The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 20, 2020
Filed:
Aug. 16, 2019
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Various embodiments of systems and methods for drain line monitoring are disclosed herein. More specifically, a liquid dispense unit for a coating/developing processing system is provided herein for applying one or more liquid solutions to a substrate disposed within the liquid dispense unit. In the disclosed embodiments, a pH sensor and/or a line particle counter (LPC) is coupled to a drain line of the liquid dispense unit to monitor various parameters of the liquid waste, which is ejected from the substrate and disposed of through the drain line. In some embodiments, measurements obtained from the pH sensor may be used to optimize a develop process by detecting an endpoint of the develop process, avoiding pH shock and/or detecting excursions in the develop process. In some embodiments, measurements obtained from the LPC may additionally or alternatively be used to optimize the develop process.