Substrate Treatment Layout Combining Vertical Batch and Single-Wafer Stages

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing substrate treatment methods face challenges in achieving high mass productivity, minimizing pattern leaning and watermarking, and efficiently treating substrates with high aspect ratio patterns, while maintaining uniform treatment quality and reducing apparatus size.

Innovation Solution

A substrate treating apparatus that includes a load port, a lot forming part for changing substrate posture, a batch treatment unit, an interface part with a posture changing robot, and a single-wafer processing unit, allowing for sequential vertical and horizontal substrate processing with minimized air exposure.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If batch treatment method is used to improve mass productivity, then treatment quality uniformity deteriorates due to pattern leaning and watermarking

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemass productivityVSAvoidtreatment quality uniformity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The batch treatment process is segmented into two distinct stages: vertical batch treatment for high productivity, followed by horizontal single-wafer treatment for quality uniformity. This segmentation allows each stage to optimize for its specific function, resolving the contradiction between mass productivity and treatment quality uniformity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The substrate posture is dynamically changed from vertical to horizontal between treatment stages. This dynamic posture adjustment enables the system to leverage the advantages of both vertical (high productivity) and horizontal (high uniformity) configurations, eliminating the need to choose one fixed configuration over the other.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Productivity

If vertical posture treatment is used to improve productivity, then pattern stability deteriorates due to pattern leaning

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetreatment speedVSAvoidpattern stability

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The vertical batch treatment is performed as a preliminary action to quickly treat multiple substrates. Following this, a horizontal treatment stage is applied to correct pattern leaning and ensure pattern stability. This preliminary action approach allows high-speed processing while subsequently addressing stability issues.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The interface part serving as an intermediary between vertical and horizontal treatment units enables substrate posture transformation. This intermediary component allows the system to transition from vertical (high productivity) to horizontal (high stability) configuration, resolving the contradiction between treatment speed and pattern stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Productivity

If multiple substrates are exposed to air simultaneously, then drying efficiency improves, but watermarking risk increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedrying efficiencyVSAvoidwatermarking risk

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The drying process is segmented into batch drying for efficiency and individual substrate handling to minimize air exposure time. By dividing the process into distinct stages with controlled air exposure, the system achieves high drying efficiency while preventing watermarking through reduced exposure duration.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

4Manufacturing precision

If single-wafer treatment method is used to improve treatment quality uniformity, then mass productivity deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetreatment quality uniformityVSAvoidmass productivity

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system merges vertical batch treatment (high productivity) and horizontal single-wafer treatment (high uniformity) into a unified multi-stage process. By combining the advantages of both methods in sequence, the system achieves both mass productivity and treatment quality uniformity simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between these two parameters.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Data Source

PatentUS20250349585A1Apparatus for treating substrate

Publication Date: 2025.11.13 SYSTEM ENGINEERING MEGA SOLUTION CO LTD

AI summary

Provided is an apparatus for treating a substrate. The apparatus includes: a load port part for loading and unloading a transfer container that accommodates a plurality of substrates in a horizontal posture; a lot forming part for changing the plurality of substrates in the horizontal posture, which has been unloaded from the transfer container placed on the load port part, from the horizontal posture to a vertical posture; a first process processing unit including a batch treatment bath for batch-treating the plurality of substrates in the vertical posture; an interface part for changing the plurality of substrates in the vertical posture, which has been batch-treated in the first process processing unit, to the horizontal posture; and a second process processing unit including a first processing chamber in which the substrates changed to the horizontal posture in the interface part are treated one by one, in which the lot forming part, the first process processing unit, and the interface part are arranged along a first direction, and the interface part and the first process chamber are arranged along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.