The success of the semiconductor industry's quest for contamination-fr
ee manufacturing depends heavily on the continued evolution of wafer s
canners and other analytical instruments. The ability to characterize
(rather than simply detect) a contaminant particle on a surface using
light scattering techniques would be utilized by future instruments. T
he research described in this article provides a fundamental knowledge
base necessary for particle characterization using laser-based light
scattering. An algorithm to provide some discrimination of both partic
le size and composition was developed and demonstrated.