Method for making a photoresist stripping solution comprising an organic sulfonic acid and an organic hydrocarbon solvent

1. In a method for manufacturing a photoresist stripper solution for a metal-containing substrate comprising the steps of:

a) introducing into a blending zone one or more organic sulfonic acids having the general formula:

i) wherein n≧1, and R is independently an alkyl group, substituted alkyl group, aryl group, substituted aryl group, or an aryl/alkyl group;

b) uniformly blending with the one or more organic sulfonic acids at ambient temperature at least one or more halogen-free hydrocarbon solvents containing at least eight carbon atoms, wherein the one or more halogen-free hydrocarbon solvents is miscible with the one or more organic sulfonic acids;

the improvement comprising heating the blend for a minimum period of time whereby residual amounts of sulfuric acid and sulfur trioxide present in the one or more organic sulfonic acids react with the one or more hydrocarbon solvents to form corresponding organic sulfonic acids, and the resulting amounts of sulfuric acid and sulfur trioxide present in the blend after heating do not cause damage to semiconductor metal substrates.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the blend is heated to a temperature in the range of from 45° C. to 260° C. for a time period of from 2 hours to 8 hours.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the temperature is between 70° C. to 90° C.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising adding a chelating agent or a corrosion inhibitor to the blend when it reaches a temperature of at least 80° C.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more organic sulfonic acids are selected from benzenesulfonic acid, C 1 -C 20 alkylbenzenesulfonic acid, naphthalene sulfonic acid, C 1 -C 20 alkylnaphthalene sulfonic acid, C 7 -C 10 alkylaryl sulfonic acid, and mixtures thereof.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein C 1 -C 20 alkylbenzenesulfonic acid comprises hexylbenzenesulfonic acid, heptylbenzenesulfonic acid, octylbenzenesulfonic acid, decylbenzenesulfonic acid, dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, tridecylbenzenesulfonic acid, quaddecylbenzenesulfonic acid, hexadecylbenzenesulfonic acid, and mixtures thereof.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the one or more organic sulfonic acids are selected from dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, xylene sulfonic acid, and mixtures thereof.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the organic sulfonic acid is dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid at a concentration of about 30% by weight, and the halogen-free hydrocarbon solvent is an aromatic hydrocarbon containing at least 8 carbon atoms at a concentration of about 70% by weight.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more halogen-free hydrocarbon solvents are selected from benzene or a benzene derivative, an aliphatic hydrocarbon containing from one to 30 carbon atoms, monoalkyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons, a dialkyl substituted hydrocarbon containing from 8 to 20 carbon atoms, a trialkyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons containing from 9 to 20 carbon atoms, and mixtures thereof.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the one or more halogen-free hydrocarbon solvents are selected from aromatic solvents having initial boiling points of from 120° C. at 760 mm Hg pressure, and a dry point of from 170° C. to 280° C.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the one or more aromatic solvents are present at a total concentration in the range of from 1% to 60% by weight.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the aliphatic hydrocarbons are selected from n-pentane, n-octane, dodecane, and mixtures thereof.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the monoalkyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons are selected from toluene, ethyl benzene, cumene, octylbenzene, decylbenzene, dodecylbenzene, and mixtures thereof.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the dialkyl substituted hydrocarbons containing eight to 20 carbon atoms are selected from ortho, meta and para isomers of xylene, diethylbenzene and mixtures thereof, and the trialkyl-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons containing 9 to 20 carbon atoms are selected from 1,2,3-; 1,2,4- and 1,3,5-isomers of 10 trimethyl and triethylbenzene.

15. A method for removing a positive or negative tone photoresist, bonding adhesive, ink mark, and/or post etch residue from a semiconductor substrate comprising:

contacting the substrate with a photoresist stripper solution produced according to the method of claim 1 .

16. The method of claim 15 including the additional step of rinsing the substrate with deionized water.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the temperature is from room temperature to 150° C.