Patent 7186299 was granted and assigned to SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. on March, 2007 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method for cleaning and drying semiconductor wafers improves device yield by providing more advanced control of the ratio of drying fluid to cleaning fluid, for example the ratio of N2 vapor to IPA vapor. In addition, a quick drain process is employed to improve process throughput, and to further improve particle and watermark removal during the cleaning and drying steps.