A processing method includes: disposing a workpiece in a processing container of a processing apparatus, and maintaining an inside of the processing container in a vacuum state; providing a cluster nozzle in the processing container; supplying a cluster generating gas to the cluster nozzle and adiabatically expanding the cluster generating gas in the cluster nozzle, thereby generating gas clusters; generating plasma in the cluster nozzle to ionize the gas clusters and injecting the ionized gas clusters onto the workpiece; supplying a reactive gas to the cluster nozzle and exposing the reactive gas to the plasma such that the reactive gas becomes monomer ions or radicals; and supplying the monomer ions or radicals to the processing container, thereby exerting a chemical reaction on a substance present on a surface of the workpiece.

A substrate processing method includes forming a high surface tension liquid film by supplying high surface tension liquid on a substrate surface, replacing the high surface tension liquid film with low surface tension liquid by supplying the low surface tension liquid to a center area of a substrate so that the low surface tension liquid impinges on the high surface tension liquid film formed on the center area of the substrate, and supplying high surface tension liquid for a predetermined period of time during the supplying the low surface tension liquid.

There is provided a drying apparatus for covering an upper surface of the substrate with an uneven pattern formed thereon with a liquid film and subsequently drying the substrate, including: a first heat transfer part whose temperature is adjusted to a first temperature, wherein a first heat is transferred between the first heat transfer part and the substrate by a first temperature difference; a second heat transfer part whose temperature is adjusted to a second temperature different from the first temperature, wherein a second heat is transferred between the second heat transfer part and the substrate by a second temperature difference; and a controller configured to control the first temperature and the second temperature and to control a surface tension distribution of the liquid film so as to control an agglomeration of the liquid film.

There is provided a method of cleaning a substrate processing apparatus in which a drying process of drying a substrate whose surface is wet with a liquid is performed by bring the substrate into contact with a supercritical fluid, the method including: diffusing a first cleaning fluid in an interior of the substrate processing apparatus, the first cleaning fluid being obtained by mixing the supercritical fluid with a solvent containing polar molecules and having a lower boiling point than a boiling point of the liquid; and discharging the first cleaning fluid from the interior of the substrate processing apparatus, that occurs after the diffusing the first cleaning fluid.

In one example, a method for wafer drying includes providing a surface of a first wafer, the surface of the first wafer including a liquid to be removed with a drying process. The method further includes replacing the liquid with a first solid film in a first processing chamber, the first solid film covering the surface of the first wafer. The method further includes transferring the first wafer from the first processing chamber to a second processing chamber. The method further includes processing the first wafer in the second processing chamber by flowing a supercritical fluid through the second processing chamber, where the supercritical fluid removes the first solid film.

Collection device for collecting elements on at least one bevel of a circular plate, comprising: a base comprising a collection groove intended to receive a collection liquid, a plate-carrier able to rotate the plate about itself and such that an outer periphery of the plate penetrates into the collection groove, wherein the collection device comprises means for visualising the interior of the collection groove, enabling at least one image to be acquired of the contact region between the collection liquid and a face of the plate.

A substrate treatment device according to an embodiment includes: a liquid treatment part configured to supply a liquid onto a substrate to form a liquid film remaining in a liquid state on the substrate; an imaging part configured to capture an image of a front surface of the substrate, on which the liquid film remaining in the liquid state is formed; a determination part configured to determine a quality of a formation state of the liquid film based on the captured image of the substrate; and a post-treatment part configured to treat the substrate on which the liquid film is formed, when the determination part determines that the formation state of the liquid film is good.

When performing a liquid processing on a substrate W being rotated and removing a processing liquid by a cleaning liquid, a cleaning liquid nozzle 421 configured to discharge a cleaning liquid slantly with respect to a surface of the substrate W toward a downstream side of a rotational direction of the substrate W and a gas nozzle 411 configured to discharge a gas toward a position adjacent to a central portion side of the substrate W when viewed from a liquid arrival position R of the cleaning liquid are moved from the central portion side toward a peripheral portion side. A rotation number of the substrate is varied such that rotation number in a period during which the liquid arrival position R moves in the second region becomes smaller than a maximum rotation number in a period during which the liquid arrival position moves in the first region.

Disclosed in the present disclosure are a cleaning machine and a cleaning method. The cleaning machine includes: a wet cleaning module, configured to execute a wet cleaning process on a wafer; a dry cleaning module, configured to execute a dry cleaning process on the wafer; a conveying module, configured to input the wafer into the wet cleaning module or the dry cleaning module, or output the wafer from the wet cleaning module or the dry cleaning module; a transferring module, configured to transfer the wafer from the wet cleaning module to the dry cleaning module or transfer the wafer from the dry cleaning module to the wet cleaning module; and a processing module, configured to extract gas from the transferring module.

Techniques are described herein that are capable of progressively thermally drying a quantum circuit. An inert gas is progressively heated by a heater element to provide a heated inert gas. Heated ambient air and the heated inert gas combine in a heating channel, causing a combination of the heated ambient air and the heated inert gas to flow into a probe compartment to progressively thermally dry a quantum circuit therein. A flow rate of the inert gas is controlled to cause the combination to have a relative humidity less than or equal to a threshold. A temperature of the heater element may be controlled to be approximately equal to a progressively increasing target temperature within a tolerance of 3.0° C. Heating of the inert gas may be initiated based on detection of the inert gas, and the flow and heating of the inert gas may be automatically discontinued.