Wafer Heating Device Preheating Temperature Uniformity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional heating devices for substrates, such as wafers, suffer from initial temperature distribution issues when carried into the heating chamber, leading to irregular resist pattern formation and reduced throughput due to the need for lifting mechanisms and non-uniform heating.
Innovation Solution
A heating device with a heating chamber, a cooling plate, and wires for carrying the substrate, along with a temperature distribution creating mechanism using heating lamps or resistance heating elements to preheat the substrate, ensuring uniform temperature across the surface before processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional heating device uses lifting pins and a lifting mechanism to transfer wafers, then the wafer transfer operation can be performed, but the device height increases and throughput is reduced due to overhead time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the lifting pins and lifting mechanism from the heating device, extracting the problematic components that caused increased device height and overhead time. The wafer transfer is achieved through a different mechanism (lowering the heating chamber) that eliminates these unnecessary elements, thereby improving throughput while maintaining operational capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of lifting the wafer upward using lifting pins, the patent inverts the approach by lowering the heating chamber downward to receive the wafer. This inversion eliminates the need for lifting mechanisms and reduces the device height requirement, directly addressing the throughput and height constraints.
2Productivity
If a wafer is carried into the heating chamber, then the heating process can be performed, but an initial temperature distribution occurs in the wafer surface leading to reduced manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary heating to the wafer surface before the wafer enters the heating chamber. By pre-heating the wafer to create a temperature distribution that compensates for the expected initial temperature differences during entry, the system eliminates the harmful initial temperature distribution and achieves uniform heating throughout the process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the temperature parameter of the wafer surface before heating by applying preliminary heat. This parameter change creates a controlled temperature distribution that counteracts the negative effects of wafer entry, transforming the temperature profile from one that would cause non-uniformity to one that ensures uniform heating and high manufacturing precision.
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
The solution effectively narrows the initial temperature distribution range, allowing for high intrasurface uniformity during the heating process, resulting in resist patterns with uniform line widths and improved product quality and yield.
Implementation Method 1
a temperature distribution creating means for creating a preheating temperature distribution on a surface of the substrate to level out an initial temperature distribution which occurs on the surface of the substrate when the substrate is carried into the heating chamber
Implementation Method 2
a temperature distribution creating means for creating a preheating temperature distribution on a surface of the substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A heating device has a heating chamber 3. An initial temperature distribution is created in a surface of a substrate (wafer W) when the substrate is carried into the heating chamber 3 . . . Temperature distribution creating means (heating lamps 2) creates a preheating temperature distribution in the substrate supported on a cooling plate 4 at a waiting position before the substrate is carried into the heating chamber 3 so as to level out the initial temperature distribution.