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US 20020023670A1
(19) United States
(12) Patent Application Publication (io) Pub. No.: US 2002/0023670 Al
Shiramizu et al. (43) Pub. Date: Feb. 28,2002
(54) METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
CLEANING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE
(75) Inventors: Yoshimi Shiramizu, Tokyo (JP);
Mitsuaki Mitama, Tokyo (JP)
Correspondence Address:
YOUNG & THOMPSON
745 SOUTH 23RD STREET 2ND FLOOR
ARLINGTON, VA 22202
(73) Assignee: NEC Corporation, Tokyo (JP)
(21) Appl. No.: 09/888,565
(22) Filed: Jun. 26, 2001
Related U.S. Application Data
(62) Division of application No. 09/541,612, filed on Apr. 3, 2000, now Pat. No. 6,277,767.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning method of and a cleaning apparatus for removing organic matters such as phthalates that have deposited on the surface of a semiconductor substrate while restraining the growth of a natural oxide film. The present invention provides a method of cleaning a semiconductor substrate, which comprises irradiating a semiconductor substrate contaminated by organic matters such as phthalic acid, phthalate and derivatives thereof with vacuum ultraviolet light having a wavelength within a range from 165 to 179 nm in an atmosphere of oxygen or air that is introduced from an 02 or air intake port, thereby decomposing and removing the contaminant.
