Invited paper Understanding of wet

and alternative particle removal processes in microelectronics: theoretical capabilities and limitations Francois Tardif, Adrien Danel, and Olivier Raccurt Abstract|A 2 orders of magnitude range of van der Waals interactions is considered here to take the majority of the va-riety of shapes and materials of actual particles into account. Comparing these interactions with the repulsive forces gen-erated by electrostatic charges, drag, surface tension, shock waves, high accelerations and aerosol particles, the intrin-sic capabilities and limitations of the dierent cleaning pro-cesses can be predicted. Three kinds of particle-removal pro-cesses have been identied { universal processes capable of removing all particle sizes and types, even from patterned wafers, processes that present the same theoretical ability but are actually limited by the accessibility of the particles, and nally cleanings that are not able to remove all particle sizes