Claims
- 1. A method of processing a semiconductor substrate in a processing system segmented into a wet area and a dry area, the method comprising:
introducing the semiconductor substrate into the dry area of the processing system; moving the semiconductor substrate into the wet area of the processing system; processing the semiconductor substrate in an electrochemical processing cell; and removing unwanted deposits disposed on the semiconductor substrate during processing.
- 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transferring the semiconductor substrate to the dry area of the processing system after removing the unwanted deposits disposed on the semiconductor substrate.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises rinsing and drying the semiconductor substrate.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises spinning and rinsing the semiconductor substrate.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises spinning, rinsing and drying the semiconductor substrate.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises rinsing and drying the semiconductor substrate in a cleaning module disposed between the wet area and the dry area.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises: rinsing the semiconductor substrate with de-ionized water.
- 8. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises: rinsing the semiconductor substrate with at least one of an etchant, de-ionized water and alcohol.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises: spinning the semiconductor substrate at a high angular velocity; and rinsing the semiconductor substrate with at least one of an etchant and de-ionized water.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises:
spinning the semiconductor substrate at a high angular velocity; delivering one of a rinsing fluid and de-ionized water onto a top surface of the semiconductor substrate; and delivering one of an etchant and acid onto a bottom side of the semiconductor substrate.
- 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one of the rinsing fluid and de-ionized water is delivered at a greater rate than the one of the etchant and the acid.
- 12. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises:
spinning the semiconductor substrate at a high angular velocity; applying an etchant to the unwanted deposits disposed on the semiconductor substrate; applying de-ionized water to the semiconductor substrate to remove the etchant and the unwanted deposits from the semiconductor substrate; and continuing to spin the semiconductor substrate to dry the semiconductor substrate.
- 13. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises removing the unwanted deposits from one or more beveled edges of the semiconductor substrate.
- 14. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises:
spinning the semiconductor substrate at a high angular velocity; and rinsing one or more beveled edges of the semiconductor substrate with at least one of an etchant and de-ionized water.
- 15. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises:
spinning the semiconductor substrate at a high angular velocity; and delivering at least one of an etchant and de-ionized water to a peripheral edge of the semiconductor substrate.
- 16. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises:
spinning the semiconductor substrate at a high angular velocity; delivering an etchant to a peripheral edge of the semiconductor substrate; and delivering de-ionized water to the peripheral edge of the semiconductor substrate after delivering the etchant to the peripheral edge.
- 17. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the unwanted deposits comprises removing the unwanted deposits disposed along an edge of the semiconductor substrate to create an edge exclusion zone.
- 18. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the semiconductor substrate comprises exposing the semiconductor substrate to an electrolyte solution contained in the electrochemical processing cell.
- 19. The method of claim 1, further comprising annealing the semiconductor substrate in a thermal anneal chamber after removing the unwanted deposits.
- 20. An electroplating system, comprising:
a wet area comprising one or more electrochemical processing cells for processing one or more semiconductor substrates in an electrolyte solution; a dry area for transferring the semiconductor substrates to the wet area prior to processing the semiconductor substrates and for receiving the semiconductor substrates from the wet area after processing the semiconductor substrates; and a cleaning module for removing unwanted deposits from the semiconductor substrates after processing the semiconductor substrates in the wet area but prior to transferring the semiconductor substrates to the dry area.
- 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the cleaning module is disposed between the dry area and the wet area.
- 22. The system of claim 20, wherein the cleaning module comprises:
a housing; a rotatable pedestal disposed in the housing; and a first plurality of nozzles disposed around the housing for delivering rinsing fluid to the surfaces of the semiconductor substrates.
- 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the cleaning module further comprises: a second plurality of nozzles disposed around the housing for delivering fluid to one or more beveled edges of the semiconductor substrates.
- 24. The system of claim 20, wherein the dry area comprises a thermal chamber configured to anneal the semiconductor substrates after the unwanted deposits are removed from the semiconductor substrates.
- 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the thermal chamber comprises:
a heating plate positioned inside the chamber; a cooling plate positioned inside the chamber; a gas inlet disposed through the chamber to supply gases into the chamber; and a gas outlet disposed at a lower portion of the chamber to exhaust the gases out of the chamber.
- 26. The system of claim 24, wherein the thermal anneal chamber further comprises a plurality of pins disposed through the heating plate configured to support the semiconductor substrates.
- 27. The system of claim 24, wherein the heating plate is configured to heat a lower surface of the semiconductor substrate.
- 28. The system of claim 24, wherein the cooling plate is configured to cool an upper surface of the semiconductor substrate.
- 29. The system of claim 20, wherein the dry area further comprises a dry robot for transferring the semiconductor substrates within the dry area and for transferring the semiconductor substrates between the dry area and the wet area.
- 30. The system of claim 20, wherein the wet area further comprises a wet robot for transferring the semiconductor substrates within the wet area and for transferring the semiconductor substrates between the wet area and the dry area.
