Patent EP0368334B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0368334B1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Etching apparatus and method of using the same
Assignee: Toshiba Corp
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Filing: 1989-11-10
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Granted: 1997-03-19
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Expires: 2009-11-10
Abstract
No abstract record available.
Inventors
- 👤 Mitsuo C/O Intellectual Property Div. K.K. Sato
- 👤 Takashi C/O Intell. Prop. Div. K. K. Fujiwara
- 👤 Kiyoshi C/O Intell. Prop. Div. K. K. Yoshikawa
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 20:56
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P72/00; H10P72/04; H10P72/0402; H10P72/0418; H10P72/0422; H10P72/0426; H10P72/0406; H10P72/0408; H10P72/0411; H10P72/0414; H10P72/0424; H10P72/70; H10P72/78
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim
389 words
Apparatus for etching a semiconductor substrate having opposed major surfaces (1a, 1b) and an edge surface extending therebetween, said apparatus comprising: a rotatable first vacuum chuck (11) having an elastic seal member (12) mounted around a peripheral portion of an upper surface (19) of the first vacuum chuck (11) for horizontally holding a semiconductor substrate (1) by contact with one major surface (1b) thereof, said chuck (11) further comprising a hollow portion (14) therein as an exhaust path and a plurality of exhaust holes (15) communicating with the exhaust path and extending obliquely outwards to the upper surface (19) of said chuck (11); a semiconductor substrate edge surface etching mechanism (21) having a roller (21b) arranged near the semiconductor substrate (1) when held on said first chuck (11), with said edge surface of the semiconductor substrate (1) inserted in a groove (21a) in the surface of said roller (21b) in a non-contact state, said etching mechanism (21) further providing means (23) for supplying to said groove (21a) an etching solution for etching an edge zone defined by the edge surface and peripheral portions of the major surfaces of the semiconductor substrate (1); a rotatable or non-rotatable second vacuum chuck (31), which can be moved horizontally and vertically and which can hold the other major surface (1a) of the semiconductor substrate (1) by suction and move the semiconductor substrate (1) to an upper position a predetermined distance above the upper surface (19) of said first vacuum chuck (11); a semiconductor substrate cleaning mechanism (41) having an edge zone cleaning nozzle (42), arranged to oppose the edge surface of the semiconductor substrate (1) when held by said first vacuum chuck (11) for spraying a cleaning solution on the edge zone of the semiconductor substrate (1), and a cleaning nozzle (43), arranged to be adjacent a region defined between the upper surface (19) of said first vacuum chuck (11) and said one major surface (1b) of the semiconductor substrate (1) when the substrate is held by said second vacuum chuck (31), for spraying a cleaning solution into the region; and a semiconductor substrate drying mechanism (50) for drying said one major surface (1b) of the semiconductor substrate (1) by spraying a drying gas from said plurality of exhaust holes (15) of said first vacuum chuck (11) onto said one major surface (1b).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
21 words
Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said exhaust holes (15) extend to the periphery of said upper surface (19).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising means for rotating the substrate (1) when held by said first chuck (11) to dry said other major surface (1a).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
304 words
A method of employing the apparatus of claim 3 to etch a semiconductor substrate having opposed major surfaces (1a, 1b) and an edge surface extending therebetween, said method comprising: employing the rotatable first vacuum chuck (11) to hold a semiconductor substrate (1) horizontally by contact with one major surface (1b) thereof, inserting the edge surface of the semiconductor substrate (1) in the groove (21a) in the surface of the roller (21b) in a non-contact state, rotating the first vacuum chuck and substrate (1) and supplying to said groove (21a) an etching solution to etch the edge zone defined by the edge surface and peripheral portions of the major surfaces of the semiconductor substrate (1); employing the edge zone cleaning nozzle (42), to spray a cleaning solution onto the edge zone of the semiconductor substrate (1) when rotated by said first vacuum chuck (11); using the second vacuum chuck (31) for holding the other major surface (la) of the semiconductor substrate (1) by suction and moving the semiconductor substrate (1) to an upper position a predetermined distance above the upper surface (19) of said first vacuum chuck (11); employing the cleaning nozzle (43), to spray a cleaning solution into a region defined between the upper surface (19) of said first vacuum chuck (11) and the one major surface (1b) of the semiconductor substrate (1) when the substrate is held in said upper position; rotating the first vacuum chuck (11) whilst drying the one major surface (1b) of the semiconductor substrate (1) by spraying a drying gas from the exhaust holes (15) onto the one major surface (1b) ; transferring the substrate to the first chuck and employing said cleaning nozzle (43) to spray a cleaning solution onto the other major surface (1a) and then rotating the substrate (1) to dry said other major surface (1a).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method according to claim 4, characterised in that the drying gas is sprayed onto a region including the periphery of the upper surface (19).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method according to claim 4 or 5 wherein the substrate is rotated by the second vacuum chuck (31) during cleaning of said one major surface.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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