A post metal chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) cleaning process for advanced interconnect technology is provided. The process, which follows CMP, combines an acidic clean and a basic clean in sequence. The process can achieve a more than 60% reduction in CMP defects, such as polish residues, foreign materials, slurry abrasives, scratches, and hollow metal, relative to an all-basic clean process. The process also eliminates the circular ring defects that occur intermittently during roller brush cleans within a roller brush clean module.