Wafer Temperature Control via Fluid Supply Member
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in semiconductor fabrication is maintaining uniform temperature and photoresist thickness across wafers and regions due to varying contact times and temperature control issues during the coating process.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that utilize a support member, chemical solution supply member, and fluid supply member with a temperature control system to maintain substrates at a preset process temperature, ensuring uniform temperature and photoresist thickness by using a treating solution and constant temperature fluid supply lines.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a robot is used to transfer wafers between bake modules, then automation and productivity are improved, but temperature uniformity and manufacturing precision deteriorate due to varying contact times and regions
Solution Approach 1:
The temperature control function is extracted from the transfer robot and implemented separately through a fluid supply member that contacts the wafer surface. This allows the robot to focus on transfer operations while the fluid supply system independently manages temperature uniformity, resolving the conflict between automation and temperature precision.
Solution Approach 2:
A fluid supply member is introduced as an intermediary between the wafer and the environment. This intermediary supplies treating solution or cooling fluid to the wafer surface, mediating the temperature control process and enabling precise temperature management without requiring the transfer robot to have complex temperature control capabilities.
2Productivity
If multiple bake modules are provided in up/down or left/right direction, then process capacity is improved, but temperature control complexity and manufacturing precision worsen due to varying contact times
Solution Approach 1:
The wafer performs self-service temperature control through the fluid supply member that contacts its surface. The treating solution or cooling fluid supplied to the wafer surface enables the wafer to self-regulate its temperature during transfer and processing, eliminating the need for complex coordinated control of multiple bake modules and reducing temperature variations.
3Productivity
If only a selected region of the wafer contacts the robot, then transfer efficiency is improved, but temperature uniformity across the wafer deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The temperature control function is segmented from the robot transfer operation. The fluid supply member independently supplies treating solution or cooling fluid to different regions of the wafer surface, enabling localized temperature control that compensates for the non-uniform contact with the robot, thereby maintaining overall temperature uniformity while preserving transfer efficiency.
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 approach allows for precise temperature control and uniform photoresist coating, eliminating temperature differences across the wafer and enhancing coating uniformity without the need for separate temperature control devices.
Implementation Method 1
a temperature control member controlling the temperature of the fluid
Implementation Method 2
a constant temperature fluid supply line disposed to enclose at least a portion of the treating solution supply line, through which a constant temperature fluid flows
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a method that can maintain the temperature of a wafer at a process temperature before a coating process is performed by supplying a photoresist. According to the present invention, a thinner which helps a diffusion of the photoresist is supplied onto the wafer before the photoresist is supplied. The thinner is supplied in a temperature-controlled state such that the wafer has the process temperature by the thinner.