# US 12,766,564 B2 · Substrate processing method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,766,564 B2 - Document ID: US12766564B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 19/047,752 - Filed: 2025-02-07 - Published: 2025-08-14 - Granted: 2026-10-20 - Earliest claimed: 2024-02-08 - Assignees: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. - Applicants: SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Ichiro Mitsuyoshi; Tadashi Maegawa; Hidehiko Ozaki; Nozomu Nakagawa - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12766564B2 ## CPC - B08B 3/04: Cleaning involving contact with liquid - B25J 11/0095: {Manipulators transporting wafers} - H10P 72/0416: {with the semiconductor substrates being dipped in baths or vessels} - H10P 72/0426: {with the semiconductor substrates being dipped in baths or vessels} - H10P 72/3211: {Changing orientation of the substrate, e.g. from a horizontal position to a vertical position} - B08B: CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) - H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 ## Abstract A substrate processing method including: a disassembly process of disassembling a temporary batch lot by dividing substrates into a first set and a second set such that two substrates facing each other among substrates constituting the temporary batch lot form different sets and moving the first set and the second set relative to each other in a direction orthogonal to an arrangement direction of the substrates; a half-rotation process of orienting the substrates constituting the second set in a direction opposite to the one direction by half-rotating the second set; and a rearrangement process of combining the first set and the second set to generate a batch lot such that the substrates oriented in the one direction and the substrates oriented in the opposite direction are alternately arranged. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A substrate processing method for collectively processing a plurality of substrates having directions defined by a front surface and a back surface, the substrate processing method comprising: a substrate group acquisition process of acquiring a substrate group in which substrates oriented in one direction are arranged at a predetermined interval; a first assembly process of positioning a first substrate at a first position among the first position and a second position that divide the predetermined interval in the substrate group into three by combining a first arrangement in which the first substrate oriented in the one direction is arranged at the predetermined interval with the substrate group; a second assembly process of forming a temporary batch lot by positioning a second substrate at the second position by combining a second arrangement in which the second substrate oriented in the one direction is arranged at the predetermined interval with the substrate group; a disassembly process of disassembling the temporary batch lot by dividing the substrates into a first set and a second set such that two substrates facing each other among substrates constituting the temporary batch lot form different sets, and moving the first set and the second set relative to each other in a direction orthogonal to an arrangement direction of the substrates; a half-rotation process of orienting the substrates constituting the second set in a direction opposite to the one direction by half-rotating the second set; a rearrangement process of combining the first set and the second set to generate a batch lot such that the substrates oriented in the one direction and the substrates oriented in the opposite direction are alternately arranged; and a processing process of immersing the batch lot in a processing liquid. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein in the disassembly process, the temporary batch lot is disassembled such that the substrates positioned at one end of the temporary batch lot and the substrates positioned at the other end of the temporary batch lot are divided into different sets. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the number of substrates constituting the batch lot is 3 times the number of the substrate group in the substrate group acquisition process. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The substrate processing method according to claim 1, comprising a first process of collectively acquiring each substrate from a carrier that houses substrates that are in a horizontal posture and arranged at a predetermined interval in a vertical direction, and a second process of collectively converting the posture of each substrate from a horizontal posture to a vertical posture, wherein the first process and the second process are performed before each assembly process. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined interval is equally divided into three by the first position and the second position. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The substrate processing method according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined interval is equal to an arrangement pitch of the substrates housed in the carrier. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The substrate processing method according to claim 4, wherein a distance from the first position to the second position is ⅓ times an arrangement pitch of substrates housed in the carrier.