Method and apparatus for liquid treatment of wafer shaped articles
AssigneeLam Research Corporation
InventorsKarl-Heinz Hohenwarter, Vijay Badam, Christoph Semmelrock
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Abstract
In an apparatus and process for treating wafer-shaped articles, a spin chuck holds a wafer-shaped article in a predetermined orientation relative to an upper surface of the spin chuck. The apparatus includes a heating assembly having a housing that contains at least one infrared heating element. The heating assembly is mounted above an upper surface of the spin chuck and adjacent a wafer-shaped article when mounted on the spin chuck. The housing comprises a gas inlet connected to a gas supply, and at least one outlet for discharging gas from the housing.
Claims13
Apparatus for treating a wafer-shaped article, comprising:
- a spin chuck for holding a wafer-shaped article in a predetermined orientation relative to an upper surface of the spin chuck;
- and
- a heating assembly comprising a housing containing at least one infrared heating element, said heating assembly being mounted above said upper surface of said spin chuck and adjacent a wafer-shaped article when mounted on the spin chuck, wherein said housing comprises a gas inlet connected to a gas supply, and at least one outlet for discharging gas from said housing;
- wherein said heating assembly is mounted underlying a wafer-shaped article when mounted on the spin chuck, the heating assembly being stationary in relation to rotation of said spin chuck.
Apparatus for treating a wafer-shaped article, comprising:
- a spin chuck for holding a wafer-shaped article in a predetermined orientation relative to an upper surface of the spin chuck;
- and
- a heating assembly comprising a housing containing at least one infrared heating element, said heating assembly being mounted above said upper surface of said spin chuck and adjacent a wafer-shaped article when mounted on the spin chuck, wherein said housing comprises a gas inlet connected to a gas supply, and at least one outlet for discharging gas from said housing;
- wherein said spin chuck comprises a chuck body mounted for rotation about a central stationary post, and wherein said housing comprises a proximal end rigidly secured to said central stationary post and a distal end positioned above said chuck body and supported in a cantilevered manner via said proximal end.
A process for treating a wafer-shaped article, comprising:
- positioning a wafer-shaped article on a spin chuck in a predetermined orientation wherein an infrared heating assembly comprising at least one infrared heating element contained with a housing is positioned adjacent the wafer-shaped article;
- heating the wafer-shaped article with the infrared heating assembly;
- and
- introducing a gas into the housing through a gas inlet in the housing under conditions to cause conductive heating of the gas by the at least one infrared heating element;
- and
- discharging heated gas from the housing through at least one outlet in the housing;
- wherein the heated gas is discharged axially upwardly from the housing onto a downwardly facing surface of the wafer-shaped article, thereby to heat the wafer shaped article conductively.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.