Supercritical CO₂ treatments for semiconductor applications

Abstract

Supercritical fluids (SF) have been used in a wide variety of applications: in industrial processes, analytical, waste detoxification, etc. Recently, its usefulness extends to the semiconductor industry. Researches have shown that supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) can be used to remove photoresists and significantly reduce the amount of waste from solvents in comparison to conventional stripping techniques. SF will also find its usefulness in cleaning high aspect ratio vias and deep trenches as semiconductor features shrink to submicron levels. We will report here the use of supercritical CO2 treatments in extraction of porogens from a nanohybrid film fabricated via templated-porogen approach. Its use as a medium to repair the damage in porous films from plasma ashing will also be presented. The ability to tune the solvation and diffusion power of SCCO2 and to swell the film matrix make it a good medium for silylation to restore hydrophobicity and functionalize the film.