Patent ID: 7740709

Claim:
An apparatus for removing a photoresist from a substrate comprising: a conveying unit conveying the substrate; a stripping bath chamber; a stripper dispensing unit positioned to dispense a photoresist stripper material to the substrate while the substrate is disposed in the stripping bath chamber; a first antifoaming agent dispensing unit operatively associated with the stripping bath chamber, the first antifoaming agent dispensing unit configured to dispense an antifoaming agent toward the photoresist stripper material in the stripping bath chamber; an antifoaming agent storing unit communicating with the first antifoaming agent supplying unit, the antifoaming agent storing unit configured to store the antifoaming agent; a stripper storing unit operatively connected to the stripper dispensing unit, the stripper storing unit configured to store the photoresist stripper material and configured to supply the stored photoresist stripper material to the stripper dispensing unit; and a second antifoaming agent dispensing unit operatively associated with the stripper storing unit, the second antifoaming agent dispensing unit configured to dispense an antifoaming agent to the photoresist stripper material stored within the stripper storing unit; a stripper drain pipe that connects directly between the stripper storing unit and the stripping bath chamber to drain the photoresist stripper material from the stripping bath chamber to the stripper storing unit; a stripper supplying pipe that connects directly between the stripper dispensing unit and the stripper storing unit to supply the photoresist stripper material from the stripper storing unit to the stripper dispensing unit; a first antifoaming agent supplying pipe that connects directly between the antifoaming agent storing unit and the antifoaming agent dispensing unit to supply the antifoaming agent from the antifoaming agent storing unit to the first antifoaming agent dispensing unit; and a second antifoaming agent supplying pipe that connects directly between the antifoaming agent storing unit and the second antifoaming agent dispensing unit to supply the antifoaming agent from the antifoaming agent storing unit to the second antifoaming agent dispensing unit, wherein the antifoaming agent storing unit is configured to supply the antifoaming agent to the first and second antifoaming agent dispensing units, and wherein a quantity of the antifoaming agent is no more than 5% of a quantity of the photoresist stripper material.