Wafer spin dryer and method of drying a wafer
First Claim
1. A spin dryer comprising:
- a rotational member positioned in a drying chamber of said spin dryer, said rotational member being attached to a rotatable shaft;
a spin motor for rotating said shaft;
a plurality of gripping members extending downward from said rotational member, said gripping members being adapted so as to hold a flat substrate below said rotational member; and
at least one nozzle mounted in said spin dryer, said nozzle being positioned so as to direct a spray of liquid onto a top surface of a substrate held by said gripping members.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a spin dryer for semiconductor wafers, the wafer is held beneath a platen with its active side (i.e., the side containing the components or circuitry) facing upward. One or more nozzles spray rinse water on the top surface of the wafer and the wafer is rotated to remove the excess rinse water, thereby drying the wafer. A splash guard adjacent the edge of the wafer insures that the excess rinse water thrown off by the spinning wafer is deflected downward where it cannot again come into contact with the active side of the wafer. The platen is rotated dry at the same time, with no rinse water being splashed back onto the active side of the wafer. The spin dryer also includes a separate section which cleans and dries the end-effector of the robot which inserts the wafer into the spin dryer while the wafer is being dried.
-
Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A spin dryer comprising:
-
a rotational member positioned in a drying chamber of said spin dryer, said rotational member being attached to a rotatable shaft; a spin motor for rotating said shaft; a plurality of gripping members extending downward from said rotational member, said gripping members being adapted so as to hold a flat substrate below said rotational member; and at least one nozzle mounted in said spin dryer, said nozzle being positioned so as to direct a spray of liquid onto a top surface of a substrate held by said gripping members. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A spin dryer comprising:
-
a rotational member positioned in a drying chamber of said spin dryer, said rotational member being attached to a rotatable shaft; a spin motor for rotating said shaft; and a plurality of gripping members extending from said rotational member, said gripping members being adapted so as to hold a circular substrate, at least one of said gripping members being movable with respect to said rotational member and several of said gripping members being fixed with respect to said rotational member; wherein said gripping members are positioned with respect to said shaft such that a center of said circular substrate is displaced by a predetermined distance from an axis of rotation of said rotational member when said circular substrate is engaged by said gripping members. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
-
Specification