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WO2019035920A1 - Appareil de pulvérisation de fluides cryogéniques - Google Patents

Appareil de pulvérisation de fluides cryogéniques Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2019035920A1
WO2019035920A1 PCT/US2018/000189 US2018000189W WO2019035920A1 WO 2019035920 A1 WO2019035920 A1 WO 2019035920A1 US 2018000189 W US2018000189 W US 2018000189W WO 2019035920 A1 WO2019035920 A1 WO 2019035920A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
gas
orifice
gas delivery
component
nozzle
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/US2018/000189
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Edward D. Hanzlik
Brian D. HANSEN
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Tel Manufacturing and Engineering of America Inc
Original Assignee
TEL FSI Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US15/681,105 external-priority patent/US10625280B2/en
Application filed by TEL FSI Inc filed Critical TEL FSI Inc
Priority to JP2020509089A priority Critical patent/JP7225211B2/ja
Priority to CN201880053652.8A priority patent/CN111344853A/zh
Priority to KR1020207007905A priority patent/KR20200066294A/ko
Publication of WO2019035920A1 publication Critical patent/WO2019035920A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
    • H01L21/67028—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B08—CLEANING
    • B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
    • B08B5/00—Cleaning by methods involving the use of air flow or gas flow
    • B08B5/02—Cleaning by the force of jets, e.g. blowing-out cavities
    • B08B5/023—Cleaning travelling work
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02041—Cleaning
    • H01L21/02057—Cleaning during device manufacture
    • H01L21/02068—Cleaning during device manufacture during, before or after processing of conductive layers, e.g. polysilicon or amorphous silicon layers
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
    • H01L21/67028—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
    • H01L21/6704—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like for wet cleaning or washing
    • H01L21/67051—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like for wet cleaning or washing using mainly spraying means, e.g. nozzles

Definitions

  • This disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for treating the surface of a microelectronic substrate, and in particular for removing objects from the microelectronic substrate using cryogenic fluids.
  • IC manufacturing may be carried out by the application and selective removal of various materials on the microelectronic substrate.
  • One aspect of the manufacturing process may include exposing the surface of the microelectronic substrate cleaning treatments to remove process residue and/or debris (e.g., particles) from the microelectronic substrate.
  • process residue and/or debris e.g., particles
  • the fluid or fluid mixtures may be exposed to the microelectronic substrate in a manner that may remove particles from a surface of the microelectronic substrate.
  • the fluid mixtures may include, but are not limited to, cryogenic aerosols and/or gas cluster jet (GCJ) sprays that may be formed by the expansion of the fluid mixture from a high pressure (e.g., greater than atmospheric pressure) environment to a lower pressure environment (e.g., sub-atmospheric pressure) that may include the microelectronic substrate.
  • a high pressure e.g., greater than atmospheric pressure
  • a lower pressure environment e.g., sub-atmospheric pressure
  • the embodiments described herein have demonstrated unexpected results by improving particle removal efficiency for sub-100nm particles without diminution of larger (e.g., >100nm) particle removal efficiency and/or without damaging microelectronic substrate features during particle removal.
  • the damage reduction may have been enabled by avoiding liquification or reducing (e.g., ⁇ 1% by weight) liquification of the fluid mixture prior to expansion.
  • an unexpected nozzle design has demonstrated improved particle removal efficiency by impacting the fluid expansion characteristics or the lateral flow of the expanded fluid across the microelectronic substrate.
  • Typical nozzles or multi-stage nozzles are designed to have flow conduits that are aligned along a common axis to minimize flow obstructions between nozzle components.
  • Flow obstructions may be introduced in several ways and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In some embodiments, the flow obstruction may be introduced by slightly misaligning nozzle or flow conduit components. In other embodiments, the flow obstruction may be introduced by adding obstruction components to alter the fluid flow path or characteristics within the nozzle or after the fluid leaves the nozzle.
  • a cryogenic treatment system may include one or more components of a nozzle that forms a fluid conduit for a fluid or gas used to treat or clean microelectronic substrates. Two or more components may be coupled together to form the fluid conduit that delivers a fluid or gas from a fluid source to a process chamber, in which the nozzle may be disposed above or opposite the microelectronic substrate.
  • the nozzle may include a two-stage nozzle design in which two components are coupled together to form a single fluid conduit that receives gas from a gas source and expands or conditions the gas to laterally flow across the microelectronic substrate when the gas leaves the nozzle.
  • the narrowing of the fluid conduit for a short distance of the total nozzle fluid conduit may introduce additional turbulent flow that may not ordinarily be found in a nozzle without a flow obstruction. It was found the thickness of the offset plate could vary the particle removal efficiency in addition to the varying of the diameter of the off-set orifice. It was found that using the obstructed nozzles disclosed herein impacted the lateral gas flow across the microelectronic substrate after the gas exited the nozzle. It was found the particle removal efficiency improved as result of using this nozzle to clean microelectronic substrates.
  • the off-set orifice may be aligned along a common centerline between the components that form the nozzle that delivers the treatment gas to the process vacuum chamber.
  • the diameter of the off-set orifice may be smaller than the diameters of the fluid channels of the nozzle components. In this way, a higher pressure differential may be achieved than without the presence of the off-set plate
  • FIG. 3 includes a cross-section illustration of a single stage gas nozzle according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • FIG. 4 includes a cross-section illustration of a flush gas nozzle according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure.
  • FIG. 12 includes a flow chart presenting another method of treating a microelectronic substrate with a fluid according to various embodiments.
  • FIG. 13 includes a bar chart of particle removal efficiency improvement between a non-liquid-containing fluid mixture and liquid-containing fluid mixture according to various embodiments.
  • the actuating mechanism may be designed to provide a range of motion sufficient in length to permit movement of the exposed surface of the microelectronic substrate 118 at least partly through the area of fluid spray emanating from the at least one nozzle 110.
  • the substrate translational drive system 128 may include a support arm (not shown) arranged to extend through a sliding vacuum seal (not shown) in a wall of vacuum chamber 120, wherein a first distal end is mounted to the movable chuck 122 and a second distal end is engaged with an actuator mechanism located outside the vacuum chamber 120.
  • the reservoir component 202 may include a cylindrical design that extends from the inlet orifice 204 to the transition orifice 206.
