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:
Nov. 03, 1998
Filed:
Sep. 29, 1995
John J Hackenberg, Palm Bay, FL (US);
Harris Corporation, Melbourne, FL (US);
Abstract
A device and method for removing contaminants from semiconductor wafers and from the interior of wafer processing chambers in which the temperature inside the chambers is raised to sufficiently high levels for short time periods. In a wafer etching chamber, heat cleaning is performed after wafer removal and lessens the required frequency of other cleaning methods and in doing so reduces the time the chamber is unavailable. In a mask removal chamber, heat cleaning is performed with the wafer in the chamber and while still under vacuum conditions, thereby driving contaminants off of both the wafer and the chamber interior. The wafer cleaning is performed prior to exposure to atmospheric water vapor which can initiate corrosion.