Process and environmental benefits with solvent-free stripping

Photoresist removal following dry etching or high-dose ion implantation con ventionally employs solvents and acids, sometimes preceded by a dry oxygen- based plasma ash, These costly, hazardous, and polluting wet chemicals are then disposed of through environmentally unfriendly waste-disposal processe s, often contributing to global warming, substantial energy consumption, gr ound water contamination, etc. A new cleaning process (ENVIRO) that dry ash es etched resist and simultaneously renders remaining material 100% DI wate r soluble has been qualified in manufacturing and successfully used for mor e than 12 months. Normalized for a 10,000 wafer-starts/week fab, this proce ss can save more than $5 million/year in solvent costs alone.