Applied Materials, Inc.

Other

Boris Fishkin

Brian J Brown

Jianshe Tang

Kyle A Brown

Robert B Lowrance

Alexander N Lerner

Michael Sherrard

Fred Conrad Redeker

Shijian Li

Michael N Sugarman

Haoquan Fang

Phil M Salzman

Younes Achkire

Boris T Govzman

Seiji Sato

Guy Shirazi

Jun Zhao

Rashid Mavliev

Gee Sun Hoey

John S Hearne

Victor Belitsky

Ginetto Addiego

Tom Osterheld

Boris Fuksshimov

Raijiro Koga

Daniel F Kennedy

Takashi Kumagai

Hiromi Tsuruta

Jeff Beeler

Thomas H Osterheld

Anand Gupta

Doyle E Bennett

Charles C Garretson

Jonathan Stuart Frankel

Gopalakrishna B Prabhu

Sidney P Huey

Patrick D Kinney

Kapila P Wijekoon

Benjamin A Bonner

Peter McKeever

Laszlo Szalai

Rex Lu

Bruce Lu

Rashid Mavleiv

Ronald Lin

Michael Current

Robert Bendler

Terry Francis

Youfel Chen

Roland Shu

K Y Wang

In a first aspect, a module is provided that is adapted to process a wafer. The module includes a processing portion having one or more features such as (1) a rotatable wafer support for rotating an input wafer from a first orientation wherein the wafer is in line with a load port to a second orientation wherein the wafer is in line with an unload port; (2) a catcher adapted to contact and travel passively with a wafer as it is unloaded from the processing portion; (3) an enclosed output portion adapted to create a laminar air flow from one side thereof to the other; (4) an output portion having a plurality of wafer receivers; (5) submerged fluidnozzles; and/or (6) drying gas flow deflectors, etc. Other aspects include methods of wafer processing.

Single wafer dryer and drying methods

A method and apparatus for cleaning, rinsing and Marangoni drying substrates is provided. The invention includes spraying a line of fluid to a substrate, thereby creating an air/fluid interface line on the substrate; supplying a line of drying vapors to the air/fluid interface line, thereby creating a Marangoni drying effect along the air/fluid interface line; and moving the substrate relative to the air/fluid line. Numerous other aspects are provided.

Apparatus for cleaning and drying substrates

In a first aspect, a first method of drying a substrate is provided. The first method includes the steps of (1) lifting a substrate through an air/fluid interface at a first rate; (2) directing a drying vapor at the air/fluid interface during lifting of the substrate; and (3) while a portion of the substrate remains in the air/fluid interface, reducing a rate at which a remainder of the substrate is lifted through the air/fluid interface to a second rate. The drying vapor may form an angle of about 23&#xb0; with the air/fluid interface and/or the second rate may be about 2.5 mm/sec.

A method and apparatus for cleaning, rinsing and Marangoni drying substrates is provided. A line of fluid is sprayed along a substrate surface forming an air/fluid interface line, and a line of drying vapor is supplied to the interface line to achieve Marangoni drying. Thus, a large portion of the substrate is simultaneously dried. A preferred apparatus employs a tank of cleaning and/or rinsing fluid. Above the tank fluid a source of rinsing fluid directs rinsing fluid to the surface of a substrate forming a meniscus on the substrate surface as the substrate is lifted from the cleaning fluid, and a drying vapor source directs drying vapor to the meniscus. The drying vapor lowers the surface tension of the meniscus, inducing a Marangoni flow of rinsing fluid from the substrate's surface, and thereby drying the substrate. The cleaning fluid tank has a substrate receiving and cleaning portion and a substrate rinsing portion. The rinsing fluid source and the drying vapor source are enclosed by a drying enclosure above the rinsing portion of the tank. Thus, substrate loading, cleaning, rinsing, drying and unloading are performed with at least partial overlap in time.

In a first aspect, a module is provided that is adapted to process a wafer. The module includes a processing portion having one or more features such as (1) a rotatable wafer support for rotating an input wafer from a first orientation wherein the wafer is in line with a load port to a second orientation wherein the wafer is in line with an unload port; (2) a catcher adapted to contact and travel passively with a wafer as it is unloaded from the processing portion; (3) an enclosed output portion adapted to create a laminar air flow from one side thereof to the other; (4) an output portion having a plurality of wafer receivers; (5) submerged fluid nozzles; and/or (6) drying gas flow deflectors, etc. Other aspects include methods of wafer processing.

A method and an apparatus that uses a surfactant to clean a hydrophobic wafer is provided. In a first aspect, the method may clean and dry a wafer without applying pure DI water to the wafer. In a second aspect, the method may clean a wafer by applying pure DI water to the wafer only for a short duration of time such that the DI water application ceases prior to or as soon as a surfactant solution is rinsed from the wafer thereafter the wafer is dried. In a further aspect a hydrophobic wafer is maintained wetted with surfactant as it is transferred between cleaning apparatuses and is rinsed via diluted surfactant or via a brief DI water spray and is thereafter dried.

