Development of Megasonic cleaning for silicon wafers. Final report

Technical Report · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6751164· OSTI ID:6751164

Mayer, A

The major goals to develop a cleaning and drying system for processing at least 2500 three-in.-diameter wafers per hour and to reduce the process cost were achieved. The new system consists of an ammonia-hydrogen peroxide bath in which both surfaces of 3/32-in.-spaced, ion-implanted wafers are cleaned in quartz carriers moved on a belt past two pairs of Megasonic transducers. The wafers are dried in the novel room-temperature, high-velocity air dryer in the same carriers used for annealing. A new laser scanner was used effectively to monitor the cleaning ability on a sampling basis. The following factors contribute to the improved effectiveness of the process: (1) recirculation and filtration of the cleaning solution permit it to be used for at least 100,000 wafers with only a relatively small amount of chemical make-up before discarding; (2) uniform cleanliness is achieved because both sides of the wafer are Megasonically scrubbed to remove particulate impurities; (3) the novel dryer permits wafers to be dried in a high-velocity room-temperature air stream on a moving belt in their quartz carriers; and (4) the personnel safety of such a system is excellent and waste disposal has no adverse ecological impact. With the addition of mechanical transfer arms, two systems like the one developed will produce enough cleaned wafers for a 30-MW/year production facility. A projected scale-up well within the existing technology would permit a system to be assembled that produces about 12,745 wafers per hour; about 11 such systems, each occupying about 110 square feet, would be needed for each cleaning stage of a 500-MW/year production facility.

• Research Organization: RCA Solid State Div., Somerville, NJ (USA); RCA Labs., Princeton, NJ (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: NAS-7-100-955342
• OSTI ID: 6751164
• Report Number(s): DOE/JPL/955342-79/2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
SILICON
CLEANING
SILICON SOLAR CELLS
MANUFACTURING
AMMONIA
DRYING
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
LASERS
MONITORING
SOLUTIONS
ULTRASONIC WAVES
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MIXTURES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PEROXIDES
PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS
PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
SEMIMETALS
SOLAR CELLS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOUND WAVES
140501* - Solar Energy Conversion- Photovoltaic Conversion
360601 - Other Materials- Preparation & Manufacture