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:
Aug. 01, 2000
Filed:
Sep. 23, 1997
Hiroki Taniyama, Tosu, JP;
Miyako Yamasaka, Yamanashi-ken, JP;
Hiroyuki Kudou, Kumamoto-ken, JP;
Akira Yonemizu, Kumamoto, JP;
Tokyo Electron Limited, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The present invention provides a wet etching method applied to a thin, including the steps of (a) setting in advance an etching rate of said thin film in view of a kind of the thin film to be etched, components of said etchant solution, and temperature, (b) loading the substrate on a spin chuck such that the surface having the thin film formed thereon faces upward and, (c) detecting a thickness of the thin film in at least a peripheral portion and a central portion of the substrate. The method also includes the steps (d) calculating moving speeds of a nozzle at predetermined passing points of said nozzle on the basis of the etching rate set in step (a) and a film thickness detected in the step (c), (e) rotating the substrate by driving the spin chuck, and (f) controlling the moving speed of the nozzle, while allowing the nozzle to supply the etchant solution to the thin film formed on the surface of the substrate which is being rotated, to conform with the moving speeds calculated in step (d) at the predetermined passing points of the nozzle so as to move the nozzle in a radial direction of the substrate.