Patent ID: 7141123

Claim:
A method of removing contaminants from the surface of a substrate, said method comprising: directing a fluid comprising a reactant, capable of chemically removing contaminants from, the surface of the substrate, onto the surface of the substrate, and irradiating the surface of the substrate with light to supply activation energy that causes a chemical reaction of the reactant with contaminants on the surface of the substrate, thereby chemically cleaning the substrate; and jetting an aerosol comprising frozen gas particles onto the surface of the substrate to dislodge contaminants from the surface of the substrate, thereby physically cleaning the substrate, wherein over the entire course of said irradiating the surface of the substrate and said jetting of the aerosol onto the surface of the substrate, said irradiating and said jetting are carried out in a separate manner that prevents the frozen particles of the aerosol from being evaporated by said light, and wherein said chemical cleaning of the substrate and said physical cleaning of the substrate are performed in a common cleaning chamber, and said irradiating the surface of the substrate with light comprises directing a laser beam onto a region on the surface of the substrate separate from a region on the surface at which the aerosol is directed, whereby the laser beam and the aerosol impinge discrete areas of the substrate.