etching cleaning method, the laser beam 16 may be irradiated onto the object 120 from the reverse side, i.e., the laser beam 16 penetrates and reaches the bottom of the object 120, for example, the junction 19 between the object 120 and the object 100. The irradiation direction of the laser beam 16 is different from the extension direction of the object 120, for example, and is not perpendicular to the object 100. In other words, the tilt angle ranges from about 89 degrees to about 179 degrees.

[0080] Referring to Figure 2, in the case of a liquid-assisted laser cleaning method, when an object 100 waiting to be cleaned is placed in a liquid 25, the liquid 25 can absorb reactive energy from a pulse (e.g., a short pulse) of the laser beam 16, thereby improving the cleaning effect on the object 100 waiting to be cleaned 120 in the cleaning waiting area 110. For example, the laser beam 16 can be directly focused on a liquid 25 (such as water or alcohol (e.g., isopropyl alcohol)) near (or around) the object 120 to be cleaned, and the liquid 25 will rise in temperature (overheat), explode, evaporate, and generate an explosion pressure wave, which can reduce or eliminate the linking force between the object 120 to be cleaned and the object 100, thereby achieving a cleaning effect. In addition, the present invention can also reduce the occurrence of thermal stress caused by raising the temperature of the liquid 25. The liquid 25 may be different from or the same as the reactive cleaning component used in the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220). For example, in the case of removing gold and tungsten fine particles (particle diameters of about μm order) from the silicon substrate surface using the liquid-assisted laser cleaning method, the laser beam generator 12 may employ a KrF pulsed laser source. The laser beam 16 has a pulse width of about 30 nS, a repetition frequency range of about 100 Hz, and a pulse energy of about 0.3 J / cm. 2 The wavelength is about 248 nm. For example, when using a liquid-assisted laser cleaning method to remove fine alumina particles (Al2O3, particle diameter about 60 nm) on the surface of a silicon substrate, the laser beam generator 12 may adopt a Nd:YAG pulsed laser source. The pulse width of the laser beam 16 is about 7 nS, the repetition frequency range is about 8 Hz, and the pulse energy is about 0.17 J / cm. 2 and the wavelength is approximately 532 nm.

[0081] In the case of laser shock wave cleaning, pulse energy from a laser beam 16 is focused at a focal point some distance (e.g., near, adjacent, or surrounding) from the object 120 awaiting cleaning. The object 100 is located in, for example, an air or gas environment, where gas molecules at the focal point are ionized to form a rapidly expanding plasma, generating a plasma shock wave that removes the object 120 awaiting cleaning. The gas in the gas environment may be the same as or different from the reactive cleaning component used in the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220). In brief, in the present invention, the laser beam 16 directly contacts (focuses) the object 120 to be cleaned, or the laser beam 16 does not directly contact (focuses) the object 120 to be cleaned, thereby performing the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) on the object 120 to be cleaned in a liquid or gas environment, thereby improving the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby area 110 in the combined cleaning step (S20). For example, when removing silicon dioxide particles (e.g., fused silica particles, particle diameter: about 5 μm) on the surface of a silicon substrate using an etching cleaning method or a laser shock wave cleaning method, the laser beam generator 12 may employ a KrF pulse laser source. The laser beam 16 has a pulse width of about 15 nS, a repetition frequency range of about 30 Hz, and a pulse energy of about 60 mJ / cm. 2 and has a wavelength of approximately 248 nm. For example, when removing copper particles (with a diameter of about 1 μm) on the surface of a silicon substrate by etching cleaning or laser shock wave cleaning, the laser beam generator 12 may be a Nd:YAG pulse laser source. The laser beam 16 has a pulse width of about 10 nS, a repetition frequency range of about 10 kHz, and a pulse energy of about 0.18 / 0.46 mJ / cm. 2and a wavelength of about 266 / 352 nm. For example, in the case of removing a gold layer (about 48 nm thick) deposited on a silicon substrate surface by etching cleaning or laser shock wave cleaning, the laser beam generator 12 may employ a Nd:YAG pulsed laser source. The laser beam 16 has a pulse width of about 100 nS, a repetition frequency range of about 2 kHz, and a pulse energy of about 10 mJ / cm. 2 The wavelength is about 1,064 nm. For example, when removing polystyrene latex nanoparticles (particle diameter: about 300 nm) on the surface of a silicon substrate by etching cleaning or laser shock wave cleaning, the laser beam generator 12 may employ a Nd:YAG pulsed laser source. The laser beam 16 has a pulse width of about 6 nS and a pulse energy of about 100-600 mJ / cm. 2 and has a wavelength of approximately 1,064 nm.

