Abstract: Apparatus to dry milled silicon particles has solvent spray nozzles, solvent drainage, gas inlet, and gas exhaust. This drying can occur, for example, following an acid etch and a deionized water rinse. The drying apparatus is an enclosed system with a lid that contains a solvent feeding tube and exhaust ventilation. This enclosed system design creates an effective low temperature drying system in an inert atmosphere. The apparatus can handle a variety of different particle sizes, inhibits the growth of surface oxides on the particles by using lower temperatures, and allows reuse of solvent.

Abstract: Apparatus to dry milled silicon particles has solvent spray nozzles, solvent drainage, gas inlet, and gas exhaust. This drying can occur, for example, following an acid etch and a deionized water rinse. The drying apparatus is an enclosed system with a lid that contains a solvent feeding tube and exhaust ventilation. This enclosed system design creates an effective low temperature drying system in an inert atmosphere. The apparatus can handle a variety of different particle sizes, inhibits the growth of surface oxides on the particles by using lower temperatures, and allows reuse of solvent.

Abstract: The present invention provides, in one embodiment, process of treating a target semiconductor surface. The process includes exposing a test surface to a plasma protocol (110), and measuring chemical changes in discrete locations of the test surface (120). The process further includes preparing a target surface by exposing the target surface to the plasma protocol (140) when a uniformity of the chemical changes are within a performance criterion of the plasma protocol (130). Other embodiments advantageously incorporate this process into methods for making semiconductor devices and integrated circuits.