Nozzle arm movement for resist development

A system for applying a developer material onto a photoresist material layer disposed on a substrate to provide a uniformly thick layer of developer material, the developer material being spincoated onto the substrate by a rotating chuck coupled to a motor to form the uniformly thick layer of developer material, the system comprising:

• a nozzle adapted to apply the developer material on the photoresist material layer;
• a movement system adapted to move the nozzle along a predetermined path in two dimensions;
• an arm including a first member holding the nozzle on a first end and coupled to a second arm member on a second end, the second arm member being coupled to the movement system, the first arm member being pivotable about a first rotational axis and the second arm member being pivotable about a second rotational axis;
• a measuring system adapted to measure the thickness of a developed layer of photoresist material that has been developed by applying the developer on the photoresist material layer;
• and
• a processor operatively coupled to the measuring system and the movement system, the processor receiving thickness data from the measuring system and the processor using the data to reconfigure the predetermined path provided to the movement system, so that a developed layer of photoresist material having a more uniform thickness can be achieved for a subsequent substrate.

A system for applying a developer material onto a photoresist material layer disposed on a substrate to provide a uniformly thick layer of developer material, the developer material being spincoated onto the substrate by a rotating chuck coupled to a motor to form the uniformly thick layer of developer material, the system comprising:

• a nozzle adapted to apply the developer material on the photoresist material layer;
• a movement system adapted to move the nozzle along a predetermined path in two dimensions;
• an arm including a first member holding the nozzle on a first end and coupled to a second arm member on a second end, the second arm member being coupled to the movement system, the first arm member being pivotable about a rotational axis and the second arm member being movable along a tranlational axis;
• a measuring system adapted to measure the thickness of a developed layer of photoresist material that has been developed by applying the developer material on the photoresist material layer;
• and
• a processor operatively coupled to the measuring system and the movement system, the processor receiving thickness data from the measuring system and the processor using the data to reconfigure the predetermined path provided to the movement system, so that a developed layer of photoresist material having a more uniform thickness can be achieved for a subsequent substrate.

A system for applying a developer material onto a photoresist material layer disposed on a substrate wafer to provide a uniformly thick layer of developer material, the developer material being spincoated onto the substrate wafer by a rotating chuck coupled to a motor to form the uniformly thick layer of developer material, the system comprising:

• means for rotating the wafer substrate having the photoresist material layer thereon;
• means for applying a developer material on the photoresist material layer;
• means for moving the means for applying the developer along a predetermined path in two dimensions during the dispensing of developer material;
• means for holding the means for applying a developer, the means for holding being movable about a first rotational axis and being movable with respect to at least one of a second rotational axis and a translational axis.