Researcher: Masanobu Sato
Affiliation: Clean Technology Development Operations, SCREEN Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd.
 

Abstract: In the semiconductor manufacturing process, single-wafer cleaning equipment that can treat rotating wafers with liquids containing various chemical substances is used to remove contaminant metals and nano-size particles from silicon wafers. In order to get high-performance and high-efficiency cleaning methods, it is important to know the liquid state such as the velocity and the thickness of the liquid film on the rotating wafer. However, the wafer rotates at high speed and the liquid film is extremely thin, making it extremely difficult to actually know the state of the chemically dangerous liquid. In this study, we attempted to clarify the liquid flow on a rotating wafer using CFD simulation using the LES-VOF method. Although the LES-VOF method can obtain detailed and highly accurate results, it takes too much time with normal computing power. By using the computing power of the supercomputer SQUID, we were able to clarify the detailed state of the liquid in a short period of time.