[0082] The gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) of the present invention provides a reactive cleaning component (e.g., reactive gas and / or liquid) and is selected from the group consisting of a dry cleaning method and a wet cleaning method. The gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) is, for example, a cleaning step selected from the group consisting of an ozone cleaning method, a hydrofluoric acid cleaning method, and an RCA cleaning agent cleaning method for the cleaning waiting area 110 of the object 100. For example, the ozone cleaning method employs a dry cleaning method including ozone gas (UV-Ozone) and / or a wet cleaning method including ozone water (DI-Ozone). The concentration of ozone in the DI water solution ranges from about 1 ppm to about 300 ppm, and the cleaning temperature ranges from about 0 to about 60 degrees Celsius. The hydrofluoric acid cleaning method described above employs, for example, a dry cleaning method using hydrofluoric acid (HF) gas and / or a wet cleaning method using hydrofluoric acid liquid (e.g., diluted hydrofluoric acid liquid). The HF:HO volume ratio ranges from about 1:2 to about 1:10, and the cleaning temperature ranges from about 20 to about 25°C. Hydrofluoric acid has the ability to dissolve silicon dioxide, so it can remove the oxide layer (e.g., native oxide layer) formed on the surface of the silicon substrate and also remove particles and metal impurities adsorbed to the oxide layer. During the oxide layer removal, silicon-hydrogen bonds are formed on the surface of the silicon substrate, making the silicon surface hydrophobic. The RCA cleaning method employs, for example, SC-1 and SC-2 cleaning formulations, and optionally, an SPM cleaning solution (e.g., SC-3 cleaning formulation). The SC-1 cleaning formula, for example, is NH4OH / H2O2 / H2O, with a volume ratio ranging from about 1:1:5 to about 1:2:7, a cleaning time ranging from about 10 to about 20 minutes, and a cleaning temperature ranging from about 65 to about 80 degrees Celsius. The SC-1 cleaning formula is preferably used for alkaline acidification, and can remove particles from silicon substrates and also acidify the surface, removing small amounts of organic matter (e.g., residual photoresist) and metal contaminants such as Au, Ag, Cu, Ni, Cd, Zn, Ca, and Cr from the surface. Controlling the cleaning temperature below 80 degrees Celsius helps reduce losses due to evaporation of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. An example of an SC-2 cleaning formulation is HCl / H2O2 / H2O, with a volume ratio range of about 1:1:5 to about 1:2:8, a cleaning time range of about 10 minutes to about 20 minutes, and a cleaning temperature range of about 75 degrees Celsius to about 85 degrees Celsius. The SC-3 cleaning formula is, for example, H2SO4 / H2O2 / H2O, with a volume ratio of approximately 5:1:1, and a cleaning temperature range of approximately 120°C to approximately 280°C. The SC-3 cleaning formula has high oxidizing ability and can acidify metals and then dissolve in the cleaning solution. It can also acidify organic matter to produce CO2 and H2O. The SC-3 cleaning formula can remove organic contamination and some metal impurities from the surface of silicon substrates, but when the organic contamination is particularly severe, the organic matter can be carbonized, making it difficult to remove.

[0083] Taking cleaning substrates, FEOL, BEOL, and packaging objects as examples, in the present invention, instead of cleaning the object 120 awaiting cleaning only by the conventional RCA cleaning method, the object 120 awaiting cleaning is cleaned by a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220). The gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) of the combined cleaning step (S20) of the present invention can be selectively selected from the group consisting of ozone cleaning, hydrofluoric acid cleaning, and RCA cleaning.

