US5401316A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for hydrophobic treatment
Assignee: Tokyo Electron Ltd
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Filing: 1993-10-15
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Granted: 1995-03-28
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Expires: 2013-10-15
Abstract
Abstract Adhesion apparatus for applying a hydrophobic treatment to a semiconductor wafer comprises a tank housing a treating agent of liquid HMDS and a process chamber into which a mixed gas consisting of a vaporized HMDS coming from the tank and a carrier gas is supplied for applying a hydrophobic treatment to a wafer surface. A supporting table on which the wafer is disposed during the hydrophobic treatment is provided within the process chamber. A heater and a cooling water passageway are housed in the supporting table for controlling the wafer temperature. A concentration measuring section for measuring the HMDS concentration in the waste gas is connected to the discharge pipe of the process chamber. The concentration measuring section is connected to a CPU serving to derive a temperature control signal from the measured value of the HMDS concentration. The temperature control signal is transmitted to a temperature control section. Upon receipt of the temperature control signal, the temperature control section permits controlling the current supply to the heater or the cooling water supply to the cooling water passageway so as to change the temperature of the supporting table.
Inventors
- 👤 Masatoshi Shiraishi
- 👤 Tomoko Hamada
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 22:38
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10P; H10P50/00; H10P72/00; H10P72/04; H10P72/0431; H10P72/0432; C; C23; C23C; C23C16/00; C23C16/44; C23C16/4412; C23C16/52; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S438/00; Y10S438/974
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
264 words
An apparatus for treating a surface of a substrate to make said surface hydrophobic comprising: a process chamber; support means for supporting a substrate, arranged within said process chamber; temperature adjusting means for adjusting treatment temperature of said substrate; a gas supply pipe communicating with said process chamber for supplying a mixed gas consisting of a vaporized treating agent and a carrier gas into said process chamber; a discharge pipe communicating with said process chamber for discharging a waste gas from said process chamber; concentration measuring means connected to said discharge pipe for measuring a concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas flowing within said discharge pipe; and control means for comparing the concentration value measured by said concentration measuring means with a reference value, which is determined on a basis of degree of progress of the hydrophobic treatment, so as to change at least one of treatment conditions of said substrate based on the result of comparison, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a synthetic bimolecular film sensor including an oscillator and a synthetic bimolecular film covering said oscillator, the oscillation frequency of said oscillator being changed depending on the amount of said treating agent absorbed on said synthetic bimolecular film so as to measure the concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a container housing said sensor and connected to said discharge pipe, and wherein a purging pipe is connected to said container for purging said container with a gas having a composition substantially the same as that of said carrier gas.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
264 words
An apparatus for treating a surface of a substrate to make said surface hydrophobic comprising: a process chamber; support means for supporting a substrate, arranged within said process chamber; temperature adjusting means for adjusting treatment temperature of said substrate; a gas supply pipe communicating with said process chamber for supplying a mixed gas consisting of a vaporized treating agent and a carrier gas into said process chamber; a discharge pipe communicating with said process chamber for discharging a waste gas from said process chamber; concentration measuring means connected to said discharge pipe for measuring a concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas flowing within said discharge pipe; and control means for comparing the concentration value measured by said concentration measuring means with a reference value, which is determined on a basis of degree of progress of the hydrophobic treatment, so as to change at least one of treatment conditions of said substrate based on the result of comparison, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a synthetic bimolecular film sensor including an oscillator and a synthetic bimolecular film covering said oscillator, the oscillation frequency of said oscillator being changed depending on the amount of said treating agent absorbed on said synthetic bimolecular film so as to measure the concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a container housing said sensor and connected to said discharge pipe, and wherein a purging pipe is connected to said container for purging said container with a gas having a composition substantially the same as that of said carrier gas.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said support means comprises a supporting table on which said substrate is disposed, said supporting table being arranged within said process chamber and housing said temperature adjusting means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said temperature adjusting means comprises a heater and a cooling water passageway arranged in said supporting table.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
82 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said one of said treatment conditions comprises said treatment temperature, and wherein said temperature adjusting means is connected to and controlled by said control means, and said control means causes said temperature adjusting means to elevate said treatment temperature when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is lower than said reference value and to lower said treatment temperature when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is higher than said reference value.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
62 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said one of said treatment conditions comprises treatment time, and wherein said control means causes said treatment time to be increased when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is lower than said reference value and to be decreased when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is higher than said reference value,
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said control means controls said treatment time by stopping the supply of said mixed gas into said process chamber.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
110 words
The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a tank containing said treating agent in a liquid state, and first and second tubing for introducing said carrier gas into said gas supply pipe, wherein said first tubing is connected to said tank for causing a first part of said carrier gas to pass through said treating agent as bubbles and to induce said vaporized treating agent, and said second tubing is arranged for causing that a second part of said carrier gas be mixed with said first part of said carrier gas which has passed through said treating agent before said carrier gas is introduced into said gas supply pipe.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
