摘要 |
A surface of an object, e.g., a semiconductor wafer, is treated to remove impurities, including those in microrecesses having minimum dimensions of ten microns or less. The object is positioned in a sealed chamber which has a limited number of potential spaceborne nucleation centers and is at a treating temperature, (T). A condensable solvent is introduced into the chamber until its pressure is close to but below its vapor pressure at the temperature, (T). This condition is maintained until a plurality of molecular layers of the solvent is adsorbed in the microrecesses. Then, the pressure of the solvent is increased to at least unity whereat it condenses in the microrecesses. Impurities can be removed from the microrecesses in this manner thus improving product quality. |