Supercritical carbon dioxide resist removal process

SCF cleaning alternative is especially useful for extremely sensitive and complex assemblies. At temperatures above 31°C and pressures above 73 bar, carbon dioxide transforms into a supercritical phase. Supercritical carbon dioxide reveals an extremely low surface tension. Consequently, the wetting of small gaps and complex assembly architectures can be achieved. However, the contamination that should be removed has to be nonpolar, and the compounds should be resistant to high pressures. Due to these basic limitations and the high costs of this cleaning process, this process does not play an important part in the electronic industry. 

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