Apparatus for cleaning semiconductor wafers

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Briefly, the apparatus of the present invention operates to clean semiconductor wafers by the application of ultrasonic energy uniformly over the wafer's entire surface.
To this end, a transducer assembly is provided having a faceplate which fully overlies the wafer.
Liquid is introduced, through the center of the faceplate, into a gap between the wafer and the faceplate.
The faceplate is then vibrated to generate an essentially uniform acoustic field over the faceplate.
The faceplate is essentially flat over a majority of the surfaces facing the wafer but includes also a plurality of grooves facilitating the venting of vapors created by cavitation during cleaning.
By this means, a relatively high power acoustic field may be applied to effect very thorough cleaning in a relatively short period of time.