US 2026/0286536 A1Published application

Electrolytic sulfuric acid supply apparatus and water replacement method for electrolytic sulfuric acid supply apparatus

AssigneeSCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd.

InventorsMichinori IWAO, Tatsuhiko KAWAGUCHI, Osamu HORIGUCHI, Sho NAKAMURA

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Abstract

An electrolytic sulfuric acid supply apparatus includes a collection tank, a generation tank, a bidirectional pipe, a bidirectional first liquid feeder, an electrolytic circulator, a water supply, and a drain. The bidirectional pipe connects the collection tank and the generation tank. The first liquid feeder is disposed in the bidirectional pipe. The electrolytic circulator includes an electrolytic circulation pipe connected to the generation tank and an electrolytic cell disposed in the electrolytic circulation pipe. The water supply includes a water supply pipe supplying water to the collection tank and a water supply valve. The drain includes a first drainage pipe connected to the collection tank, a first drainage valve, a second drainage pipe connected to the generation tank, and a second drainage valve.

Claims7

Dependent claims

An electrolytic sulfuric acid supply apparatus comprising:

a collection tank connected to a substrate processing apparatus via a collection pipe and storing a sulfuric acid-containing solution including an electrolytic sulfuric acid solution, the substrate processing apparatus supplying the electrolytic sulfuric acid solution to a substrate to remove organic matter on the substrate;
a generation tank;
a bidirectional pipe connecting the collection tank and the generation tank;
a bidirectional first liquid feeder disposed in the bidirectional pipe;
an electrolytic circulator including an electrolytic circulation pipe connected to the generation tank and an electrolytic cell disposed in the electrolytic circulation pipe, the electrolytic circulator causing the electrolytic cell to electrolyze the sulfuric acid-containing solution to generate the electrolytic sulfuric acid solution while circulating the sulfuric acid-containing solution through the generation tank and the electrolytic circulation pipe;
a supply pipe connected to the generation tank and allowing the electrolytic sulfuric acid solution to flow therethrough toward the substrate processing apparatus;
a water supply including a water supply pipe and a water supply valve disposed in the water supply pipe, the water supply pipe supplying water to the collection tank;
and
a drain including a first drainage pipe connected to the collection tank, a first drainage valve disposed in the first drainage pipe, a second drainage pipe connected to the generation tank, and a second drainage valve disposed in the second drainage pipe.

6 more elements

A water replacement method for an electrolytic sulfuric acid supply apparatus, the water replacement method comprising:

while supplying water to a collection tank storing a sulfuric acid-containing solution including an electrolytic sulfuric acid solution drained from a substrate processing apparatus, draining the sulfuric acid-containing solution in the collection tank, the substrate processing apparatus supplying the electrolytic sulfuric acid solution to a substrate to remove organic matter on the substrate;
after draining the sulfuric acid-containing solution in the collection tank, operating a bidirectional first liquid feeder disposed in a bidirectional pipe connecting the collection tank and a generation tank to drain the sulfuric acid-containing solution in the bidirectional pipe while supplying the water from the collection tank to the generation tank through the bidirectional pipe;
and
after draining the sulfuric acid-containing solution in the bidirectional pipe, supplying water to the generation tank and circulating the water through an electrolytic circulation pipe which is connected to the generation tank and in which an electrolytic cell is disposed to drain the sulfuric acid-containing solution in the generation tank.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.