Large amount of chemicals and highly purified-water are needed in microelectronic manufacture. The ability of solutions to penetrate tiny spaces will become significantly more challenging as the feature size of semiconductor devices decreases to nanoscale dimensions and the functional complexity of integrated circuitries (ICs) ever increases. Supercritical fluids (SCFs) possess a unique combination of properties (no surface tension and gas-like viscosity) that can potentially be exploited for application in microelectronics manufacturing and processing in response to needs for material-compatible cleaning systems, small-dimension developing solvents, and low chemical-use processes. Recent microelectronics processes for cleaning and rinsing of patterned porous low-k dielectrics and drying of photoresist in CO 2 -based solvents are the main focus of this review. Additional topics in supercritical fluid processing include spin coating of photoresists, development with nanoscale dimensions, metal deposition and silylation.supercritical carbon dioxide, low-k dielectrics cleaning, photoresist drying A manufacture method for semiconductor devices includes many steps: coating, photolithography, etching and ashing, cleaning, drying, etc. Incorporating new low-dielectric isolation materials and low-resistance metals (Cu replacing Al as interconnects) will be required in next generation microelectronic processing. As the features in semiconductor devices shrink to nanoscale dimensions, a major hurdle will emerge in processing steps involving lithography coating, development, metal deposition, cleaning, and drying. In addition, encouraged by increased regulations on the release of toxic chemicals and costs of water and solvent use, the semiconductor industry is eager to abate chemical and water usage in main production processes. Therefore, new concepts in semiconductor manufacture are required to challenge this complexity.Supercritical CO 2 (Sc CO 2 )-based technologies accept a number of such challenges. The solvation properties of CO 2 are unique. The high compressibility of near-critical CO 2 and the dependence of solubility, transport and other properties on density allow the solvent quality to widely vary via simple pressure control without introducing a new component. Compared with liquid solvents, supercritical fluids are less viscous due to the greater free volume. Consequently, solutes diffuse more quickly. The surface tension of liquid CO 2 is only 1.5 mN/m at 25℃ and reaches to zero at the critical point, where liquid droplets are no longer formed. The low interfacial tension will allow CO 2 -based solvents to penetrate and wet nearly all features, no matter whether hydrophilic or hydrophobic. CO 2 can be evaporated at room temperature without remaining trapped liquid inside the pore structures, which could potentially affect the final product. Sc CO 2 is environmentally benign, nonflammable, nontoxic, leaves no liquid wastes, and is