A system is provided for cleaning wafers that includes specialized
pressurization, process vessel, recirculation, chemical addition,
depressurization, and recapture-recycle subsystems. A solvent delivery
mechanism converts a liquid-state sub-critical solution to a
supercritical cleaning solution and introduces it into a process vessel
that contains a wafer or wafers. The supercritical cleaning solution is
recirculated through the process vessel by a recirculation system. An
additive delivery system introduces chemical additives to the
supercritical cleaning solution via the solvent delivery mechanism, the
process vessel, or the recirculation system. Addition of chemical
additives to the sub-critical solution may also be performed. The
recirculation system provides efficient mixing of chemical additives,
efficient cleaning, and process uniformity. A depressurization system
provides dilution and removal of cleaning solutions under supercritical
conditions. A recapture-recycle system introduces captured-purified
solvents into the solvent delivery mechanism.