In a substrate processing apparatus, a cup part is moved in an up-down direction to cause a cup exhaust port to selectively overlap a first chamber exhaust port or a second chamber exhaust port. In the state in which the cup exhaust port overlaps the first chamber exhaust port, gas in the cup part is discharged through the cup exhaust port and the first chamber exhaust port by a first exhaust mechanism. In the state in which the cup exhaust port overlaps the second chamber exhaust port, the gas in the cup part is discharged through the cup exhaust port and the second chamber exhaust port by a second exhaust mechanism. In this way, an exhaust mechanism for exhausting gas from the cup part can be easily switched between the first exhaust mechanism and the second exhaust mechanism.

This wet etching method comprises rotating a substrate (W), supplying an etching chemical to a first surface (a surface for forming a device) of the rotating substrate, and supplying an etching inhibitor (DIW) to a second surface (a surface which is not used for forming a device) during the supplying the etching chemical to the substrate. The etching inhibitor moves past an edge (WE) of the substrate to swirl onto the first surface and reaches a first region extending from the edge of the substrate on the periphery of the first surface to a first radial position located radially inward from the edge on the first surface. Thus, it is possible to perform an excellent bevel etching treatment on the upper layer of the substrate having a two-layered film formed thereon.

Embodiments of substrate carriers and method of making the same are provided herein. In some embodiments, a substrate carrier includes a substantially planar body; and a plurality of holding elements arranged on a surface of the substantially planar body, wherein the plurality of holding elements are configured to hold a plurality of substrates on the surface of the substantially planar body, and wherein the plurality of holding elements includes at least three holding elements disposed around a corresponding position of each of the plurality of substrates.

One or more embodiments described herein generally relate to drying environments within semiconductor processing systems. In these embodiments, substrates are cleaned and dried within a drying environment before returning to the factory interface. However, due to an opening between the factory interface and the drying environment, air flows from the factory interface into the drying environment, often reducing the effectiveness of the drying processes. In embodiments described herein, the air flow is blocked by a sliding door that raises up to the closed position when a substrate enters the drying portion of the dryer located within the drying environment. After the substrate exits the dryer and before the substrate enters the factory interface, the sliding door lowers to the opened position such that the substrate can enter the factory interface. As such, these processes allow for multiple substrates to dry quickly and consistently within the system, improving throughput.

Systems, method and related apparatuses for adjusting support elements of a support apparatus to approximate a surface profile of a wafer. The support apparatus may include a group of mutually lateral adjacent support elements, each mutually lateral adjacent support element is configured to independently move at least vertically and comprising an upper surface. The support apparatus may further include a thermal energy transfer device operably coupled to each of the mutually lateral support elements, and an actuator system operably coupled to each of the support elements to selectively move one or more of the mutually lateral support elements vertically.

A system and method for plating a workpiece are described. In one aspect, an apparatus includes a deposition chamber, a workpiece holder adapted for insertion into and removal from the deposition chamber, a shield with patterns of apertures corresponding to features on the workpiece, a shield holder also adapted for insertion into and removal from the deposition chamber and a positioning mechanism to position the workpiece in the workpiece holder such that the pattern of apertures on the shield will align with the corresponding features on the workpiece when the workpiece holder and shield holder are inserted into the deposition chamber.

Described herein is a technique capable of suppressing generation of particles by removing by-products in a groove of a high aspect ratio. According to one aspect of the technique, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus including: a process chamber in which a substrate is processed; and a substrate support provided in the process chamber and including a plurality of supports where the substrate is placed, wherein the process chamber includes a process region where a process gas is supplied to the substrate and a purge region where the process gas above the substrate is purged, and the purge region includes a first pressure purge region to be purged at a first pressure and a second pressure purge region to be purged at a second pressure higher than the first pressure.

The natural oxidation film of polysilicon, which is exposed at a side surface of a recess portion 83 provided in a substrate W, is removed and a thin film 84 of polysilicon is exposed at the side surface of the recess portion 83. Liquid IPA is brought into contact with the thin film 84 of polysilicon after the natural oxidation film of polysilicon is removed. Diluted ammonia water is supplied to the substrate W and the thin film 84 of polysilicon is etched after IPA comes into contact with the thin film 84 of polysilicon.

A method may include providing a set of features in a mask layer, wherein a given feature comprises a first dimension along a first direction, second dimension along a second direction, orthogonal to the first direction, and directing an angled ion beam to a first side region of the set of features in a first exposure, wherein the first side region is etched a first amount along the first direction. The method may include directing an angled deposition beam to a second side region of the set of features in a second exposure, wherein a protective layer is formed on the second side region, the second side region being oriented perpendicularly with respect to the first side region. The method may include directing the angled ion beam to the first side region in a third exposure, wherein the first side region is etched a second amount along the first direction.

A method for processing a semiconductor structure and a method for forming a word line structure are provided. The method for processing the semiconductor structure includes: providing a semiconductor structure including a groove and a metal layer located in the groove, where an edge position of a top surface of the metal layer is higher than a center position of the top surface of the metal layer; enabling the semiconductor structure to be in a rotating state; and performing at least one metal surface planarization process on the semiconductor structure, so that the top surface of the metal layer after being processed is more planar than the top surface of the metal layer before being processed. Each of the at least one metal surface planarization process includes: etching the top surface of the metal layer by a first reagent; and cleaning the semiconductor structure by a second reagent.