Patent · US Expired

Process for laser detection of gas and contaminants in a wafer transport gas tunnel

US5953591A · kind A · utility

205Cited by
4References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 29, 1997
Grant dateSep 14, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 29, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01L21/67784
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A process of using a transport system for transporting substrate wafer, for making semiconductor integrated circuits and liquid crystal display panels and the like advanced devices, is presented. The object is to prevent surface degradation which may be inflicted on the surface to interfere with proper processing of the substrate. The substrate wafers are delivered to process chambers always in clean surface conditions. A method illustrated utilizes a purge gas containing an inert gas or a mixture of an inert gas and oxygen for flowing inside the tunnel space, and a semiconductor laser detection system to detect the contamination levels within the tunnel space, and the transport parameters are controlled according to the measured data.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.