Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

Screen Holdings Co., Ltd.

Screen Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd.

Akihiko Morita

Masami Ohtani

Joichi Nishimura

Shigehiro Goto

Masaki Iwami

Masao Tsuji

Keiji Matsuchika

Yasuo Imanishi

Kazuhiro Nishimura

Takanori Kawamoto

Masahiko Harumoto

Masakazu Sanada

Hiroshi Kobayashi

Yukihiko Inagaki

Tetsuya Hamada

Kenya Morinishi

Kenji Kamei

Minobu Matsunaga

Masahito Kashiyama

Akira Yamaguchi

Satoshi Yamamoto

Masahiro Nonomura

Kenji Ueno

Fumitake Mieno

Naoko Onodera

A filter coupling device couples to a filter. The filter coupling device includes a plurality of joint members for connection to a plurality of connection openings of the filter. The filter coupling device also includes an arrangement switcher for switching an arrangement of the joint members between a first arrangement and a second arrangement.

Filter coupling device and a substrate treating apparatus having same

In an entire region exposure unit, a platform section and a local transfer mechanism are arranged in one direction. The local transfer mechanism is provided with a local transfer hand. A substrate on which a resist film having a predetermined pattern is formed is held by the local transfer hand. A light-emitting device is attached to the upper portion of the local transfer mechanism. Strip-shaped light is emitted from the light-emitting device toward below. The local transfer mechanism operates such that the local transfer hand is moved relative to the light-emitting device. At this time, the light-emitting device irradiates one surface of the substrate that is moving horizontally with the strip-shaped light. The resist film is modified by the light.

Exposure device, substrate processing apparatus, method for exposing substrate and substrate processing method

A substrate heat treatment apparatus includes a heat-treating plate having a flat upper surface, support devices formed of a heat-resistant resin for contacting and supporting a substrate, a seal device disposed annularly for rendering gastight a space formed between the substrate and heat-treating plate, and exhaust bores for exhausting gas from the space. The support devices are formed of resin, and the upper surface of the heat-treating plate is made flat, whereby a reduced difference in the rate of heat transfer occurs between contact parts and non-contact parts on the surface of the substrate. Consequently, the substrate is heat-treated effectively while suppressing variations in heat history over the surface of the substrate.

Substrate heat treatment apparatus

A heat-treating plate has support elements projecting from an upper surface thereof. The support elements are located at apexes of equilateral triangles arranged regularly and continually. The heat-treating plate and a substrate placed on the support elements form a minute space therebetween which is sealed by a sealer. The substrate is sucked by reducing the pressure in the minute space to a negative pressure through exhaust bores. Since all the distances between adjoining support elements are equal, the substrate sags in the same amount between these support elements. With such arrangement of the support elements, sagging of the substrate is inhibited efficiently by a reduced number of support elements.

A substrate heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating a substrate includes a bake plate having projections on an upper surface thereof, a seal unit disposed peripherally of the upper surface of the bake plate for closing a lateral area of a minute space formed between a lower surface of the substrate and the upper surface of the bake plate when the substrate is placed on the bake plate, and exhaust bores for exhausting gas from the minute space. The substrate placed on the bake plate is heat-treated in a state of the gas exhausted from the minute space through the exhaust bores.

A chemical pump includes a pressure chamber, a partition member for dividing the pressure chamber into a cleaning pressure chamber and a discharging pressure chamber, a filter part disposed on the primary side of the discharging pressure chamber, and a single drive mechanism. A pair of openings with respective check valves mounted therein are provided in each of the cleaning and discharging pressure chambers, and are positioned so as to cause a resist solution to flow only in the +Z direction. The drive mechanism moves the partition member in the &#x2212;X direction to cause the resist solution to be sucked into the cleaning pressure chamber and to cause the resist solution to be discharged from the discharging pressure chamber. The drive mechanism moves the partition member in the +X direction to cause the resist solution to be sucked from the filter part into the discharging pressure chamber and to cause the resist solution to be supplied from the cleaning pressure chamber to the filter part so that the sucked resist solution is equal in amount to the supplied resist solution. This prevents vapor lock and micro-bubble phenomena during the discharge of the resist solution.

Chemical pump and method of discharging chemical solution

A substrate (SW) is rotatably held in an approximately horizontal position by a wafer holding and rotation mechanism (). One end of a rinsing liquid supply nozzle () is rotatably supported by a rinsing liquid supply nozzle rotation supporting mechanism () to pass over the substrate (SW). In response to rotation of the rinsing liquid supply nozzle (), the rotation axis of the rinsing liquid supply nozzle () moves in a direction closer to or away from the rotation axis of the substrate (SW), whereby the amount of projection of a tip portion of the rinsing liquid supply nozzle () is reduced.