63 words
The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a flow rate control valve arranged on said second tubing and connected to,said control means, said control means enabling said flow rate control valve to control a flow rate of said second part of said carrier gas through said second tubing so as to Change the concentration of said treating agent within said mixed gas.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said treating agent comprises hexamethyldisilazane.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said carrier gas comprises nitrogen.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
228 words
An apparatus for treating a surface of a substrate to make said surface hydrophobic, comprising: a process chamber; support means for supporting a substrate, arranged within said process chamber; temperature adjusting means for adjusting treatment temperature of said substrate; a gas supply pipe communicating with said process chamber for supplying a mixed gas consisting of a vaporized treating agent and a carrier gas into said process chamber; a discharge pipe communicating with said process chamber for discharging a waste gas from said process chamber; concentration measuring means connected to said discharge pipe for measuring a concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas flowing within said discharge pipe; and control means for comparing the concentration value measured by said concentration measuring means with a reference value, which is determined on the basis of degree of progress of the hydrophobic treatment, so as to change at least one of treatment conditions of said substrate based on the result of comparison, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a sensor which measures the concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas, depending on the amount of said treating agent absorbed by said sensor, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a container housing said sensor and connected to said discharge pipe, and wherein a purging pipe is connected to said container for introducing an inert gas and purging said container.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
228 words
An apparatus for treating a surface of a substrate to make said surface hydrophobic, comprising: a process chamber; support means for supporting a substrate, arranged within said process chamber; temperature adjusting means for adjusting treatment temperature of said substrate; a gas supply pipe communicating with said process chamber for supplying a mixed gas consisting of a vaporized treating agent and a carrier gas into said process chamber; a discharge pipe communicating with said process chamber for discharging a waste gas from said process chamber; concentration measuring means connected to said discharge pipe for measuring a concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas flowing within said discharge pipe; and control means for comparing the concentration value measured by said concentration measuring means with a reference value, which is determined on the basis of degree of progress of the hydrophobic treatment, so as to change at least one of treatment conditions of said substrate based on the result of comparison, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a sensor which measures the concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas, depending on the amount of said treating agent absorbed by said sensor, wherein said concentration measuring means comprises a container housing said sensor and connected to said discharge pipe, and wherein a purging pipe is connected to said container for introducing an inert gas and purging said container.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said support means comprises a supporting table on which said substrate is disposed, said supporting table being arranged within said process chamber and housing said temperature adjusting means.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said inert gas is a gas having a composition substantially the same as that of said carrier gas.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
62 words
The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said sensor comprises a synthetic bimolecular film sensor including an oscillator and a synthetic bimolecular film covering said oscillator, the oscillation frequency of said oscillator being changed depending on the amount of said treating agent absorbed on said synthetic bimolecular film so as to measure the concentration of said treating agent within said waste gas.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
82 words
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said one of said treatment conditions comprises said treatment temperature, and wherein said temperature adjusting means is connected to and controlled by said control means, and said control means causes said temperature adjusting means to elevate said treatment temperature when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is lower than said reference value and to lower said treatment temperature when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is higher than said reference value.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
62 words
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said one of said treatment conditions comprises treatment time, and wherein said control means causes said treatment time to be increased when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is lower than said reference value and to be decreased when the measured value of the treating agent concentration is higher than said reference value.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said control means controls said treatment time by stopping the supply of said mixed gas into said process chamber.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
109 words
The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a tank containing said treating agent in a liquid state, and first and second tubing for introducing said carrier gas into said gas supply pipe, wherein said first tubing is connected to said tank for causing a first part of said carrier gas to pass through said treating agent as bubbles and to induce said vaporized treating agent, and said second tubing is arranged for causing that a second of said carrier gas be mixed with said first part of said carrier gas which has passed through said treating agent before said carrier gas is introduced into said gas supply pipe.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
64 words
The apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising a flow rate control valve arranged on said second tubing and connected to said control means, said control means enabling said flow rate control valve to control a flow rate of said second part of said carrier gas through said second tubing so as to change the concentration of said treating agent within said mixed gas.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said treating agent comprises hexamethyldisilazane.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1998-03-27 | 1998-09-26 | 1999-03-28 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2002-03-27 | 2002-09-26 | 2003-03-28 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2006-03-27 | 2006-09-26 | 2007-03-28 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |