The Applications of DI-O3 Water on Wafer Surface Preparation

Abstract

Due to the continuously decreasing scale of integrated circuits (IC) and the increasing requirement in cost-of- ownership (CoO) reduction, throughput improvement and environmental friendliness, endeavor of developing innovative technologies in semiconductor device manufacturing has never ceased. Recent introduction of ozone technology in silicon wet cleaning processes to replace the conventional RCA methods has attracted interest from the industry but apparently deserves more attention for commercial utilization and implementation. In this paper, the application of ozonated DI water (DI-O3 water) in silicon wafer surface preparation, including removals of organic impurities, metallic contaminants and particles as well as photoresist stripping, is reviewed. The economic advantage of this technology in terms of the savings of chemicals and DI water is also briefly discussed.