An invention is disclosed for backside particle removal during a semiconductor manufacturing process. Cleaning sites are defined on the backside of a wafer. The cleaning sites are regions of the backside of the wafer that physically contact a chuck during a semiconductor fabrication process. Once the cleaning sites are defined, the backside of the wafer is cleaned, where the cleaning is primarily directed to the cleaning sites. Typically, the contact regions can correspond to pin positions of a chuck pin array, or wafer contact areas on a vacuum chuck. A laser or a megasonic wand can be used to provide the site-specific cleaning of the wafer backside.