Cleaning and liquid contact with solids – Processes – With work or work parts movable during treatment
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-22
2004-12-21
Keenan, James W. (Department: 3652)
Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
Processes
With work or work parts movable during treatment
C134S902000, C414S217000, C414S416080, C414S805000, C414S938000, C414S940000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06833035
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to automated semiconductor wafer processing systems for performing liquid and gaseous processing of wafers. Such systems can be used to process semiconductor wafers, data disks, semiconductor substrates and similar articles requiring very low contaminant levels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The processing of semiconductor wafers has become of great economic significance due to the large volume of integrated circuits, data disks, and similar articles being produced.
The size of features used in integrated circuits and data disks have decreased significantly, thus providing greater integration and greater capacity. This has been possible due to improved lithography techniques and improved processing.
The reduction in feature size has been limited by contamination. This is true because various contaminating particles, crystals, metals and organics lead to defects in the resulting products. The limitations feature size caused by contaminants have prevented full utilization of the resolution capability of known lithography techniques. Thus there remains an acute need for improved methods and systems for processing semiconductor wafers, data disks and similar articles requiring very low levels of contamination during processing.
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Berner Robert W.
Culliton Stephen P.
Curtis Gary L.
Thompson Raymond F.
Wright Blaine G.
Keenan James W.
Perkins Coie LLP
Semitool Inc.
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