Fundamentals and applications of sonic technology

With the advancement in technology, contaminant removal has become an important factor in many industries. This includes semiconductor, medical, marine biology, food processing, waste water purification, solar panel cleaning, textile industry, coal washing, optics and many other fields where defect-free surfaces are deemed necessary. Particulate surface contamination is one of the major causes of low yields and poor quality in these industries. Although many wet chemistries are available for effective cleaning, industrieshave a constant struggle to substitute the use of toxic solvent-based chemistries with environmentally-benign cleaning methods. Researchers have shown that ultrasonics and megasonics can effectively replace these wet chemistries and are now being extensively used in various industries and novel applications. This chapter reviews and summarizes past and current work on various acoustic cleaning applications and discusses the key aspects of cleaning fundamentals, mechanisms, advantages, and limitations.