Abstract: A droplet ejection device includes a droplet ejection head, a conveyance member, a cleaning unit and a coating unit. The droplet ejection head ejects droplets. The conveyance member retains a recording medium and conveys the recording medium to oppose the droplet ejection head. The cleaning unit cleans the conveyance member. The coating unit applies a coating liquid, with a characteristic of repelling the liquid that is ejected from the droplet ejection head, onto the conveyance member. A surface tension ?o of the coating liquid, a critical surface tension ?b of the conveyance member, and a surface tension ?i of the liquid that is ejected from the droplet ejection head satisfy the following equations (1) and (2).

Abstract: A polishing apparatus is used for polishing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer to a flat mirror finish. The polishing apparatus comprises a turntable having a polishing surface, a top ring for holding a workpiece and pressing the workpiece against the polishing surface to polish the workpiece, at least three cleaning apparatuses for cleaning polished workpieces, and a transfer structure for transferring the polished workpieces between at least three cleaning apparatuses. The polishing apparatus further includes a rotary transporter disposed in a position which can be accessed by said top rings and having a plurality of portions positioned on a predetermined circumference from a center of rotation of the rotary transporter for holding the workpieces.

Abstract: A plating apparatus has an ashing unit (300) configured to perform an ashing process on a resist (502) applied on a surface of a seed layer (500) formed on a substrate (W), and a pre-wetting section (26) configured to provide hydrophilicity to a surface of the substrate after the ashing process. The plating apparatus includes a pre-soaking section (28) configured to bring the surface of the substrate into contact with a treatment solution to clean or activate a surface of the seed layer formed on the substrate. The plating apparatus also includes a plating unit (34) configured to bring the surface of the substrate into a plating solution in a plating tank while the resist is used as a mask so as to form a plated film (504) on the surface of the seed layer formed on the substrate.

Abstract: A substrate polishing apparatus includes a substrate holding mechanism having a head for holding a substrate to be polished, and a polishing mechanism including a polishing table with a polishing pad mounted thereon. The substrate held by the head is pressed against the polishing pad on the polishing table to polish the substrate by relative movement of the substrate and the polishing pad. The substrate polishing apparatus also includes a substrate transfer mechanism for delivering the substrate to be polished to the head and receiving the polished substrate. The substrate transfer mechanism includes a substrate to-be-polished receiver for receiving the substrate to be polished, and a polished substrate receiver for receiving the substrate which has been polished.

Abstract: A substrate polishing apparatus includes a substrate holding mechanism having a head for holding a substrate to be polished, and a polishing mechanism including a polishing table with a polishing pad mounted thereon. The substrate held by the head is pressed against the polishing pad on the polishing table to polish the substrate by relative movement of the substrate and the polishing pad. The substrate polishing apparatus also includes a substrate transfer mechanism for delivering the substrate to be polished to the head and receiving the polished substrate. The substrate transfer mechanism includes a substrate to-be-polished receiver for receiving the substrate to be polished, and a polished substrate receiver for receiving the substrate which has been polished.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus useful for plating a substrate or processing a substrate by dipping a substrate in a processing liquid. A substrate processing apparatus of the present invention includes: a loading/unloading area for carrying in and out a substrate; a cleaning area for cleaning the substrate; and a plating area for plating the substrate. The loading/unloading area is provided with a substrate transfer robot having a plurality of hands of dry-use design, a loading port mounted with a cassette for housing substrates, and a reversing machine of dry-use design for reversing the substrate from face up to face down.

Abstract: To provide a substrate processing unit, a substrate transfer method, a substrate cleansing process unit, and a substrate plating apparatus that make it possible for a substrate carry-in mechanism such as a robot arm to quickly release hold on the substrate after carrying in the substrate so as to shorten the time for holding the substrate and improve throughput. The substrate processing unit 10 includes a substrate holding mechanism 10 for holding the substrate 11 in a specified holding position, and a processing mechanism 32 for applying a specified process to the substrate held with the substrate holding mechanism in which a substrate guide mechanism 20 is provided with a guide pin 15 for guiding the substrate to vicinity of a holding position.

Abstract: A plating apparatus and method bubbles generated at the plating surfaces easily removed and the uniformity of the thickness of the plated film within the plated surface can be improved. The plating apparatus has a cassette table for loading a cassette in which a substrate having a plating surface is contained. An aligner for aligning the substrate, a rinser-dryer for rinsing and drying the substrate, and a plating unit for plating the substrate are also provided. The plating unit includes a plating vessel containing a plating solution, and a holder holds the substrate to immerse the substrate in the plating solution in the plating vessel. The plating surface is exposed to a nozzle which ejects the plating solution toward the plating surface.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus useful for plating a substrate or processing a substrate by dipping a substrate in a processing liquid. A substrate processing apparatus of the present invention includes: a loading/unloading area for carrying in and out a substrate; a cleaning area for cleaning the substrate; and a plating area for plating the substrate. The loading/unloading area is provided with a substrate transfer robot having a plurality of hands of dry-use design, a loading port mounted with a cassette for housing substrates, and a reversing machine of dry-use design for reversing the substrate from face up to face down.

Abstract: A substrate processing unit includes: a vertically-movable substrate holder for holding a substrate; a pan surrounding a periphery of the substrate holder; a cell, located below the substrate holder and within the pan, having in its interior a chemical processing section; and a cell cover, capable of closing a top opening of the cell, having a plurality of spray nozzles for separately spraying at least two types of processing liquids, wherein the pan and the cell each have an individual liquid discharge line.

