Patent ID: 7235188

Claim:
An aqueous semiconductor cleaning solution having a pH between about 1.5 and about 6 and comprising: at least about 75% by weight of a mixture of water and an organic solvent; from about 0.5% to about 10% by weight phosphoric acid; optionally one or more other acid compounds; optionally one or more fluoride-containing compounds; and at least one alkaline compound selected from the group consisting of: a trialkylammonium hydroxide and/or a tetraalkylammonium hydroxide; a hydroxylamine derivative having the structural formula: wherein R 3 is hydrogen or a linear, branched, or cyclic hydrocarbon containing from 1 to 7 carbon atoms; and wherein X and Y are, independently, hydrogen or a linear, branched, or cyclic hydrocarbon containing from 1 to 7 carbon atoms, or wherein X and Y are linked together form a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic C 4 –C 7 ring; and one or more alkanolamines having the structural formula: wherein R 1 , R 1 ′, R 2 , R 2 ′, and R 3 are, independently in each case, hydrogen or a linear, branched, or cyclic hydrocarbon containing from 1 to 7 carbon atoms; wherein Z is a group having the formula -(-Q-CR 1 R 1 ′—CR 2 R 2 ′—) m —, such that m is a whole number from 0 to 3 (i.e., when m=0, there is no atom between the —CR 2 R 2 ′— group and the —OR 3 group in the formula above), R 1 , R 1 ′, R 2 , and R 2 ′ may be independently defined in each repeat unit, if m>1, within the parameters set forth for these moieties above, and Q may be independently defined in each repeat unit, if m>1, each Q being independently either —O— or —NR 3 —; and wherein X and Y are, independently in each case, hydrogen, a C 1 -C 7 linear, branched, or cyclic hydrocarbon, or a group having the formula —CR 1 R 1 ′—CR 2 R 2 ′—Z-F, with F being either —O—R 3 or —NR 3 R 4 , where R 4 is defined similarly to R 1 , R 1 ′, R 2 , R 2 ′, and R 3 above, and with Z, R 1 , R 1 ′, R 2 , R 2 ′, and R 3 defined as above, or wherein X and Y are linked together form a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic C 4 –C 7 ring.