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:
Sep. 09, 2003
Filed:
Mar. 29, 2001
Annette M. Crevasse, Apopka, FL (US);
William G. Easter, Orlando, FL (US);
John A. Maze, Orlando, FL (US);
Frank Miceli, Orlando, FL (US);
Agere Systems Inc., Allentown, PA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a wafer cleaning apparatus. In an advantageous embodiment, the wafer cleaning apparatus includes cleaning brushes mounted within a brush box and a sensor associated with at least one of the cleaning brushes and configured to detect a degree of wetness of the at least one of the cleaning brushes. In most cases, the cleaning brushes are comprised of an absorbent material, such as polyvinyl alcohol, that becomes more compressible as the cleaning brushes become more wetted with a solution. Thus, a degree of compressibility can be related to a degree of wetness of a cleaning brush, which provides data that allows an operator to determine when the cleaning brushes are wet enough to send a wafer through the cleaning apparatus without incurring unnecessary damage.