A system for coating an interior surface of a heat exchanger includes a tank for storing the coating solution, a pump, a source line for supplying the coating solution to the heat exchanger, and a return line for returning the remainder of the coating solution to the tank. The system can include a pre-treatment line for supplying a pre-treatment solution to the heat exchanger and a water line for supplying water to the heat exchanger. An air compressor can be coupled to the heat exchanger to force the coating solution, the pre-treatment solution, or the water from the heat exchanger.

A substrate W having a non-plateable material portion 31 and a plateable material portion 32 formed on a surface thereof is prepared, and then, a catalyst is imparted selectively to the plateable material portion 32 by supplying a catalyst solution N1 onto the substrate W. Thereafter, a plating layer 35 is selectively formed on the plateable material portion 32 by supplying a plating liquid M1 onto the substrate W. A pH of the catalyst solution N1 is previously adjusted such that the plating layer 35 is suppressed from being precipitated on the non-plateable material portion 31 while being facilitated to be precipitated on the plateable material portion 32.

Upon use of an immersion tin plating solution, contaminants build in the solution, which cause the plating rate and the quality of the plated deposit to decrease. One primary contaminant, which builds in the plating solution upon use, is hydrogen sulfide, H.sub.2S. If a gas is bubbled or blown through the solution, contaminants, especially hydrogen sulfide, can be effectively removed from the solution and, as a result, the high plating rate and plate quality can be restored or maintained. In this regard, any gas can be used, however, it is preferable to use a gas that will not detrimentally interact with the solution, other than to strip out contaminants. Nitrogen is particularly preferred for this purpose because it is efficient at stripping out contaminants, including hydrogen sulfide, but does not induce the oxidation of the tin ions from their divalent state to the tetravalent state, which is detrimental.

A plating apparatus, a plating method and a recording medium can allow a temperature of a wafer to be uniform within a surface thereof. A plating apparatus 1 includes a substrate holding unit 52 configured to hold a substrate W; a plating liquid supply unit 53 configured to supply a plating liquid M1 to the substrate W; and a solvent supply unit 55a configured to supply a solvent N1 having a different temperature from a temperature of the plating liquid M1 to the substrate W. The solvent N1 is supplied to a preset position on the substrate W from the solvent supply unit 55a after the plating liquid M1 is supplied to the substrate W from the plating liquid supply unit 53.

A substrate processing apparatus can suppress particle generation on a substrate, and can reduce a consumption amount of a processing liquid. A substrate processing apparatus 1 includes a processing chamber 30 having a processing space 31 in which a substrate W is processed; a vaporizing tank 60, configured to store the processing liquid therein, having a vaporization space 61 in which the stored processing liquid is allowed to be vaporized; a decompression driving unit 70 configured to decompress the vaporization space 61; and a control unit 18. The control unit 18 vaporizes the processing liquid into the processing gas by decompressing the vaporization space 61 without through the processing space 31, and then, vaporizes the processing liquid into the processing gas by decompressing the vaporization space 61 through the processing space 31, and supplies an inert gas into the vaporization space 61.

A method of performing electroless electrochemical atomic layer deposition is provided and includes: providing a substrate including an exposed upper metal layer; exposing the substrate to a first precursor solution to create a sacrificial metal monolayer on the exposed upper metal layer via underpotential deposition, where the first precursor solution is an aqueous solution including a reducing agent; subsequent to the forming of the sacrificial metal monolayer, rinsing the substrate; subsequent to the rinsing of the substrate, exposing the substrate to a second precursor solution to replace the sacrificial metal monolayer with a first deposition layer; and subsequent to replacing the sacrificial metal monolayer with the first deposition layer, rinsing the substrate. The exposure of the substrate to the first precursor solution and the exposure of the substrate to the second precursor solution are electroless processes.

To provide surface treatment that can reduce occurrence of defects caused by incorporation of dust. Rollers 40 are rotatably fixed to rotating shafts 72 provided to protrude from lateral protective walls 49. The lateral protective walls 49 are fixed perpendicularly to lower protective walls 47 fixed to outer walls 39. Hanging plates 64 of a hanger 50 extend through a space 43 between both lower protective walls 47 and support clips 52. A liquid 41, such as water, is filled in spaces defined by the lateral protective walls 49, the lower protective walls 47, and the outer walls 39. The liquid 41 is filled to cover about half of each rotating shaft 72. Thus, fine dust generated by a transferring mechanism is captured by the liquid 41 and prevented from drifting from the space 34 toward the substrate 54.

A surface treating apparatus that suppresses occurrence of defects is provided. A treatment solution is accumulated in a tank 15 through a treatment solution collecting port/air discharging port 13 in a lower portion of a body 4. An air heated by the treatment solution flows toward an upper portion (portion without the treatment solution) of the tank 15 via the treatment solution collecting port/air discharging port 13 in the lower portion of the body 4, and is discharged via an exhaust duct 17. In this way, the air that is heated and tends to flow upward in the body 4 is discharged from the lower portion thereof and is replaced with an external air from the upper portion thereof. Accordingly, the air in the body 4 can be maintained at a uniform temperature. Thus, the treatment solution that reaches a lower portion of a substrate 54 from an upper portion thereof can be maintained at a uniform temperature. The air is caused to flow toward the lower portion from the upper portion in the body 4, so that the substrate 54 is pulled downward, and swinging of the substrate 54 can thus be reduced. Therefore, the substrate 54 can be less likely to contact an inlet 44 and an outlet 46.

At least one plating pen is brought into aligned relationship with at least one hole defined in a board. The pen includes a central retractable protrusion, a first shell surrounding the protrusion and defining a first annular channel therewith, and a second shell surrounding the first shell and defining a second annular channel therewith. The protrusion is lowered to block the hole and plating material is flowed down the first channel to a surface of the board and up into the second channel, to form an initial deposit on the board surface. The protrusion is raised to unblock the hole, and plating material is flowed down the first annular channel to side walls of the hole and up into the second annular channel, to deposit the material on the side walls of the hole.

To provide surface treatment that can reduce occurrence of defects caused by incorporation of dust. Rollers 40 are rotatably fixed to rotating shafts 72 provided to protrude from lateral protective walls 49. The lateral protective walls 49 are fixed perpendicularly to lower protective walls 47 fixed to outer walls 39. Hanging plates 64 of a hanger 50 extend through a space 43 between both lower protective walls 47 and support clips 52. A liquid 41, such as water, is filled in spaces defined by the lateral protective walls 49, the lower protective walls 47, and the outer walls 39. The liquid 41 is filled to cover about half of each rotating shaft 72. Thus, fine dust generated by a transferring mechanism is captured by the liquid 41 and prevented from drifting from the space 34 toward the substrate 54.