A method includes receiving a carrier, the carrier including a carrier body, a first filter, and a housing securing the first filter to the carrier body. The method further includes uninstalling the housing from the carrier, replacing the first filter with a second filter, reinstalling the housing on the carrier body, and inspecting the second filter. Inspecting the second filter includes using an automatic inspection mechanism to detect surface flatness of the second filter.

A wafer polishing process includes polishing a central area on the back side of a wafer, polishing a peripheral area on the back side of the wafer, buffing the central area, and buffing the peripheral area. The process can significantly reduce scratch-related wafer breakage, can correct focus spots on wafers, and can replace cleaning processes that use chemical etchants. Polishing and buffing can include polishing and buffing the bevel region. Further improvements include polishing with abrasive pads having a soft backing, polishing or buffing with pads having relatively soft abrasive particles, polishing or buffing with abrasive pads made from abrasive particles that have been sorted and selected for regularity of shape, irrigating the surface being polished or buffed with an aqueous solution that includes a friction-reducing agent, and buffing with abrasive pads having 20k or finer grit or non-abrasive pads.

A method for manufacturing an epitaxial wafer may comprise polishing a back surface and a front surface of a wafer using a double-side polishing process, forming a protective film on the back surface of the polished wafer, forming an epi layer on the front surface of the wafer on which the protective film is formed to form an epitaxial wafer, and cleaning the epitaxial wafer.

A method of cleaning a semiconductor substrate for a solar cell, the method comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate; pre-oxidising the substrate with a pre-oxidising solution; oxidising the substrate with an oxidising solution to form an oxide on the surface of the substrate; removing the oxide from the surface of the substrate with an oxide removing solution; wherein the pre-oxidising solution is configured to remove metal ions from the surface of the substrate prior to the formation of the oxide on the substrate's surface, wherein the pre-oxidising solution is an acid solution comprising hydrogen chloride, and no other acid forming component.

The present application discloses a method for fabricating the semiconductor device. The method for fabricating the semiconductor device includes forming a first dielectric layer on a substrate; forming a feature opening to exposing the substrate; performing a pre-cleaning treatment including a pre-cleaning solution to the feature opening; performing a cleaning process to the feature opening; and forming a conductive feature in the feature opening. The pre-cleaning solution includes a chelating agent and a corrosion inhibitor.

A substrate processing system includes a loadlock chamber configured to receive a front opening unified pod (FOUP) that stores a plurality of wafers, a process chamber in which a semiconductor process is configured to be performed on the plurality of wafers, a transfer robot configured to transfer the plurality of wafers from the loadlock chamber to the process chamber, and a controller configured to determine a number of the plurality of wafers in the loadlock chamber and control cleaning of the process chamber based on the determined number of the plurality of wafers, where the plurality of wafers include a plurality of unprocessed wafers in the loadlock chamber, and a plurality of in-process wafers, the plurality of in-process wafers being removed from the loadlock chamber and transferred to the process chamber.

It would be helpful to provide a wafer separation apparatus and method, and a method for manufacturing a silicon wafer in which poor wafer separation can be easily prevented. A wafer separation apparatus 1 includes an injection port 2 configured to inject a fluid, a rolling element 3, and a holder 4 configured to movably hold the rolling element 3 in a rollable and integral manner, to be reciprocatable and biased to one side in a reciprocating direction, and to be integrally connected to the injection port 2.

A method includes bonding a front side surface of a first wafer to a front side of a second wafer; forming a bonding material on a periphery of the first wafer and a periphery of the second wafer; performing a thinning process on the first wafer from a back side surface of the first wafer; after performing the thinning process, performing a trimming process from the back side surface of the first wafer to remove a first portion of the bonding material and partially trim down the periphery of the second wafer from a front side surface of the second wafer.