US 6,318,386 B1Granted

Treatment apparatus

AssigneeTokyo Electron Limited

InventorsYuji Kamikawa, Naoki Shindo, Shigenori Kitahara

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A cleaning tank 30 stores a cleaning liquid to clean the surfaces of semiconductor wafers W immersed in the cleaning liquid. A cleaning liquid supply pipe 33 connects the cleaning tank 30 to a pure water supply source 31. A chemical liquid container 34 stores a chemical liquid, and a chemical liquid supply pipe 36 connects the cleaning liquid supply pipe 33 to the chemical liquid container 34 via an infusion open/close switching valve 35, and a chemical liquid feed means is interposed in the chemical liquid supply pipe 36. The chemical liquid feed means is a reciprocal pump, such as diaphragm pump 37. Thus, a predetermined quantity of the chemical liquid can be infused into pure water or to a drying gas generator to ensure that the chemical liquid of a predetermined concentration be available for washing or drying treatment, regardless of fluctuations in flow amount or pressure of pure water or a drying gas carrier gas.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A treatment apparatus comprising:

a treatment section that stores a cleaning liquid for cleaning a surface of an object to be treated;
a pure water supply source;
a pure water supply pipe connecting said pure water supply source and said treatment section;
a chemical liquid container that stores a chemical liquid;
a chemical liquid supply pipe connecting said chemical liquid container and said pure water supply pipe;
open/closing switching means provided in said chemical liquid supply pipe;
a pneumatically operated, reciprocally driven pump provided in said chemical liquid supply pipe and having a reciprocating diaphragm therein;
a driving air source for supplying a driving air;
a driving air supply pipe connecting said driving air source to said pneumatically operated, reciprocally driven pump to supply the driving air to the pump to operate said diaphragm;
an air pressure regulator provided in said driving air supply pipe;
a passage switching valve provided in said driving air supply pipe, said passage switching valve being movable between a position in which said driving air is supplied to said pump and another position in which the driving air in said pump is allowed to be discharged;
and
a control unit, said control unit further comprising:
a processor;
and
a sequencer, said sequencer receives from said processor a chemical-liquid-discharge-quantity-selection signal, and a chemical-liquid-discharge-operation signal, said sequencer supplying an instruction signal to said passage switching valve to control a switching speed of said passage switching valve in such manner that a predetermined pressure of said driving air is supplied to said pump, whereby the chemical liquid of a predetermined quantity is supplied by the pump.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/546,291Filed 10 Apr 2000 · division
Priority: JP 9-26921317 Sep 1997
Granted: 20 Nov 2001
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

H10P 72/0406
Apparatus for fluid treatment: for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
B08B 3/10
Cleaning involving contact with liquid: with additional treatment of the liquid or of the object being cleaned, e.g. by heat, by electricity or by…
F04B 43/04
Having plate-like flexible members, e.g. diaphragms: pumps having electric drive
F04B 43/0736
The actuating fluid being controlled by at least one valve: with two or more pumping chambers in parallel