Machine Technology, Inc.

Service Support Specialties, Inc.

Creative Design Corp.

Other

S.sup.3 Service Support Specialties, Inc.

Thermodigm, LLC

Gary Hillman

Richard H Rubin

Robert D Mohondro

Michael J Devico

Joseph Deghuee

Rajnish Tiwari

Bernard H Paulfus

Lewis E Zarr

Victoria Rocha

David Bartok

William K Hayes

Michael Devico

A system and/or method for coating a substrate. The system may include a chuck for holding and rotating the substrate, a dispensing subsystem for dispensing a coating material onto the substrate, and a shield member. The shield member may be movable towards and away from the substrate during the coating procedure. The shield member may have an inverted funnel shape. The shield member may include a central chamber through which a solvent vapor flows and a peripheral chamber that is fluidly separated from the central chamber through which a gas flows. During a coating procedure, the shield member may be moved very close to the substrate and the solvent vapor and gas may flow onto the substrate to create a solvent rich ambient around the substrate and prevent aerosols of the coating material from redepositing onto the substrate after being flung off due to spinning of the substrate.

Method and/or system for coating a substrate

System for coating a substrate

A spin coating apparatus, system, and/or method that increase the uniformity of a coating material on a substrate. The spin coating system may be specifically directed for use with polygonal shaped substrates. The spin coating system may include a process chamber within which the substrate is located, spinning on a chuck, during operation. The spin coating system may include gas injection ports that inject a gas into the process chamber so that the gas contacts the substrate along corner portions of its front surface. This injection of the gas increases pressure and prevents excessive build-up of the coating material that may otherwise occur when spin coating polygonal shaped substrates.

Spin coating apparatus, system, and method

A method and/or system for coating a substrate with a coating material. The coating material may be a polymer such as a photoresist. The method involves dispensing a coating material onto a substrate during which a temperature differential between the coating material and the substrate is at least 5&#xb0; C. This temperature differential may be achieved by cooling the substrate and/or heating the coating material prior to dispensing the coating material onto the substrate. Due to the temperature differential, as the coating material contacts the substrate the viscosity of the coating material will increase, assisting the coating material in adhering to the substrate. Then, when the substrate is spun, the coating material with the increased viscosity will remain adhered to the substrate thereby providing a more conformal coating.

A reflow soldering apparatus, system, and method. The reflow soldering system may include a housing that is alterable between an open state and a closed state, the open state being used for loading and unloading of substrates and the closed state being used during operation. The system may also include a heating assembly located within the chamber and a cooling assembly that is spaced apart from the heating assembly. A support member may be included to support a substrate within the chamber. A first actuator unit may be operably coupled to either the heating and cooling assemblies jointly, or to the support member. Additionally, the system may include a control unit coupled to the first actuator unit to cause relative movement between the substrate and the heating and cooling assemblies. Thus, the substrate can move between the heating and cooling assemblies during the various stages of the reflow soldering process.

Reflow soldering apparatus, system and method

A system and/or method for heat treatment of substrates. The system includes a housing that defines a heating chamber and a door assembly that encloses an opening of the heating chamber. The door assembly may be opened and closed. When opened, the door assembly defines a loading slot for loading substrates into and unloading substrates from the heating chamber. The door assembly is coupled to a first actuator and a control unit is coupled to the actuator to move the door assembly between a plurality of loading positions. The system may also include a loading assembly mounted to the door assembly to facilitate insertion and removal of substrates from the heating chamber.

System and method for heat treatment of substrates

An improved technique achieves a uniform photoresist film on a wafer by controlling the volatility of the solvent in a photoresist solution during the bake process step. Because film formation takes place in the bake rather than the spin steps of the process, the improved technique involves using less viscous and therefore less costly and easier to use resists to cast relatively thick photoresist films. Such control is achieved in an enclosed chamber into which a carrier gas is introduced; the carrier gas mixes with gaseous solvent to create a saturating atmosphere in which the rate of evaporation of solvent decreases. This enables the heating of the wafer without the reduction of solvent in the film so that the photoresist can self-level. When the film has self-leveled, the solvent is then baked off as usual.

Rapid coating of wafers

A substrate such as a semiconductor wafer is move across the top of an open trough while a liquid is maintained in the trough at a level just above the walls of the trough, as by supplying the liquid to the trough so that the liquid gently overflows the trough. The downwardly-facing surface of the substrate contacts the liquid. The substrate is moved at a constant rate so that the duration of contact is the same for all portions of the surface.

