Applied Materials, Inc.

Michael N Sugarman

Yezdi N Dordi

Brian J Brown

Mark Robert Denome

John M White

Alexander N Lerner

Manoocher Birang

Ashok K Sinha

Anwar Husain

Joseph Stevens

Fred Conrad Redeker

Robin W Cheung

Avi Tepman

Shijian Li

Ratson Morad

Jianshe Tang

Dan A Marohl

Boris Fishkin

Makoto Inagawa

Donald J Olgado

Vincent E Burkhart

Ho Seon Shin

Haoquan Fang

Peter W Hey

Younes Achkire

Boris T Govzman

Vladimir Galburt

Mark Lloyd

Dan Carl

George Birkmaier

Guy Shirazi

Eugene Ravinovich

Rashid Mavliev

Robert J Steger

Joe Stevens

Svetlana Sherman

Boris I Govzman

Shannon J Kelsey

David G Andeen

Michael Beesely

Roy Edwards

Bob Lowrance

Anantha K Subramani

Madhavi R Chandrachood

Bradley Owen Stimson

Steven Victor Sansoni

Howard E Grunes

Kien Nai Chuc

Gilbert Hausmann

Sergio Edelstein

Peter F Ebbing

Allen Flanigan

Peter Satitpunwaycha

H Peter W Hey

Ying Yu

Raymond Gristi

Jack Ford

Radha Nayak

Anthony Ct Chan

Daniel D Ramar

Shou-Sang Chang

Rashid Mavleiv

Anna Marie Lloyd, Legal Representative

Lawrance A Ringor

Chia-Au Bill Lu

Fred H Hariz

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

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.

In a scrubber adapted to clean a semiconductor wafer, the torque of a brush rotation motor is monitored while a scrubber brush is in contact with the wafer and is being rotated by the motor. The position of the brush relative to the wafer may be adjusted based on the monitored torque to regulate the pressure applied to the wafer by the brush. Open loop positioning or closed loop control may be employed.

Methods and apparatus for determining scrubber brush pressure

The present invention provides an electro-chemical deposition system that is designed with a flexible architecture that is expandable to accommodate future designs and gap fill requirements and provides satisfactory throughput to meet the demands of other processing systems. The electro-chemical deposition system generally comprises a mainframe having a mainframe wafer transfer robot, a loading station disposed in connection with the mainframe, one or more processing cells disposed in connection with the mainframe, and an electrolyte supply fluidly connected to the one or more electrical processing cells. Preferably, the electro-chemical deposition system includes a spin-rinse-dry (SRD) station disposed between the loading station and the mainframe, a rapid thermal anneal chamber attached to the loading station, and a system controller for controlling the electro-chemical deposition process and the components of the electro-chemical deposition system.

Electro-chemical deposition system

An inventive vertical spin-dryer is provided. The inventive spin-dryer may have a shield system positioned to receive fluid displaced from a substrate vertically positioned within the spin-dryer. The shield system may have one or more shields positioned to at least partially reflect fluid therefrom as the fluid impacts the shield. The one or more shields are angled to encourage the flow of fluid therealong, and are preferably hydrophilic to prevent droplets from forming. Preferably the shield system has three shields positioned in a horizontally and vertically staggered manner so that fluid is transferred from a substrate facing surface of a first shield to the top or non-substrate-facing surface of an adjacent shield, etc. A pressure gradient may be applied across the interior of the spin-dryer to create an air flow which encourages fluid to travel along the shield system in a desired direction. A sensor adapted to facilitate desired flywheel position, an openable gripper having a remote actuator, a radiused gripper and a source of inert drying gas are also provided in individual embodiments.

Spin-rinse-dryer

An apparatus for cleaning a substrate is provided. The apparatus comprises a plurality of rollers adapted to support a substrate in a vertical orientation, a scrubber brush adapted to contact a substrate supported by the plurality of rollers, and a sonic nozzle positioned at an elevation below the elevation of the scrubber brush and adapted so as to output a sonicated fluid spray that contacts a beveled edge or a major surface of the substrate such that fluid having sufficient sonic energy to harm the scrubber brush will not contact the scrubber brush.

Scrubber with sonic nozzle

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 scrubber device is provided. The scrubber device may etch a backside of a wafer and may clean a frontside of the wafer simultaneously. The scrubber device may comprise a programmed controller adapted to supply a non-etching fluid to a frontside of the wafer whenever an etching fluid is supplied to the backside of the wafer.

Backside etching in a scrubber

A roller assembly is provided. The roller assembly comprises a groove that the includes two opposing surfaces. The roller assembly comprises either frictional surfaces positioned along the groove, or O-ring(s) coupled to the groove. The frictional surfaces may be a plurality of holes at spaced intervals along the opposing surfaces of the groove, a plurality of holes, each hole sized so as to extend into the two opposing surfaces, at spaced intervals along the opposing surfaces of the groove, or may be a bead-blasted surface or a knurled surface positioned along the opposing surfaces of the groove.

Roller that avoids substrate slippage

A brush mounting system for a wafer scrubbing device includes a brush mandrel and a mounting assembly on which the brush mandrel is mounted. The mounting assembly includes a mounting member adapted to be mounted to a wall of the wafer scrubbing device, and a bearing secured to the mounting member. A brush support is rotatably mounted on the bearing and has an outer end that includes a contact surface adapted to contact the brush mandrel. The contact surface has a spherical profile. The brush mandrel includes a corresponding contact surface having a spherical profile, so that the brush mandrel and the mounting assembly form a spherical joint at the point of contact.

Wafer scrubbing device having brush assembly and mounting assembly forming spherical joint

A method and apparatus is provided for removing material from the edge of a disk. In one embodiment, the edge of the disk is contacted with etchant via an etchant containing swab or trough (which may contain one or more transducers) and is rotated such that successive portions of the disk edge are scanned through the trough or past the swab. To prevent etchant from contacting the major surface of the substrate, and/or to prevent excessive etching, the edge of the disk is contacted with a rinsing fluid (e.g., a rinsing fluid nozzle or a trough filled with rinsing fluid). In a further embodiment material such as residue or particles may be removed via a trough containing sonically energized rinsing fluid.

Wafer edge cleaning method and apparatus

A wafer scrubbing unit includes a mounting assembly for a scrubber brush. The mounting assembly has a rotary flow through tube through which cleaning liquid is delivered to the brush. A stationary tube may be mounted in the bore of the rotary tube. Spinning shields mounted on the rotary tube form labyrinth seals to protect a bearing housing from the cleaning liquid. Bearings for rotatably mounting the rotary tube are mounted within the housing.

Labyrinth seal for bearing in brush mounting assembly for semiconductor wafer scrubber

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San Francisco, CA, United States of America

Michael N Sugarman