ACM Research Enhances Single-Wafer Hot SPM System with Sulfuric Acid Recycle Capability

ACM Research, Inc., a supplier of wafer processing solutions for semiconductor and advanced packaging applications, today announced an enhanced version of its 170°C Single-Wafer Hot Sulfuric Peroxide Mixture (“SPM”) system featuring a new sulfuric acid recycle capability. The system has been validated by a foundry customer across more than 50 process layers, demonstrating its ability to support a broad range of cleaning applications.

ACM’s Single-Wafer Hot SPM system achieves particle counts of 15 or fewer at 15 nm and above, significantly outperforming mainstream market solutions. Unlike conventional systems that require periodic deionized (“DI”) water rinsing to remove crystalline deposits caused by acid mist during hot SPM processing, ACM’s proprietary nozzle design effectively prevents such contamination, enabling stable cleaning performance without periodic DI water chamber cleaning. This design can help improve yields in both logic and memory applications while reducing equipment maintenance requirements.

The new sulfuric acid recycle capability achieves a 70% sulfuric acid recycle rate while maintaining particle control performance as demanded by customer specifications. The innovation is expected to save approximately 400 tons of sulfuric acid per tool annually, thus delivering significant environmental and cost benefits while meeting the stringent process requirements of semiconductor manufacturing.

“As semiconductor manufacturing becomes more complex, customers need technologies that can meet increasingly demanding process requirements while improving manufacturing efficiency,” said Dr. David Wang, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACM. “The continued advancement and customer validation of our Single-Wafer Hot SPM platform demonstrates ACM’s commitment to differentiated innovation and our ability to deliver solutions that address the evolving needs of semiconductor manufacturers.”

SPM is widely used in semiconductor manufacturing for photoresist stripping, organic polymer residue removal, metallic impurity and particle removal, and post-CMP cleaning. As semiconductor manufacturing processes become increasingly complex, manufacturers must balance demanding cleaning and particle-control requirements with the need to manage chemical consumption and operating efficiency. ACM’s Single-Wafer Hot SPM system is designed to address these requirements through single-wafer processing and differentiated process and chamber design.

The new sulfuric acid recycle capability further enhances the efficiency of ACM’s Single-Wafer Hot SPM platform. By recovering and reusing a significant portion of the sulfuric acid used during processing while maintaining particle control, the system enables manufacturers to reduce chemical consumption without compromising process performance. Validation across more than 50 process layers at the customer site further demonstrates the platform’s ability to support a broad range of cleaning applications.

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