Substrate Treatment Device Liquid Film Imaging Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate treatment devices face challenges in maintaining a consistent liquid film state on semiconductor wafers, leading to potential pattern collapse during drying, which degrades throughput.
Innovation Solution
A substrate treatment system that includes a liquid treatment part to form a liquid film, an imaging part to capture and analyze the film's formation state, and a determination part to adjust the film if necessary before proceeding with drying, ensuring a good film state is maintained before treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a liquid film is formed on the wafer surface using conventional methods, then the wafer can be dried, but the liquid film formation state varies leading to pattern collapse
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an imaging part that captures images of the liquid film formation state on the wafer surface. The determination part analyzes these images to evaluate whether the liquid film is properly formed. Based on this feedback, the system can identify wafers with poor liquid film formation and exclude them from the drying process, preventing pattern collapse while maintaining throughput by avoiding rework of defective wafers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical or manual inspection methods with an automated imaging and determination system. The imaging part uses optical fields to capture the liquid film state, and the determination part uses image processing algorithms to evaluate film quality, substituting physical inspection with field-based detection for more consistent and reliable measurements.
2Productivity
If drying is performed without verifying liquid film quality, then throughput is maintained, but pattern collapse occurs degrading throughput
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs liquid film quality verification before the drying process using the imaging part and determination part. By conducting this preliminary inspection, the system identifies wafers with poor liquid film formation and excludes them from drying treatment in advance, preventing pattern collapse before it occurs and maintaining both throughput and pattern integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent takes preliminary action to prevent pattern collapse by detecting poor liquid film formation states before drying occurs. The determination part identifies wafers at risk of pattern collapse, and the system prevents the harmful drying action from being applied to these wafers, thereby counteracting the potential damage before it happens.
3Reliability
If the liquid film formation state is monitored and verified, then pattern collapse is prevented, but additional inspection time is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses optical imaging and automated image processing to rapidly evaluate liquid film formation state, replacing time-consuming manual inspection methods. The imaging part captures images quickly, and the determination part uses automated algorithms to assess film quality in minimal time, reducing the time penalty associated with verification while maintaining high reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate treatment device according to an embodiment includes: a liquid treatment part configured to supply a liquid onto a substrate to form a liquid film remaining in a liquid state on the substrate; an imaging part configured to capture an image of a front surface of the substrate, on which the liquid film remaining in the liquid state is formed; a determination part configured to determine a quality of a formation state of the liquid film based on the captured image of the substrate; and a post-treatment part configured to treat the substrate on which the liquid film is formed, when the determination part determines that the formation state of the liquid film is good.