[0084] Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing a combined cleaning process according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a combined cleaning system according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 5(A) shows a grinding / polishing step, Fig. 5(B) shows a laser reactive cleaning step, and Fig. 5(C) shows a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step. 4 and 5, in the second embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the apparatus shown in the first embodiment, the combined cleaning system according to the present invention further includes a grinding / polishing apparatus 50. The combined cleaning step (S20) according to the present invention optionally further includes performing a grinding / polishing step (S230) on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100 using the grinding / polishing apparatus 50 (e.g., a mechanical grinding / polishing or chemical mechanical polishing apparatus), and then simultaneously performing a laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100 in the reverse order. For example, if the grinding / polishing apparatus 50 is a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus, the structure of the grinding / polishing apparatus 50 may include, for example, a rotating table 52, a polishing pad 54, and a polishing slurry supply source 56. The rotating table 52 drives the polishing pad 54 to rotate relative to the object 100 on the mounting table 200. The polishing slurry supply source 56 supplies a polishing slurry 57 between the polishing pad 54 and the object 100. This allows the grinding / polishing step (S230) to be performed on the object 100. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the grinding / polishing step (S230) may be selectively performed on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100 before, during, or after the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220).

[0085] Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing a combined cleaning process according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 6(A) shows a first process mode and Fig. 6(B) shows a second process mode. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a combined cleaning system according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which Fig. 7(A) shows a plasma supply step, Fig. 7(B) shows a grinding / polishing step, Fig. 7(C) shows a laser reactive cleaning step, and Fig. 7(D) shows a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the third embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the apparatus shown in the second embodiment, the integrated cleaning system according to the present invention further includes a plasma device 60, for example, a plasma source 62 and a chamber 64. The chamber 64 is for placing the object 100. The plasma source 62 is for supplying plasma 63 to the cleaning waiting area 110 of the object 100 in the integrated cleaning step S20. The plasma device 60 is, for example, a remote plasma device, and the plasma 63 is, for example, but not limited to, remote plasma. As shown in FIGS. 6(A), 7(B), 7(C), and 7(D), before or after performing the laser reactive cleaning step S210 or the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220), the plasma device 60 according to the present invention supplies plasma to, for example, the cleaning waiting area 110 of the object 100 (step S240). 6(B) and 7(A) to 7(D), the composite cleaning step (S20) according to the present invention may optionally further include a step (S240) of supplying plasma using a plasma device 60 before or after the grinding / polishing step (S230), for example, after the grinding / polishing step (S230). By supplying plasma 63 to the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100, the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100 can achieve effects such as reducing roughness, removing micro-defects (at the crystalline level), high-temperature annealing, and micro-growth of epitaxial crystals. Then, the laser reactive cleaning step (S210) and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) are simultaneously performed on the cleaning standby area 110 of the object 100, either sequentially or in reverse order. In the present invention, the order of use (e.g., arrows in the figure indicate directions) and appropriate combination of the laser cleaning device 10, gas or liquid cleaning device 20, grinding / polishing device 50, and plasma device 60 can be determined based on actual applications, for example, by adjusting the condition of the object waiting to be cleaned (i.e., the process that occurred before the combined cleaning process of the present invention is performed). For example, in the present invention, the grinding / polishing step (S230) is performed using a conventional commercial polishing slurry (e.g., containing alumina, silicon dioxide, spinel, Pu2O3, and zirconium oxide). Alternatively, in the present invention, the grinding / polishing step (S230) can be performed on the cleaning waiting area 110 of the object 100 in an environment containing ozone or ozone water. For example, by dissolving ozone or ozone water in the conventional commercial polishing slurry, the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220) and the grinding / polishing step (S230) (e.g., mechanical grinding / polishing or chemical-mechanical polishing, CMP) can be performed simultaneously. The concentration of ozone in the DI water solution is about 1 ppm to about 300 ppm, which is determined depending on the cleaning target object 120 to be cleaned. Meanwhile, the DI water solution may contain an ozone cleaning aid (e.g., carbonate anion, bicarbonate anion, and organic acid (e.g., formic acid, oxalic acid, acetic acid, glycolic acid, etc.)).