  • the cylinder may have a diameter 212 that may vary from the size of the transition orifice 206 to more than three times the size of the transition orifice 206.
  • the half angle may be the angle between an imaginary center line through expansion chamber of the SSG nozzle 300 (from the inlet orifice 302 and outlet orifice 304) and the sidewall of the expansion chamber (e.g., conical wall).
  • the SSG nozzle 300 may have length between 18mm and 40mm, preferably between 18mm and 25mm.
  • Another variation of the SSG nozzle 300 may include a continuous taper of the expansion volume from the inlet orifice 302 to the outlet orifice 304, as illustrated in FIG. 4.
  • FIG. 4 includes a cross-section illustration of a flush gas (FG) nozzle 400 that may include a continuous expansion chamber that does not include any offsets or constrictions between the inlet orifice 402 and the outlet orifice 404.
  • the initial diameter of the expansion volume may be flush with the inlet diameter 402, which may be between 0.5mm to 3mm, but preferably between 1mm and 1.5mm.
  • the outlet diameter 404 may be between 2mm and 12mm, but preferably between two times to four times the size of the inlet diameter 402.
  • the half angle may be between 3° and 10°, but preferably between, but preferably between 3° and 6°.
  • the temperature in the cryogenic cooling system 108 may be set to a point where at least a portion of the incoming fluid mixture to the nozzle 1 10 may exist in a liquid phase.
  • the nozzle mixture may be at least 10% by weight in a liquid state.
  • the liquid/gas mixture is then expanded at a high pressure into the process chamber 104 where the cryogenic aerosols may be formed and may include a substantial portion of solid and/or liquid particles.
  • the state of the fluid mixtures may not be the sole difference between the aerosol and GCJ processes, which will be described in greater detail below.
  • the pressure and temperature of the element is very close to the gas-liquid phase transition line 606, the likelihood that the element may exist in a gas and liquid phase is higher than when the pressure and temperature may be further away from the gas-liquid phase transition line 606.
  • the argon phase diagram 602 when argon is held at a pressure of 300psi at a temperature of 100K the argon is more likely to include portion that is in the liquid phase or have a higher concentration (by weight) of liquid than when the argon is maintained at a pressure of 300psi at a temperature of 130K.
  • the liquid concentration of argon may increase as the temperature decreases from 130K while maintaining a pressure of 300psi.
  • phase diagrams 600, 608 are similar to each of the phase diagrams 600, 608, however their values may be unique to the chemical assigned to each of the phase diagrams 600, 608, but the phase diagrams 600, 608 may be used by a person of ordinary skill in the art as described in the explanation of the argon phase diagram 602. A person of ordinary skill in the art may use the phase diagrams 600, 608 to optimize the amount of liquid and/or gas in the fluid mixture of the aerosol or GCJ sprays.
  • the momentum of the aerosol spray may play an important role in removing particles based, at least in part, on the amount of energy that may be needed to the aforementioned adhesive forces.
  • the particle removal efficiency may be optimized by producing cryogenic aerosols that may have components (e.g., droplets, crystals, etc.) of varying mass and/ or velocity.
  • the momentum needed to dislodge the contaminants is a function of mass and velocity.
  • the mass and velocity may be very important to overcome the strong adhesive forces between the particle and the surface of the substrate, particularly when the particle may be very small ( ⁇ 100nm).
  • the fluid mixture may undergo a phase transition related to the expansion of the fluid mixture from a relatively high pressure (e.g., > atmospheric pressure) to a relatively low pressure (e.g., ⁇ 35Torr).
  • a relatively high pressure e.g., > atmospheric pressure
  • a relatively low pressure e.g., ⁇ 35Torr
  • the incoming fluid mixture may exist in a gaseous or liquid-gas phase and be under relatively higher pressure than the process chamber 104.
  • the fluid mixture may begin to transition to form liquid droplets and/or a solid state as described above.
  • the expanded fluid mixture may comprises a combination of portions in a gas phase, a liquid phase, and/or a solid phase.
  • the fluid mixture may also include a gas cluster.
  • gas clusters may be an agglomeration of atoms or molecules by weak attractive forces (e.g., van der Waals forces).
  • gas clusters may be considered a phase of matter between gas and solid the size of the gas clusters may range from a few molecules or atoms to more than 10 5 atoms.
  • Nozzle geometries that have a conical shape help constrain the expanding gas and enhance the number of collisions between atoms or molecules for more efficient cluster formation.
  • the nozzle 110 may enhance the formation of clusters large enough to dislodge contaminants from the surface of the substrate 118.
  • the GCJ spray emanating from the nozzle 110 may not be ionized before it impinges on the substrate 118 but remains as a neutral collection of atoms.
  • a person of ordinary skill in the art may implement a GCJ process that increases the amount or density of gas clusters relative to any liquid droplets and/or solid particles (e.g., frozen liquid) that may exist in the GCJ methods described herein.
  • Those GCJ methods may have several different techniques to optimize the cleaning process and a person of ordinary skill in the art may use any combination of these techniques to clean any microelectronic substrate 118.
  • a person of ordinary skill in the art may vary the nozzle 110 design and/or orientation, the fluid mixture's composition or, concentration, the fluid mixture's incoming pressure and/or temperature and the process chamber's 104 pressure and/or temperature to clean microelectronic substrates 118.
  • FIG. 8 provides a flow chart 800 for a cryogenic method for generating a GCJ process to remove particles from a microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the method may be representative of a GCJ process that may use a multi-stage nozzle 110, similar to the two-stage gas (TSG) nozzle 200 described herein in the description of FIGS. 2A-2B.
  • the FIG. 8 embodiment may reflect the pressure differences or changes of the fluid mixture as it transitions from a high pressure environment to a low pressure environment through the multi-stage nozzle 110.
  • the system 100 may supply or condition the fluid mixture to be at a temperature less than 273K and a pressure that may be greater than atmospheric pressure.
  • the fluid mixture temperature may be between 70K and 200K or more particularly between 70K and 120K.
  • the fluid mixture pressure may be between 50psig and 800psig.
  • at least a majority (by weight) of the fluid mixture may be in the gas phase.
  • the fluid mixture may be less than 10% (by weight) in the gas phase, and more particularly may be less than 1% (by weight) in the gas phase.
