A substrate processing method is provided, which includes: an ozone-containing hydrofluoric acid solution spouting step of spouting an ozone-containing hydrofluoric acid solution containing ozone dissolved therein from a nozzle toward one major surface of a substrate held by a substrate holding unit; and a brush-cleaning step of cleaning the one major surface of the substrate by bringing a cleaning brush into abutment against the one major surface of the substrate, the brush-cleaning step being performed after the ozone-containing hydrofluoric acid solution spouting step or in parallel with the ozone-containing hydrofluoric acid solution spouting step.

A solvent composition has an oxygenated solvent and a siloxane solvent. In one embodiment, the oxygenated solvent is propylene glycol methyl ether and the siloxane solvent is hexamethyldisiloxane or octamethyltrisiloxane. In another embodiment, the solvent composition is an azeotrope of propylene glycol n-butyl ether and decamethyltetrasiloxane. The siloxane solvent can be used in any situation where one desires to remove a silicone deposit, e.g., conformal coatings, adhesives, sealants, greases, heat transfer fluids, paints, oils, etc.

Described is a post chemical-mechanical-polishing (post-CMP) cleaning composition comprising or consisting of: (A) one or more nonionic polymers selected from the group consisting of poly-acrylamides, polyhydroxyethyl(meth)acrylates (PHE(M)A), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polymers of formula (I), and mixtures thereof, wherein R1 is hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl, or sec-butyl, R2 is hydrogen or methyl, and n is an integer, (B) poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) or acrylic acid-maleic acid copolymer with a mass average molar mass (Mw) of up to 10,000 g/mol, and (C) water, wherein the pH of the composition is in the range of from 7.0 to 10.5. ##STR00001##

A post chemical-mechanical-polishing (post-CMP) cleaning composition including: (A) polyethylene glycol (PEG) with a mass average molar mass (Mw) in the range of from 400 to 8,000 g/mol, (B) an anionic polymer selected from poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), acrylic acid-maleic acid copolymers, polyaspartic acid (PASA), polyglutamic acid (PGA), polyvinylphosphonic acid, polyvinylsulfonic acid, poly(styrenesulfonic acid), polycarboxylate ethers (PCE), PEG-phosphorous acids, and copolymers of the polymers thereof, and (C) water, where the pH of the composition is from 7.0 to 10.5.

Disclosed is a post-chemical-mechanical-polishing cleaning composition, which is capable of effectively removing impurities from the surface of a wafer substrate after chemical mechanical polishing and also of preventing the corrosion of metal line materials, and which includes choline hydroxide, tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, 1,2,4-triazole, 2-hydroxypyridine, and the remainder of ultrapure water.

Problem to be Solved To provide a composition that can efficiently remove a photoresist adhering to an edge portion and a back surface of a substrate, in a process of producing a mask which is used when the substrate is subjected to etching treatment to have an element, a circuit etc., formed thereon using the photoresist. Solution The composition for removing a resist of the present invention is a composition comprising a surfactant and a solvent, wherein the composition contains, as the surfactant, at least the following component (A). Component (A): a polyglycerol derivative represented by the following formula (a):
R.sup.aO(C.sub.3H.sub.5O.sub.2R.sup.a).sub.nR.sup.a(a)
wherein n represents the number of the repeating units, and is an integer of 2 to 60; and R.sup.a identically or differently represents a hydrogen atom, a C.sub.1-18 hydrocarbon group or a C.sub.2-24 acyl group, provided that at least two of the (n+2) number of R.sup.a are C.sub.1-18 hydrocarbon groups and/or C.sub.2-24 acyl groups.

Novel materials and devices can remove small defects from long rolls of flexible electronics material while they are in continuous motion. The cleaning materials are designed to remove small particles without transferring defects or damaging the flexible electronics. The device generally consists of variable speed, motor-driven cylinders mounted on moveable brackets. The cylinders are capable of matching the speed of the cleaning material such that the cleaning material is always in contact with the web roll to be cleaned. The brackets are capable of rotating so the same material can be used more than once. Another material is used to remove debris from the cleaning material. A similar device consisting of motor-driven cylinders and moveable is used to apply the debris removal film to the cleaning film, allowing the cleaning film to be used multiple times.

An alkaline wet solution for protecting features on a patterned substrate and a substrate processing method using the alkaline wet solution are described. The method includes providing a patterned substrate containing a low-k material, a metal oxide feature, and an etch residue, performing a treatment process that exposes the patterned substrate to an alkaline wet solution that forms a protective coating on the metal oxide feature, the alkaline wet solution containing a mixture of 1) water, 2) ammonium hydroxide, a quaternary organic ammonium hydroxide, or a quaternary organic phosphonium hydroxide, and 3) dissolved silica, and performing a wet cleaning process that removes the etch residue but not the metal oxide feature that is protected by the protective coating. The patterned substrate can further include a metallization layer and the alkaline wet solution can further contain 4) an inhibitor that protects the metallization layer from etching by the alkaline wet solution.

The magnetic recording medium includes: a non-magnetic support; and a magnetic layer including ferromagnetic powder, in which a difference S.sub.afterS.sub.before between a spacing S.sub.after measured on a surface of the magnetic layer by optical interferometry after ethanol cleaning and a spacing S.sub.before measured on the surface of the magnetic layer by optical interferometry before ethanol cleaning is more than 0 nm and 6.0 nm or less, and the non-magnetic support is an aromatic polyester support having a moisture absorption of 0.3% or less.

Several of the films that comprise various energy producing or control devices, for example, electrochromic devices, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic cells, are sensitive to moisture in some way. They may be especially vulnerable to moisture at particular stages during their fabrication. It may also be highly desirable during fabrication to be able to wash particulates from the surface. The particulates may be generated some aspect of the fabrication process, or they may arise from the environment in which the fabrication takes place. This invention shows ways to remove said particles from the surface without incurring the damage associated with typical washing processes, resulting in higher manufacturing yields and better device performance.