Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Apparatus – Automatic controls
Patent
1997-06-09
1999-08-03
Coe, Philip R.
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Apparatus
Automatic controls
134113, 134184, 134902, B08B 312
Patent
active
059311738
ABSTRACT:
The invention can be used to monitor the cleaning effectiveness of a cleaning system in which vibrations (such as, for example, vibrations having a megasonic or ultrasonic frequency) are applied to a volume of fluid (e.g., water) in which an object to be cleaned (e.g., a substrate, such as semiconductor wafer or other semiconductor substrate) is at least partially immersed. Generally, the invention monitors the state of a physical characteristic of the fluid during the application of the vibrations, thus providing a more direct and accurate measure of the effectiveness of the cleaning than has heretofore been obtainable. For example, the magnitude of the acceleration of a pressure wave produced in the volume of fluid by the vibrations can be monitored, thus enabling the amplitude and/or frequency of the pressure wave to be determined. Or, the formation of bubbles on a surface that is immersed in the fluid can be detected in a manner that enables the size and/or the frequency of formation of such surface bubbles to be determined. These quantities can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the cleaning. The invention can be used, for example, during installation of a cleaning system, during qualification of a cleaning method, or as part of scheduled or diagnostic maintenance of a cleaning system. Further, the invention can be implemented with a cleaning system or method so as to enable control of the system or method in response to the evaluation of cleaning effectiveness, thus enabling real-time control of the cleaning system or method so as to increase the cleaning effectiveness of the system or method.
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Product information on VERTEQ Megasonic Cleaning Systems, 4 pages.
Coe Philip R.
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation
Graham David R.
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