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US 4,736,758 AGranted
Vapor drying apparatus
AssigneeWacom Co., Ltd.
InventorMasaki Kusuhara
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vapor drying apparatus for semiconductor wafers, which is capable of preventing dust particles from entering the interior of the vapor drying apparatus incorporating therein a water washing part and a vapor drying part for a semiconductor wafer and, at the same time, thoroughly removing from the surface of a vapor dried semiconductor wafer the vapor cleaner adhering in the form of film or in a molecular thickness to the surface of an organic substance contained in the cleaner thereby bring the surface of the semiconductor wafer to an ideally cleaned and dried state.
Claims23
A vapor drying apparatus comprising
- a cleaning section including a first container storing therein a cleaning liquid for cleaning a given object,
- a vapor drying section including a second container storing therein a volatible cleaning liquid and means for heating and vaporizing said volatile cleaning liquid and adapted to expose to the vapor of said volatile cleaning liquid said given object which has been cleaned in said cleaning section and thereby effect vapor drying of said given object,
- partition means for airtightly isolating said cleaning section and vapor drying section from the ambient atmosphere and defining a space for vapor drying,
- means for selectively inserting said given object through said partition means into said space for vapor drying and taking said given object out of said space without admitting ambient atmosphere into said space, and
- carrier means for transferring said given object to desired positions inside said space for vapor drying without exposing the given part to ambient atmosphere.
2 more elements
A vapor dryng apparatus comprising
- a cleaning part including a first container storing therein a cleaning liquid for cleaning a given object,
- a vapor drying part including a second container storing therein a volatile cleaning liquid and means for heating and vaporizing said volatile cleaning liquid and adapted to expose to the vapor of said volatile cleaning liquid said given object which has been cleaned in said cleaning part and thereby effect vapor drying of said given object,
- a partition member for airtightly isolating said cleaning part and vapor drying part from the ambient atmosphere and defining a space for vapor drying,
- means for selectively inserting said given object through said partition member into said space for vapor drying and taking said given object out of said space, and
- carrier means for transferring said given object to desired positions inside said space for vapor drying,
- which vapor drying apparatus is provided with means for heating said given object which has been cleaned and rapidly removing said vaporized cleaning liquid adhering to surfaces of said given object between the time said cleaned object has been subjected to vapor drying treatment and the time said object is taken out of said apparatus.
3 more elements
A vapor drying apparatus comprising
- a cleaning section including a first container storing therein a cleaning liquid for cleaning a given object,
- a vapor drying section including a second container storing therein a volatile cleaning liquid and means for heating and vaporizing said volatile cleaning liquid and adapted to expose to the vapor of said volatile cleaning liquid said given object which has been cleaned in said cleaning section and thereby effect vapor drying of said given object,
- a partition member for airtightly isolating said cleaning section and vapor drying section from the ambient atmosphere and defining a space for vapor drying,
- means for selectively inserting said given object through said partition member into said space for vapor drying and taking said given object out of said space, and
- carrier means for transferring said given object to desired positions inside said space for vapor drying, wherein,
- said means for selectively inserting a said given object into said space for vapor drying and taking said given object out of said space through said partition member is a pass-through room adapted to selectively communicate with said space for vapor drying through an inner door and with said ambient atmosphere through an outer door, and
- said pass-through room is provided with carrier supporting means disposed inside said inner door so as to hold said carrier supporting thereon said given object, at least one gas feed duct for feeding a predetermined gas into said pass-through room, a gas discharge duct for discharging said gas out of said pass-through room, and means for alternately opening or closing said inner door and said outer door to permit passage of said carrier.
4 more elements
A vapor driving apparatus comprising
- a cleaning part including a first container storing therein a cleaning liquid for cleaning a given object,
- a vapor drying part including a second container storing therein a volatile cleaning liquid and means for heating and vaporizing said volatile cleaning liquid and adapted to expose to the vapor of said volatile cleaning liquid said given object which has been cleaned in said cleaning part and thereby effect vapor drying of said given object,
- a partition member for airtightly isolating said cleaning part and vapor drying part from the ambient atmosphere and defining a space for vapor drying,
- means for selectively inserting said given object through said partition member into said space for vapor drying and taking said given object out of said space, and
- carrier means for transferring said given object to desired positions inside said space for vapor drying, wherein,
- said second container is supported on said heating means and is provided with a cooling water tank retained at a position higher than the surface of said volatile cleaning liquid, a water discharge tube for leading said cooling water from said tank to at least one of said second container and said heating means and releasing it therefrom, and a cock disposed halfway in said discharge tube and adapted to control said release of water.
3 more elements
A vapor drying apparatus comprising a cleaning part including a first container storing therein a cleaning liquid for cleaning a given object, a vapor drying part including a second container storing therein a volatile cleaning liquid and means for heating and vaporizing said volatile cleaning liquid and adapted to expose to the vapor of said volatile cleaning liquid said given object which has been cleaned in said cleaning part and thereby effect vapor drying of said given object, a partition member for airtightly isolating said cleaning part and vapor drying part from the ambient atmosphere and defining a space for vapor drying,
- means for selectively inserting said given object through said partition member into said space for vapor drying and/or taking said given object out of said space, and
- carrier means for transferring said given object to desired positions inside said space for vapor drying,
- which vapor drying apparatus is further provided with cooling and liquefying means for enabling a gas of the volatile cleaning liquid diffused from said second container into said space for vapor drving to be cooled and liquefied inside said space for vapor drying.
A vapor drying apparatus comprising:
- a cleaning section including a first container storing therein a cleaning liquid for cleaning a given object,
- a vapor drying section including a second container storing therein a volatile cleaning liquid and means for heating and vaporizing said volatile cleaning liquid and adapted to expose to the vapor of said volatile cleaning liquid said given object which has been cleaned in said cleaning section and thereby effect vapor drying of said given object,
- a partition member for airtightly isolating said cleaning section and vapor drying section from the ambient atmosphere and defining a space for vapor drying,
- means for selectively inserting said given object thrugh said partition member into said space for vapor drying and taking said given object out of said space,
- carrier means for transferring said given object to desired positions inside siad space for vapor drying without exposing the given part to ambient atmosphere, and
- means for irradiating said object which has been cleaned with ultraviolet light between the time said cleaned object has been subject to vapor drying treatment and the time said object is taken out of said apparatus.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.