Patent ID: 7473321
Filing Date: 2009-01-06
Classification: B23K,H01L,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A laser treatment apparatus comprising: a substrate holding unit configured to hold a substrate horizontally, and configured to rotate the held substrate about a vertical axis by means of a rotating mechanism; a cup surrounding the substrate holding unit and connected to the substrate holding unit to move together with the substrate holding unit, the cup having an exhaust port having an open end for exhausting an interior of the cup; a liquid supply nozzle configured to supply a liquid onto a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit; a laser beam irradiating unit configured to irradiate the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit with a laser beam; a moving mechanism configured to horizontally move the substrate holding unit and the cup within a laser treatment area, in order to move an irradiated position on the surface of the substrate being irradiated with the laser beam emitted from the laser beam irradiating unit, and configured to locate the substrate holding unit and the cup at a spin-drying position where a liquid existing on the substrate is removed by rotating the substrate; an exhaust unit arranged at a position corresponding to a position of the exhaust port when the substrate holding unit and the cup are located at the spin-drying position, the exhaust unit configured to detachably connect to the open end of the exhaust port, and the exhaust unit being configured to suck the interior of the cup when the exhaust unit is connected to the exhaust port, wherein the exhaust unit is disposed such that the open end of the exhaust unit is apart from the open end of the exhaust port of the cup when the substrate holding unit and the cup are located within the laser treatment area; a controller configured to control the moving mechanism to move the substrate holding unit and the cup within the laser treatment area to perform a laser treatment that irradiates the surface of the substrate with the laser beam emitted from the laser beam irradiating unit while a liquid film is formed on the substrate by means of the liquid supply nozzle, and also configured to move the substrate holding unit and the cup to the spin-drying position, connect the open end of the exhaust to the open end of the exhaust port, and control the rotating mechanism to rotate the substrate holding unit, when the laser treatment is completed; wherein the exhaust unit includes an exhaust pipe including the open end of the exhaust unit; and a forward-reverse mechanism configured to move the exhaust pipe toward the exhaust port of the cup located at the spin-drying position to connect the open end of the exhaust pipe to the open end of the exhaust port; and wherein the controller is configured to drive the forward-reverse mechanism to connect the open end of the exhaust pipe to the open end of the exhaust port when the substrate holding unit and the cup are in the spin-drying position.