High Speed Imaging of 1 MHz Driven Microbubbles in Contact with a Rigid Wall

Abstract

Since the introduction of megasonic cleaning in semiconductor industry a debate has been going on about which physical mechanism is responsible for the removal of particles. Because of the high frequency range it was believed that acoustic cavitation could not occur and cleaning was attributed to phenomena like Eckart and Schlichting streaming or pressure build-up on particles [1,2]. Recently it was shown however, that the removal of nanoparticles is closely related to the presence of acoustic cavitation in megasonic cleaning systems [3]. The dependence of particle removal efficiency on the concentration of dissolved gas and the presence of sonoluminescence are clear (but indirect) indications that the underlying mechanism is related to bubble dynamics. As the requirements for cleaning in semiconductor processing are ever more stringent, it becomes necessary to obtain a thorough understanding of the physical behavior of acoustically driven microbubbles in contact with a solid wall. In particular, the forces exerted thereby which might clean or damage a substrate are of interest. Here, a step in this direction is taken by visualization of both the removal of nanoparticles and the sub-microsecond timescale dynamics of the cavitation bubbles responsible thereof.