Patent ID: 7942967

Claim:
An apparatus for coating a surface of a substrate with a polymer solution comprising: a coating chamber having a rotatable chuck, the rotatable chuck configured and arranged to support a substrate to be coated with a polymer solution; a dispenser to dispense the polymer solution over a surface of the substrate; a vapor distributor communicable with the coating chamber, the vapor distributor including a solvent vapor generator to cause a solvent to be transformed into a solvent vapor, wherein a carrier gas is mixed within the solvent vapor to form a carrier-solvent vapor mixture that is flown into the coating chamber to saturate the coating chamber via the vapor distributor; and a solvent remover communicable with the coating chamber to remove excess solvent that does not get transformed into the solvent vapor to prevent the excess solvent from dropping on the substrate, the solvent remover comprising a first conduit configured and arranged to receive the excess solvent to be removed from the coating chamber, a second conduit configured and arranged to receive a carrier gas to force the excess solvent out of the coating chamber, and a third conduit configured and arranged to conduct the excess solvent vapor into a container.