Patent ID: 8410394

Claim:
A method, comprising the steps of: mounting and rotating a substrate on a chuck; generating a laser beam; selecting a first one of three beam paths along which to deliver the laser beam at a first edge of the substrate; selecting a second one of three beam paths along which to deliver the laser beam to a second edge of the substrate; selecting a third one of three beam paths along which to deliver the laser beam to a third edge of the substrate; the first, second and third edge of the substrate each comprising a different selected one of a top edge, apex edge, and bottom edge of the substrate selected in a predefined order; providing a flow of a fluid in a vicinity of the first, second and third edges of the substrate while the first, second and third edges are being exposed to the laser beam; thereby removing or transforming films, particles, or residues from or on the top edge, apex edge and bottom edge of the substrate in a single process step without removing the substrate from the chuck; and exhausting by-products of the foregoing steps via the flow of fluid.