  • the fluid mixture may be a single fluid composition or a combination of fluids that may include, but are not limited to, N2, argon, xenon, helium, neon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof.
  • a person of ordinary skill in the art may choose one or more combinations of the aforementioned fluids to treat the substrate using one fluid mixture at a time or a combination of fluid mixtures for the same microelectronic substrate 1 18.
  • the fluid mixture may include a 1 :1 to 4:1 mixture of N2 to argon that may be mixed one or more of the following carrier gases: xenon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof.
  • the carrier gas composition and concentration may be optimized with different ratios of N2 and argon with different ratios of the carrier gases.
  • the carrier gases may be included based on the Hagena value, k as shown in Table 1.
  • the ratio mixture may be at least 1 :4 between N 2 , argon, or a combination thereof (e.g., 1 :1 to 4:1 ) and helium, neon or combination thereof.
  • the aforementioned combinations of N2, argon and/or the carrier gases may also apply to the other aerosol and GCJ methods described herein.
  • the fluid mixture may include a combination of and argon and N 2 at a ratio between 1 : 1 and 1 1 :1.
  • This fluid mixture may also include carrier gases (e.g., Table 1 ).
  • the fluid mixture may also include a pure argon or pure nitrogen composition that may be used using the aerosol or GCJ methods described herein.
  • the system 100 may provide the fluid mixture to the fluid expansion component from the fluid source 106 and/or from the cryogenic cooling system 108.
  • the system 100 may also maintain the process chamber 104 at a pressure less than 35Torr.
  • the system 100 may use the vacuum system 134 to control the process chamber 104 pressure prior to or when the fluid mixture may be introduced to the process chamber 104.
  • the process chamber 104 pressure may between 5Torr-10Torr and in some embodiments the pressure may be less than 5Torr.
  • the fluid mixture may proceed to the transition orifice 206 which may or may not be smaller than the diameter of the reservoir component 202.
  • the transition orifice 206 When the transition orifice 206 is smaller than the reservoir component 202 diameter, the fluid mixture may be compressed to a higher pressure when flowing to or through the transition orifice 206 into the outlet component 208 of the TSG nozzle 200.
  • the fluid mixture may be maintained at an outlet pressure in the outlet component 208 of the fluid expansion component.
  • the outlet pressure may be greater than the chamber pressure and less than the reservoir component 202 pressure.
  • the fluid mixture may expand and may form gas clusters as described above.
  • the difference in pressure between the outlet component 210 and the process chamber 104 may be due to the smaller confined volume of the outlet component 210 compared to the larger volume of the process chamber 104.
  • the gas clusters may be directed towards the outlet orifice 210 and the fluid mixture may continue to expand after the fluid mixture exits the TSG nozzle 200.
  • the momentum may direct at least a majority of the gas cluster spray towards the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the size of the gas cluster may vary between a few atoms up to 10 5 .
  • the process may be optimized to control the number of gas clusters and their size by varying by the aforementioned process conditions. For example, a person of ordinary skill in the art may alter the incoming fluid mixture pressure, fluid mixture composition/concentration, process chamber 104 pressure or any combination thereof to remove particles from the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the components of the GCJ spray may be used to kinetically or chemically remove objects or contaminants from the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the objects may be removed via the kinetic impact of the GCJ spray and/or any chemical interaction of the fluid mixture may have with the objects.
  • the removal of the objects is not limited to the theories of kinetic and/or chemical removal and that any theory that may be used to explain their removal is applicable, in that the removal of the objects after applying the GCJ spray may be sufficient evidence for any applicable theory that may be used to explain the objects removal.
  • the relative position of the TSG nozzle 200 and the microelectronic substrate 118 may also be used to optimize object removal.
  • the angle of incidence of the GCJ spray may be adjusted by moving the TSG nozzle 200 between 0° and 90° between the surface of the microelectronic substrate 118 the plane and the outlet orifice 210.
  • the angle of incidence may be between 30° and 60° to remove objects based on the composition or pattern on the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the angle of incidence may be between 60° and 90°, and more particularly about 90°.
  • more than one nozzle 110 may be used to treat the microelectronic substrate 118 at similar or varying angles of incidence.
  • the microelectronic substrate 118 may also be translated and/or rotated during the removal process.
  • the removal speed may be optimized to a desired dwell time of the GCJ spray over particular portions of the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • a person of ordinary skill in the art may optimize the dwell time and GCJ spray impingement location to achieve a desired particle removal efficiency. For example, a desirable particle removal efficient may be greater than 80% removal between pre and post particle measurements.
  • the gap distance between the outlet orifice 210 and a surface of the microelectronic substrate 118 may be optimized to increase particle removal efficiency.
  • the gap distance is described in greater detail in the description of FIG. 5, but generally the gap distance may be less than 50mm.
  • the microelectronic substrate 118 may be received in the process chamber 104 that may include a gas expansion component (GEC) (e.g., nozzle 300, 400).
  • GEC gas expansion component
  • the GEC may be any of the nozzles 110 described herein, but may particularly be configured the same or similar to the TSG nozzles 200, the SSG nozzle 300 or the Flush nozzle 400.
  • the nozzles may include an inlet orifice 402 to receive the fluid mixture and an outlet orifice 404 that flows the fluid mixture into the process chamber 104.
  • the system 100 may position the microelectronic substrate 118 opposite of the GEC, such that the outlet orifice 404 disposed above or adjacent to the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the GEC may be also be positioned at an angle relative to the surface of the microelectronic substrate 118. The surface being the portion where the microelectronic devices are manufactured. The angle may range between 0° and 90°.
  • the GEC positioning may also be optimized based on the gap distance 502 as described in FIG. 5.
  • the gap distance 502 may have an impact on the flow distribution towards and/or across the microelectronic substrate 118. As the gap distance 502 increases the cleaning surface area may decrease and may require additional nozzle passes to maintain or improve particle removal efficiency.
  • the speed of the expanded fluid mixture may also vary depending on the gap distance 502. For example, the fluid flow laterally across the microelectronic substrate 118 may increase when the gap distance 502 is decreased. In some embodiments, the higher velocity may provide higher particle removal efficiency.
