# US 2026/0076146 A1 · Apparatus for processing supercritical substrate

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- Number: US 2026/0076146 A1
- Document ID: US20260076146A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 19/297,566
- Filed: 2025-08-12
- Published: 2026-03-12
- Earliest claimed: 2024-09-06
- Assignees: Kctech Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Kctech Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Hyung-Chul KIM; You-Sun Jung
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20260076146A1

## CPC

- H10P 72/3411: {involving loading and unloading of wafers}
- H10P 72/0408: {for drying}
- H10P 72/0606: {Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection}
- H10P 72/3406: {involving removal of lid, door or cover}
- H10P 70/80: {Cleaning only by supercritical fluids}
- H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10

## Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing supercritical substrate comprising: a chamber having a processing space; a substrate supporting unit for supporting a substrate; an opening/closing unit for opening or closing the processing space; a loading/unloading unit for loading a substrate into or unloading the substrate from the substrate supporting unit; a detection unit for detecting the loading/unloading unit or the substrate; and a control unit for controlling the opening/closing unit, wherein the control unit controls the operation of the opening/closing unit in response to the detection unit detecting the loading/unloading unit or the substrate.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus for processing supercritical substrate comprising:
a chamber having a processing space;
a substrate supporting unit for supporting a substrate;
an opening/closing unit for opening or closing the processing space;
a loading/unloading unit for loading a substrate into or unloading the substrate from the substrate supporting unit;
a detection unit for detecting the loading/unloading unit or the substrate; and
a control unit for controlling the opening/closing unit,
wherein the control unit controls the operation of the opening/closing unit in response to the detection unit detecting the loading/unloading unit or the substrate.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for processing supercritical substrate according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit detects a weight of a cleaning solution applied to the loading/unloading unit or the substrate before the loading/unloading unit loads the substrate, and the control unit restricts the operation of the opening/closing unit so that the processing space remains open while the detection unit detects the weight of the loading/unloading unit or the cleaning solution.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for processing supercritical substrate according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a first detection member that detects the weight of the cleaning solution applied to the substrate, and the control unit controls the opening/closing unit not to be driven when the weight detected by the first detection member exceeds a preset weight.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for processing supercritical substrate according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a second detection member that detects the loading/unloading unit, and the control unit controls the opening/closing unit not to be driven when the loading/unloading unit is detected by the second detection member.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus for processing supercritical substrate according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a first detection member that detects the weight of the cleaning solution applied to the substrate, and a second detection member that detects the loading/unloading unit, and wherein the first detection member detects the weight of the cleaning solution and the second detection member detects the loading/unloading unit at the same time, before the substrate is brought into a processing space with the loading/unloading unit supporting the substrate.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The apparatus for processing supercritical substrate according to claim 4, wherein, when the loading/unloading unit enters the processing space with supporting the substrate, the second detection member remains in turned-on state to detect the loading/unloading unit.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The apparatus for processing supercritical substrate according to claim 4, wherein, when the loading/unloading unit is retracting from the processing space after loading the substrate, the second detection member remains in turned-on state to detect the loading/unloading unit.

### Claim 8 (depends on 5)

The apparatus for processing supercritical substrate according to claim 5, wherein, when the loading/unloading unit is retracted from the processing space after loading the substrate onto the substrate supporting unit, the first detection member and the second detection member remains in turned-off state.