- 31. The system of claim 20, wherein the dry area further comprises a dry robot for transferring the semiconductor substrates within the dry area and for transferring the semiconductor substrates between the dry area and the wet area; and wherein the wet area further comprises a wet robot for transferring the semiconductor substrates within the wet area and for transferring the semiconductor substrates between the wet area and the dry area.
- 32. An electroplating system, comprising:
a wet area comprising one or more electrochemical processing cells for processing one or more substrates in an electrolyte solution; a dry area for transferring the substrates to the wet area prior to processing the substrates and for receiving the substrates from the wet area after processing the substrates; a cleaning module disposed between the dry area and the wet area, wherein the cleaning module is configured to remove unwanted deposits from the substrates after processing the substrates in the wet area but prior to transferring the substrates to the dry area, and wherein the cleaning module comprises a first plurality of nozzles configured to remove the unwanted deposits from the surfaces of the substrates and a second plurality of nozzles configured to remove the unwanted deposits from the beveled edges of the substrates; wherein the dry area comprises: a thermal chamber configured to anneal the substrates after the unwanted deposits are removed from the substrates; and a dry robot for transferring the substrates within the dry area and for transferring the substrates between the dry area and the wet area; and wherein the wet area further comprises a wet robot for transferring the substrates within the wet area and for transferring the substrates between the wet area and the dry area.
- 33. An electroplating system, comprising:
a wet area comprising one or more electrochemical processing cells for processing one or more substrates in an electrolyte solution; a dry area for transferring the substrates to the wet area prior to processing the substrates and for receiving the substrates from the wet area after processing the substrates; and a cleaning module disposed between the dry area and the wet area, wherein the cleaning module is configured to remove unwanted deposits from the substrates after processing the substrates in the wet area but prior to transferring the substrates to the dry area, and wherein the cleaning module comprises:
a housing; a rotatable pedestal disposed in the housing; and a plurality of nozzles disposed around the housing for delivering rinsing fluid to the substrates.
- 34. An electroplating system, comprising:
a wet area comprising one or more electrochemical processing cells for processing one or more substrates in an electrolyte solution; and a dry area for transferring the substrates to the wet area prior to processing the substrates and for receiving the substrates from the wet area after processing the substrates, wherein the dry area comprises a thermal anneal chamber for annealing the substrates after processing the substrates in the wet area.
- 35. The system,of claim 34, further comprising a cleaning module disposed in a substrate pathway between the one or more electrochemical processing cells and the thermal anneal chamber.
- 36. The system of claim 35, further comprising one or more robots configured to transfer the substrates along the substrate pathway.
- 37. The system of claim 35, wherein the cleaning module comprises:
a housing; a rotatable pedestal disposed in the housing; and a first plurality of nozzles disposed around the housing for delivering rinsing fluid to the substrates.
- 38. The system of claim 37, wherein the cleaning module further comprises a second plurality of nozzles disposed around the housing for delivering fluid to one or more beveled edges of the substrates.
- 39. The system of claim 34, further comprising one or more robots for transferring the substrates within the wet area, within the dry area and between the wet area and dry area.
- 40. The system of claim 34, wherein the wet area comprises a wet robot for transferring the substrates within the wet area and for transferring the substrates between the wet area and the dry area.
- 41. The system of claim 34, wherein the dry area further comprises a dry robot for transferring the substrates within the dry area and for transferring the substrates between the dry area and the wet area.
- 42. The system of claim 34, wherein the wet area comprises a wet robot for transferring the substrates within the wet area and for transferring the substrates between the wet area and the dry area; and wherein the dry area further comprises a dry robot for transferring the substrates within the dry area and for transferring the substrates between the dry area and the wet area.
- 43. The system of claim 34, wherein the thermal chamber comprises:
a heating plate positioned inside the chamber; a cooling plate positioned inside the chamber; a gas inlet disposed through the chamber to supply gases into the chamber; and a gas outlet disposed at a lower portion of the chamber to exhaust the gases out of the chamber.
- 44. An electroplating system, comprising:
a wet area comprising one or more electrochemical processing cells for processing one or more substrates in an electrolyte solution; a dry area for transferring the substrates to the wet area prior to processing the substrates and for receiving the substrates from the wet area after processing the substrates, wherein the dry area comprises a thermal anneal chamber for annealing the substrates after processing the substrates in the wet area; a cleaning module disposed in a substrate pathway between the one or more electrochemical processing cells and the thermal anneal chamber; and one or more robots for transferring the substrates within the wet area, within the dry area and between the wet area and dry area.
CONTINUATION INFORMATION
[0001] This is a continuation of prior filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/658,336, filed Sep. 8, 2000 and entitled “SEGMENTING OF PROCESSING SYSTEM INTO WET AND DRY AREAS,” which is a continuation-in-part of prior filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/289,074, filed Apr. 8, 1999, and entitled “ELECTRO-CHEMICAL DEPOSITION SYSTEM.”
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09658336 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10387935 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09289074 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Child |
09658336 |
Sep 2000 |
US |