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Samsung patents chip-making tool that heats wafer with light pulses

Samsung has been granted a patent for a machine that processes semiconductor wafers inside a single sealed chamber. The device uses adjustable light pulses to heat the wafer while rotating it, and it controls the temperature of a liquid sprayed onto the surface by changing the light intensity during different time periods.

Why it mattersThis filing describes a specific method for controlling heat and fluid temperature during chip manufacturing, which is a routine engineering improvement for semiconductor production lines.

In the filing’s own words

A substrate processing apparatus includes a process chamber having a space in which a substrate is disposed and processed in the process chamber, a supporter disposed in the process chamber and configured to support and rotate the substrate, a heater disposed in the process chamber and configured to heat a first surface of the substrate, where the heater includes one or more irradiation modules for generating light pulses and directing the light pulses to the first surface of the substrate, a controller configured to control an intensity of the light pulse generated by each of the one or more irradiation modules of the heater, and a fluid supplier configured to supply fluid to the first surface of the substrate.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a process chamber having a space in which a substrate is disposed, wherein the substrate includes a first surface and a second surface opposite from the first surface; a supporter disposed in the process chamber and configured to support and rotate the substrate; a heater disposed in the process chamber and configured to heat the first surface of the substrate, wherein the heater includes one or more irradiation modules for generating light pulses and directing the light pulses to the first surface of the substrate; a controller configured to control an intensity of a light pulse generated by each of the one or more irradiation modules of the heater; and a fluid supplier configured to supply fluid to the first surface of the substrate, wherein a period during which the fluid supplier supplies the fluid to the first surface of the substrate includes a first time period and a second time period after the first time period, and wherein the controller is configured to control the intensity of the light pulse generated by each of the one or more irradiation modules such that: the fluid having a first temperature is supplied to the first surface of the substrate during the first time period; and the fluid having a second temperature lower than the first temperature is supplied to the first surface of the substrate during the second time period.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
Substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate in one process chamber
Patent number
US12730387B2
Application number
18793124
Filed
Aug 2, 2024
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Inventors
6
Claims
20

Classified under

G03F 7/70875 Physics & computingG03F 7/2041 Physics & computingG03F 7/70725 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.