Importance of Surface and Particle Charge In Tuning The Surface Properties of Materials in the Semiconductor Industry

Knowledge and control of surface properties of silicon wafers is extremely important in the development of new structuring processes in semiconductor device manufacturing. These structuring processes include photoresist application, exposure, leaching, etching, sputtering, and planarization processes. Among the structuring processes, the processing of photoresist, the deposition of metal layers, and the influence of additives on the wafer cleaning efficiency have been investigated in detail by surface charge measurements of the treated wafer surfaces. 

The applicability of the streaming potential method for the identification of changes in the surface properties of applied layers and for the characterization of interaction between different wafer surfaces and auxiliary agents is demonstrated. We present a state-of-the-art tool, the SurPASS 3 electrokinetic analyzer, to characterize the surface of solids such as powders and larger planar material. This webinar highlights the applicability of the streaming potential method in determining the zeta potential of silicon wafers and the information it brings forth.