System and method for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts
An exemplary embodiment discloses a process for cleaning semiconductor fabrication equipment parts with non-metallic surfaces. The process optionally includes providing a semiconductor fabrication part with a non-metallic surface to be cleaned and applying a dilute aqueous solution to remove contamination from the non-metallic surface. The aqueous solution optionally includes dilute amounts of hydrofluoric acid, nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The dilute amounts would optionally be in the ranges of 0.5-1.5% wt. hydrofluoric acid, 0.1-0.5%wt. nitric acid and 1-10%wt. hydrogen peroxide.
1 . A cleaning process for parts comprising:
providing a part with a non-metallic surface to be cleaned;
applying a dilute aqueous solution to remove contamination from the non-metallic surface wherein the solution consists of 0.5-1.5% wt. hydrofluoric acid, 0.1-0.5% wt. nitric acid and 1-10% wt. hydrogen peroxide.
2 . The process as recited in claim 1 wherein the concentration of H 2 O 2 is no greater than about 5% wt.
3 . The process of claim 1 wherein said dilute aqueous solution comprises 1.25 weight percent hydrofluoric acid 3.0 weight percent hydrogen peroxide, and 0.125 weight percent nitric acid.
4 . The process of claim 1 wherein said part is formed of a material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide (quartz), ceramics, polysilicon and silicon.
5 . The process of claim 4 wherein said part is formed from a ceramic selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide and aluminum nitride.
6 . The process of claim 1 further comprising:
rinsing the part; and
drying the part.
7 . The process of claim 1 wherein said part is a semiconductor fabrication part.
8 . The process of claim 7 wherein said part is formed of material selected from the group consisting of silicon oxide (quartz), silicon, polysilicon and ceramics.
9 . The process of claim 8 wherein said part is formed from a ceramic selected from the group consisting of aluminum oxide, aluminum nitride and silicon carbide.