Dry cleaning of Si and SiO/sub 2/ surfaces using SiCl/sub 4/ system

We have found an effective dry cleaning technique using SiCl/sub 4/ as a cleaning gas. Now, for the first time, surface Fe contaminants can be removed from an SiO/sub 2/ surface using SiCl/sub 4/. A Cl/sub 2/+SiCl/sub 4/ combination allows dry cleaning of a Si surface at a lower temperature than the conventional UV/Cl/sub 2/ method. Use of this Cl/sub 2/+SiCl/sub 4/ mixture gave good surface flatness and surface constitution for both Si and SiO/sub 2/ surfaces.