Glenn F Marshall

US Patent:

6361614, Mar 26, 2002

Filed:

Feb 22, 2000

Appl. No.:

09/510015

Inventors:

Bryan Chaeyoo Chung - Bethlehem PA
Glenn Alan Marshall - Northampton PA
Charles Walter Pearce - Emmaus PA
Kevin Paul Yanders - Germansville PA

Assignee:

Agere Systems Guardian Corp. - Orlando FL

International Classification:

C23G 102

US Classification:

134 3, 134 2, 134 26, 134 30, 134902, 359885, 359893

Abstract:

A method and apparatus for eliminating the exposure of semiconductor wafers to light during rinsing and drying in wafer cleaning machines having windows is used to reduce scrap and improve the reliability of the integrated circuit devices. An opaque window assembly or a light blocking material is applied to the transparent window to prevent ambient light from entering the processing chamber of the wafer cleaning machine and thereby eliminate light-induced galvanic corrosion produced during rinsing and drying of semiconductor wafers in wafer cleaning machines having windows. This makes the fabrication of advanced integrated circuit devices of increasingly smaller dimensions feasible by eliminating the degradation in reliability caused by light-induced galvanic corrosion produced during cleaning of the semiconductor wafers. The application of a light blocking material to the transparent windows of wafer cleaning machine is cost effective and easily implemented in existing wafer cleaning machines.