Substrate Processing Solvent Evaporation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
In semiconductor device manufacturing, the use of fluorine-containing organic solvents as anti-drying liquids and high-pressure fluids is costly due to evaporation losses and decomposition issues, leading to pattern collapse during processing.
Innovation Solution
A substrate processing method involving a mixture of fluorine-containing organic solvents with different boiling and critical temperatures, where a second solvent with a lower boiling point is used to create a high-pressure fluid atmosphere, reducing evaporation and decomposition risks, and ensuring the first solvent is removed without condensing during discharge.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If a fluorine-containing organic solvent with a high boiling point is used as an anti-drying liquid, then evaporation loss during transportation is reduced, but the solvent can decompose in high-temperature and high-pressure atmosphere to generate hydrogen fluoride
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter by maintaining the processing container temperature below the decomposition temperature of the fluorine-containing organic solvent. This allows the use of high-boiling-point solvents as anti-drying liquids without causing decomposition, as the temperature is controlled to stay within safe limits during the high-pressure fluid processing step.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite approach by combining a fluorine-containing organic solvent (as anti-drying liquid) with a high-pressure fluid (such as supercritical carbon dioxide). This combination allows the anti-drying liquid to perform its function while the high-pressure fluid removes it, avoiding the need to use the fluorine-containing solvent alone in high-temperature conditions.
2Reliability
If a fluorine-containing organic solvent is used as an anti-drying liquid, then flame retardancy is improved, but the cost increases due to evaporation loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter by controlling the processing container temperature to be below the boiling point of the fluorine-containing organic solvent. This reduces evaporation loss during the high-pressure fluid processing step, thereby reducing operational costs while maintaining the flame retardancy benefit of using fluorine-containing solvents.
3Productivity
If the processing container temperature is raised to remove anti-drying liquid, then liquid removal efficiency is improved, but the anti-drying liquid may decompose
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the temperature parameter by setting it above the condensation temperature but below the decomposition temperature of the fluorine-containing organic solvent. This allows efficient removal of the anti-drying liquid through controlled heating without causing decomposition, achieving both high productivity and safety.
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
This method minimizes evaporation losses and prevents decomposition, reducing operational costs and preventing pattern collapse during the processing of semiconductor wafers.
Implementation Method 1
a liquid adhering to a wafer surface can be removed, without being influenced by the surface tension, by replacing the liquid on the wafer surface with a high-pressure fluid
Implementation Method 2
replacing the liquid on the wafer surface with a high-pressure fluid, and then changing the high-pressure fluid into a gas
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate processing method and apparatus for preventing evaporation of an anti-drying fluorine-containing organic solvent from a substrate during transportation of the substrate into a processing container and can prevent decomposition of a fluorine-containing organic solvent in the processing container. A substrate, the surface of which is covered with a first fluorine-containing organic solvent, is carried into a processing container. The first fluorine-containing organic solvent is removed from the substrate surface by forming a high-pressure fluid atmosphere of a mixture of the first fluorine-containing organic solvent and a second fluorine-containing organic solvent, having a lower boiling point than the first fluorine-containing organic solvent, in the processing container e.g. by supplying a high-pressure fluid of the second fluorine-containing organic solvent into the processing container. Thereafter, a fluid in the state of a high-pressure fluid or a gas is discharged from the processing container to obtain the substrate in the dried state.