NEW DRY SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER CLEANING PROCESS

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NEW DRY SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER CLEANING PROCESS
18 September 2006 - BOC Gases

Eco-Snow Systems, a member of The BOC Group, and the leading supplier of dry carbon dioxide snow-based wafer cleaning tools, has introduced a new process for semiconductor wafer cleaning that eliminates the negative side effects of traditional plasma cleaning.

Semiconductor manufacturers and cleaning process engineers looking for cost-effective ways to strip high dose implanted resist can use Eco-Snow's new dry process to get the same high throughput and low ownership costs as traditional plasma cleaning processes. But unlike oxygen plasma cleaning, the new, CO2-based dry process won’t promote any oxide layer growth, silicon loss or mobile ion diffusion, which can negatively affect device performance. The new process also can be combined with conventional wet cleaning to achieve the required surface conditioning of the semiconductor wafer surface.

The process is conducted in a new cleaning tool from Eco-Snow called WaferClean 3600(TM), which is capable of processing both 200 and 300 mm wafers. The tool will be available in modular or standalone configurations for easy integration with customers’ existing manufacturing processes.

The WaferClean 3600 cleaning tool also can be used for damage-free, sub-micron particle removal from wafers. The one-step, all-dry process offers manufacturers flexible conditions for removing particles without the detrimental effects of poly silicon or oxide film etch. It also eliminates any damage from traditional, megasonic cleaning processes.

“The particle removal process can also be used for photo mask, MRAM, MEMS, compound and back-end assembly, such as imaging devices. It can be used to supplement or supplant existing wet cleaning operations,” said Joe Clark, general manager, Eco-Snow Systems.

“The global electronic packaging industry looks to BOC for its knowledge, skill and experience in developing reliable solutions for their manufacturing needs, from wafer-level packaging to systems assembly and testing. Eco-Snow Systems experts have years of industry experience and have developed proven and highly efficient precision cleaning technologies to enhance or enable new generations of electronic manufacturing processes, and address customers' productivity, environmental and economic challenges at their facilities worldwide,” said Kok Whee Teo, global vice president, electronic packaging, BOC.

http://www.boc.com

About: BOC Gases
Through its PGS line of business, BOC supplies gas and related solutions to the chemicals, petroleum, glass, water services, electronic packaging, fibre optics, hydrogen energy, metals and food industries. BOC helps meet customer needs in a variety of ways, from the supply of a single gas or application through to designing, constructing and operating fully integrated gas and utilities schemes.

The BOC Group, which serves two million customers in more than 50 countries, is one of the largest and most global of the world's leading gases companies. It employs some 44,500 people worldwide and had annual sales of over £4.3 billion in 2003. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at www.boc.com

The BOC Group has an international portfolio of companies grouped for management control and reporting into three lines of business: Process Gas Solutions, Industrial and Special Products, and BOC Edwards. It also has a specialist logistics business, Gist.

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