A foam brush that has nodules on an outer diameter surface of the brush that have a pitch to diameter ratio (P/D) of between 1.2 and 1.5 and a nodule height to nodule diameter ratio of 0.2 to 0.5 can be used to achieve improved small particle and organic residue removal from substrates following CMP processing. CMP cleaning brushes of the disclosure may also be prepared with foams that are relatively soft and have a compression strength of less than 90 grams/cm.sup.2. CMP cleaning brushes with such P/D and H/D ratios, and optionally a compression strength of less than 90 grams/cm.sup.2 can be used in a variety of CMP cleaning processes including post copper CMP processes.

Substrate cleaning equipment includes a substrate holder which supports a substrate, a swing body, a head, a first cleaning liquid supply structure, and a second cleaning liquid supply structure. The swing body moves along a sweep line on a main surface of the substrate. The head is coupled to the swing body and includes a pad attachment surface facing the substrate holder. The first cleaning liquid supply structure is coupled to the swing body and sprays a first cleaning liquid onto the main surface of the substrate. The second cleaning liquid supply structure sprays a second cleaning liquid onto the main surface of the substrate. A buffing pad is attached to the pad attachment surface.

Provided is disclosure for hybrid material post-CMP brushes and methods for forming the same. Embodiments of a hybrid material post-CMP brush may comprise at least two layers, where the hybrid brush is used to clean various surfaces, such as surfaces of semiconductor substrates. An example hybrid brush for cleaning a surface includes a mandrel, a molded first layer formed about the mandrel, where the molded first layer comprises a first material, and a molded second layer surrounding the molded first layer, where the molded second layer comprises a second material.

A method for effectively removing minute impurities of 1 m or less in size that are present on a surface of an aluminum nitride single-crystal substrate without etching the surface includes scrubbing a surface of an aluminum nitride single-crystal substrate using a polymer compound material having lower hardness than an aluminum nitride single crystal, and an alkali aqueous solution having 0.01-1 mass % concentration of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, the alkali aqueous solution being absorbed in the polymer compound material.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, provided is a substrate cleaning method that performs an operation, in a state where a cleaning member is in contact with a rotating substrate, the cleaning member is moved between a first position on the substrate and a second position close to an edge of the substrate, n times (n is an integer of 2 or more), wherein a controller, which controls a driver that moves the cleaning member, controls the driver to perform an edge cleaning step to perform cleaning of the substrate in a state where the cleaning member is in contact with the second position on the substrate for a predetermined period of time after the cleaning member reaches the second position at least in one operation of the first to the (n-1)th operations.

A cleaning apparatus for cleaning a cleaning tool that scrub-cleans a substrate includes a cleaning body. The cleaning body includes a contact portion configured to come into contact with the cleaning tool, and the contact portion includes a suction area configured to remove foreign matter from the cleaning tool.

A substrate cleaning apparatus for performing scrub cleaning of a surface of a substrate by rotating both of the substrate and a roll cleaning member while keeping the roll cleaning member in contact with the surface. The apparatus includes a roll holder configured to support and rotate a roll cleaning member, a vertical movement mechanism, having a vertically movable unit vertically movable by actuating an actuator having a regulating device, configured to vertically move the roll holder coupled to the vertically movable unit so the roll cleaning member applies a roll load to the substrate W while cleaning the substrate. A load cell provided between the vertically movable unit of the vertical movement mechanism and the roll holder is configured to measure the roll load. A controller is configured to perform feedback control of the roll load through the regulating device based on a measured value of the load cell.

The present disclosure provides a backside brush for cleaning a backside of a wafer. The backside of the wafer has a central region and a periphery region surrounding the central region. The backside brush includes a backside brush core and a backside brush pad covering an outer surface of the backside brush core. The backside brush pad includes a soft pad and an abrasive pad. The soft pad of the backside brush pad covers a portion of the outer surface the backside brush core and is configured to brush the central region of the backside of the wafer. The abrasive pad of the backside brush pad covers another portion of the outer surface of the backside brush core and is configured to brush the periphery region of the backside of the wafer.

The present disclosure provides a roller for cleaning a backside of a wafer. The backside of the wafer has a central region and a periphery region surrounding the central region. The roller includes an upper element, a bottom element, and an axis element for connecting the upper element and the bottom element. The upper element of the roller is configured to contact with a frontside of the wafer. The bottom element is configured to contact with the backside of the wafer and remove particles from the periphery region of the backside of the wafer. The bottom element is made of materials selected from a group comprising abrasive pads, sand papers, and asbestos.

A substrate processing method includes: providing a substrate having a pattern formed on a surface layer thereof; setting a temperature of the substrate such that a change in the pattern becomes a predetermined change amount; forming a reaction layer having a thickness corresponding to the temperature set in the setting on the surface layer of the substrate; and applying energy to the substrate formed with the reaction layer thereby removing the reaction layer from the surface layer of the substrate.