Dual Cup Substrate Treating Apparatus Preventing Mist Contamination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional substrate treating apparatuses face challenges in maintaining a clean atmosphere and achieving high-quality substrate treatment due to the mixing of mist from positive and negative tone developers in the exhaust duct, leading to contamination and reduced treatment efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A substrate treating apparatus with a dual cup system, where an interior cup and an exterior cup are designed to collect and exhaust treatment liquids and gases separately, using movable positions and partitioning to prevent mixing, along with a cleaning liquid supply system to pre-spray and clean the cups before switching between positive and negative tone developments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single cup is used to collect treatment liquid for both positive and negative tone developments, then the device complexity is reduced, but the mist from different developers mixes in the exhaust duct causing contamination and reduced treatment quality
Solution Approach 1:
The single cup is divided into two separate cups: a first cup for collecting developer during positive tone development and a second cup for collecting developer during negative tone development. This segmentation prevents mist mixing in the exhaust duct while maintaining manageable device complexity through modular cup design.
2Manufacturing precision
If separate cups are used for positive and negative tone developments, then mist contamination is prevented and treatment quality is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The first cup and second cup are arranged in a nested configuration where the first cup is positioned inside or adjacent to the second cup within the same substrate treating unit. This nesting approach enables separate mist collection and exhaust paths for different developers while minimizing the overall space required and reducing structural complexity compared to completely separate units.
3Ease of manufacture
If the cup structure is simplified, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the ability to maintain separate exhaust paths for different developers is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The cup structure incorporates movable components including a movable cup that can shift position and a movable partition that can adjust its location. These dynamic elements allow the system to adapt between different operational modes (positive tone development, negative tone development, cleaning) while maintaining reliable atmosphere separation through the partition barrier during dual-tone operations.
4Reliability
If a movable partition is added to separate exhaust paths, then atmosphere separation is improved, but the device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The movable partition is designed to be automatically positioned based on the operational mode. During positive tone development, the partition separates the first cup's exhaust path; during negative tone development, it separates the second cup's exhaust path. The system self-adjusts the partition position in response to process requirements, reducing manual intervention complexity while maintaining reliable atmosphere separation.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a substrate treating apparatus including a substrate holder, a rotating drive unit, a treatment liquid supplying unit, an exterior cup, and an interior cup. The interior cup is movable between a collection position where the interior cup collects the treatment liquid and a retracting position where the exterior cup collects the treatment liquid, and includes an interior cup main body with an annular contour, a liquid outlet in the interior cup main body for draining the treatment liquid in the interior cup main body, and an exhaust port in the interior cup main body for exhausting gas in the interior cup main body. The exterior cup includes an exterior cup main body with an annular contour, a liquid outlet in the exterior cup main body for draining the treatment liquid in the exterior cup main body, and an exhaust port in the exterior cup main body for exhausting gas in the exterior cup main body.