| abstract |
A process for cleaning critical surfaces used in manufacturing of compact disks. Such cleaning is required, for example, to remove photoresist from a master disk after plating. Cleaning of compact disk stampers is also required periodically to remove polycarbonate residue from injection molding, and contamination from handling. A high intensity pulsed beam of radiation (34) is swept across the surface (30) to be cleaned, while a reactive gas (36) is flowed across the surface (30) where the beam (34) strikes it. The beam of radiation (34) causes the unwanted material to react with the gas, resulting in gaseous products (40) which are drawn away from the surface. Cleaning of a compact disk stamper can be accomplished by rotating the stamper under a beam which extends from its inner diameter to its outer diameter. Cleaning may be accomplished by multiple scans of the surface, or by scanning with multiple beams. This cleaning process is an improvement on conventional wet chemical methods, in part because it can remove contaminants that conventional techniques cannot. |