Patent ID: 8211846

Claim:
A cleaning material applied on a surface of a patterned substrate for defining integrated circuit devices to remove contaminants 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; polymers of a polymeric compound with a molecular weight between about 15,000,000 g/mol to about 100,000,000 g/mol, wherein the polymers become soluble in the cleaning solution to form the cleaning material, the solubilized polymers having long polymer chains to capture and entrap at least some of the contaminants from the surface of the patterned substrate for defining integrated circuit devices, the cleaning material being defined as a liquid phase, wherein the cleaning material deforms around device features on the surface of the patterned substrate when a force is applied on the cleaning material covering the patterned 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, the cleaning material being free of abrasive particles before the cleaning material is applied on the surface of the patterned substrate; and a surfactant to assist in dispersing or wetting the polymers in the cleaning solution; wherein the polymer chains at least in part are influenced to capture and entrap contaminants by ionic force, electrostatic force, van der Waals force, hydrophobic interaction, steric interaction, or chemical bonding.