  • the GEC may likely be within 50mm of the microelectronic substrate's 118 surface. But, in most embodiments, the gap distance 502 may be less than 10mm for the aerosol or GCJ processes described herein. In one specific embodiment, the gap distance 502 may be about 5mm prior to dispensing the fluid mixture through the GEC into the process chamber 104.
  • the temperature may be greater than or equal to 70K and less than 273K fluid mixture that may include nitrogen, argon, xenon, helium, carbon dioxide, krypton or any combination thereof.
  • the pressure may be selected using the phase diagrams 600, 608 or by any other known measurement technique that minimizes the amount of liquid concentration to less than 1 % by weight in the fluid mixture. In most embodiments, the pressure may be less than or equal to 10Torr, however in other embodiments, the pressure may be greater than 10Torr to maximize particle removal efficiency.
  • the system may provide the fluid mixture into the process chamber 104 through the GEC such that at least a portion of the fluid mixture will contact the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the fluid mixture may expand from a relatively high pressure to a low pressure in the process chamber 104.
  • the process chamber 104 may be maintained at a chamber pressure of 35Torr or less.
  • the fluid mixture may include a combination of and argon and N 2 at a ratio between 1 :1 and 11 :1.
  • This fluid mixture may also include carrier gases (e.g., Table 1).
  • the fluid mixture may also include a pure argon or pure nitrogen composition that may be used using the aerosol or GCJ methods described herein.
  • the ratio between N2 and argon, or a combination thereof and the carrier gases should be done using a ratio mixture of at least 4:1 when using xenon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof with up to a ratio mixture of 11:1.
  • the ratio mixture may be at least 1 :4 between N 2 , argon, or a combination thereof (e.g., 1 :1 to 4:1) and helium, neon or combination thereof.
  • the fluid mixture may include N2 combined with helium or neon and at least one of the following gases: argon, krypton, xenon, carbon dioxide.
  • the mixture ratio the aforementioned combination may be 1 :2:1.8.
  • the expanded fluid mixture (e.g., GCJ spray) may be projected towards the microelectronic substrate 118 and contacts the objects (e.g., kinetic and/or chemical interaction) on the surface, such the objects may be removed from the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the kinetic and/or chemical interaction of the GCJ spray may overcome the adhesive forces between the objects and the microelectronic substrate 1 18.
  • the objects may be removed from the process chamber 104 via the vacuum system 134 or deposited elsewhere within the process chamber 104.
  • FIG. 10 illustrates another flow chart 1000 for another method for treating a microelectronic substrate 118 with a cryogenic fluid.
  • the fluid mixture may generate a GCJ spray that may have a relatively low liquid concentration.
  • the temperature and pressure of the fluid mixture may have an impact on how much liquid (by weight) may be in the fluid mixture.
  • the liquid concentration of the fluid mixture may be optimized by varying the temperature.
  • the microelectronic substrate 1 18 may be received in the process chamber 104 that may include a gas expansion component (GEC) (e.g., nozzle 300, 400).
  • GEC gas expansion component
  • the GEC may be any of the nozzles 1 10 described herein, but may particularly be configured the same or similar to the TSG nozzles 200, the SSG nozzle 300 or the Flush nozzle 400.
  • the nozzles may include an inlet orifice 402 to receive the fluid mixture and an outlet orifice 404 that flows the fluid mixture into the process chamber 104.
  • the system 100 may supplying the fluid mixture to the GEC at a pressure greater than atmospheric pressure and at a temperature that is less than 273K and greater than a condensation temperature of the fluid mixture at the given pressure.
  • the condensation temperature may vary between different gases and may vary between different gas mixtures with different compositions and concentrations.
  • a person of ordinary skill in the art may be able to determine the gas condensation temperature for the fluid mixture using known literature (e.g., phase diagrams) or empirical techniques based, at least in part, on observation and/or measurement of the fluid mixture using known techniques.
  • the condensation temperature at a given pressure, may the temperature at which a fluid may transition exist in a liquid phase.
  • the condensation temperature indicates the fluid mixture may exist in a gaseous state without any liquid phase being present or with a very small amount of liquid (e.g., ⁇ 1% by weight).
  • the fluid mixture temperature may vary between 50K and 200K, but more particularly between 70K and 150K depending on the fluid mixture composition which include gases with different condensation temperatures.
  • the system 100 may provide the fluid mixture into the process chamber 104 through the GEC, such that at least a portion of the fluid mixture will contact the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the process chamber 104 pressure may at least sub-atmospheric, but more particularly less than 10Torr.
  • the fluid mixture may include a combination of N2 and argon at a ratio between 1 :1 and 11:1 , particularly at ratio less than 4:1.
  • the fluid mixture may include another carrier gas that may alter the mass and/or velocity of the GCJ spray.
  • the carrier gases may include, but are not limited to, xenon, helium, neon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof.
  • the fluid mixture may include a 1 :1 to 4:1 mixture of N 2 to argon that may be mixed one or more of the following carrier gases: xenon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof.
  • the ratio between N 2 and argon, or a combination thereof should be done using a ratio mixture of at least 4:1 when using xenon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof with up to a ratio mixture of 11 :1.
  • the ratio mixture may be at least 1 :4 between N 2 , argon, or a combination thereof (e.g., 1 :1 to 4:1) and helium, neon or combination thereof.
  • the fluid mixture may include a combination of and argon and N 2 at a ratio between 1:1 and 11 :1.
  • This fluid mixture may also include carrier gases (e.g., Table 1).
  • the fluid mixture may also include a pure argon or pure nitrogen composition that may be used using the aerosol or GCJ methods described herein.
  • FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart 1100 for another method for treating a microelectronic substrate 118 with a cryogenic fluid.
  • the fluid mixture may generate a GCJ spray that may have a relatively low liquid concentration.
  • the temperature and pressure of the fluid mixture may have an impact on how much liquid (by weight) may be in the fluid mixture.
  • the liquid concentration of the fluid mixture may be optimized by varying the pressure.
  • the gap distance 502 may be determined using the controller 112 to use a calculation using the recipe pressure and a constant value that will be described below.
  • the microelectronic substrate 118 may be received in the process chamber 104 that may include a gas expansion component (GEC) (e.g., nozzle 300).
  • GEC gas expansion component
  • the GEC may be any of the nozzles 110 described herein, but may particularly be configured the same as or similar to the TSG nozzles 200, the SSG nozzle 300 or the Flush nozzle 400.
