Abstract: A system and method for treating a substrate is described. In particular, the system and method for treating a substrate include techniques for removing particles from the surface of a microelectronic substrate. The system includes: a vacuum process chamber; a substrate stage for supporting a microelectronic substrate within the vacuum process chamber; a cryogenic fluid supply system that can provide a fluid or fluid mixture through one or more nozzles arranged within the vacuum process chamber to inject a fluid spray into the process chamber in a direction towards an upper surface of the microelectronic substrate; and a process monitoring system coupled to the vacuum process chamber, and arranged to collect fluid spray data corresponding to at least one measured attribute of the injected fluid spray downstream of an exit of the one or more nozzles.

Abstract: A system and method for treating a substrate is described. In particular, the system and method for treating a substrate include techniques for removing particles from the surface of a microelectronic substrate. The system includes: a vacuum process chamber; a substrate stage for supporting a microelectronic substrate within the vacuum process chamber; a cryogenic fluid supply system that can provide a fluid or fluid mixture through one or more nozzles arranged within the vacuum process chamber to inject a fluid spray into the process chamber in a direction towards an upper surface of the microelectronic substrate; and a process monitoring system coupled to the vacuum process chamber, and arranged to collect fluid spray data corresponding to at least one measured attribute of the injected fluid spray downstream of an exit of the one or more nozzles.

Abstract: Stiction in a microstructure may be eliminated by directing a cryogenic aerosol at the portion of the microstructure subject to stiction with sufficient force so as to free the portion of the microstructure.

Abstract: A nozzle having a series of orifices along a longitudinal length of the nozzle for processing a substrate and which is rotatably adjustable. By the nozzle design of the present invention, liquid is properly distributed along the longitudinal length of the nozzle independently of the angle of the aerosol spray. This allows for the generation of a uniform aerosol stream that is independent of spray angle. The nozzle design of the present invention improves the uniform distribution of liquid within the nozzle, which in addition to providing a more uniform liquid pooling, also substantially eliminates temporal non-uniformities across the nozzle length. Moreover, the present invention is also directed to a nozzle that is translatable in the direction toward or away from the substrate to be processed or parallel to the substrate surface.