Patent ID: 7250374

Claim:
A method of processing a substrate in a film removal system, the method comprising: providing the substrate in a substrate chamber of the film removal system, the substrate having a micro-feature containing a dielectric film on a sidewall of the micro-feature and a photoresist film covering a first portion the dielectric film and not covering a second portion of the dielectric film; performing a first film removal process on the substrate by exposing the substrate to a supercritical CO 2 fluid and a first solvent capable of removing the second portion of the dielectric film not covered by the photoresist film; flushing the substrate chamber with fresh supercritical CO 2 fluid after the first film removal process; performing a second film removal process on the substrate after the flushing by exposing the substrate to the supercritical CO 2 fluid and a second solvent capable of removing the photoresist film; and maintaining the supercritical CO 2 fluid at a temperature between about 31° C. and about 200° C. and a pressure between about 1,070 psig and about 6,000 psig during the first and second film removal processes.