Abstract
Pulse-air-jet blow is effective for the removal of fine particles from surfaces. In the present work, the removal characteristics of PSL particles from a wafer surface were investigated by measuring the distribution of removal efficiency on wafer surface. The influence of slit width of rectangular air-jet nozzle and the impinging angle of air-jet on the distribution of removal efficiency were experimentally studied. As a result, it was found that the relationship between a cleaned area with a removal efficiency greater than a given removal efficiency and the removal efficiency is expressed by a Rosin-Rammler distribution, and the shape of the distribution is invariant with the number of pulse-air-jet blows although the cleaned area increases with the number of blows. Further, experimental results showed that there exists optimal values in the slit width of air-jet nozzle and the impinging angle of air-jet for cleaning a wider area with a higher removal efficiency.
