Laser-induced shock wave removal of chemical-mechanical polishing slurries from silicon wafers

A new dry cleaning methodology named laser-induced shock cleaning has been applied to remove the chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries from silicon wafer surfaces. After CMP process using the slurries, the slurry particles should be removed from the surface in order to avoid the circuit failure and enhance the yield. The well-distributed remaining silica particles were attempted to remove from the surface by using laser-induced plasma shock waves. In order to evaluate the cleaning performance quantitatively, the number of particles on the wafer surfaces were measured by surface scanner before and after cleaning. It was found that most of the silica particles on the wafer surface were removed after the treatment of laser-induced shock waves. The average removal efficiency of the particles was 99% over. It was found that cleaning performance is strongly dependent on a gap distance between laser focus and the surface and a suitable control of the gap is crucial for the successful removal of the particles.