Patent ID: 6989172

Claim:
A method of coating a microelectronic substrate, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a microelectronic substrate in an enclosed vessel, said substrate having a surface portion; (b) at least partially filling said enclosed vessel with a first supercritical fluid so that said first supercritical fluid contacts said surface portion, said first supercritical fluid carrying a coating component; then (c) adding a separate supercritical fluid to said reaction vessel so that a boundary is formed between said first supercritical fluid and said separate supercritical fluid, said separate supercritical fluid having a density less than said first supercritical fluid; and then (d) displacing said first supercritical fluid from said vessel by continuing adding said separate supercritical fluid to said vessel so that said boundary moves across said surface portion and a thin film of coating component is deposited on said microelectronic substrate.