[0086] In the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, when performing different cleaning steps of the combined cleaning process (e.g., the laser reactive cleaning step (S210), the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step (S220), the grinding / polishing step (S230), and the plasma supplying step (S240)), the platform 200 on which the object 100 is placed may be the same or different. If the same platform is used, a transport system (not shown), such as a conveyor or robot, moves the platform 200 and the object 100 placed thereon from the previous cleaning device to the next cleaning device, where the next cleaning step is performed. If different platforms are used, a transport system (not shown), such as a conveyor or robot, moves the object 100 to a different platform 200, where the next cleaning step is performed. In other words, when performing different cleaning steps of the combined cleaning process using the combined cleaning system according to the present invention, the selective integration of multiple cleaning devices allows the above-mentioned transport system to be omitted, thereby reducing process costs and man-hours and increasing production capacity.

[0087] The combined cleaning process and system of the present invention has the following advantages: (1) Instead of the prior art RCA detergent cleaning method, the object is cleaned by a laser reactive cleaning step and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step, which can meet the increasingly stringent requirements for process cleanliness.

[0088] (2) By combining pulsed energy with a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step, the number of process steps can be significantly reduced, water consumption can be reduced, chemical usage and emissions can be reduced, processing time can be shortened, and production capacity can be improved.

[0089] (3) By combining pulse energy with a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step, it has excellent cleaning effects on various cleaning targets (e.g., organic substances, polymers, metal impurities, particles, and native oxide layers), and the surface roughness is better than that of those subjected to conventional standard cleaning processes.

[0090] (4) By combining pulse energy with a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step and supplying plasma using a plasma device, the cleaning waiting area can achieve effects such as reducing roughness, removing micro-defects (at the crystal level), high-temperature annealing, and fine growth of epitaxial crystals.

[0091] (5) Ozone (UV-Ozone) or ozone water (DI-Ozone) used in the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step can combine with or replace harmful chemicals in traditional cleaning processes, reducing water consumption, chemical usage and emissions, shortening processing time, improving production capacity, and achieving better cleaning results and surface roughness than those achieved by traditional standard cleaning processes.

[0092] (6) By using pulse energy to clean the cleaning standby area, the objects waiting to be cleaned there absorb the high-energy light of the short pulse of the laser, and then are ionized and released.

[0093] (7) Using pulse energy, the reactive cleaning components of the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step can meet stringent requirements for process cleanliness by using ozone (gas or water solution), ozone (gas or water solution) and hydrofluoric acid (gas or water solution), or RCA cleaning agent.

[0094] The foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. Any equivalent modifications or variations thereto that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be encompassed within the scope of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0095] 10 Laser cleaning device 12 Laser beam generator 14 Lens set 16 Laser Beam 19 Junction 20 Gas or liquid cleaning equipment 22 Gas or liquid supply sources 24 Tank 25 liquid 26 Oscillating member 28 Temperature control and adjustment components 50 Grinding and Polishing Equipment 52 Turntable 54 Polishing Pad 56 Abrasive Slurry Supply Source 57 Polishing Slurry 60 Plasma Device 62 Plasma Source 63 Plasma 64 Chambers 100 objects 110 Cleaning waiting area 120 Cleaning standby objects 200 Loading stand S10, S20, S210, S220, S230, S240 steps θ Tilt angle

Claims

1. providing at least one object, the object having at least one object waiting to be cleaned, located in a cleaning waiting area; a combined cleaning step of performing combined cleaning on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object by a combined cleaning system, The combined cleaning step includes a laser reactive cleaning step of performing laser reactive cleaning on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object by a laser cleaning device, and a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step of performing gas or liquid reactive cleaning on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object by a gas or liquid cleaning device, One of the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is assisted by the other to improve the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object in the cleaning standby area. Combined cleaning process.

2. 2. The composite cleaning process according to claim 1, wherein the composite cleaning step comprises performing the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step simultaneously, sequentially, or in reverse order on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

3. 2. The combined cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step are selected from the group consisting of a dry cleaning method and a wet cleaning method, respectively.

