Substrate Processing Liquid Supply Control for Defect Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate processing apparatuses face challenges in efficiently managing chemical liquid supply and processing due to variations in temperature and supply capacity, leading to potential defects in semiconductor wafer processing.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing apparatus with a controller that monitors the state of the processing liquid and adjusts the number of processing units operating simultaneously based on detected parameters, such as temperature deviations and liquid levels, to ensure continuous and stable chemical liquid supply, implementing a simultaneous processing restricting control to reduce chemical liquid consumption and maintain optimal processing conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple processors perform liquid processing simultaneously using a single chemical liquid storage tank, then productivity is improved, but the chemical liquid supply capacity becomes insufficient leading to temperature variations and processing defects
Solution Approach 1:
The single chemical liquid storage tank is divided into multiple separate storage tanks, each dedicated to supplying chemical liquid to a specific processor. This segmentation ensures that each processor has sufficient chemical liquid supply capacity independent of others, eliminating temperature variations caused by insufficient supply while maintaining simultaneous operation of multiple processors.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of sharing a single storage tank among multiple processors, the system creates copies of the storage tank for each processor. Each processor has its own dedicated storage tank that replicates the supply capacity and temperature control capabilities, ensuring reliable processing conditions for all processors operating simultaneously.
2Productivity
If the number of processors operating simultaneously is increased, then productivity is improved, but chemical liquid consumption exceeds supply capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the chemical liquid supply by providing separate storage tanks for each processor. This allows each processor to have dedicated chemical liquid supply capacity, enabling multiple processors to operate simultaneously without the total consumption exceeding a single tank's supply capacity. Each tank is sized to meet the consumption demands of its associated processor.
3Device complexity
If chemical liquid is supplied from a single storage tank to multiple processors, then device complexity is reduced, but temperature control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The single storage tank is segmented into multiple separate tanks, each dedicated to a specific processor. This segmentation allows each tank to maintain precise temperature control independently, ensuring that temperature variations do not affect multiple processors simultaneously. The temperature stability improvement outweighs the increased complexity of having multiple tanks.
Solution Approach 2:
Each storage tank is equipped with its own temperature control system tailored to the specific requirements of the associated processor. This local quality approach ensures that each processor receives chemical liquid at the optimal temperature for its specific processing task, improving overall temperature control precision across the system.
Data Source
AI summary
A plasma processing apparatus includes a storage; processors; a liquid supply which supplies, into the storage, at least a first liquid composed of a processing liquid or source liquids for composing the processing liquid; a detector which detects a value of a parameter indicating a state of the first liquid supplied into the storage or a state of the processing liquid in the storage; and a controller which controls the processors to perform a liquid processing in sequence. The controller determines, based on a detection result of the value of the parameter, whether it is possible to supply the processing liquid continuously into a preset number of processors concurrently under a condition requested by the processors, and, if not, the controller performs a simultaneous processing restricting control of reducing a number of processors which are supposed to perform the liquid processing concurrently to be lower than the preset number.