  • the nozzles may include an inlet orifice 402 to receive the fluid mixture and an outlet orifice 404 that flows the fluid mixture into the process chamber 104.
  • the system 100 may supply a gas mixture to the GEC at an incoming temperature less than 273K and an incoming pressure that prevents liquid from forming in the gas mixture at the incoming temperature.
  • the N 2 phase diagram 604 indicates that a fluid mixture at about 100K would likely have a pressure less than 100psi to maintain the N 2 in gaseous phase. If the pressure was about 150psi or higher, there would be a stronger probability that the liquid phase may be present in the N 2 process gas.
  • the system 100 may provide the fluid mixture into the process chamber 104 through the GEC, such that at least a portion of the fluid mixture will contact the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the process chamber 104 pressure may at least sub-atmospheric, but more particularly less than 10Torr.
  • the fluid mixture may include a combination of N 2 and argon at a ratio between 1 :1 and 1 1 :1 , particularly at ratio less than 4:1.
  • the fluid mixture may include another carrier gas that may alter the mass and/or velocity of the GCJ spray.
  • the carrier gases may include, but are not limited to, xenon, helium, neon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof.
  • the fluid mixture may include a 1 :1 to 4:1 mixture of N 2 to argon that may be mixed one or more of the following carrier gases: xenon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof.
  • the ratio between N 2 and argon, or a combination thereof should be done using a ratio mixture of at least 4:1 when using xenon, krypton, carbon dioxide or any combination thereof with up to a ratio mixture of 11 :1.
  • the ratio mixture may be at least 1 :4 between N2, argon, or a combination thereof (e.g., 1 :1 to 4:1) and helium, neon or combination thereof.
  • the aforementioned combinations of N2, argon and/or the carrier gases may also apply to the other aerosol and GCJ methods described herein.
  • the fluid mixture may include a combination of and argon and N 2 at a ratio between 1 :1 and 11 :1.
  • This fluid mixture may also include carrier gases (e.g., Table 1).
  • the fluid mixture may also include a pure argon or pure nitrogen composition that may be used using the aerosol or GCJ methods described herein.
  • the system 100 may position the microelectronic substrate 118 at a gap distance 502 between the outlet (e.g., outlet orifice 404) and the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the gap distance 502 being based, at least in part, on a ratio of the chamber pressure and a constant parameter with a value between 40 and 60, as shown in equation 1 in the description of FIG. 5.
  • the units of the constant parameter may have units of be length/pressure (e.g., mm/Torr).
  • FIG. 12 illustrates a flow chart 1200 for another method for treating a microelectronic substrate 118 with a cryogenic fluid.
  • the fluid mixture may generate a GCJ spray that may have a relatively low liquid concentration.
  • the temperature and pressure of the fluid mixture may have an impact on how much liquid (by weight) may be in the fluid mixture.
  • the system 100 may maintain a ratio between the incoming fluid mixture pressure and the chamber 104 pressure to optimize the momentum or composition (e.g., gas cluster, etc.). Additionally, the system 100 may also optimize the incoming fluid mixture pressure to control the liquid concentration of the incoming fluid mixture within the confines of the pressure ratio relationship between the incoming pressure and the process chamber 104 pressure.
  • the microelectronic substrate 118 may be received in the process chamber 104 that may include a gas expansion component (GEC) (e.g., nozzle 300,400).
  • GEC gas expansion component
  • the GEC may be any of the nozzles 110 described herein, but may particularly be configured the same as or similar to the TSG nozzles 200, the SSG nozzle 300 or the Flush nozzle 400.
  • the nozzles may include an inlet orifice 402 to receive the fluid mixture and an outlet orifice 404 that flows the fluid mixture into the process chamber 104.
  • the system 100 may supplying the fluid mixture to the vacuum process chamber 104 and the system 100 may maintain the fluid mixture at a temperature and/or pressure that maintains the fluid mixture in a gas phase.
  • the fluid mixture may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following gases: nitrogen, argon, xenon, krypton, carbon oxide or helium.
  • the pressure difference across the nozzle may be controlled to maintain GCJ/Aerosol spray momentum or composition (e.g., gas cluster size, gas cluster density, solid particle size, etc.).
  • the values are in view of similar unit, such that the controller 112 may convert the pressures to the same or similar units to control the incoming and chamber pressures.
  • the upper threshold embodiments may include a pressure ratio that may not be exceed, such that the incoming pressure over the chamber pressure may be less than the upper threshold ratio.
  • the upper threshold values may be one of the following values: 300000, 5000, 3000, 2000, 1000 or 500.
  • the controller 1 12 may maintain the incoming and process pressure to be within a range of the pressure ratio values.
  • Exemplary ranges may include, but are not limited to: 100000 to 300000, 200000 to 300000, 50000 to 100000, 5000 to 25000, 200 to 3000, 800 to 2000, 500 to 1000 or 700 to 800.
  • the system 100 may position the microelectronic substrate 118 at a gap distance 502 between the outlet (e.g., outlet orifice 404) and the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the gap distance 502 being based, at least in part, on a ratio of the chamber pressure and a constant parameter with a value between 40 and 60, as shown in equation 1 in the description of FIG. 5.
  • the units of the constant parameter may have units of be length/pressure (e.g., mm/Torr).
  • the expanded fluid mixture may be projected towards the microelectronic substrate 118 and contacts the objects (e.g., kinetic and/or chemical interaction) on the surface, such the objects may be removed from the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the kinetic and/or chemical interaction of the GCJ spray may overcome the adhesive forces between the objects and the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the objects may be removed from the process chamber 104 via the vacuum system 134 or deposited elsewhere within the process chamber 104.
  • FIG. 13 includes a bar chart 1300 of particle removal efficiency improvement between a non-liquid-containing fluid mixture (e.g., GCJ) and liquid- containing fluid mixture (e.g., aerosol).
  • a non-liquid-containing fluid mixture e.g., GCJ
  • liquid- containing fluid mixture e.g., aerosol
  • One of the unexpected results disclosed herein relates to improved particle removal efficiency for sub-100nm particles and maintaining, or improving, particle removal efficiency for particles greater than 100nm.
  • Previous techniques may include treating microelectronic substrates with cryogenic fluid mixtures that have a liquid concentration greater than 10%.
