Patent ID: 8585825

Claim:
A method for cleaning a semiconductor substrate, comprising: applying, using a dispense head, a liquid medium to a surface of the semiconductor substrate so as to substantially cover a portion of the surface of the semiconductor substrate being cleaned, the liquid medium made of long polymer chains and having a molecular weight between about 15M g/mol to about 100M g/mol; and applying an acoustic energy to the semiconductor substrate so as to enable the semiconductor substrate to vibrate, the semiconductor substrate having a plurality of particle contaminants to be removed, the vibration of the semiconductor substrate transferring the acoustic energy from the surface of the semiconductor substrate to the liquid medium so as to introduce an acoustic wave velocity in the liquid medium, the acoustic wave velocity in the liquid medium together with the acoustic energy applied at the semiconductor substrate creates unbalanced pressure waves at a liquid-contaminant-substrate interface, the unbalanced pressure waves exert a force on the liquid medium, the force on the liquid medium acts on the plurality of particle contaminants to overcome an adhesive force between the plurality of particle contaminants and the substrate surface thereby dislodging the plurality of particle contaminants from the surface of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the acoustic energy is tuned so that the acoustic wave velocity transferred from the semiconductor surface to the liquid medium does not produce cavitation within the liquid medium and wherein the polymer chains in the liquid medium capture and entrap the dislodged particle contaminants while preventing re-adhesion of the particle contaminants to the substrate surface; leaving the liquid medium on the surface of the substrate for a resident time while the acoustic energy is applied through the substrate; and after the resident time has occurred, removing the liquid medium with entrapped particle contaminants from the surface of the substrate with a rinse head that is separate from the dispense head, the rinse head and the dispense head being spaced apart, wherein the resident time is computed as a function of distance between the rinse head and the dispense head and relative speed of movement of the substrate under the dispense head and the rinse head.