A cleaning and inspection system includes a cleaning chamber and retaining structure disposed within the cleaning chamber and configured to secure an article to be cleaned within the cleaning chamber. The cleaning and inspection system also includes a gas distributor disposed within the cleaning chamber and configured to distribute a turbulent flow of gas into the cleaning chamber that facilitates removal of foreign particles from a surface of the article. Further, the system includes a particle collection surface positioned to collect foreign particles removed from the surface of the article.

A semiconductor portion of a semiconductor device includes a semiconductor layer with a drift zone of a first conductivity type and at least one impurity zone of a second, opposite conductivity type. The impurity zone adjoins a first surface of the semiconductor portion in an element area. A connection layer directly adjoins the semiconductor layer opposite to the first surface. At a distance to the first surface an overcompensation zone is formed in an edge area that surrounds the element area. The overcompensation zone and the connection layer have opposite conductivity types. In a direction vertical to the first surface, a portion of the drift zone is arranged between the first surface and the overcompensation zone. In case of locally high current densities, the overcompensation zone injects charge carriers into the semiconductor layer that locally counter a further increase of electric field strength and reduce the risk of avalanche breakdown.