SBIR Phase II: An Innovative Method for Removing Resist from Wafers

小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在开发一种创新的、环境友好的方法，用于从半导体晶片上去除抗蚀剂。 在每个光刻步骤之后，以及随后的处理步骤，例如，蚀刻或离子注入时，必须剥离工艺硬化的抗蚀剂并清洗晶片。现有的光致抗蚀剂去除方法（等离子体灰化和湿法化学剥离）被证明对当前最先进的互连材料过于激进，它们往往会降低和损坏低k电阻并腐蚀铜;它们也不利于精密的器件结构。 在这个项目中，抗蚀剂剥离和晶片清洗通过超纯水中的受控微空化在一个工艺步骤中完成，而不会损坏底层和特征。抗蚀剂剥离是一个不断增长的26.4亿美元的市场。所提出的抗蚀剂去除剂和晶片清洁剂成功地克服了当今IC制造业面临的关键技术障碍。除了IC制造业之外，基于微空化的层去除将在需要受控薄膜去除的所有领域中找到应用，例如，MEMS、PCB、光学、汽车（除漆）和航空航天。这将是一种在薄膜加工中有用的使能技术。微空化技术是一种无化学品、环境友好的技术。

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to develop an innovative, environment friendly method for removing resist from semiconductor wafers. After every lithography step, and the following processing step, e.g., etching or ion implantation, the process-hardened resist must be stripped away and the wafer cleaned. Existing photoresist removal methods (plasma ashing and wet chemical stripping) are proving too aggressive for current state-of-the-art interconnect materials-they tend to degrade and damage low-k dielectrics and corrode copper; they are also detrimental to the delicate device structures. In this project the resist stripping and wafer cleaning are accomplished in a single process step through controlled microcavitation in ultrapure water with no damage to the underlying layers and features.Resist stripping is a growing $2.64B market. The proposed resist remover and wafer cleaner successfully overcome a critical technological barrier facing the IC manufacturing industry today. Beyond the IC manufacturing industry, the microcavitation based layer removal will find applications in all areas requiring controlled thin film removal,e.g., MEMS, PCB, optics, automotive (paint removal), and aerospace. This will be an enabling technology useful in thin film processing. Microcavitation is a chemical free, environmentally friendly technology.