Patent ID: 8227394
Filing Date: 2012-07-24
Classification: C11D

Abstract:
1. A cleaning material applied on a surface of a substrate without chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) for removing particles from the surface, comprising: a solvent; a buffering agent to change a potential of hydrogen (pH) value of the cleaning material, wherein the buffering agent and the solvent form a cleaning solution; and polymers of a polymeric compound with a molecular weight greater than 10,000 g/mol, wherein the polymers become soluble in the cleaning solution to form the cleaning material, the solubilized polymers forming long polymeric chains and network to capture and entrap at least some of the particles from the surface of the substrate, and wherein the polymeric compound has a polar functional group, the polar functional group of the polymeric compound establishing van der Waals force with the particles hydrolyzed in the solvent to help remove the particles from the surface of the substrate, wherein the polymeric compound has a functional group that carries charge in the cleaning solution, the charge carried by the functional group of the polymeric compound improves particle removal efficiency by increasing interactions with surface particles and makes the polymeric network more spread out; wherein the cleaning material deforms around device features on the surface of the substrate when a force is applied on the cleaning material covering the substrate, the cleaning material being applied on the surface of the patterned substrate to remove contaminants from the surface without damaging the device features on the surface; wherein the polymeric compound has a functional group that carries negative charge in the cleaning solution when it is basic and aqueous, the negative charge increasing interactions with OH groups on particle surfaces and helping the cleaning material's removal from the substrate surface; wherein the polymeric compound includes partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PAM) having a molar percentage of acrylic acid of about 22% to 42%.