  • Newer techniques that generated the unexpected results may include treating microelectronic substrates 118 with cryogenic fluid mixtures that have no liquid concentration (by weight) or a liquid concentration less than 1%.
  • microelectronic substrates 118 were deposited with silicon nitride particles using a commercially available deposition system.
  • the silicon nitride particles had a similar density and sizes for both tests.
  • the baseline cryogenic process e.g., liquid concentration >1% by weight
  • the GCJ was applied a different group of microelectronic substrates 118 also covered with silicon nitride particles.
  • the GCJ process include a nitrogen to argon flow ratio of 2:1 with an inlet pressure of 83 psig prior to the nozzle 110 which separated the high pressure fluid source from the vacuum chamber that was maintained at about 9 Torr.
  • the nozzle 110 inlet diameter was - 0.06".
  • the gas distance 502 was between 2.5-4mm.
  • the wafer was passed underneath the nozzle two times such that a region contaminated with the particles would be exposed twice to the GCJ spray.
  • the particles were measured before and after processing using a KLA SURF SCAN SP2-XP from KLA- TencorTM of Milpitas, CA.
  • sub-100nm particle removal efficiency decreased from greater than 80% for particles greater than 90nm down to less than 30% for particles less than 42nm.
  • the PRE dropped from ⁇ 87% (@>90nm particles) to ⁇ 78% for particles between 65nm to 90nm.
  • the falloff in PRE between 55nm-65nm particles and 40mn-55nm was more pronounced.
  • the PRE dropped to ⁇ 61% and ⁇ 55%, respectively.
  • the greatest decrease in PRE was seen for particles less 40nm, ⁇ 24% PRE.
  • the GCJ PRE for particles greater than 90nm improved to over 95% which is more than a 5% improvement over results using previous techniques.
  • the GCJ process demonstrated greater ability to remove sub-100nm particles as particle sizes decreased when compared to previous techniques.
  • the 65nm-90nm, 55nm-65nm and the 40nm-55nm bins had at least 90% PRE.
  • the improvements ranging between ⁇ 15% to ⁇ 35% for each bin size.
  • the greatest improvement was for the sub-40nm bin size with a PRE improvement from 25% to -82%.
  • FIG. 14 includes particle maps 1400 of microelectronic substrates that illustrate a wider cleaning area based, at least in part, on a smaller gap distance 502 between a nozzle 110 and the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • a smaller gap distance 502 between a nozzle 110 and the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the 5mm gap distance has a wider cleaning area than the 10mm gap distance.
  • the 5mm gap particle map 1406 shows that for the right half of the microelectronic substrate 118, the PRE was ⁇ 70%.
  • the 10mm gap particle map 1408 had a -50% PRE for the right half of the 200mm microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the 5mm gap particle map indicates a cleaned area 1410 that is about 80mm wide from a nozzle 110 with an outlet orifice of no more than 6mm. It was unexpected that a nozzle 110 with such a small outlet orifice would be able to have an effective cleaning distance more than 12 times its own size.
  • FIG. 15 includes pictures 1500 of microelectronic substrate features that show different feature damage differences between previous techniques (e.g., aerosol) and techniques (e.g., GCJ) disclosed herein.
  • the difference in damage is visible to the naked eye and confirmed by closer inspection by a scanning electron microscope (SEM).
  • SEM scanning electron microscope
  • polysilicon features were formed on the microelectronic substrate using known patterning techniques. The features had a width of about 20nm and a height of about 125nm.
  • Separate feature samples e.g., line structures
  • the particle removal efficiency may be improved by modifying the nozzle design to include a small obstruction to the gas flow within the nozzle.
  • Typical nozzles or multi-stage nozzles are designed to have flow conduits that are aligned along a common axis to minimize flow obstructions between nozzle components.
  • particle removal efficiency could be improved by incorporating a flow obstruction within the nozzle design.
  • Flow obstructions may be introduced in several ways and this concept is not limited to the embodiments described herein.
  • the flow obstruction may be introduced by slightly misaligning the nozzle or flow conduit components. In other embodiments, the flow obstruction may be introduced by adding obstruction components to alter the fluid flow path or characteristics within the nozzle or after the fluid leaves the nozzle.
  • the obstructed nozzle designs described in the description of FIGS. 16-22 of this disclosure are merely examples of how a person of ordinary skill in the art form an obstruction in the nozzle.
  • the obstructed nozzle design may be implemented, but is not limited to, a two-piece embodiment with misaligned longitudinal axes between the two components to form a flow obstruction in one embodiment.
  • the nozzle design may include an additional component disposed between a two-piece nozzle design to obstruct a portion of the flow path within the fluid conduit of the nozzle.
  • FIG. 16 includes a cross-section illustration of a two-piece nozzle 1600 design incorporating a gas delivery component 1602 coupled to a gas expansion component 1604 that together form a fluid conduit that directs the fluid or gas mixture towards the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the two- piece nozzle would be used in place of the nozzle 110 in process chamber 104, as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the gas delivery component 1602 may have a VCR connection (not shown) on one end where the incoming gas mixture is received from the fluid source 106 and a mating flange on the opposite end, adjacent to the gas expansion component 1604.
  • the gas delivery fluid conduit 1606 of the gas delivery component 1602 may be similar in diameter to the gas supply line (e.g., 1 ⁇ 4") (not shown) from the fluid source 106.
  • the gas delivery fluid conduit 1606 may have a reduced diameter bore on the mating end of the component that may be the same or similar to the mating end of the gas expansion component 1604 to enable fluid communication between the gas delivery fluid conduit 1606 and the gas expansion conduit 1608.
  • the dimensions of the fluid conduits or orifices at the interface of the two-piece nozzle 1600 will be described in the description of FIG. 17.
  • the two-piece nozzle 1600 components may be attached together using screws (e.g., machine screws) and the interface 1610 of the fluid conduits of the components may be sealed to form a leak tight seal using an o-ring or any other gas sealing techniques used by a person of ordinary skill in the art.
  • the two- piece nozzle 1600 may be made of any material capable of constraining a pressurized gas (e.g., >10psi) and directing the gas flow into the process chamber 104.
  • the materials may include, but are not limited to, stainless steel and any other material used to accommodate the cleanliness, gas temperature, and pressure requirements to implement the microelectronic substrate treatments disclosed herein.