Abstract: A substrate processing unit includes: a vertically-movable substrate holder for holding a substrate; a pan surrounding a periphery of the substrate holder; a cell, located below the substrate holder and within the pan, having in its interior a chemical processing section; and a cell cover, capable of closing a top opening of the cell, having a plurality of spray nozzles for separately spraying at least two types of processing liquids, wherein the pan and the cell each have an individual liquid discharge line.

Abstract: A substrate polishing apparatus includes a substrate holding mechanism having a head for holding a substrate to be polished, and a polishing mechanism including a polishing table with a polishing pad mounted thereon. The substrate held by the head is pressed against the polishing pad on the polishing table to polish the substrate by relative movement of the substrate and the polishing pad. The substrate polishing apparatus also includes a substrate transfer mechanism for delivering the substrate to be polished to the head and receiving the polished substrate. The substrate transfer mechanism includes a substrate to-be-polished receiver for receiving the substrate to be polished, and a polished substrate receiver for receiving the substrate which has been polished.

Abstract: A workpiece is processed uniformly, e.g., a uniform plated film is formed on a workpiece, by a processing liquid, e.g., a plating solution, which is maintained in an optimum state while minimizing the amount of the processing liquid to be used. An apparatus for processing the workpiece has a plurality of solution supply tanks 50a, 50b for individually holding a plurality of solutions, respectively, to be mixed into a processing liquid 54 while managing the temperatures of the solutions, a plurality of mixing tanks 52a, 52b for mixing the solutions individually supplied from the solution supply tanks 50a, 50b into the processing liquid 54 while managing the temperatures of the solutions, and a processing bath 56 for introducing the processing liquid 54 therein and processing the workpiece, e.g., a substrate W, by bringing the workpiece into contact with the processing liquid 54 while managing the temperature of the processing liquid 54.

Abstract: There is provided a liquid droplet discharging device including: a liquid droplet discharging head, for discharging liquid droplets; an opposing member, opposing the liquid droplet discharging head; and a blade, cleaning the opposing member and in contact with the opposing member, a plurality of grooves being formed on the blade, and the grooves having a groove width increasing from a bottom portion thereof to an opening portion thereof, and a groove angle decreasing from the side of the opposing member to the side opposite to the opposing member.

Abstract: A droplet discharge apparatus, comprising: a droplet discharge head for discharging droplets, an opposing member, facing the droplet discharge head, an applying member which applies, to the opposing member, application liquid having a characteristic of repelling liquid discharged from the droplet discharge head, and a blade which is in contact with the opposing member and cleans the opposing member, the blade having a characteristic of an affinity to the application liquid at least at a contact portion with the opposing member.

Abstract: A droplet ejection apparatus includes: a droplet ejection head that ejects droplets; a conveying member that retains a recording medium and conveys the recording medium with facing the recording medium to the droplet ejection head; a coating member that coats the conveying member with a coating liquid having a repellant property to the liquid ejected from the droplet ejection head; and a cleaning member that cleans the conveying member. The droplet ejection apparatus satisfies the following formulae L3?L1, L2?L1 ??(1) wherein, in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction; L1 is the width of ink droplet ejecting of the droplet ejection head; L2 is the width of coating the coating liquid on the conveying member by the coating member; and L3 is the width of the cleaning of the conveying member by the cleaning member.

Abstract: A droplet ejection apparatus includes: a droplet ejection head that ejects droplets; a conveying member that retains a recording medium and conveys the recording medium with facing the recording medium to the droplet ejection head; a coating member that coats the conveying member with a lubricant; and a cleaning member that cleans the conveying member. The droplet ejection apparatus satisfies the following formulae (1) L2?L1 ??(1) wherein, in the formulae (1): L1 is the width, in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, of the cleaning of the conveying member by the cleaning member; and L2 is the width, in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction, of coating the lubricant on the conveying member by the coating member.

Abstract: A droplet ejection device includes a droplet ejection head, a conveyance member, a cleaning unit and a coating unit. The droplet ejection head ejects droplets. The conveyance member retains a recording medium and conveys the recording medium to oppose the droplet ejection head. The cleaning unit cleans the conveyance member. The coating unit applies a coating liquid, with a characteristic of repelling the liquid that is ejected from the droplet ejection head, onto the conveyance member. A surface tension ?o of the coating liquid, a critical surface tension ?b of the conveyance member, and a surface tension ?i of the liquid that is ejected from the droplet ejection head satisfy the following equations (1) and (2).

Abstract: A substrate holding apparatus can meet the request for a smaller-sized compact apparatus while ensuring a sufficient immersion depth of a substrate in a processing liquid. The substrate holding apparatus includes: a substrate holder (84) for supporting a substrate (W) by bringing a peripheral portion of a surface of the substrate (W) into contact with a first sealing member (92); and a substrate pressing section (85) for lowering relative to the substrate holder (84) so as to press the substrate (W) held by the substrate holder (84) downward, thereby bringing the first sealing member (92) into pressure contact with the substrate (W); wherein the substrate pressing section (85) is provided with a second ring-shaped sealing member (170) which makes pressure contact with an upper surface of a ring-shaped holding section of the substrate holder (84), thereby sealing the peripheral region of the substrate pressing section (85).

Abstract: The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus useful for plating a substrate or processing a substrate by dipping a substrate in a processing liquid. A substrate processing apparatus of the present invention includes: a loading/unloading area for carrying in and out a substrate; a cleaning area for cleaning the substrate; and a plating area for plating the substrate. The loading/unloading area is provided with a substrate transfer robot having a plurality of hands of dry-use design, a loading port mounted with a cassette for housing substrates, and a reversing machine of dry-use design for reversing the substrate from face up to face down.