Acoustic Assisted Single Wafer Wet Clean For Semiconductor Wafer Process

Abstract

An apparatus for cleaning a substrate includes a dispense head configured to supply a liquid medium as a meniscus to the surface of the substrate and a rinse head that is equipped with at least an inlet conduit to supply rinse chemical to a top substrate surface as a meniscus. An outlet conduit is disposed on either side of the inlet conduit and is configured to remove the rinse chemical and liquid medium from the substrate surface. The inlet conduit and the outlet conduits are perpendicular to the surface of the rinse head that faces the substrate and parallel to one another. A first and second transducers are disposed in a portion of the rinse head between the inlet conduit and each of the outlet conduits. The transducers are configured to transmit acoustic energy to the meniscus when formed between the surface of the rinse head and the substrate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for cleaning a surface of a substrate, comprising:
 a dispense head configured to supply a liquid medium as a meniscus to the surface of the substrate; and   a rinse head equipped with,
 at least an inlet conduit to supply rinse chemical to a top surface of the substrate as a meniscus, the inlet conduit being substantially perpendicular to a surface of the rinse head that faces the substrate, when present; 
 at least an outlet conduit disposed on either side of the inlet conduit to remove the rinse chemical and liquid medium from the surface of the substrate, wherein the outlet conduits are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the rinse head and substantially parallel to the inlet conduit, a portion of the surface of the rinse head disposed between the inlet conduit and each of the outlet conduits being substantially flat and parallel to the surface of the substrate, when present; and 
 at least a first and second transducer disposed in the portion of the rinse head between the inlet conduit and each of the outlet conduits, the transducer being positioned adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the rinse head that is proximal to the surface of the substrate, when present, the transducers configured to transmit acoustic energy to the meniscus when formed between the surface of the rinse head and the substrate, when present. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the outlet conduit is connected to a vacuum port so that vacuum may be applied to remove the liquid medium and the rinse chemical. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the dispense head and the rinse head are elongated structures that span at least a diameter of the substrate, when present. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the inlet conduit and the outlet conduit are configured to cover an entire length of the rinse head. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the inlet conduit includes a plurality of inlet ports distributed substantially uniformly along an entire length of the rinse head for supplying the rinse chemical to the surface of the substrate, and wherein the outlet conduits include a plurality of outlet ports distributed substantially uniformly along the entire length of the rinse head for removing the liquid medium and the rinse chemical from the surface of the substrate. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first and the second transducers include a plurality of transducers distributed substantially uniformly along an entire length of the portion of the rinse head, each of the plurality of transducers defining an acoustic energy application area, the plurality of transducers arranged so as to have an overlap in the acoustic energy application area defined by any two transducers. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of transducers operates at a distinct frequency. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the plurality of transducers operate at a single frequency. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , further includes a tuning mechanism to fine tune frequency of each of the plurality of transducers so as to provide desired acoustic energy. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of transducers include a sensor, the sensor used in controlling frequency at the respective transducer. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the sensors of the plurality of transducers are configured to work at several frequencies at any given time. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further including a second rinse head, the second rinse head equipped with,
 at least a second inlet conduit to supply the rinse chemical to an underside surface of the substrate as a meniscus, the second inlet conduit being substantially perpendicular to a surface of the second rinse head that faces the substrate, when present;   at least a second outlet conduit disposed on either side of the second inlet conduit to remove the rinse chemical and liquid medium from the underside surface of the substrate, the second outlet conduits being substantially perpendicular to the surface of the second rinse head facing the substrate and substantially parallel to the second inlet conduit, a portion of the surface of the second rinse head disposed between the second inlet conduit and each of the second outlet conduits being substantially flat and parallel to the surface of the substrate, when present; and   at least a second transducer disposed in the portion of the second rinse head between the second inlet conduit and each of the second outlet conduits, the second transducer within the second rinse head being positioned adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the second rinse head that is proximal to the underside surface of the substrate, when present,   wherein the second transducer in the second rinse head is configured to supply acoustic energy to the meniscus of the liquid medium when formed between the surface of the second rinse head and the underside surface of the substrate, when present.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the liquid medium is selected such that chemical structure of the liquid medium enables at least partial connection or interaction with the released particle contaminants, the liquid medium is partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the combined acoustic energy applied to the surface of the substrate and the liquid medium has a frequency between about 10 KHz to about 10 MHz. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for cleaning a surface of a substrate, comprising:
 a dispense head configured to supply a liquid medium as a meniscus to a top surface and an underside surface of the substrate, when present;   a first rinse head disposed to cover a top surface of the substrate, when present, the first rinse head equipped with,
 at least a first inlet conduit to supply rinse chemical to the top surface of the substrate as a meniscus, the first inlet conduit being substantially perpendicular to a surface of the first rinse head that faces the substrate, when present; 
 at least a first and a second outlet conduit disposed on either side of the first inlet conduit to remove the rinse chemical and liquid medium from the top surface of the substrate, wherein the first and the second outlet conduits are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the first rinse head facing the substrate and substantially parallel to the first inlet conduit, a portion of the surface of the first rinse head disposed between the first inlet conduit and each of the first and the second outlet conduits being substantially flat and parallel to the surface of the substrate, when present; and 
 at least a first and a second transducer disposed in the portion of the first rinse head between the first inlet conduit and each of the first and the second outlet conduits, the transducer being positioned adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the first rinse head that is proximal to the surface of the substrate, when present, the transducers configured to supply acoustic energy to the meniscus when formed between the surface of the first rinse head and the substrate, when present; 
   a second rinse head disposed to cover an underside surface of the substrate, when present, the second rinse head equipped with,
 at least a second inlet conduit to supply the rinse chemical as a meniscus to the underside surface of the substrate, when present, the second inlet conduit being substantially perpendicular to a surface of the second rinse head that faces the substrate, when present; 
 at least a third and fourth outlet conduits disposed on either side of the second inlet conduit and configured to remove the rinse chemical and liquid medium from the underside surface of the substrate, wherein the third and fourth outlet conduit being substantially perpendicular to the surface of the second rinse head facing the substrate and substantially parallel to the second inlet conduit, a portion of the surface of the second rinse head disposed between the second inlet conduit and each of the third and fourth outlet conduits being substantially flat and parallel to the surface of the substrate, when present; and 
 at least a third and a fourth transducer disposed in the portion of the surface of the second rinse head disposed between the second inlet conduit and each of the third and the fourth outlet conduits, the third and the fourth transducers within the second rinse head being positioned adjacent to an inner bottom surface of the second rinse head that is proximal to the underside surface of the substrate, when present,
 wherein the third and the fourth transducers in the second rinse head are configured to supply acoustic energy to the meniscus when formed between the surface of the second rinse head and the substrate, when present. 
 
   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the first, the second, the third and the fourth outlet conduits are each connected to a vacuum port so that vacuum may be applied to remove the liquid medium and the rinse chemical. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the dispense head and the first and the second rinse heads are elongated structures that span at least a diameter of the substrate, when present. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the first and the second inlet conduits and the first, the second, the third and the fourth outlet conduits are each configured to cover an entire length of the first and the second rinse heads. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein each of the first, the second, the third and the fourth transducers include a sensor, the sensor used in controlling frequency at the respective transducer. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , further includes a tuning mechanism to fine tune frequency of each of the first, the second, the third and the fourth transducers so as to provide desired frequency.