Patent 7597816 was granted and assigned to Lam Research on October, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A method of forming a semiconductor device is provided. A wafer with a dielectric layer disposed under a photoresist mask is placed in an etch chamber. The dielectric layer is etched. The wafer is raised. A cleaning gas is provided. A plasma is formed from the cleaning gas. A polymer that has formed on the bevel of the wafer is removed using the plasma from the cleaning gas. The wafer is removed from the etch chamber.