Ebara Research Co., Ltd.

Hidetomo Suzuki

Toshiaki Fujii

Kazuhiko Sakamoto

Tsukuru Suzuki

Naoaki Ogure

A method and apparatus for preventing contamination of a substrate or a substrate surface, and particularly relates to prevention of contamination of raw materials, semi-finished products, base materials of products and substrate surface in a high-tech industry such as an in the production of semiconductors and liquid crystals. A gas coming into contact with a base material or substrate is purified by dust removing apparatus and adsorption and/or absorption apparatus so that the concentration of fine particles in the gas is below class 1,000 and a non-methane hydrocarbon concentration is below 0.2 ppm. Thereafter, the base material or the substrate surface is exposed to this gas.

Method and apparatus for the preparation of clean gases

A method and apparatus for preventing contamination of a substrate or a substrate surface, and particularly relates to prevention of contamination of raw materials, semi-finished products, base materials of products and substrate surface in a high-tech industry such as in the production of semiconductors and liquid crystals. A gas coming into contact with a base material or substrate is purified by dust removing apparatus and adsorption and/or absorption apparatus so that the concentration of fine particles in the gas is below class 1,000 and a non-methane hydrocarbon concentration is below 0.2 ppm. Thereafter, the base material or the substrate surface is exposed to this gas.

A stocker for accommodating, storing or transporting articles in clean, contamination-free conditions for either a long time or temporarily. The stocker has a particle collector provided in a part thereof. The particle collector includes an irradiation source such as ultraviolet light source, and a photoelectron emitting material that emits photoelectrons on irradiation with irradiation energy from the irradiation source. The particle collector further includes an electric field forming electrode, and a charged particle collecting material. The space where the particle collector is provided is preferably partitioned from the other space of the stocker by an irradiation energy screening material.

Stocker

Cleaning a closed space such as safety cabinets, clean boxes, safes and wafer storage spaces are performed by irradiating a photoelectron emitting member with ultraviolet rays and/or other forms of radiation to emit photoelectrons into the closed space, electrically charging the fine particles in the closed space with the emitted photoelectrons, and removing the charged fine particles from the closed space.

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Kanagawa-ken, Japan

Hidetomo Suzuki