1. An apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices, comprising:
a dry cleaning module configured to conduct a cleaning process on a backside of a wafer, resulting in a cleaned wafer, the dry cleaning module including:
a laser irradiation section configured to irradiate a laser beam onto the backside of the wafer, and
a wafer holder configured to hold the wafer in contact with edges of the backside of the wafer so as to expose the backside of the wafer to the laser beam but without contact with a front side of the wafer; and
a wafer chuck configured to chuck the backside of the wafer, to deliver the wafer to the wafer holder, and to receive the cleaned wafer from the wafer holder; and
an illumination module configured to conduct an optical illumination process of photolithography on the front side of the cleaned wafer,
wherein the wafer holder has a horizontally extending first member that extends along the front side of the wafer, above the front side of the wafer, and has a plurality of second members that extend downward from ends of the first member, past sides of the wafer, and that contact the edges of the backside of the wafer.
2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the laser irradiation section is configured to clean the backside of the wafer by means of a shock wave.
3. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of second members is moveable in a predetermined interval from one of the ends of the first member.
4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the laser irradiation section comprises:
a laser source adapted to emit the laser beam in a path;
a mirror interposed within the path of the laser beam and adapted to alter the path of the laser beam emitted from the laser source; and
a lens adapted to focus the laser beam onto a specific point on the backside of the wafer.
5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the wafer holder is horizontally movable in a first direction to alter a focusing position of the laser beam,
wherein the laser irradiation section comprises a mirror that is controllable to alter the focusing position of the laser beam in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A process for preparing a cured article, said process comprising:
A. dry blending, at a temperature below 100\xb0 C., i) a perfluoroelastomer, ii) 51 to 300 parts by weight per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer of a semi-crystalline copolymer comprising copolymerized units of tetrafluoroethylene and 5-12 weight percent of a perfluoro(alkyl vinyl ether), said semi-crystalline copolymer having an average particle size greater than 100 nm and a melting point, and iii) a curative to form a curable composition;
B. curing said composition to form a cured article; and
C. post curing said cured article at a temperature above the melting point of said semi-crystalline copolymer:
2. A process of claim 1 wherein curing step B) takes place at a temperature below the melting point of said semi-crystalline copolymer.
3. A process of claim 1 wherein said dry blending step A) is at a temperature below 50\xb0 C.
4. A process of claim 1 wherein said curable composition contains 60 to 200 parts by weight of said semi-crystalline copolymer per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer.
5. A cured article prepared by a process comprising:
A. dry blending, at a temperature below 100\xb0 C., i) a perfluoroelastomer, ii) 51 to 300 parts by weight per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer of a semi-crystalline copolymer comprising copolymerized units of tetrafluoroethylene and 5-12 weight percent of a perfluoro(alkyl vinyl ether), said semi-crystalline copolymer having an average particle size greater than 100 nm and a melting point, and iii) a curative to form a curable composition;
B. curing said composition to form a cured article; and
C. post curing said cured article at a temperature above the melting point of said semi-crystalline copolymer.
6. A cured article of claim 5 wherein curing step B) takes place at a temperature below the melting point of said semi-crystalline copolymer.
7. A cured article of claim 5 wherein said dry blending step A) is at a temperature below 50\xb0 C.
8. A cured article of claim 5 wherein said curable composition contains 60 to 200 parts by weight of said semi-crystalline copolymer per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer.
9. A cured article of claim 8 wherein said curable composition contains 75 to 200 parts by weight of said semi-crystalline copolymer per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer.
10. A cured article of claim 5 wherein said perfluoroelastomer comprises copolymerized units of 53.0-79.9 mole percent tetrafluoroethylene, 20.0-46.9 mole percent perfluoro(methyl vinyl) ether and 0.4 to 1.5 mole percent of a cure site monomer.
11. A process for preparing a cured article, said process comprising:
A. melt blending i) a perfluoroelastomer and ii) 51 to 300 parts by weight per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer of a semi-crystalline copolymer comprising copolymerized units of tetrafluoroethylene and 5-12 weight percent of a perfluoro(alkyl vinyl ether), said semi-crystalline copolymer having an average particle size greater than 100 nm and a melting point, said blending done at a temperature above the melting point of said semi-crystalline copolymer, thus forming a blend;
B. adding a curative to said blend at a temperature below 150\xb0 C.; and
C. curing said composition to form a cured article.
12. A process of claim 11 wherein said melt blending step A) is at a temperature between 300\xb0 and 350\xb0 C.
13. A process of claim 11 wherein said curative is added to said blend at a temperature below 100\xb0 C.
14. A cured article prepared by a process comprising:
A. melt blending i) a perfluoroelastomer and ii) 51 to 300 parts by weight per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer of a semi-crystalline copolymer comprising copolymerized units of tetrafluoroethylene and 5-12 weight percent of a perfluoro(alkyl vinyl ether), said semi-crystalline copolymer having an average particle size greater than 100 nm and a melting point, said blending done at a temperature above the melting point of said semi-crystalline copolymer, thus forming a blend;
B. adding a curative to said blend at a temperature below 150\xb0 C.; and
C. curing said composition to form a cured article.
15. A cured article of claim 14 wherein said curable composition contains 60 to 200 parts by weight of said semi-crystalline copolymer per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer.
16. A cured article of claim 15 wherein said curable composition contains 75 to 200 parts by weight of said semi-crystalline copolymer per hundred parts by weight perfluoroelastomer.
17. A cured article of claim 14 wherein said perfluoroelastomer comprises copolymerized units of 53.0-79.9 mole percent tetrafluoroethylene, 20.0-46.9 mole percent perfluoro(methyl vinyl) ether and 0.4 to 1.5 mole percent of a cure site monomer.