Method and apparatus for cleaning/drying hydrophobic wafers

An improved method and apparatus for adjusting chemistry concentrations and temperatures within a substrate processing tank is provided. A first aspect may include checking the fluid level within the tank, and, if the level is higher than a predetermined upper level, bleeding an amount of fluid from the tank; if the level is lower than a predetermined lower level, flowing an amount of fluid to the tank, and if the level is between the predetermined upper and lower levels, bleeding an amount of fluid from the tank and flowing an amount of fluid to the tank. A second aspect may include flowing water into the tank at a flow rate at least equivalent to the flow rate of water required to achieve a chemistry spike of a predetermined concentration and volume prior to beginning the flow of chemicals. A third aspect may include a method and apparatus for heating or cooling chemistry to a predetermined temperature as the chemistry is recirculated.

Method for managing a fluid level associated with a substrate processing tank

A Megasonic cleaning apparatus having at least one reflector (e.g., a parabolic or paraboloid reflector) positioned to collect otherwise wasted cleaning energy and redirect that energy to one or a plurality of positions on a wafer's edge is provided. A first embodiment comprises a complex parabolic reflector which has a width greater than that of the wafer and a preferred length approximately equal to the diameter of the wafer, and which is shaped to provide focal points which vary along the length of the parabolic reflector, such that energy striking the reflector at different points along the reflector's length is directed to a plurality of different points along the wafer's edge. A second embodiment comprises a simple parabolic reflector having a width greater than that of the wafer and a preferred length less than the diameter of the wafer, and which is provided to focus at a cord along the wafer's surface, effectively focusing cleaning energy on two points along the wafer's edge at any given time. Yet another embodiment of the invention comprises a paraboloid reflector having a width greater than that of the wafer and a preferred length which is substantially less than the diameter of the wafer and which is shaped to focus all collected energy to a single point on the wafer's edge. Multiple such reflectors may be positioned in the cleaning tank to optimize energy usage and wafer cleaning.

Megasonic resonator for disk cleaning and method for use thereof

A sonic tank for cleaning substrates is provided. The tank has two or more upwardly angled walls. Arrays of one or more transducers are positioned along at least two of the two or more angled walls. The transducer arrays are alternately energized maintaining nearly 100% substrate surface cleaning at any given time, and 50% duty cycle (or less) for each transducer array. The substrate supports are positioned such that nearly every point along the substrate's surface is contacted by energy from at least one transducer, and transducer opposing walls are positioned to avoid interfering reflections therefrom.

Continuous cleaning megasonic tank with reduced duty cycle transducers

A chemical mechanical polishing apparatus includes a pad conditioner having a conditioner head, a cleaning cup for receiving and cleaning the conditioner head of the pad conditioner, and a fluid dispenser for dispensing a cleaning fluid onto the conditioner head.

Pad conditioner cleaning apparatus

A system for vacuum-processing objects such as electronic integrated circuit wafers comprises (a) a carrier for transporting the wafers under vacuum in a cassette, the cassette being supported on a movable wall that serves as a bottom cover member of the carrier; and (b) a processing machine having a transfer chamber that is also maintained under vacuum, the transfer chamber having a movable wall in the form of an elevatable stage that sealingly closes the transfer chamber in its outermost position. There is a small sealingly closed interface chamber extending between the movable walls when the cassette is mounted onto the machine. A vacuum pump evacuates the interface chamber in preparation for lowering of the cassette into the transfer chamber by an elevator mechanism.

Controlled environment enclosure and mechanical interface

An inventive edge cleaning device is provided for cleaning the edge a thin disc such as a semiconductor wafer. The inventive edge cleaning device has a sonic nozzle positioned so as to direct a liquid jet at the edge surface of the thin disc. Preferably the sonic nozzle is radially spaced from the thin disc's edge so that scrubbing, spin rinsing or spin cleaning may be simultaneously performed on the major surfaces of the thin disc as the thin disc edge is cleaned by the sonic nozzle. The liquid jet may include deionized water, NH OH, KOH, TMAH, HF, citric acid, a surfactant, or other similar cleaning solutions, and the nozzle may remain stationary as the thin disc rotates or the nozzle may scan the circumference of the thin disc to clean the entire edge of the thin disc.

Method and apparatus for cleaning the edge of a thin disc

An apparatus for cleaning a substrate includes a source of pressurized carrier gas and a body of cleaning agent in liquid form. A first conduit directs the pressurized carrier gas from the carrier gas source to the body of cleaning agent. A second conduit carries a flow of the carrier gas away from the body of the cleaning agent. The carrier gas flow carried by the second conduit includes cleaning agent in vapor form acquired from the body of cleaning agent. A nozzle is coupled to the second conduit to cause droplets of the cleaning agent to impinge upon a first face of the substrate to be cleaned.

Aerosol substrate cleaner

Growing community of inventors

San Carlos, CA, United States of America

Boris Fishkin