Patent ID: 7670497

Claim:
A method for treating a microelectronic structure comprising: processing a microelectronic substrate to provide a processed microelectronic substrate that includes a Cu-containing conductor layer having a residue located upon the Cu-containing conductor layer, said processing including at least reactive ion etching which produces said residue; removing the residue from the Cu-containing conductor layer and passivating the Cu-containing conductor layer to form a passivated Cu-containing conductor layer while using a composition that comprises: an aqueous acid selected from the group consisting of hydrofluoric, acetic and oxalic acids; an oxidant selected from the group consisting of molecular oxygen, ozone and hydrogen peroxide contained in the aqueous acid; and a passivant selected from the group consisting of benzotriazole, other chelating amines and chelating carboxylic acids contained in the aqueous acid, the composition not including an abrasive material; unpassivating the passivated Cu-containing conductor layer to provide an unpassivated Cu-containing conductor layer; and forming an additional conductor layer upon the unpassivated Cu-containing conductor layer.