4. 2. The combined cleaning process according to claim 1, wherein the combined cleaning step comprises performing the laser reactive cleaning step on a part or all of the area having the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object, and performing the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step on the part or all of the area of ​​the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

5. The combined cleaning process according to claim 1 , wherein in the combined cleaning step, the laser cleaning device performs the laser reactive cleaning step only on the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

6. 2. The composite cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step performs a cleaning step selected from the group consisting of an ozone cleaning method, a hydrofluoric acid cleaning method, and an RCA cleaning agent cleaning method on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

7. 7. The combined cleaning process of claim 6, wherein the ozone cleaning method uses ozone water, ozone, and / or hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, the hydrofluoric acid cleaning method uses hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, and the RCA cleaning agent cleaning method uses an RCA cleaning agent to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

8. The combined cleaning process according to claim 1, characterized in that the gas or liquid cleaning device of the combined cleaning system further comprises an oscillation member, which oscillates the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object when the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is performed on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

9. The combined cleaning process of claim 1, characterized in that the gas or liquid cleaning device of the combined cleaning system is equipped with a temperature control and adjustment member, and the temperature control and adjustment member controls and adjusts the temperature when the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is performed on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

10. The combined cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the combined cleaning system includes a rotating table, and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is performed while the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object is rotated by the rotating table.

11. 2. The combined cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the combined cleaning step of the combined cleaning system further comprises a step of grinding and polishing the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object before, during, or after performing the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step.

12. The combined cleaning process according to claim 11, wherein the combined cleaning step further comprises a step of supplying plasma to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object by a plasma device before or after performing the grinding / polishing step.

13. The combined cleaning process according to claim 11 , wherein the combined cleaning step includes a step of performing the grinding and polishing step on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object in an environment containing ozone or ozone water.

14. 2. The integrated cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the integrated cleaning step further comprises the step of supplying plasma to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object by a plasma device.

15. 15. The combined cleaning process according to claim 12 or 14, wherein the plasma device is a remote plasma device, and the plasma is a remote plasma.

16. 2. The combined cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the laser reactive cleaning step supplies pulse energy to the cleaning standby area of ​​the object by a laser beam scanning method.

17. 17. The composite cleaning process of claim 16, wherein the laser reactive cleaning step causes the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object to absorb the pulse energy and leave the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

18. The combined cleaning process of claim 16, wherein the laser reactive cleaning step causes the liquid to absorb the pulse energy and generate an explosive pressure wave, thereby achieving a cleaning effect on the object waiting to be cleaned on the object waiting to be cleaned in the cleaning waiting area with the assistance of the liquid.

19. 17. The integrated cleaning process of claim 16, wherein the laser reactive cleaning step focuses the pulse energy at a focal position near the object to be cleaned, thereby generating the cleaning effect on the object to be cleaned by a plasma shock wave formed at the focal position.

20. 17. The combined cleaning process of claim 16, wherein the laser cleaning device supplies adjustable pulse energy to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object via the laser beam during the laser reactive cleaning step.

21. 2. The complex cleaning process according to claim 1, wherein the object to be cleaned is selected from the group consisting of organic matter, polymer, metal impurities, particles, fine unevenness, and native oxide layer.

22. 2. The combined cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the object is a crystal ingot, a sawn wafer before grinding and polishing, or a wafer after grinding and polishing.

23. 10. The combined cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the object is a substrate, a front-end of the line (FEOL) processed object, a back-end of the line (BEOL) processed object, or a packaging object.

24. 10. The complex cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the object is a semiconductor material selected from the group consisting of silicon, gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, gallium nitride, and silicon carbide.

25. 2. The complex cleaning process of claim 1, wherein the object is a low energy gap semiconductor (<1.5 eV) or a high energy gap semiconductor (>3.0 eV).

26. 1. A system for performing a complex cleaning step on at least one object's waiting area for cleaning, comprising: a platform for placing the object, the platform having at least one object to be cleaned that is positioned in the cleaning standby area of ​​the object; a laser cleaning device for performing a laser-responsive cleaning step on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object; and a gas or liquid cleaning device for performing a gas or liquid reactive cleaning step on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object, wherein one of the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is assisted by the other to improve the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area. Complex cleaning system.

