Method and apparatus for surface treatment using inorganic acid and ozone

1. A method for treating a surface of an article, comprising:

contacting ozone and an inorganic acid at a sub-ambient temperature in a range of from about 3° C. to less than 20° C., to form a liquid mixture comprising ozone dissolved in the inorganic acid;

dispensing said liquid mixture onto a surface of an article to be treated, said liquid mixture having a first temperature;

forming a liquid layer of said liquid mixture on the surface of the article to be treated;

heating the surface of the article to be treated during or after dispensing said liquid mixture, to a second temperature;

wherein the second temperature is at least 30° C. greater than the first temperature.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said article is a semiconductor wafer, and wherein said surface to be treated comprises photoresist that includes ions implanted during a previous processing stage.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the semiconductor wafer is positioned on a spin chuck in a single wafer wet processing station.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the inorganic acid is an aqueous solution of sulphuric acid at a concentration of at least 90 mass % or pure sulphuric acid (oleum).

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the article to be treated is present in a processing chamber, the method further comprising introducing gaseous ozone into the processing chamber.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising heating the surface of the article to be treated during or after dispensing the liquid mixture, to a temperature in excess of 50° C.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the surface is heated to a temperature in excess of 100° C.