In the sixth edition of Advanced Cleaning & Surface Preparation, Linx has uncovered several trends in cleaning and surface preparation:

Shrinking Device Features 
Shrinking device features will challenge cleaning technologies to deliver new capabilities and higher levels of particle removal with every generation. These shrinking geometries will challenge clean technologies to move beyond purely undercutting particulates to removal without loss of the underlying substrate.

Three-Dimensional Structures
3D Gate structures and stacked storage devices will constrain chemical and physical approaches to cleaning, requiring novel technologies to achieve defect free results. In addition, three-dimensional structures will have extreme aspect ratios, and very challenging mass transport requirements for the removal of contaminants from deep structures.

Sub 20 nm particle control for future semiconductor technologies will challenge both cleaning technologies and metrology in removal efficiency, and detection capability.

Application of novel technologies to 300 mm wafers, and the possibility of further wafer size increases early next decade will challenge equipment and process designers in terms of cost wafer uniformity of process results.

Introduction of germanium PMOS has been delayed, but is regarded as a likely solution at 10 nm. However, the introduction of III-V NMOS technologies is likely to be pushed back even further, or be discontinued altogether, due to the difficulty of terminating stacking defects along the fin direction.