27. 27. The combined cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the combined cleaning step performs the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step simultaneously, sequentially, or in reverse order on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

28. 27. The integrated cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the gas or liquid cleaning device is for performing a cleaning step on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, the cleaning step being selected from the group consisting of an ozone cleaning method, a hydrofluoric acid cleaning method, and an RCA cleaning agent cleaning method.

29. 29. The combined cleaning system of claim 28, wherein the ozone cleaning method uses ozone water, ozone, and / or hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, the hydrofluoric acid cleaning method uses hydrofluoric acid to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object, and the RCA cleaning agent cleaning method uses RCA cleaning agent to clean the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object.

30. 27. The combined cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the gas or liquid cleaning device further comprises a tank, and the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object is in the tank, where the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step is performed.

31. 30. The combined cleaning system of claim 28, wherein the gas or liquid cleaning device further comprises a tank, wherein the objects are multiple, and the multiple objects are simultaneously placed in the tank to perform the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step.

32. 27. The integrated cleaning system according to claim 26, wherein the gas or liquid cleaning device of the integrated cleaning system further comprises an oscillation member for oscillating the cleaning standby area of ​​the object simultaneously when the integrated cleaning step is performed on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

33. 27. The integrated cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the gas or liquid cleaning device of the integrated cleaning system comprises a temperature control / adjustment member, and the temperature control / adjustment member is for controlling / adjusting the temperature of the integrated cleaning step when the integrated cleaning step is performed on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

34. 27. The integrated cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the platform is a rotating platform for rotating the object, and the gas or liquid cleaning device performs the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object in a rotating state by using the platform.

35. 27. The integrated cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the gas or liquid cleaning device comprises a gas or liquid supply source, and the gas or liquid supply source is selected from the group consisting of an ozone water generator, an ozone generator, a hydrofluoric acid supply device, and an RCA cleaning agent supply device.

36. The combined cleaning system of claim 26, further comprising a grinding / polishing step, wherein the grinding / polishing step performs grinding / polishing processing on the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object before, during, or after performing the laser reactive cleaning step and the gas or liquid reactive cleaning step.

37. 37. The integrated cleaning system of claim 36, further comprising a plasma device, the plasma device applying plasma to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object before, during, or after performing the grinding / polishing step.

38. 37. The integrated cleaning system according to claim 36, wherein the integrated cleaning step performs the grinding and polishing step on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object in an environment containing ozone or ozone water.

39. 27. The integrated cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the integrated cleaning step further comprises the step of supplying plasma to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object by a plasma device.

40. 40. The combined cleaning system of claim 37 or 39, wherein the plasma device is a remote plasma device, and the plasma is a remote plasma.

41. 27. The multi-purpose cleaning system of claim 26, wherein the laser cleaning device generates a laser beam to scan the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object with pulsed energy.

42. The integrated cleaning system of claim 41, wherein in the laser reactive cleaning step, the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object absorbs the pulse energy and leaves the cleaning standby area of ​​the object.

43. The integrated cleaning system of claim 41, wherein in the laser reactive cleaning step, the laser cleaning device generates the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object on the cleaning standby area of ​​the object with the assistance of the liquid by the liquid absorbing the pulse energy and generating an explosion pressure wave.

44. 42. The integrated cleaning system of claim 41, wherein the laser cleaning device generates the cleaning effect on the cleaning standby object in the cleaning standby area through a plasma shock wave formed at the focal position by focusing pulse energy at a focal position that is a certain distance away from the cleaning standby object in the laser reactive cleaning step.

45. 42. The multi-purpose cleaning system of claim 41, wherein the laser cleaning device supplies adjustable pulse energy to the cleaning waiting area of ​​the object via the laser beam during the laser reactive cleaning step.

46. 42. The combined cleaning system of claim 41, wherein the laser beam is a nanosecond pulsed laser having a wavelength of 1,064 nm.

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