Provided is an apparatus for processing a substrate including a spin head on which a substrate is placed, a container provided to surround the spin head, an upper nozzle member supplying a processing solution downwards, a bottom cleaning member located to be a certain distance from the bottom of the spin head, wherein the bottom cleaning member sprays a cleaning solution to the bottom of the spin head.

Described is a composition comprising as primary surfactant an ionic compound comprising one or more fluoroalkyl groups and as secondary surfactant at least one non-ionic compound comprising one or more polyalkyloxy and/or polyalkylenoxy groups, for cleaning or rinsing a product, preferably a product used in the semiconductor industry, and a respective use of said composition. Further described is a method of making a cleaned or rinsed product, preferably a product used in the semiconductor industry, comprising a substrate and supported thereon a patterned material layer having line-space structures with a line width of 50 nm or below, comprising the step of cleaning or rinsing said product with the composition of the invention.

Disclosed herein is an etching method for a workpiece. The etching method includes the steps of dissociating an inert gas to form a plasma in an evacuated condition of a chamber to thereby remove moisture present on the workpiece set in the chamber, and next dissociating a fluorine-based stable gas instead of the inert gas to form a plasma in the chamber after removing the moisture to thereby dry-etch the workpiece.

A cleaning solution includes a solvent having Hansen solubility parameters: 25>δ.sub.d>13, 25>δ.sub.p>3, 30>δ.sub.h>4; an acid having an acid dissociation constant pKa: −11<pKa<4, or a base having pKa of 40>pKa>9.5; and a surfactant. The surfactant is an ionic or non-ionic surfactant, selected from

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R is substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, alicyclic, or aromatic group, and non-ionic surfactant has A-X or A-X-A-X structure, where A is unsubstituted or substituted with oxygen or halogen, branched or unbranched, cyclic or non-cyclic, saturated C2-C100 aliphatic or aromatic group, X includes polar functional groups selected from —OH, ═O, —S—, —P—, —P(O.sub.2), —C(═O)SH, —C(═O)OH, —C(═O)OR—, —O—, —N—, —C(═O)NH, —SO.sub.2OH, —SO.sub.2SH, —SOH, —SO.sub.2—, —CO—, —CN—, —SO—, —CON—, —NH—, —SO.sub.3NH—, and SO.sub.2NH.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a rotation driving mechanism configured to rotate a rotary table configured to hold a substrate; an electric heater provided in the rotary table to be rotated along with the rotary table and configured to heat the substrate; a power receiving electrode provided in the rotary table to be rotated along with the rotary table and electrically connected to the electric heater; a power feeding electrode configured to be contacted with the power receiving electrode and configured to supply a power to the electric heater via the power receiving electrode; an electrode moving mechanism; a power feeder configured to supply the power to the power feeding electrode; a processing cup surrounding the rotary table; at least one processing liquid nozzle configured to supply a processing liquid; a processing liquid supply mechanism configured to supply at least an electroless plating liquid; and a controller.

A vapor phase growth method of an embodiment is a vapor phase growth method using a vapor phase growth apparatus including a reactor, an exhaust pump, a pressure control valve, and an exhaust pipe. The vapor phase growth method includes: loading a first substrate into the reactor, heating the first substrate, supplying a process gas, and forming a silicon carbide film on a surface of the first substrate and depositing a by-product containing carbon in the first portion or the second portion by adjusting a pressure in the reactor by controlling the pressure control valve; unloading the first substrate from the reactor; removing the by-product by supplying a gas including a gas containing fluorine to the exhaust pipe by controlling a pressure in the exhaust pipe; and then loading a second substrate into the reactor to form a silicon carbide film on a surface of the second substrate.

According to various embodiments, a method may include: filling a chamber and a tube coupled to the chamber with a first liquid, the tube extending upwards from the chamber; introducing a portion of a second liquid into the first liquid in the tube; and at least partially removing the first liquid from the chamber to empty the tube into the chamber so that a continuous surface layer from the introduced second liquid is provided on the first liquid in the chamber.

A chemical solution supply part for supplementing the chemical solution to the chemical solution storage tank and a purge gas supply part for supplying N.sub.2 gas as a purge gas to the chemical solution storage tank are in communication with the chemical solution storage tank, and a first manometer serving as a pressure measurement part is arranged on the chemical solution storage tank. In addition, a drain piping is connected to a head portion of the plunger pump, and an automatically controlled air-bleed valve, which is an air-bleed mechanism, is arranged on the drain piping. On the other hand, a second manometer is arranged in the middle of the chemical solution supply pipe, and a front end of the solution supply pipe on the downstream side serves as an injection point for the chemical solution S.

A chuck useful for supporting a wafer during an edge bevel removal (EBR) process comprises a rotatable center hub having a plurality of support arms extending outwardly from the rotatable center hub, support pins on ends of the support arms, gas passages extending through upper surfaces of the support pins, and gas conduits in the support arms, the gas conduits configured to supply gas to the gas passages or apply a vacuum to the gas passages. The support arms can include alignment cams which are rotatable from an outer non-alignment position away from a periphery of the wafer to an inner alignment position at which the wafer is centered. To supply gas or apply a vacuum force to the gas outlets in the support pins, the rotatable center hub can have a gas inlet and a plurality of gas delivery ports in fluid communication with the gas delivery conduits in the support arms. Gas can be supplied to the gas outlets by a source of pressurized gas connected to the gas inlet and suction can be applied to the gas outlets by a vacuum source connected to the gas inlet. During centering, the wafer is floated on a gas cushion which reduces wear of the support pins.

A system and method concurrently processes multiple wafers. A cassette structure includes multiple chucks and a drive spool for supporting and rotating the chucks. Each chuck holds a wafer in position while rotating. The cassette structure is loaded into a process chamber. Each chuck includes a self-locking mechanism that is activated by the centrifugal force generated from the rotation of the chuck. The self-locking mechanism centers and holds a wafer in position with respect to the chuck. A drive motor drives the drive spool, which causes the chucks to rotate. As the chucks are being rotated, a dispensing assembly delivers a processing chemical to the wafers.