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:
Apr. 22, 2003
Filed:
Oct. 04, 2000
Allan Radman, Aptos, CA (US);
Mario Stella, Glasgow, GB;
Lam Research Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
A substrate cleaning system incorporating an edge scrubbing roller is disclosed. The system includes a cleaning station having a first brush and a second brush. The second brush is oriented relative to the first brush so as to receive a flat circular substrate therebetween. The first brush and the second brush are configured to simultaneously scrub a first and second surface of the flat circular substrate. The cleaning station also includes a scrubbing roller that is configured to receive an edge of the flat circular substrate. The scrubbing roller has a scrubbing pad for scrubbing a first surface edge of the first surface, a second surface edge of the second surface, and an edge that is not part of either the first or second surface. The edge scrubbing provided by the scrubbing roller advantageously assists in removing edge beading, metal debris, and other particulates that form during fabrication operations, such as metal deposition. In one example, a spray nozzle or multiple nozzles can be directed at the scrubbing roller so as to deliver targeted cleaning fluids that further assist in removing the desired materials from the wafer periphery, whether it be on the top surface edge, the actual edge, or the bottom surface edge.