Mechanically scanned wet chemical processing

An apparatus and method for maintaining substantially uniform temperature of semiconductor wafers and similar workpieces is provided. The method and apparatus utilize a workpiece holder that is substantially a closed chamber, which includes a wall structure including a workpiece engaging wall in thermal communication with the chamber. The workpiece holder also includes a condenser that communicates with the chamber and a heater that applies heat to the chamber. The heater applies heat to a fluid inside the chamber such that when the fluid vaporizes within the chamber the condenser abstracts the heat from the fluid. This causes continual circulation of vapor through the interior of the chamber, which helps to maintain temperature uniformity. A feedback control system connected to one or more temperature sensors can control the heater, the condenser or both so as to maintain a predetermined set point temperature within the chamber.

Uniform temperature workpiece holder

The present invention is a wafer handling robot which does not require a second mechanism for performing the task of pre-alignment. The robot uses the moving elements of the wafer handling robot which perform the wafer handling tasks to perform the tasks of centering and notch or flat finding of a wafer.

Robot having a centering and flat finding means

A wafer scrubbing system includes a upper and lower elongated scrubbers extending generally parallel with one another, the scrubbers being driven in rotation about their own axes. The wafer is disposed between the scrubbers so that the top and bottom surfaces of the wafer engage the scrubbers. The scrubbers are arranged to provide different frictional forces with the wafer at opposite ends of the scrubbers, and thereby provide a torque on the wafer about a central axis transverse to the top and bottom surfaces of the wafer and transverse to the scrubber axes.

Wafer cleaning system

Wafer handling apparatus includes a plurality of holding stations arranged in an upstream-to-downstream order and devices to treat the wafers held at the stations. Cyclically operative wafer shifting devices engage the wafers, simultaneously remove the engaged wafers during that cycle from the holding stations, shift the engaged wafers downstream relative to said holding stations and then simultaneously redeposit the wafers onto the holding stations. Thus, each wafer redeposited on a cycle of the wafer shifting devices is disposed at a holding station downstream from the holding station occupied by such wafer before that cycle of the shifting devices. Wafer supply and removal devices are provided for introducing and removing the wafers to and from the holding stations after they are treated. A method of handling wafers among a plurality of holding stations is also disclosed.

Wafer handling method and apparatus

An apparatus for removing oxide from a silicon substrate having a silicon substrate temperature including an evaporation chamber having at least one inlet and at least one outlet, whereby a carrier gas can be passed through the evaporation chamber from the inlet to the outlet, means for introducing a preselected charge of a hydrous cleaning solution into the evaporation chamber, means for heating the preselected charge of the liquid cleaning solution to evaporate the charge completely and thereby form a mixture of vapors with the carrier gas flowing through the evaporation chamber, a heat exchanger connected to the outlet of the evaporation chamber for lowering the temperature or the mixture to below the silicon substrate temperature, a process chamber for holding the silicon substrate, the process chamber having an inlet connected to the heat exchanger and an outlet and an exhaust controller connected to the outlet of the process chamber for removing gas mixture from the process chamber.

Silicon substrate cleaning apparatus

A silicon substrate cleaning method and apparatus is presented in which a hydrous cleaning solution is caused to evaporate at a temperature at about or above its azeotropic temperature and a cleaning vapor thus produced is applied to a substrate to remove unwanted oxide. This method can be applied to a series of silicon substrates with consistent results, substrate to substrate, despite the azeotropic temperature characteristics of the hydrous cleaning solution. The method produces an oxide-free substrate without contaminants, particulates or residue.

Silicon substrate cleaning method and apparatus

An apparatus and method is disclosed for applying a uniform layer of a fluid material such as photoresist onto the surface of a rotating workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer. A dispensing nozzle is provided with a rectangular or oblong shaped opening for painting a broad swath of the fluid material onto the surface of the workpiece while the nozzle moves along a radial path inwardly from the peripheral edge of the workpiece. The use of a rectangular or oblong shaped nozzle opening minimizes the amount of fluid material being consumed while providing a uniform thin film coating on the workpiece surface.

Growing community of inventors

Livingston, NJ, United States of America

Gary Hillman