  • the gas expansion component 1604 may be of similar design of the nozzles described in the descriptions of FIGS. 2A-4 that may be derived into a two-piece design.
  • the alignment of the two-piece nozzle 1600 fluid conduits may be misaligned slightly along a longitudinal axis (not shown in FIG. 16) along the centerline of one of the fluid conduits.
  • the misalignment may be induced by the screw placement between the components of the two-piece nozzle 1600.
  • the misalignment at the interface 1610 of the two components is shown in detail in FIG. 17.
  • FIG. 17 includes a cross-section close-up illustration 1700 of the interface 1610 between the gas delivery component 1602 coupled and the gas expansion component 1604 of the two-piece nozzle 1600.
  • the gas delivery component 1602 may include a gas delivery conduit 1606 disposed along a gas delivery centerline 1702 which is a longitudinal axis along the gas delivery component's 1602 that is equidistant from the sides of the gas delivery conduit 1606.
  • the gas expansion centerline 1704 is another longitudinal axis along the gas expansion fluid conduit 1608 that is equidistant from the sides of the fluid conduit.
  • the gas delivery centerline 1702 and the gas expansion centerline 1704 are offset or misaligned from each other in a horizontal direction parallel to the mating surfaces of the two-piece nozzle 1600.
  • the misalignment of the circular orifices causes the effective surface area at the interface 1610 to decrease in size from a circular surface area to an oblong surface area that is smaller than the circular surface area when the components are not misaligned.
  • An example of this oblong surface area is shown in FIG. 20.
  • the misalignment may range between 0mm and 1.5mm in a horizontal direction that is parallel with the mating surface between the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1606.
  • the gas delivery conduit 1606 may have an exit orifice 1706 disposed at one end of the gas delivery channel or gas delivery conduit 1606 and is opposite the entry orifice 1708.
  • the entry orifice 1708 is off-center from the longitudinal axis (e.g., gas delivery centerline 1702) of the gas delivery component 1602.
  • the misalignment of the two nozzle components may form an obstruction to the incoming gas by forming a shelf 1710 with an overhang 1712 on the opposite side of the interface 1610.
  • the combination of the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604 forms a gas flow obstruction (e.g., shelf 1710) for the gas delivery conduit 1606 to alter the flow characteristics of the gas mixture.
  • the obstruction reduces or alters the size of the opening to be less than the entry orifice 1708 and the exit orifice 1706.
  • the shape of the shelf orifice 1714 is changed from a circular opening to an oblong opening, which may further alter the flow characteristics the lateral flow of the gas mixture when it leaves the two-piece nozzle 1600 and interacts with the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the obstruction formed by the shelf 1710 the misalignment also forms the overhang 1712 across from or opposite to the shelf 1710. This overhang 1712 enables lateral gas flow at a portion of an interface 1610 between the gas delivery conduit 1606 and the gas expansion conduit 1608.
  • the overhang 1712 may also alter the gas flow characteristics of the gas mixture when it leaves the nozzle.
  • the sizes of the orifices e.g., exit orifice 1706 and the entry orifice 1708
  • the amount of misalignment will impact the size and shape of the shelf orifice 1714, shelf 1710, and the overhang 1712.
  • the diameters (e.g., exit orifice 1706 and the entry orifice 1708) of the fluid conduits at the interface 1610 may range between 0.125mm to 5mm, but may be about 2.6mm in one specific embodiment. However, it's not required the orifice diameters be the same in other embodiments as shown in FIG. 17. Further, the misalignment between the gas expansion centerline 1704 and the gas delivery centerline 1702 may vary between 0.1 mm and 0.15mm to achieve an oblong surface at the interface 1600. In one specific embodiment, the gas expansion centerline 1704 and the gas delivery centerline 1702 may be offset from each other by about 0.25mm. A person of ordinary skill in the art may alter the diameters and the misalignment to achieve a desired particle removal efficiency result using the treatment methods disclosed herein.
  • misalignment of the components of the two-piece nozzle 1600 is not limited to the embodiment described in FIGS. 16-17 and may be implemented without misaligning the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604.
  • FIGS. 18 and 19 would be an example of such an embodiment.
  • FIG. 18 includes a cross-section illustration of an offset-plate nozzle 1800 design incorporating an offset plate 1802 disposed between the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604 to form an oblong orifice at the interface 1610 between the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604.
  • the gas delivery centerline 1702 and the gas expansion centerline 1704 are not offset or misaligned to form the nozzle obstruction, as shown in FIG. 17.
  • the obstruction may be introduced by the offset plate 1802, which may have an offset orifice 1804 or diameter that may have a centerline that may be offset from the centerlines of the aligned gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604, as shown in FIG. 19.
  • the offset plate orifice 1804 may form an oblong surface area across the offset-plate nozzle 1800, similar to the shelf orifice 1714 at the interface 1610 of the offset plate 1802.
  • the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604 may have the same or similar design characteristics as described in the description of FIGS. 16 and 17.
  • the offset-plate nozzle 1800 may include the gas delivery component 1602 comprising a gas delivery channel (e.g., delivery fluid conduit 1606) disposed along a longitudinal axis along the fluid conduit of the gas delivery component 1602, ending with an exit orifice 1706 adjacent to the offset-plate 1802 at the interface 1610 between gas delivery component 1602 and gas expansion component 1604.
  • a gas delivery channel e.g., delivery fluid conduit 1606
  • the gas expansion component 1604 may be coupled to the other side of the offset-pate 1802 and may include an entry orifice 1708 that is aligned with longitudinal axis of the gas delivery channel, such that the gas delivery centerline 1702 and the gas expansion centerline 1704 are aligned. Accordingly, the flow obstruction for this embodiment will be introduced using the offset plate 1802.
  • the offset plate 1802 may include an offset orifice 1804 positioned within the offset plate 1802, such that the offset orifice 1804 would be off-center from the longitudinal axis of the gas delivery component 1602 when the offset plate 1802 is connected to the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604.
  • the offset design would allow a portion of the offset plate 1802 to extend out into the gas flow path of the offset plate nozzle 1800 to form an obstruction that alters the gas flow characteristics in a similar manner as the shelf 1712 in the FIG. 17 embodiment.
