Patent ID: 8551575

Claim:
A method for processing a substrate, comprising: plating a metal layer upon a substrate; rinsing the substrate substantially solely with a chemically non-reactive fluid to remove and/or dilute a plating deposition fluid residing thereon used for the step of plating the metal layer, wherein the method is void of steps for treating the substrate between the step of plating the metal layer upon the substrate and the step of rinsing the substrate with the chemically non-reactive fluid; and exposing the substrate topography rinsed with the chemically non-reactive fluid to a solution which is absent of an oxidizing agent and comprises a non-metal pH adjusting agent in sufficient concentration such that the solution has a pH between approximately 7.5 and approximately 12.0, wherein the solution further comprises a means for binding metal ions via: a chelating agent having at least one non-amine or non-imine functional group; and/or at least two different types of complexing agents each offering a single point of attachment for binding metal ions via respectively different functional groups, wherein at least one of the two different complexing agents has at least one non-amine or non-imine functional group.