| LAM RESEARCH AG Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120131815 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WAFER WET PROCESSING - A gas dispenser in a process module for wet processing of wafer-shaped articles is substantially smaller than the article to be processed and is movable laterally of the article as it dispenses inert gas above the article. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120108074 | METHOD FOR TREATING A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER - Disclosed is a method for treating semiconductor wafer including:
| 05-03-2012 |
| 20120103522 | CLOSED CHAMBER FOR WAFER WET PROCESSING - An improved design for a closed chamber process module for single wafer wet processing utilizes a combination lid and gas showerhead for sealing the chamber from above. One or more media arms dispense liquid onto a wafer in the chamber. The media arms are mounted inside the chamber but are connected by a linkage that passes through the chamber wall to a drive unit mounted outside the chamber. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120103371 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER - A method and apparatus for drying semiconductor wafers uses hot isopropyl alcohol in liquid form at temperatures above 60° C. and below 82° C. The use of hot IPA better avoids pattern collapse and permits reduced consumption of IPA. The wafer temperature can be maintained by applying hot deionized water to the opposite wafer side and by evaporating the hot IPA from the wafer surface using heated nitrogen gas. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120100721 | METHOD FOR TREATING A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER - A method for treating semiconductor wafer includes: providing a stack including a high-k layer including a first oxide material, wherein the first oxide material contains hafnium and/or zirconium, and a cap-layer including a second oxide material, wherein the cap-layer has been deposited on top of the high-k layer, wherein the second oxide material contains lanthanum, a lanthanide and/or aluminium; supplying liquid A to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, liquid A being an aqueous solution containing an oxidizing agent; supplying liquid B to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, liquid B being a liquid with a pH-value lower than 6; and conducting a step SC wherein a liquid C is supplied to the surface of the semiconductor wafer, wherein step SC is carried out after step SB, wherein liquid C is an aqueous acidic solution with a fluorine concentration of at least 10 ppm. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120085374 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR WET TREATING PLATE-LIKE-ARTICLES - A method for wet treatment of plate-like articles includes, a chuck for holding a single plate-like article having an upwardly facing surface for receiving liquid running off a plate-like article when being treated with liquid, wherein the chuck is outwardly bordered by a circumferential annular lip. The chuck has an outer diameter greater than the greatest diameter of the plate-like article to be treated, and a rotatable part with an upwardly facing ring-shaped surface for receiving liquid running off the circumferential lip of the chuck. The rotatable part is rotatable with respect to the chuck, the ring-shaped surface is coaxially arranged with respect to the circumferential annular lip, the inner diameter of the ring-shaped surface is smaller than the outer diameter of the chuck, and the distance d between the lip and the upwardly facing ring-shaped surface is in a range from 0.1 mm to 5 mm. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120085372 | METHOD FOR DRYING A SEMICONDUCTOR WAFER - Disclosed is a method for drying a plate-like article; the method including rinsing with an aqueous rinsing liquid with subsequent rinsing with an organic solvent, | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120073596 | ULTRASONIC CLEANING METHOD AND APPARATUS - A device and method for treating the surface of a semiconductor wafer provides a treatment fluid in the form of a dispersion of gas bubbles in a treatment liquid generated at acoustic pressures less than those required to induce cavitation in the treatment liquid. A resonator supplies ultrasonic or megasonic energy to the treatment fluid and is configured to create an interference pattern in the treatment fluid comprising regions of pressure amplitude minima and maxima at an interface of the treatment fluid and the semiconductor wafer. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120018940 | DEVICE FOR HOLDING WAFER SHAPED ARTICLES - A device for holding wafer-shaped articles, such as semiconductor wafers, is equipped with a series of pins that are brought into contact with a peripheral edge of the wafer-shaped article, under control of a common gear ring or a series of conjointly operated gear sectors. In the regions of the gear ring or gear sectors engaging the pin assemblies, those elements are designed to yield more readily than other regions of the gear ring or gear sectors, to accommodate differential thermal expansion of the chuck components in the vicinity of the pin assemblies. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20110304107 | DEVICE FOR TREATING DISC-LIKE ARTICLES - A device for treating a disc-like article with a fluid, includes elements for dispensing a fluid onto the article and a chuck for holding and rotating the article around an axis perpendicular thereto. The chuck includes a base body, a drive ring, and gripping members for contacting the article at its edge. The gripping members are eccentrically movable with respect to the center of the article. The eccentric movement of the gripping members is driven by a drive ring rotatably mounted to the base body, so that the drive ring is rotatable against the base body around the axis. The relative rotational movement of the drive ring against the base body is carried out by either holding the base body and rotating the drive ring or by holding the drive ring and rotating the base body, whereby the to-be-held-part (drive ring or base body) is held without touching the respective to-be-held-part by magnetic force. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110290283 | CLOSED CHAMBER WITH FLUID SEPARATION FEATURE - Selective recovery of excess process fluid from within a closed process chamber is achieved by providing a magnetically drive ring chuck and at least one process fluid collector within the closed process chamber, with the ring chuck and the fluid collector being vertically movable relative to each other. