The increasing importance of the use of ozone in the microelectronics industry

Recently the microelectronics industry is investigating the application of ozonated solutions in the cleaning of semiconductor devices as an alternative for the frequently used H2SO4-mixtures. The use of ozone would result in more environmentally friendly and cost-saving cleaning concepts. To optimize this new wet chemical cleaning processes, fundamental understanding of the behavior of ozone in ultrapure water is required. The decomposition and the solubility of ozone in ultrapure water were investigated as a function of pH, temperature and various additives. Some applications will also be discussed, namely the oxidation of silicon and the mechanistic aspects of the removal of organic contamination.