OTS (February 2008) -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded FSI a patent for a method which improves rinsing and drying microelectronic devices in immersion tanks for front-end-of-line (FEOL) critical cleans. This patent further strengthens and broadens FSI’s patent portfolio in the area of surface tension gradient (STG®) rinse/dry process and provides IC makers with industry-leading rinse dry performance for 300mm FEOL critical cleaning at 65nm, 45nm, and future generations. The STG® process is currently used in the FSI MAGELLAN® immersion cleaning system.
As devices shrink and IC manufacturers’ requirements become more stringent, final rinsing and drying becomes an even more critical step in the surface preparation process. Improvements in the final drying step are necessary to achieve more stringent standards for watermark and particle performance. The new methods described in the patent precisely control the STG® drying process resulting in reduced defectivity and shortened drying time. This advancement allows customers to achieve industry-leading defect levels and is currently being used in 65nm production and 45nm development.
The full name of FSI’s latest U.S. Patent No. 7,244,315 is “Microelectronic Device Drying Device and Techniques.” FSI currently has more than 90 active U.S. patents in place with over 25 U.S. patents pending.
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