REMOVAL OF PARTICLES ON BACK SIDE OF WAFER

The present disclosure provides an apparatus for fabricating a semiconductor device. The apparatus includes a mechanical structure that is operable to secure a position of a semiconductor wafer. The wafer has a front surface and a back surface. The apparatus includes a wafer cleaning device that is operable to clean a predetermined region of the wafer on the back surface. The predetermined region of the wafer at least partially overlaps with one or more alignment marks. The present disclosure also provides a method of fabricating a semiconductor device. The method includes loading a semiconductor wafer into a wafer handling system. The method includes removing contaminant particles from an edge region of the wafer from the back side. The alignment marks are located in the edge region. The method includes collecting the removed contaminant particles and discarding the collected contaminant particles out of the wafer handling system.