Substrate Posture Turning With Immersion Wetting to Prevent Pattern Collapse
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current substrate treating apparatuses face challenges in ensuring substrates remain constantly wet during posture changes, leading to insufficient wetting and increased pattern collapse, especially when transitioning from batch-type to single-wafer-type processing.
Innovation Solution
A substrate treating apparatus is designed with a batch-type processing unit, a single-wafer-type processing unit, a posture turning unit, and immersion tanks to keep substrates wet during posture changes, utilizing a lifting mechanism and rotating mechanism to maintain substrates under deionized water until horizontal posture is achieved, preventing drying and pattern collapse.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If substrates are sprayed with deionized water near the rotating mechanism, then substrates can be kept wet during posture change, but the positional relationship between substrates and spray tubes cannot ensure constant wetting, leading to insufficient wetting control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an immersion tank as an intermediary device that completely submerges substrates in deionized water during posture change. This mediator ensures uniform and constant wetting of all substrate surfaces without relying on complex spray tube positioning, directly resolving the wetness control reliability issue while simplifying the overall system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the wetting method from surface spraying to complete immersion, fundamentally altering the parameter of water-substrate contact. This parameter change ensures that all substrate surfaces are uniformly wetted regardless of positional relationships, achieving reliable wetness control during the critical posture transition phase.
2Adaptability or versatility
If substrates are turned from vertical to horizontal posture using a rotating mechanism, then treatment can be transferred between batch-type and single-wafer-type modules, but substrates may dry out during posture change, causing pattern collapse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by completely immersing substrates in deionized water within the immersion tank before the posture change occurs. This ensures that substrates are fully wetted in advance, preventing any drying during the critical transition phase between vertical and horizontal postures, thus maintaining pattern integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The immersion tank serves as a protective intermediary environment that maintains constant wet conditions during posture transition. This mediator isolates substrates from the risk of drying out, allowing safe transfer between different processing units while preserving pattern integrity.
3Reliability
If spray tubes are positioned near the rotating mechanism to wet substrates, then drying can be controlled, but members of the rotating mechanism block water spray, resulting in insufficient wetting
Solution Approach 1:
The immersion tank acts as an intermediary that eliminates the need for complex spray systems near the rotating mechanism. By completely submerging substrates, it ensures uniform wetting of all surfaces including those that would be blocked by mechanism members, achieving wetting uniformity without increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the wetting function from the spray tube system and relocates it to the immersion tank. This separation removes the conflict between spray positioning and rotating mechanism interference, allowing the rotating mechanism to function freely while the immersion tank provides comprehensive wetting.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus effectively prevents pattern collapse by ensuring substrates remain wet during posture changes, enhancing the reliability of dry treatments and reducing the need for subsequent pattern removal processes, thereby conserving resources and reducing power consumption.
Implementation Method 1
an immersion tank configured to accommodate the substrates whose posture is to be turned by the posture turning unit, and in which the substrates are immersed in deionized water before the posture is turned
Implementation Method 2
a lifting mechanism configured to move the substrates in the horizontal posture upward and downward relative to the immersion tank
Implementation Method 3
a posture turning unit configured to hold the substrates on which the treatment is performed by the batch-type processing unit, and to turn a posture of the substrates from vertical to horizontal
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a substrate treating apparatus that performs treatment on a substrate. The apparatus includes a batch-type processing unit configured to perform treatment on a plurality of substrates, a single-wafer-type processing unit configured to perform treatment on one substrate of the substrates, a posture turning unit configured to turn a posture of the substrates on which the treatment is performed by the batch-type processing unit to horizontal, a first transport unit configured to transport the substrates from the batch-type processing unit to the posture turning unit, a second transport unit configured to transport the substrates, turned to horizontal by the posture turning unit, to the single-wafer-type processing unit, and an immersion tank in which the substrates are immersed in deionized water before the posture is turned by the posture turning unit.