Tokyo Electron Limited

Yuji Mimura

Hiroshi Maeda

Masaru Honda

Takashi Terada

Satoshi Nishimura

Ryoichi Sakamoto

Takahiro Masunaga

Shigeto Tsuruta

Yutaka Yamasaki

Eiji Manabe

Hisanori Hizume

Kiyotaka Imai

Kaoru Maekawa

Shinichi Shinozuka

Toshifumi Inamasu

Takeshi Tamura

Kenji Sugakawa

Yoshitaka Otsuka

Takuro Masuzumi

Akira Fukutomi

Masataka Matsunaga

Hirokazu Aizawa

Shuhei Matsumoto

Takashi Koga

Kazutaka Noda

Tetsuya Maki

Tatsuya Kitayama

Tatsumi Oonishi

Harunobu Suenaga

Makoto Tsukishima

Daisuke Ikemoto

Hironori Tanoue

A surface modifying apparatus is configured to modify a bonding surface of a substrate to be bonded to another substrate by plasma of a processing gas. The surface modifying apparatus includes a processing vessel; a measuring unit; and a controller. The processing vessel is configured to accommodate the substrate therein. The measuring unit is configured to measure a value indicating an amount of moisture in the processing vessel. The controller is configured to determine whether or not bonding strength between the substrate and the another substrate, when it is assumed that the substrate modified in the processing vessel is bonded to the another substrate, is good based on the value indicating the amount of moisture in the processing vessel measured by the measuring unit.

Surface modifying apparatus and bonding strength determination method

A bonding system includes a bonding device, an inspection device and a controller. The bonding device forms a combined substrate by bonding a first substrate and a second substrate to each other. The inspection device inspects the combined substrate. The controller controls the inspection device. The controller includes a measurement controller, a comparison unit and a re-measurement controller. The measurement controller causes the inspection device to measure the combined substrate at a first number of measurement points. The comparison unit compares, with a reference, an inspection result including a deviation amount between the first substrate and the second substrate in the combined substrate based on a measurement result. The re-measurement controller causes the inspection device to re-measure the combined substrate at a second number of measurement points greater than the first number of measurement points based on a comparison result obtained by the comparison unit.

Bonding system and inspection method of inspecting combined substrate

A bonding system includes a surface modifying apparatus and a bonding apparatus. The surface modifying apparatus is configured to modify a bonding surface of a substrate to be bonded to another substrate with plasma of a processing gas. The bonding apparatus is configured to bond two substrates modified by the surface modifying apparatus by an intermolecular force. The surface modifying apparatus includes: a processing chamber configured to accommodate therein the substrate; a processing gas supply configured to supply a processing gas containing moisture into the processing chamber; and a plasma forming unit configured to form the plasma of the processing gas containing the moisture.

Bonding system and surface modification method

A separating method includes holding a combined substrate and separating a first substrate. In the holding of the combined substrate, the combined substrate in which the first substrate and a second substrate are bonded is held. In the separating of the first substrate, the first substrate is separated from the combined substrate, starting from a side surface of the combined substrate. The separating of the first substrate includes brining a fluid containing water into contact with the side surface.

Separating method, separating apparatus, and separating system

A measuring method includes measuring a displacement A, placing an imaging unitat a position where the imaging unit is allowed to image a measurement mark MI and imaging the measurement mark M. In the measuring of the displacement A, the displacement Aof a surface of a combined substrate, which is composed of two sheets of substrates bonded to each other, on a side of the imaging unitat a position where the measurement mark Mfor position deviation measurement, which is provided within the combined substrate, is placed is measured. In the imaging of the measurement mark M, the measurement mark Mis imaged by the imaging unitwhile putting the measurement mark Min focus by moving a focal position back and forth with respect to a focal position which is previously set based on the displacement A

Measuring method and measuring device

A bonding system includes a surface modifying apparatus configured to modify a bonding surface of a first substrate and a bonding surface of a second substrate; a surface hydrophilizing apparatus configured to hydrophilize the modified bonding surface of the first substrate and the modified bonding surface of the second substrate; a bonding apparatus configured to perform bonding of the hydrophilized bonding surface of the first substrate and the hydrophilized bonding surface of the second substrate in a state that the bonding surfaces face each other; and a cleaning apparatus configured to clean, before the bonding is performed, a non-bonding surface of, between the first substrate and the second substrate, at least one which is maintained flat when the bonding is performed, the not-bonding surface being opposite to the bonding surface.

Bonding method for cleaning non-bonding surface of substrate

Bonding system with cleaning apparatus for cleaning non-bonding surface of substrate

Described herein is a method of bonding and/or debonding substrates. In one embodiment, at least one of the surfaces of the substrates to be bonded is comprised of an oxide. In one embodiment, the surfaces of both substrates comprise an oxide. A wet etch may then be utilized to debond the substrates by etching away the layers that have been bonded. In one embodiment, a fusion bonding process is utilized to bond two substrates, at least one substrate having a silicon oxide surface. In one exemplary etch, a dilute hydrofluoric (DHF) etch is utilized to etch the bonded silicon oxide surface, allowing for two bonded substrates to be debonded. In another embodiment, the silicon oxide may be a low density silicon oxide. In one embodiment, both substrates may have a surface layer of the low density silicon oxide which may be fusion bonded together.

Method and structure for low density silicon oxide for fusion bonding and debonding

A bonding system includes a substrate transfer device configured to transfer a first substrate and a second substrate in a normal pressure atmosphere, a surface modifying apparatus configured to modify surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate to be bonded with each other in a depressurized atmosphere, a load lock chamber in which the first substrate and the second substrate are delivered between the substrate transfer device and the surface modifying apparatus and in which an internal atmosphere of the load lock chamber is switchable between an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and the depressurized atmosphere, a surface hydrophilizing apparatus configured to hydrophilize the modified surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate, and a bonding apparatus configured to bond the hydrophilized surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate by an intermolecular force.

Bonding systems

There is provided a method of bonding substrates to each other, which includes: holding a first substrate on a lower surface of a first holding part; adjusting a temperature of a second substrate by a temperature adjusting part to become higher than a temperature of the first substrate; holding the second substrate on an upper surface of a second holding part; inspecting a state of the second substrate by imaging a plurality of reference points of the second substrate with a first imaging part, measuring positions of the reference points, and comparing a measurement result with a predetermined permissible range; and pressing a central portion of the first substrate with a pressing member, bringing the central portion of the first substrate into contact with a central portion of the second substrate, and sequentially bonding the first substrate and the second substrate.

Bonding method, storage medium, bonding apparatus and bonding system

A coating apparatus includes: a slit nozzle including a retention chamber that retains the coating material; a moving mechanism that moves the slit nozzle; a pressure regulation unit that regulates a pressure inside the retention chamber; and a control unit that controls the moving mechanism and the pressure regulation unit to relatively move the slit nozzle with respect to the substrate while changing the pressure inside the retention chamber toward an atmospheric pressure from a negative pressure, wherein the control unit is configured to control the pressure regulation unit so that a change in the pressure inside the retention chamber in a start zone including a coating start position and an end zone including a coating end position becomes slower than a change in the pressure inside the retention chamber in a middle zone except the start zone and the end zone.

Coating apparatus

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Koshi, Japan

Yuji Mimura