Apparatus for treating a substrate with an ozone-solvent solution

Abstract

A system for treating a substrate with an ozone-solvent solution has an ozone-solvent solution supply. The supply has a supply outlet, and the ozone solvent solution supply is capable of delivering at the supply outlet a generally continuous supply of an ozone-solvent solution formed at a first temperature. The system includes a heater having an inlet and heater outlet, with the inlet fluidly coupled to receive the ozone-solvent solution at approximately the first temperature from the supply outlet. The heater is configured to heat the ozone-solvent solution from the first temperature to a second temperature to form a heated ozone-solvent solution such that the heated ozone-solvent solution is supersaturated with ozone. The heater is capable of providing a generally continuous supply of heated, supersaturated, ozone-solvent solution at the heater outlet for use in treating the substrate.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This is a divisional of co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09 / 693,012 filed Oct. 19, 2000, entitled “A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING A SUBSTRATE WITH AN OZONE-SOLVENT SOLUTION,” now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,006, which is incorporated herein by reference, and claims priority therefrom, and from U.S. provisional patent application 60 / 160,435 filed Oct. 19, 1999.BACKGROUND—FIELD OF INVENTION [0002] This invention presents a method for treating materials using an ozone-solvent solution. The method may be used for removing photoresist, post ash photoresist residue, post-etch residue, and other organic materials from semiconductor wafers, flat panel display substrates, and the like at high speed using a solution of ozone gas dissolved in a solvent. The method may also be used for disinfection or sterilization of medical instruments whereby bacteria, viruses, and other microbes are inactivated by the ozone-solvent solution. BACKGR...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012] Outlines below are some of the advantages the various processes and how they are achieved: higher oxidation rate: provides a method for oxidizing materials using a solution of ozone gas dissolved in solvent which can produce much higher oxidation rates than can be achieved by current methods environmentally benign chemical: provides a method for oxidizing materials at high speed which uses an environmentally benign, residue free chemistry thereby reducing chemical disposal cost

[0035] applicable to complex shaped instruments with internal passages with large L / D: provides a method for sterilization of medical instruments at moderate temperatures which can be used with complex shaped items, or items containing internal surfaces, such as rigid and flexible endoscopes with internal passages with a large length to diameter ratio L / D.

Problems solved by technology

The point-of-use heater is designed to have a small residence volume so that the residence time between the inlet of the heater and the point of application is small and there is insufficient time for supersaturated solution to return to equilibrium before reaching the surface of the material to be oxidized.

Since the water bath did not have sufficient power to maintain a constant bath temperature, the dispense temperature of the ozone water solution decreased about 5 degree C. during the test.

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