  • the size and location of the offset orifice 1804 may vary depending on the desired flow characteristics to maximize particle removal efficiency.
  • the exit orifice 1706, entry orifice 1708, and the off-set orifice 1804 may have the same diameter, however the diameters may be misaligned along their center points, such that a flow obstruction is formed in the gas flow path.
  • these three orifice diameters are not required to be the same size in other embodiments.
  • the sizes may be varied accordingly to adjust the oblong area at the interface 1610 to improve particle removal efficiency on the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • FIG. 19 the design of the offset-plate nozzle 1800 will be described in detail and provide examples of the design variations for the offset orifice 1804.
  • FIG. 19 includes a close-up view 1900 of a cross-section illustration of the interface 1610 of the offset-plate nozzle 1800.
  • the exit orifice 1706 of the gas delivery component 1602 the entry orifice 1708 of the gas expansion component 1604 may have similar dimensions as described in the description of FIGS. 16-17.
  • the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604 are aligned along a common longitudinal axis 1908.
  • the flow obstruction e.g., shelf 1710
  • the flow obstruction may be implemented by designing the offset-plate 1802 to have an offset-plate orifice 1804 having an offset-centerline 1910 that is not aligned with the a common longitudinal axis 1908, as shown in FIG. 19.
  • the offset plate 1802 may have a thickness between 0.5mm and 1.5mm, with one specific embodiment wherein the thickness is about 1mm with a tolerance of +/- 0.1mm.
  • the offset plate orifice 1804 may be a circular orifice cut through the offset plate 1802 with a diameter being equal to or smaller than the diameters of the entry orifice 1708 or the exit orifice 1706.
  • the entry orifice 1708 or the exit orifice 1706 may comprise a diameter between 0.125mm and 5mm, while the offset plate orifice 1804 comprises a diameter between 0.15mm and 4.5mm.
  • offset plate orifice 1804 may be positioned within the offset plate 1802 such that when assembled with the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604, an offset shelf 1902 will protrude into the flow path of the treatment gas used to clean the microelectronic substrate 118.
  • An illustrated example of the purposeful misalignment the component parts caused by the positioning of the offset orifice 1804 is shown in FIG. 20.
  • an offset gap 1904 is formed opposite the offset-shelf 1902.
  • the offset gap 1904 is an air gap between the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604, that will have a height being the same or similar to the thickness of the offset plate 1802.
  • the effective orifice size of the offset plate nozzle 1800 may be limited to the effective orifice diameter 1906, which is the distance from exposed end of the offset-plate 1906 and the opposite sidewalls of the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604, as shown in FIG. 19.
  • the surface area of the effective orifice diameter 1906 may have an oblong shape as shown in FIG. 20 illustrating the top- view of the offset-plate nozzle 1800 taken from the cross-section line 1806, as shown in FIG. 18.
  • the oblong shaped offset orifice 1906 is merely exemplary of a restricted orifice technique that shows unexpected results for particle removal efficiency on microelectronic substrate 118.
  • the offset orifice 1906 may not be offset from the common longitudinal axis 1908 of the gas delivery component 1602, such that the center of the offset orifice 1906 is centered with or aligned with common longitudinal axis 1908, as shown in FIG. 21.
  • FIG. 21 includes a close-up view 2100 of a cross-section illustration of the interface of a centered plate 2102 disposed between the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604.
  • the exit orifice 1706 of the gas delivery component 1602 the entry orifice 1708 of the gas expansion component 1604 may have similar dimensions as described in the description of FIGS. 16-20.
  • the gas delivery component 1602, the gas expansion component 1604, and the centered plate 2102 are all aligned along the common longitudinal axis 1908.
  • the flow obstruction in the FIG. 21 embodiment may be implemented by designing the centered plate 2102 to have an centered plate orifice 2104 that is aligned with the a common longitudinal axis 1910.
  • the centered-plate 2102 may have a thickness between 0.5mm and 1.5mm, with one specific embodiment wherein the thickness is about 1mm with a tolerance of +/- 0.1mm.
  • the centered-plate 2102 may have a circular orifice cut through the centered plate 2102 with a diameter being equal to or smaller than the diameters of the entry orifice 1708 or the exit orifice 1706.
  • the entry orifice 1708 or the exit orifice 1706 may comprise a diameter between 0.125mm and 5mm, while the centered plate 2102 comprises a diameter between 0.13mm and 4.9mm.
  • the centered-plate orifice 2106 may be about 2.35mm.
  • the centered plate 2102 may be designed such that when assembled with the gas delivery component 1602 and the gas expansion component 1604, a centered-shelf 2106 will protrude into the flow path of the treatment gas being flowed through the nozzle, as shown in FIG. 21.
  • the incoming gas will flow towards the exit orifice 1706 and the flow will be slightly obstructed by the centered- shelf 2106 before reaching the entry orifice 1708 and continuing to flow towards the microelectronic substrate 118 disposed beneath the nozzle.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne des systèmes et des procédés pour traiter la surface d'un substrat microélectronique, et porte en particulier sur un appareil et un procédé pour balayer le substrat microélectronique avec un mélange de fluides cryogéniques utilisé pour traiter une surface apparente du substrat microélectronique. En particulier, l'invention concerne une conception de buse améliorée utilisée pour étendre le mélange de fluides. Dans un mode de réalisation, la conception de buse incorpore deux pièces de buse qui sont combinées pour former une seule conception de buse, les deux pièces étant légèrement désalignées pour former une conception d'orifice unique. Dans un autre mode de réalisation, deux pièces sont combinées et alignées le long d'un axe commun de la conduite de fluide. Cependant, une pièce décalée est insérée entre les deux pièces et présente un trou qui est désaligné des conduites d'écoulement des deux autres pièces.
PCT/US2018/000189 2017-08-18 2018-08-16 Appareil de pulvérisation de fluides cryogéniques Ceased WO2019035920A1 (fr)

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JP2020509089A JP7225211B2 (ja) 2017-08-18 2018-08-16 低温流体を噴霧するための装置
CN201880053652.8A CN111344853A (zh) 2017-08-18 2018-08-16 用于喷射低温流体的装置
KR1020207007905A KR20200066294A (ko) 2017-08-18 2018-08-16 극저온 유체들을 분사하기 위한 장치

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