The microparticles adhesion and removal dynamics in wafer-scale physical cleaning process

The wafer-scale physical cleaning process plays a significant role in the semiconductor industry. In this study, the microparticle adhesion and removal dynamics in the wafer-scale physical cleaning are systematically explored. A lattice Boltzmann method is employed to construct a computational model simulating particle distributions and behaviors in the cleaning process, and the model accuracy is validated with experiments. The effects of nozzle moving velocity, spray droplet velocity, and jetting droplet diameter on microparticle removal efficiency are numerically explored and analyzed. The research shows that, when the nozzle moving velocity reaches a certain value, the cleaning efficiency will no longer increase with the increase in velocity. Moreover, the cleaning efficiency is significantly improved with the increase in spray droplet velocity. It is noted that there are optimized droplet diameters to achieve the superior removal efficiency of 92.9% in physical cleaning process. The research reveals the microparticle adhesion and removal dynamics in the wafer-scale physical cleaning process and offers theoretical guidance for improving the microparticle removal efficiency.