An object of the present invention is to detach a substrate from a table without damaging the substrate by lift pins. One embodiment of the present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus having a vacuum suction table adapted to have a substrate placed thereon, and a plurality of lift pins disposed along the outer periphery of the vacuum suction table. The lift pins each have a distal end portion including a substrate guide surface capable of guiding the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate, and a proximal end portion including a substrate holding surface extending from the substrate guide surface outwardly in a radial direction of the lift pin. The lift pins are stoppable in a lower end position where the substrate guide surface of each of the lift pins is disposed below a suction-holding surface of the vacuum suction table, an upper end position where the substrate holding surface of each of the lift pins is disposed above the suction-holding surface of the vacuum suction table, and an intermediate position between the lower end position and the upper end position. In the intermediate position, the substrate guide surface of each of the lift pins is disposed above the suction-holding surface of the vacuum suction table, and the substrate holding surface of each of the lift pins is disposed below the suction-holding surface of the vacuum suction table.

A method and apparatus for substrate processing and a cluster tool including a transfer chamber assembly and a plurality of processing assemblies. The transfer chamber assembly and processing assemblies may include processing platforms for ALD, CVD, PVD, etch, cleaning, implanting, heating, annealing, and/or polishing processes. Processing chamber volumes are sealed from the transfer chamber volume using a support chuck on which a substrate is disposed thereon. The support chuck is raised to form an isolation seal between the processing chamber volume and the transfer chamber volume using a bellows assembly and a chuck sealing surface.

A method for chemical mechanical polishing includes receiving an angular removal profile for a carrier head and an angular thickness profile of a substrate. Prior to polishing the substrate, a desired angle of the carrier head relative to the substrate is selected for loading the substrate into the carrier head. Selecting the desired angle is performed based on a comparison of the angular removal profile for the carrier head and the angular thickness profile of the substrate to reduce angular non-uniformity in polishing. The carrier head is rotated to receive the substrate at the desired angle, the substrate is transferred to the carrier head and loaded in the carrier head with the carrier head at the desired angle relative to the substrate, and the substrate is polished.

A substrate processing apparatus which can remove foreign matters attached to the entire upper surface of a substrate such as a wafer is disclosed. The substrate processing apparatus includes: a substrate holding apparatus; and a processing head configured to scrub an upper surface of a substrate. The substrate holding apparatus includes: a substrate holder configured to hold the substrate; and a substrate rotating mechanism configured to rotate the substrate held by the substrate holder. The substrate holder is disposed below the upper surface of the substrate so as not to project above the upper surface of the substrate in a state where the substrate is held by the substrate holder.

A horizontal pre-clean module includes a chamber including a basin and a lid which collectively define a processing area, a rotatable vacuum table disposed in the processing area, the rotatable vacuum table including a substrate receiving surface, a pad conditioning station disposed proximate to the rotatable vacuum table, a pad carrier positioning arm having a first end and a second end distal from the first end, a pad carrier assembly coupled to the first end of the pad carrier positioning arm, and an actuator coupled to the second end of the pad carrier positioning arm and configured to swing the pad carrier assembly between a first position over the rotatable vacuum table and a second position over the pad conditioning station. The pad carrier assembly includes a gimbal base and a pad carrier coupled to the gimbal base, the gimbal base and the pad carrier are configured to support a buffing pad by a mechanical clamping mechanism and a suction clamping mechanism.

A cleaning apparatus for cleaning a cleaning tool that scrub-cleans a substrate includes a cleaning body. The cleaning body includes a contact portion configured to come into contact with the cleaning tool, and the contact portion includes a suction area configured to remove foreign matter from the cleaning tool.

A wafer manufacturing apparatus includes an ingot grinding unit for grinding an upper surface of an ingot to planarize the upper surface of the ingot, a laser applying unit for forming peel-off layers in the ingot at a depth therein, which corresponds to the thickness of a wafer to be produced from the ingot, from the upper surface of the ingot, a wafer peeling unit for holding the upper surface of the ingot and peeling off a wafer from the ingot at the peel-off layers, a tray having an ingot support portion and a wafer support portion, and a belt conveyor unit for delivering the ingot supported on the tray between the ingot grinding unit, the laser applying unit, and the wafer peeling unit.

A method for processing a semiconductor wafer is provided. The method includes polishing the semiconductor wafer with a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tool. The method includes transferring the polished semiconductor wafer to an interface tool from the CMP tool. The method includes discharging a mist spray over the polished semiconductor wafer in the interface tool. The method includes transferring the semiconductor wafer form the interface tool to a cleaning tool for a cleaning process.

A substrate processing method includes polishing a target surface of a substrate to be polished by moving a polishing brush in a horizontal direction while pressing the polishing brush against the polishing target surface of the substrate which rotates in a horizontal posture around a vertical axis. The polishing is performed while varying a rotation speed of the substrate and a moving speed of the polishing brush such that the rotation speed of the substrate decreases stepwise or continuously and the moving speed of the polishing brush in a radial direction of the substrate decreases stepwise or continuously as a distance from a center of rotation of the substrate measured in the radial direction of the substrate to a center of the polishing brush increases.

A processing method for a wafer includes a thermocompression-bonding sheet arrangement step of arranging, on a front side of the wafer, a thermocompression-bonding sheet of a size sufficient to cover the wafer, an integration step of pressing the thermocompression-bonding sheet under heat by a planarizing member, so that the thermocompression-bonding sheet is planarized and the thermocompression-bonding sheet and the wafer are integrated together, a grinding step of holding the wafer on a side of the thermocompression-bonding sheet on a chuck table of a grinding apparatus and grinding the wafer to a desired thickness while supplying grinding water to a back side of the wafer, and a thermocompression-bonding sheet rinsing step of unloading the integrated wafer from the chuck table and rinsing the thermocompression-bonding sheet.