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110275221 | METHOD FOR TREATMENT SUBSTRATES AND TREATMENT COMPOSITION FOR SAID METHOD - A mixture of perhalogenic acid and sulfuric acid is unexpectedly stable at high temperatures and is effective in stripping photoresists, including difficult to treat ion-implanted photoresists, with short processing times. In use, no decomposition of the mixture is observed up to a temperature of 145° C. In the mixture, the sulfuric acid is highly purified and has a concentration of 96 wt % or greater. The perhalogenic acid is preferably H | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110272874 | DEVICE FOR HOLDING WAFER SHAPED ARTICLES - A spin chuck for holding semiconductor wafers includes one or more damping mechanisms to limit the force with which chuck pins impact the wafer edge following wafer shift. The damping mechanism may be a linear or rotary dashpot. The dashpot or dashpots are mounted on a surface of the chuck body and include a control arm that contacts a common gear ring that in turn drives the chuck pins during radially inward and outward movement. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110254236 | GROUNDED CHUCK - Improved reduction of static charge in spin chucks is achieved by providing one or more pin assemblies which are formed from chemically inert material and which include an electrically conductive inlay. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110253181 | DEVICE FOR TREATING DISC-LIKE ARTICLES - A device for treating a disc-like article with a fluid, includes elements for dispensing a fluid onto the article and a chuck for holding and rotating the article around an axis perpendicular thereto. The chuck includes a base body, a drive ring, and gripping members for contacting the article at its edge. The gripping members are eccentrically movable with respect to the center of the article. The eccentric movement of the gripping members is driven by a drive ring rotatably mounted to the base body, so that the drive ring is rotatable against the base body around the axis. The relative rotational movement of the drive ring against the base body is carried out by either holding the base body and rotating the drive ring or by holding the drive ring and rotating the base body, whereby the to-be-held-part (drive ring or base body) is held without touching the respective to-be-held-part by magnetic force. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110250044 | DEVICE FOR TREATING DISC-LIKE ARTICLE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SAME - A device for supporting and rotating a disc-like article includes:
| 10-13-2011 |
| 20110155169 | ULTRASONIC CLEANING FLUID, METHOD AND APPARATUS - A cleaning fluid including dispersed gas avoids using ultrasonic energy to induce cavitation by subjecting a liquid containing dissolved gas to a pressure reduction in a bubble machine, to generate a gas/liquid dispersion. The cleaning fluid can be used to clean articles such as semiconductor wafers using a device that includes a holder and a vibrator for supplying ultrasonic or megasonic energy to the article. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110151675 | DEVICE AND PROCESS FOR LIQUID TREATMENT OF A WAFER SHAPED ARTICLE - A spin chuck in an apparatus for single wafer wet processing has structures at its periphery that, in combination with a supported wafer, form a series of annular nozzles that direct flowing gas from a chuck-facing surface of the wafer, around the edge of the wafer, and exhaust the gas away from the non-chuck-facing surface of the wafer, thereby preventing treatment fluid applied to the non-chuck-facing surface from contacting the edge region of the wafer. Retaining pins with enlarged heads engage the wafer edge and prevent it from being displaced upwardly when a high flow rate of gas is utilized. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110148022 | REINFORCED PIN FOR BEING USED IN A PIN CHUCK, AND A PIN CHUCK USING SUCH REINFORCED PIN - Improved durability and longevity of spin chucks is achieved by using a composite support pin structure in which a pin body of a chemically inert plastic includes a hollow cavity containing an insert formed from a material whose Young's modulus is greater than that of the inert plastic. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110146728 | HIGH TEMPERATURE CHUCK AND METHOD OF USING SAME - Improved resistance to temperature-related degradation or deformation in a wafer-supporting chuck is provided by at least one shielding member that physically and/or thermally shields chuck components from effects of elevated temperature processing fluids. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110130009 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SURFACE TREATMENT USING A MIXTURE OF ACID AND OXIDIZING GAS - Improved removal of ion-implanted photoresist in a single wafer front-end wet processing station is achieved by combining gaseous ozone and heated sulfuric acid such that a gas/liquid dispersion or foam of ozone in sulfuric acid is applied in a layer to the wafer surface to be treated. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110000541 | METHOD FOR DEPOSITION A FILM ONTO A SUBSTRATE - Disclosed is a method for depositing a film onto a substrate, with a sputter deposition process
| 01-06-2011 |
| 20100288312 | DEVICE AND PROCESS FOR WET TREATING A PERIPHERAL AREA OF A WAFER-SHAPED ARTICLE - A device for wet treating a peripheral area of a wafer-shaped article includes holding elements for holding and rotating the wafer-shaped article at its edge, a first and a second liquid treatment units for supplying liquid towards the peripheral area. The holding elements include rollers for driving the wafer-shaped article at its edge. The first liquid treatment unit includes a first liquid carrier for providing a first liquid to wet a first section of the peripheral area, a first liquid supply nozzle for supplying liquid to the first liquid carrier, and a first liquid discharging channel for removing liquid from the first liquid carrier. The second liquid treatment unit includes, a second liquid carrier for providing a second liquid to wet a second section of the peripheral area, a second liquid supply nozzle for supplying liquid to the second liquid carrier, a second liquid discharging channel for removing liquid from the second liquid carrier, and a second gas treatment section with a gas supply nozzle for supplying gas towards the peripheral area, which has been treated with the second liquid for removing most of the second liquid from the peripheral area, and with a gas discharge channel for discharging gas and removed liquid. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100200163 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR WET TREATMENT OF DISC-LIKE ARTICLES - Disclosed is an apparatus for wet treatment of a disc-like article, which comprises: a spin chuck for holding and rotating the disc-like article, and an inner edge nozzle dispensing treatment liquid directed towards a first peripheral region of the first surface of the disc-like article, wherein the first surface is facing the spin chuck and the first peripheral region is defined as being a region of the first surface with an inner radius (ri), which is greater than 1 cm less than the disc-like article's radius (ra), wherein the inner edge nozzle is positioned in a stationary manner between the disc-like article (when placed on the spin chuck) and the spin chuck, wherein the inner edge nozzle is feed through a central pipe, which is disposed in a stationary manner and penetrates centrally through the spin chuck, for supplying a treatment liquid against a first surface of the disc-like article. | 08-12-2010 |
