The disclosed techniques include a space filling device to be used with a wet bench in chemical replacement procedures. The space filling device has an overall density that is higher than the chemicals used to purge the wet bench. As such, when embedded into the wet bench, or more specifically, the chemical tank of the wet bench, the space filling device will occupy a portion of the interior volume space. As a result, less purging chemicals are used to fill and bath the wet bench.

A substrate processing method includes forming a liquid film of an alkaline processing liquid on a substrate by supplying the alkaline processing liquid having a reduced oxygen concentration onto the substrate; and etching the substrate by rotating the substrate while supplying the alkaline processing liquid in a state that the liquid film having a given thickness is formed on the substrate.

Exemplary substrate support assemblies include an electrostatic chuck body defining a substrate platform. The substrate platform may be characterized by an upper surface. The platform may define a purge aperture. The platform may include a plurality of mesas that are disposed in an inner region of the upper surface. Each of the mesas may protrude upward from the upper surface. The platform may include a sealing band that extends upward from the upper surface in a circumferential pattern and partially encircles the inner region of the upper surface. Top surfaces of the mesas and sealing band may form a support surface for a substrate. The sealing band may define a number of gaps. The assemblies may include a support stem coupled with the electrostatic chuck body, a heater embedded within the electrostatic chuck body, and a backside gas source that is coupled with the purge aperture of the support surface.

Provided is a substrate treating apparatus. The substrate treating apparatus comprises: a housing having a treating space therein; a spin head for supporting and rotating a substrate in the treating space; and a chemical supply unit having an injection nozzle for supplying a chemical to the substrate which is supported by the spin head, wherein the injection nozzle comprises a nozzle body, and wherein the nozzle body comprises an inner space for receiving a chemical and minute holes which are connected with the inner space for discharging the chemicals to downward.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a rotating holder for a substrate, a first nozzle used to eject a jet flow, a second nozzle used to discharge a continuous flow, and a nozzle moving unit integrally moving the first and second nozzles. A landing position of the continuous flow is located closer to a rotation center than a landing position of the jet flow is. At least movement paths of the landing positions of the jet flow and the continuous flow or flow directions of the continuous flow and the jet flow are different from each other. The movement paths are made to be different from each other by locating the landing position of the continuous flow downstream of the movement path of the landing position of the jet flow. The flow directions are made to be different from each other by tilting the continuous flow.

A wafer carrier assembly includes a wafer carrier and a fluid passage. The wafer carrier comprises a retainer ring confining a wafer accommodation space. The fluid passage is inside the wafer carrier. The fluid passage includes an inlet and at least an outlet to dispense fluid into the wafer accommodation space.

A method for processing a substrate by using fluid flowing through a particle detector is provided. The particle detector is utilized to detect nano-particles contained in fluid. The particle detector includes a substrate and a pair of sensing electrodes disposed on the substrate. The substrate includes nano-pores, wherein the pore size of the nano-pores is greater than the particle size of the nano-particles, allowing the nano-particles contained in the fluid passing through the nano-pores. The pair of sensing electrodes are positioned adjacent to at least one of the nano-pores.

An alkaline etchant containing a quaternary ammonium hydroxide, water, and an inhibitory substance for inhibiting contact between hydroxide ions generated from the quaternary ammonium hydroxide and objects P1 to P3 to be etched is prepared. The prepared etchant is supplied to a substrate in which the polysilicon-containing objects P1 to P3 to be etched and objects O1 to O3 not to be etched, which are different from the objects P1 to P3 to be etched, are exposed, thereby etching the objects P1 to P3 to be etched while preventing the objects O1 to O3 not to be etched from being etched.

A method of driving an element of an active matrix electro-wetting on dielectric (AM-EWOD) device comprise applying a first alternating voltage to a reference electrode of the AM-EWOD device; and either (i) applying to the element electrode a second alternating voltage that has the same frequency as the first alternating voltage and that is out of phase with the first alternating voltage or (ii) holding the element electrode in a high impedance state. The effect of applying the second alternating voltage to the element electrode is to put the element in an actuated state in which the element is configured to actuate any liquid droplet present in the element, while the effect of holding the element electrode in the high impedance state is to put the element in a non-actuated state.

There is provided a substrate processing apparatus which includes: an exhaust pipe configured to selectively discharge an exhaust gas generated by a substrate process to a first pipe or a second pipe; a liquid supply part configured to supply a cleaning liquid to the exhaust pipe; a discharge destination setting part configured to set a discharge destination of the exhaust gas to the first pipe or the second pipe by rotating the exhaust pipe; and a controller configured to control the discharge destination setting part to rotate the exhaust pipe. The controller is further configured to control the liquid supply part to supply the cleaning liquid to the rotating exhaust pipe.