Patent ID: 8367594
Filing Date: 2013-02-05
Classification: C11D

Abstract:
1. A cleaning material to remove contaminants from a semiconductor substrate surface, comprising: a cleaning solution having viscoelastic properties, the cleaning solution being a single phase mixture of polymeric compound having polymers with long polymeric chains defined by a molecular weight that is greater than about 10,000 g/mol, deionized water and one or more additives; and a plurality of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) particles dispersed in the cleaning solution to form the cleaning material, the polyvinyl alcohol particles range between about 0.5 micron to about 200 microns in dimension, each polyvinyl alcohol particle having a spring factor that allows the polyvinyl alcohol particle to lose its form when the cleaning material is applied to the substrate surface with a force and regain its form when the force is removed, the PVA particles include a plurality of pores, size of the pores varying based on chemical composition of the PVA particles, wherein the polyvinyl alcohol particles absorb liquid of the cleaning solution and become uniformly suspended within the long polymeric chains of the cleaning material, wherein the polyvinyl alcohol particles suspended uniformly in the cleaning material interact with at least some of the contaminants to release the contaminants from the surface of the substrate and wherein the released contaminants are entrapped within the polyvinyl alcohol particles and within the long polymeric chains of the cleaning material.