Patent · US Expired

Substrate processing method and apparatus

US6199564A · kind A · utility

13Cited by
13References
8Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateNov 3, 1998
Grant dateMar 13, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 3, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S134/902
  • WIPO fieldSemiconductors
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A wafer processing apparatus prevents the reattachment of particles to wafers, such as semiconductor wafers, when processing the wafers by immersing the same held in a vertical attitude in a processing liquid and a cleaning liquid. When immersing the wafers processed by the processing liquid in the cleaning liquid contained in and overflowing a cleaning tank, a wafer holding device holding the wafers in a vertical attitude is stopped temporarily upon the immersion of lower parts of the wafers in the cleaning liquid. Consequently, particles contained in the processing liquid remaining on the wafers are dispersed in the overflowing cleaning liquid, so that the particles can be removed from the wafers and the reattachment of the particles to the wafers does not occur. When transferring the processed wafers to another processing tank or a cleaning tank, a clean gas is blown upward from below the wafers to suppress the down flow of the processing liquid remaining on the wafers in order that films formed on the wafers can be processed uniformly. This serves to improve the yield.

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