Abstract: A photoresist suck-back device is shown for a photoresist supply apparatus in a semiconductor device manufacturing system which prevents the accumulation of photoresist inside a photoresist spray line. The suck-back device is composed of a suck-back valve which is installed on a photoresist spray line connected to a photoresist supply line of a photoresist supply apparatus. The suck-back valve is constructed of a suction chamber for sucking the photoresist remaining within the photoresist spray line. The suction chamber is shrinkable and has a shape such that the sucked photoresist is not accumulated therein. A control part controls the size of the suction chamber of the suck-back valve through an air line. A cut-off valve is disposed between the photoresist supply line and the photoresist spray line which opens and closes the photoresist supply line under control of the control part through the air line.

Abstract: A wafer spin coating system, for coating a layer of photoresist on a wafer, includes a spin coating unit, a pumping unit and a sensing unit. A first controller in the spin coating unit controls the operation of a rotating device with the wafer mounted thereon. The first controller also outputs a photoresist pumping operation order. A second controller in the pumping unit receives the pumping operation order and outputs a pumping operation commencing signal and a valve operation signal that opens and closes a valve to control a gas feeding operation. The sensing unit receives the pumping operation commencing signal and the valve operation signal, and selectively outputs an abnormal status control signal to the first controller to stop the pumping operations if an abnormality is detected.

Abstract: A photoresist spraying apparatus for coating a photoresist with pressure from a nitrogen gas includes a tank which has a photoresist holding portion and an air portion. A photoresist inflow conduit is connected to a sidewall of the tank to intake photoresist and a photoresist outflow conduit is connected to a bottom of the tank for discharging photoresist. A T-shaped gas conduit has a gas inlet, a gas outlet and a connecting portion therebetween for connecting to the tank. The flow of a gas from the gas inlet to the gas outlet lowers the air pressure inside the tank so that air and bubbles remaining inside the tank are discharged to the gas outlet via the connecting portion, while a photoresist flows into the tank via the photoresist inflow conduit. A valve, provided in the gas outlet of the gas conduit, opens and closes to fill and discharge photoresist in the tank according to the pressure inside the tank.

Abstract: A method for designing a reticle mask with a reduced pattern by use of another larger reticle mask having a circuit pattern and scribe line patterns on lower and right edges of the circuit pattern. In the method, the larger circuit pattern is modified by forming two dummy scribe line regions at upper and left edges of the larger circuit pattern. The modified mask pattern is then reduced. The reduced mask pattern is repeatedly copied on a reticle frame region, with at least one of the dummy scribe line regions overlapping at least one of the scribe line regions of an adjacent reduced mask pattern.