An overview of supercritical CO2 applications in microelectronics processing

Supercritical CO2 technologies have only recently been proposed for microelectronic applications in response to needs for material-compatible cleaning systems, small-dimension developing solvents, and low chemical-use processes. Numerous proposed CO2 applications that are both process enabling and provide potential for chemical abatement in microelectronics engineering are discussed to present readers with the current scope of research in the field. Examples include stripping of photoresist and residues, drying, developing, and spinning of resist, chemical fluid deposition of metals, silylation, and formation and patterning of low-dielectric materials.