IP Library › Granted Patent US 8,205,625
Granted Patent B2
US 8,205,625 · App. 11/987,078 · Granted Jun 26, 2012

Apparatus and method for surface treatment of substrate, and substrate processing apparatus and method

Assignee: Ebara Corporation
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,205,625
App. No.
11/987,078
Granted
Jun 26, 2012
Kind
B2
Abstract

A surface treatment apparatus of a substrate can clean a substrate surface in the air without employing a vacuum apparatus, and can remove a natural oxide film or an organic material, such as BTA, from the substrate surface without resorting to plasma cleaning. The surface treatment apparatus includes: an inert gas supply section for supplying an inert gas to the whole or part of a substrate surface to form an oxygen-blocking zone; a heating section for keeping the substrate surface at a predetermined temperature; and a cleaning gas supply section for supplying a cleaning gas to the oxygen-blocking zone to clean the substrate surface.

Claims (11)

1. An apparatus for surface treatment of a substrate, comprising:

an inert gas supply section for supplying an inert gas to the whole or part of a substrate surface to form an oxygen-blocking zone between the inert gas supply section and the substrate surface, the oxygen-blocking zone being configured to block out oxygen with the inert gas and being substantially free of oxygen;

a heating section for keeping the substrate surface at a predetermined temperature;

a cleaning gas supply section for supplying a cleaning gas to the oxygen-blocking zone to clean the substrate surface while the inert gas supply section supplies the inert gas to form the oxygen-blocking zone; and

a cylindrical gas flow regulating mechanism configured to surround the oxygen-blocking zone and guide a flow of the cleaning gas in the oxygen-blocking zone, the gas flow regulating mechanism having only a lateral side wall with no top wall and no bottom wall.

2. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a cooling section for cooling the substrate after the cleaning of the substrate surface.

3. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cleaning gas is a carboxylic acid gas or a reducing gas.

4. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1 further, comprising:

a gas discharge section for discharging gas from the gas flow regulating mechanism.

5. The surface treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a shower head having a plurality of jet orifices formed therein, the shower head being connected to a downstream end of the inert gas supply section and a downstream end of the cleaning gas supply section, and the jet orifices are shaped and arranged to maintain the oxygen-blocking zone formed by the flow of the inert gas from the inert gas supply section while also supplying the cleaning gas to the oxygen-blocking zone from the cleaning gas supply section.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 27, 2007
From: TATEISHI, HIDEKI; NAKADA, TSUTOMU; SUSAKI, AKIRA; SHIMA, SHOHEI; FUKUNAGA, YUKIO
To: EBARA CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 020203/0210 →
Priority Claims (3)
JP 2006-319581 · Nov 28, 2006 · national
JP 2007-131594 · May 17, 2007 · national
JP 2007-223941 · Aug 30, 2007 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20080124932A1 · May 29, 2008