Specific Process Knowledge/Wafer cleaning: Difference between revisions

During processing it is sometimes mandatory, necessary or just recommended to clean the wafers or photo lithographic masks. This can be done by different cleaning procedures depending on what the wafers have been exposed to and where they are going to be further processed. As a general rule all wafers that go into the high temperature furnaces need a RCA clean directly before the furnace step. Wafers that have been etched in KOH is often transferred directly to the warm phosphoric acid for nitride strip. Therefore wafers that have been in the KOH baths, KOH BHF baths or the warm phosphoric acid always need at minimum a 7-up or Piranha clean before they can be further processed. Items that have been outside the cleanroom should always be cleaned in soap and ultra sound followed by a 7-up or Piranha clean before entering the cleanroom. Masks that has become dirty by dust particles and resist residues have to be cleaned in the 7-up (mask) bath before use. Sometimes the wafers need to be cleaned before they can enter certain equipments due to risk of cross contamination. Please consult the cross contamination scheme to see whether your wafers need a cleaning before the next processing sequence. Below is listed different cleaning procedures available at Danchip.