Patent ID: 8029622
Filing Date: 2011-10-04
Classification: B08B,H01L,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A liquid film freezing method, comprising: a liquid film forming step of forming a liquid film on an entire substrate surface; a cooling gas discharging step of discharging a cooling gas directly onto the liquid film, while the substrate is held approximately horizontally with the substrate surface on which the liquid film is formed directed toward above, the temperature of the cooling gas being lower than the freezing point of a liquid that composes the liquid film, from a cooling gas discharger toward a local section of the substrate surface to freeze only a partial area of the liquid film; a rotating step of rotating the substrate; a moving step, executed in parallel with the cooling gas discharging step and the rotating step, of moving the cooling gas discharger while rotating the substrate, parallel to the substrate surface, to thereby expand the area where the liquid film has been frozen to form a frozen film all over the substrate surface; wherein the cooling gas discharger is moved along a moving trajectory between a rotation center position of the substrate and an edge position of the substrate, whereby the frozen area expands all over the substrate surface.