(Invited) Understanding and Controlling Electrochemical Effects in Wet Processing

Electrochemical  and redox effects permeate  many aspects of wet processing in the fabrication of integrated circuits.  This presentation will highlight  areas where electrochemical effects are detrimental to wet processing as well as areas that can be benefited by electrochemical effects. For example, recent work has shown that megasonic  cleaning of conductive surfaces can be enhanced using electrochemically generated hydrogen bubbles. Well known areas that suffer from electrochemical effects are cleaning of silicon and copper in dilute hydrofluoric acid. Challenges encountered in the processing of stack structures that have electrochemical activity will be discussed.Electrochemical  and redox effects permeate  many aspects of wet processing in the fabrication of integrated circuits.  This presentation will highlight  areas where electrochemical effects are detrimental to wet processing as well as areas that can be benefited by electrochemical effects. For example, recent work has shown that megasonic cleaning of conductive surfaces can be enhanced using electrochemically generated hydrogen bubbles. Well known areas that suffer from electrochemical effects are cleaning of silicon and copper in dilute hydrofluoric acid. After a discussion of these areas, challenges encountered in the processing of stack structures that have electrochemical activity will be discussed.