Developing apparatus and developing method

A plurality of cleaning devices of the same type are attached to one support arm. The cleaning devices are simultaneously moved over a surface to be cleaned of a substrate supported and spun by a substrate supporting and spinning mechanism. Thus, the same type of cleaning devices share the task of cleaning the entire surface of the substrate, thereby to improve cleaning efficiency and shorten cleaning time. Different types of cleaning devices may be attached to the support arm for simultaneous cleaning of the entire surface of the substrate. Where different types of cleaning brushes are attached to the support arm, a cleaning operation may be carried out by simultaneously using cleaning brushes of optimal hardness for different regions on the substrate surface.

Substrate cleaning apparatus and method

A substrate cleaning apparatus includes a spin support for supporting and spinning a substrate, a nozzle for discharging a cleaning liquid with a given cleaning condition from a discharge opening, a moving mechanism for moving the nozzle at least between center and edge of the substrate, a cleaning condition adjuster for adjusting the cleaning condition, and a controller for controlling the cleaning condition adjuster to vary the cleaning condition according to a cleaning liquid supply position movable over the substrate surface.

A substrate treating apparatus for treating a substrate in a predetermined substrate treating region. Each holder arm is supported in a proximal end portion thereof by an arm support to be swingable about a pivotal axis. In time of substrate treatment, the arm support is raised by an air cylinder. With the ascent of the arm support, a cam follower attached to a proximal end of the holder arm is guided by a cam groove. The holder arm, while being raised, turns from a vertical standby posture to a horizontal posture for treating the substrate. As a result, a treating device attached to a distal end of the holder arm moves to a treating position. In the treating position, the treating device treats the substrate. The holder arms are maintained in the vertical standby posture when out of use in substrate treatment. Thus, the holder arms require a reduced standby space.

Substrate treating apparatus

A substrate heat-treating apparatus includes a heat-treating plate, and support pins extending through the heat-treating plate to be vertically movable relative thereto. The support pins support each substrate at a lower surface thereof such that edges of the substrate are at a higher level than a central region of the substrate. This construction facilitates air flows into and out of a space between the lower surface of the substrate and the upper surface of the heat-treating plate when the substrate is vertically moved.

Substrate heat-treating apparatus

A substrate processing apparatus reduces an instantaneous maximum power consumption at turn-on. Power receiving parts of a plurality of processing units are connected to one end of a turn-on switch respectively through switches. The other end of the turn-on switch is connected to an external power source through a breaker. Timer values are set in advance in the timers, respectively. When the turn-on switch is turned on, the timers turn on the associated switches respectively after times which are defined by the timer values, whereby the processing units are provided with electric power, each with a delay of a constant time.

Substrate processing apparatus having regulated power consumption and

A unit arrangement part comprises a chemical cabinet on its lowermost part, while coating units for forming a resist film on a substrate and developing units for developing the substrate after exposure are arranged on four corners of an apparatus above the chemical cabinet. Further, multistage thermal processing units for thermal-processing the substrate are arranged on front and rear portions of the apparatus above these wet processing units. A cleaning unit for supplying a cleaning liquid such as pure water and cleaning the substrate is arranged on a front side of the apparatus between the coating units as a substrate processing unit. Thus provided is a substrate processing apparatus having excellent workability in maintenance with a high degree of freedom in arrangement of processing units.

Substrate processing apparatus, substrate transport apparatus and

A method and apparatus for storing a brush body, made of a hydrophilic sponge-like porous material in a readily usable condition employs a substrate cleaning brush stored in a vessel, which vessel is filled with liquid such that the brush body is submerged in the liquid.

Method and vessel for storing a substrate cleaning brush

A substrate supporting device includes support elements for supporting a substrate, and positioning elements for contacting outer peripheries of the substrate to check horizontal movement thereof. A substrate sensor is disposed around the supporting device for detecting the substrate supported thereon. The supporting device is surrounded also by light projectors for horizontally projecting light having projection tracks overlapping, in a plan view, the substrate supported by the substrate supported device and extending at an angle to one another, and light receivers for receiving the projected light. The substrate sensor and light receivers input signals to a microcomputer for determining whether the substrate is correctly supported. A light projector may project a light beam toward the surface of the substrate supporting on the substrate supporting device, and cause the light beam to be reflected by the substrate surface. Whether the substrate is correctly supported may be determined based on whether the reflected light beam is received by a light receiver. The determination of the substrate being correctly supported is made while the substrate is supported on the supporting device. When the substrate is correctly supported, the substrate supporting device is rotated about a vertical axis to effect a predetermined treatment of the substrate.

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Kyoto, Japan

Akihiko Morita