A system for controlling damages in cleaning a semiconductor wafer comprising features of patterned structures, the system comprising: a wafer holder for temporary restraining a semiconductor wafer during a cleaning process; an inlet for delivering a cleaning liquid over a surface of the semiconductor wafer; a sonic generator configured to alternately operate at a first frequency and a first power level for a first predetermined period of time and at a second frequency and a second power level for a second predetermined period of time, to impart sonic energy to the cleaning liquid, the first predetermined period of time and the second predetermined period of time consecutively following one another; and a controller programmed to provide the cleaning parameters, wherein at least one of the cleaning parameters is determined such that a percentage of damaged features as a result of the imparting sonic energy is lower than a predetermined threshold.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an ultrasonic wave amplifying unit which can improve ultrasonic power in air, wherein the ultrasonic wave amplifying unit includes multiple rings having a concentric axis and each having a first width, and a slit having a second width is formed between the rings and an air layer is formed between the multiple rings and an ultrasonic wave generator generating ultrasonic waves or a transfer medium transferring the ultrasonic waves.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an ultrasonic wave amplifying unit which can improve ultrasonic power in air, wherein the ultrasonic wave amplifying unit includes multiple rings having a concentric axis and each having a first width, and a slit having a second width is formed between the rings and an air layer is formed between the multiple rings and an ultrasonic wave generator generating ultrasonic waves or a transfer medium transferring the ultrasonic waves.

A system for controlling damages in cleaning a semiconductor wafer comprising features of patterned structures, the system comprising: a wafer holder for temporary restraining a semiconductor wafer during a cleaning process; an inlet for delivering a cleaning liquid over a surface of the semiconductor wafer; a sonic generator configured to alternately operate at a first frequency and a first power level for a first predetermined period of time and at a second frequency and a second power level for a second predetermined period of time, to impart sonic energy to the cleaning liquid, the first predetermined period of time and the second predetermined period of time consecutively following one another; and a controller programmed to provide the cleaning parameters, wherein at least one of the cleaning parameters is determined such that a percentage of damaged features as a result of the imparting sonic energy is lower than a predetermined threshold.

A system for controlling damages in cleaning a semiconductor wafer comprising features of patterned structures, the system comprising: a wafer holder for temporary restraining a semiconductor wafer during a cleaning process; an inlet for delivering a cleaning liquid over a surface of the semiconductor wafer; a sonic generator configured to alternately operate at a first frequency and a first power level for a first predetermined period of time and at a second frequency and a second power level for a second predetermined period of time, to impart sonic energy to the cleaning liquid, the first predetermined period of time and the second predetermined period of time consecutively following one another; and a controller programmed to provide the cleaning parameters, wherein at least one of the cleaning parameters is determined such that a percentage of damaged features as a result of the imparting sonic energy is lower than a predetermined threshold.

The invention relates to a device for transmitting mechanical vibrations to flowable media. The device is characterized in that the normal amplitudes of the effective surface points of a resonator are substantially uniform during a resonant vibration, and an amplitude vector in the effective surface points of more than 50 percent of an effective surface is not substantially parallel to the normal vector of these effective surface points.

The invention relates to a device for transmitting mechanical vibrations to flowable media. The device is characterized in that the normal amplitudes of the effective surface points of a resonator are substantially uniform during a resonant vibration, and an amplitude vector in the effective surface points of more than 50 percent of an effective surface is not substantially parallel to the normal vector of these effective surface points.

A method for controlling damages in cleaning a semiconductor wafer comprising features of patterned structures, the method comprising: delivering a cleaning liquid over a surface of a semiconductor wafer during a cleaning process; and imparting sonic energy to the cleaning liquid from a sonic transducer during the cleaning process, wherein power is alternately supplied to the sonic transducer at a first frequency and a first power level for a first predetermined period of time and at a second frequency and a second power level for a second predetermined period of time, the first predetermined period of time and the second predetermined period of time consecutively following one another, wherein at least one of the cleaning parameters is determined such that a percentage of damaged features as a result of the imparting sonic energy is lower than a predetermined threshold.

A method for controlling damages in cleaning a semiconductor wafer comprising features of patterned structures, the method comprising: delivering a cleaning liquid over a surface of a semiconductor wafer during a cleaning process; and imparting sonic energy to the cleaning liquid from a sonic transducer during the cleaning process, wherein power is alternately supplied to the sonic transducer at a first frequency and a first power level for a first predetermined period of time and at a second frequency and a second power level for a second predetermined period of time, the first predetermined period of time and the second predetermined period of time consecutively following one another, wherein at least one of the cleaning parameters is determined such that a percentage of damaged features as a result of the imparting sonic energy is lower than a predetermined threshold.

An ultrasonic vibrator driving apparatus performs driving by applying an alternating voltage as a drive voltage to an ultrasonic vibrator that includes a piezoelectric element and has a unique resonance frequency. The drive voltage is generated with a variable frequency in a frequency range including the resonance frequency of the ultrasonic vibrator. The frequency of the drive voltage is repeatedly swept with a predetermined sweep width and a predetermined sweep period so as to include the resonance frequency, based on a reference frequency set according to the resonance frequency of the ultrasonic vibrator. The sweep period and the sweep width are restricted by being associated so as to fall within a predetermined allowed range on a two-dimensional map divided by the sweep period and the sweep width.