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:
Jan. 09, 2001
Filed:
Jul. 06, 2000
Julia Svirchevski, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Katrina Mikhaylich, San Jose, CA (US);
Jackie Zhang, Cupertino, CA (US);
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention describes a method and apparatus used in a substrate cleaning system wherein a substrate is placed into a first brush station while a chemical solution is delivered to the first brush station at a desired concentration level. The substrate is then scrubbed in the first brush station. After the substrate is scrubbed in the first brush station the substrate is transferred to a second brush station. The chemical solution used in the first brush station is then delivered to a brush in the second brush station in a ramp up manner in order to clean the brush in the second brush station. The delivery of the chemical solution to the second brush station is then stopped and deionized water is delivered to the second brush station. The substrate is then scrubbed using the deionized water in order to rinse the chemical solution from the substrate prior to transferring the substrate from the second brush station to another processing station. This method and apparatus applies the chemical solutions uniformly to the semiconductor substrate, reduces the volumes of chemical solutions used in a scrubbing process, and helps maintain control of the pH profile of a substrate. This system is described and illustrated in the manner it is used in conjunction with a scrubber that scrubs both sides of a semiconductor substrate.