(552d) Particle Adhesion to Photomask Materials

Particulate contaminants adhering to surfaces during microelectronics processing are of great concern, as future technologies require the removal of particles as small as 10-50 nm. In addition, increasingly strict limits on the composition of microelectronic devices will require fundamental changes to the cleaning methods employed during the manufacture of new technologies. The development of improved cleaning techniques requires an improved understanding of particle adhesion, including understanding the nature of the scaling of adhesion forces as particle sizes are reduced from the micron to the nanometer scale. These requirements are of particular importance in photomask cleaning applications, where traditional cleaning approaches impart too much damage to advanced mask materials. This work will summarize experimental and theoretical studies of particle adhesion to blanket mask materials in a variety of media.