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US 11,229,856 B2Granted
Etching solution recycling system and method for wafer etching apparatus
AssigneeTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
InventorChe-Lun Fan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An etching solution recycling system for a wafer etching apparatus is provided. The etching solution recycling system includes a settling tank, a seed provider, and a fluid control unit. The settling tank is connected to an etching tank of the wafer etching apparatus and configured to receive an etching solution from the etching tank. The seed provider is configured to provide at least one seed crystal into the settling tank to reduce the silicate concentration in the etching solution in the settling tank. The fluid control unit is configured to deliver the etching solution in the settling tank back into the etching tank.
Claims20
An etching solution recycling system for a wafer etching apparatus, comprising:
- an advanced process control (APC) system;
- a settling tank connected to an etching tank of the wafer etching apparatus and configured to receive an etching solution from the etching tank;
- a silicate concentration monitoring system coupled to the settling tank and the APC system, configured to detect a silicate concentration in the etching solution in the settling tank and send a detected data related to the silicate concentration to the APC system;
- a seed provider configured to provide at least one seed crystal into the settling tank to reduce the silicate concentration in the etching solution in the settling tank and to remove the at least one seed crystal from the settling tank, wherein the seed provider includes a rope connected to the at least one seed crystal, and wherein the APC system is configured to control the rope to move downwardly to place the at least one seed crystal into the settling tank and to control the rope to move upwardly to pull one of the at least one seed crystal out of the settling tank in response to the detected data from the silicate concentration monitoring system;
- and
- a fluid control unit configured to deliver the etching solution in the settling tank back into the etching tank.
3 more elements
A wafer etching apparatus, comprising:
- an advanced process control (APC) system;
- an etching tank configured to contain an etching solution;
- a settling tank configured to receive the etching solution from the etching tank;
- a silicate concentration monitoring system coupled to the settling tank and the APC system, configured to detect a silicate concentration in the etching solution in the settling tank and send a detected data related to the silicate concentration to the APC system;
- a seed provider configured to provide at least one seed crystal into the settling tank to reduce the silicate concentration in the etching solution in the settling tank and to remove the at least one seed crystal from the settling tank, wherein the seed provider includes a rope connected to the at least one seed crystal, and wherein the APC system is configured to control the rope to move downwardly to place the at least one seed crystal into the settling tank and to control the rope to move upwardly to pull one of the at least one seed crystal out of the settling tank in response to the detected data from the silicate concentration monitoring system;
- and
- a fluid control unit configured to deliver the etching solution in the settling tank back into the etching tank.
4 more elements
A wafer etching apparatus, comprising:
- an advanced process control (APC) system;
- an etching tank configured to contain an etching solution;
- a first silicate concentration monitoring system coupled to the etching tank, configured to measure a silicate concentration in the etching solution in the etching tank;
- a settling tank configured to receive the etching solution from the etching tank;
- a second silicate concentration monitoring system coupled to the settling tank and the APC system, configured to detect the silicate concentration in the etching solution in the settling tank and send a detected data related to the silicate concentration in the etching solution in the settling tank to the APC system;
- a seed provider comprising a rope connected to a seed crystal, wherein the APC system is configured to control the rope to move downwardly to place the seed crystal into the settling tank and to control the rope to move upwardly to pull the seed crystal out of the settling tank in response to the detected data from the second silicate concentration monitoring system;
- and
- a connection line configured to allow the etching solution in the settling tank to flow back to the etching tank.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.