Non-Contact Wet-Process Cell Confining Liquid to a Region of a Solid Surface by Differential Pressure

Abstract

An open-bottomed reactor cell for wet processing of substrates can be configured to confine a process liquid to an area under the cell (processing the “internal site”), or alternatively to exclude the process liquid from most of the area under the cell (processing the “external site”) without physical contact between the cell and substrate. A slight underpressure or overpressure maintained inside the main cavity of the cell causes the liquid to form a meniscus in the narrow gap between the cell and substrate rather than flowing outside the desired process area. An area under a peripheral channel outside the main cavity of the cell is shared by both the internal site and the external side, allowing the entire substrate to be processed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.