Radiation imagery chemistry: process – composition – or product th – Imaging affecting physical property of radiation sensitive... – Removal of imaged layers
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-27
2001-10-23
Duda, Kathleen (Department: 1756)
Radiation imagery chemistry: process, composition, or product th
Imaging affecting physical property of radiation sensitive...
Removal of imaged layers
C134S001300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06306564
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to stripping semiconductor wafers and, in particular, to using a chemical, such as organic and/or inorganic stripping solvent(s), supported by supercritical CO
2
to remove resist material, such as photoresist, its residue, and/or an organic contaminant, from the surface of semiconductor device on the wafer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The manufacture of semiconductor devices typically requires the application and subsequent removal of photoresist from the top surface of a semiconductor wafer. The removal of photoresist, commonly called “stripping,” may be immediately preceded by a plasma ashing, etching, or other semiconductor manufacturing step. These steps can degrade or carbonize the photoresist and leave a photoresist residue that is difficult to remove by current stripping methods. A conventional stripping practice requires wafers to be dipped into baths of commercially available chemical mixtures known as “strippers.” These baths may employ heat and/or ultrasonic augmentation and typically require immersion times of twenty to thirty minutes to achieve complete removal of photoresist or its residue from the wafer surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a more efficient process for removing resist, its residue, or organic contaminants from wafers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a process that reduces the reaction time and the amount of chemicals used to remove resist.
In the present invention, supercritical CO
2
carries organic and/or inorganic chemicals into a heated and pressurized wafer chamber; interacts with resist, resist residues, and organic contaminants on the wafer surface; and carries these materials and remaining chemicals out of the chamber. Supercritical carbon dioxide (CO
2
) has a high solubilizing power and has been exploited in a variety of applications, such as for cleaning metal parts. The high solvency characteristics of supercritical CO
2
can assist in the process of stripping resist, its residue, or organic contaminants from the surfaces of semiconductor wafers. Because the diffusivity and viscosity of CO
2
at or above its supercritical point is similar to those of its gas phase, and because the density of supercritical CO
2
is nearly equal to that of its liquid state, supercritical CO
2
characteristics are ideal for bringing small amounts of chemicals into contact with submicron surface features of semiconductor devices. Since the solvency of supercritical CO
2
also increases with pressure, the invention permits a significantly smaller fraction of chemicals to effect the stripping process as compared to amounts of stripping chemicals required by prior art systems.
Additional objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Duda Kathleen
Haverstock & Owens LLP
Tokyo Electron Limited
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