Project BriefSemiconductor Nano-Scale Cleaning Using Electrohydrodynamics (EHD)Develop an electrostatic nanodroplet generation and control process that optimizes cleaning efficiencies on advanced semiconductor wafers, where manufacturing process debris is too small to be removed by conventional means. Sponsor: EHD Technology Group, Inc.1070 Hamilton RoadSuite E Duarte, CA 91010-2741
During the manufacture of semiconductor chips, multiple layers of material are deposited onto a circular wafer of silicon, and multiple patterning processes are performed on these thin layers. After many of these processes, temporary films such as photoresist, debris and contamination must be removed before the next process step can be started. Typically this is done using caustic chemicals, but as chips continue to shrink in size and the dimensions of individual devices approach tens of nanometers, smaller and smaller process debris must be removed if the chip is to function properly. It also becomes increasingly difficult to avoid damage from the wet chemistry cleaning process, and residual debris and cleaning damage can drastically reduce manufacturing yields. EHD Technology Group has proposed developing a wholly new chip-cleaning technology based on electrohydrodynamics (EHD) that will use electric fields to aerosolize pure water or other cleaning fluids into nanoscale droplets-50 times smaller than current processes-and direct them at the wafer surface. By scaling droplet size to debris size and using the electric fields to control the acceleration and force of the droplets, EHD can be "tuned" to impart just enough momentum to remove debris by physical force while minimizing damage to the wafer. In addition to improving production yields of chips, the EHD process will use significantly less water and caustic chemicals, for important cost and environmental benefits. EHD cleaning could significantly affect the $247 billion semiconductor industry, supporting the continued trend of smaller, lower-power, higher-performance electronic products.
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