Cleaning Technique Using High-Speed Steam-Water Mixed Spray

Abstract

A novel cleaning technique using steam-water mixed spray is proposed. Relatively low-pressure super-purified steam (0.1 MPa - 0.2 MPa) is mixed with super-purified water in a nozzle, and then sprayed on a silicon wafer surface, which is located at approximately 10 mm from the nozzle. The most striking result of this proposed technique is that we are able to clean a wafer surface, i.e., to eliminate fine particles, without using any chemicals.