1. A substrate processing system comprising:
a first substrate cleaner comprising:
a. a forward portion including:
(1) a rotatable substrate support;
(2) a dispenser for applying fluid onto a substrate; and
(3) a transmitter to be positioned closely spaced above the substrate to enable a meniscus of the fluid to be formed between the transmitter and the substrate, the transmitter being configured to cause particles on the substrate to be loosened in response to megasonic energy being applied to the transmitter; and
b. a rear portion vertically thicker than the forward portion including:
(1) a device for rotating the support;
(2) at least one supply line for conducting fluid to the dispenser;
(3) a drive module for moving the transmitter; and
(4) connections for applying megasonic energy to the transmitter; and
a second substrate cleaner including the elements set forth above as being included in the first substrate cleaner, the second substrate cleaner being stacked above the first substrate cleaner with the forward portions being vertically aligned and the rear portions being vertically aligned, and a space being formed between the forward portions to permit access to the forward portion of the first substrate cleaner and to permit ample gas flow into the area between the forward portions of the first and the second substrate cleaners.
2. The substrate processing system of claim 1, further comprising a substrate drying assembly having a substrate drying assembly support arm mounted to be moved into and out of a position closely spaced above the upper surface of the substrate supported on the substrate support, the drying assembly including an outlet for dispensing drying vapor to the surface of the substrate.
3. The substrate processing system of claim 2, further comprising a drive module in the rear portion for moving the drying assembly.
4. The substrate processing system of claim 1, wherein the rotatable substrate support of the first substrate cleaner is vertically fixed, and wherein the first substrate cleaner further comprises a process bowl having a slot in the outer wall configured to enable a robot arm to move into and out of the bowl to position the substrate on the rotatable substrate support of the first substrate cleaner and to withdraw the substrate from the rotatable substrate support of the first substrate cleaner.
5. The substrate processing system of claim 4, wherein the first substrate cleaner further comprises a splash guard positioned within the process bowl and surrounding the rotatable substrate support and in position to surround a substrate mounted on the rotatable substrate support, the surface being configured so that fluid being spun off a substrate by centrifugal action will be deflected in a manner so as to not splash back onto the substrate.
6. The substrate processing system of claim 5, wherein the splash guard has an annular surface facing the area to be occupied by a substrate.
7. The substrate processing system of claim 6, wherein the annular surface facing the area to be occupied by a substrate is positioned at an angle with respect to the horizontal, the angle being between 30 and 40 degrees.
8. The substrate processing system of claim 5, wherein the splash guard has a mesh surface facing the area to be occupied by a substrate.
9. The substrate processing system of claim 5, wherein the splashguard is moveable so that it can alternately block the slot and allow the robot arm to access the area to be occupied by the substrate.
10. A method of manufacturing a substrate processing system comprising:
providing a first substrate cleaner comprising
a. a forward portion including:
(1) a rotatable substrate support;
(2) a dispenser for applying fluid onto a substrate; and
(3) a transmitter to be positioned closely spaced above the substrate to enable a meniscus of the fluid to be formed between the transmitter and the substrate, the transmitter being configured to cause particles on the substrate to be loosened in response to megasonic energy being applied to the transmitter; and
b. a rear portion vertically thicker than the forward portion including:
(1) a device for rotating the support;
(2) a line for conducting fluid to said dispenser;
(3) a drive module for moving the transmitter; and
(4) connections for applying megasonic energy to the transmitter;
providing a second substrate cleaner comprising the elements set forth above as being included in the first substrate cleaner; and
configuring the first and second substrate cleaners to enable them to be stacked to form a space between the forward portions to permit access to the forward portion of the first substrate cleaner and to permit ample gas flow into the area between the forward portions of the first and the second substrate cleaners.
11. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 10, further comprising stacking the second substrate cleaner above the first substrate cleaner with the forward portions being vertically aligned and the rear portions being vertically aligned.
12. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the step of providing a first substrate cleaner further comprises providing a first substrate cleaner having a process bowl surrounding the substrate support, the bowl having a slot in the outer wall configured to enable a robot arm to move into and out of the bowl to position the substrate on the substrate support and to withdraw the substrate from the substrate support.
13. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 10, including the step of providing a substrate drying assembly in said front portion mounted to be moved radially into and out of a position closely spaced above the upper surface of a substrate supported on the substrate support, the drying assembly including an outlet for dispensing drying vapor to the surface of the substrate.
14. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 10, wherein the step of providing a first substrate cleaner further comprises providing a first substrate cleaner having a vertically fixed rotatable substrate support, and having a process bowl having a slot in the outer wall configured to enable a robot arm to move into and out of the bowl to position the substrate on the rotatable substrate support of the first substrate cleaner and to withdraw the substrate from the rotatable substrate support of the first substrate cleaner.
15. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 14, wherein the step of providing a first substrate cleaner further comprises providing a splash guard positioned within the process bowl and surrounding the rotatable substrate support and in position to surround a substrate mounted on the rotatable substrate support, the surface being configured so that fluid being spun off a substrate by centrifugal action will be deflected in a manner so as to not splash back onto the substrate.
16. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 15, wherein the step of providing a splash guard further comprises providing a splash guard having an annular surface facing the area to be occupied by a substrate.
17. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 16, wherein the annular surface facing the area to be occupied by a substrate is positioned at an angle with respect to the horizontal, the angle being between 30 and 40 degrees.
18. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 15, wherein the step of providing a splash guard further comprises providing a splash guard having a mesh surface facing the area to be occupied by a substrate.
19. The method of manufacturing a substrate processing system of claim 15, wherein the step of providing a splash guard further comprises providing a splash guard that is moveable so that it can alternately block the slot and allow the robot arm to access the area to be occupied by the substrate.
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 computer-implemented method of quantifying operation of a system based on failure characteristics of the system modeled in a computer having data storage coupled to a processor for effectively operating the system, the computer-implemented method comprising:
identifying precursors of damage associated with damage mechanisms;
storing the identified precursors in the data storage of the computer;
characterizing an inherent damage impact from the precursors for determining operational consequences;
providing instruments for measuring physical characteristics of the identified precursors;
communicating the physical characteristics of the identified precursors with the processor by the instruments for monitoring the damage mechanisms resulting from the precursors;
diagnosing the damage mechanisms for determining the inherent damage impact; and
evaluating the damage mechanisms by the computer for managing operation of the system.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising performing failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) by the processor to forecast the damage mechanisms from operational parameters of the system.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising classifying each of the damage mechanisms as one of active, incipient, incidental and passive and developing service monitoring plans therefrom.
4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3, wherein the service monitoring plans developing comprises developing in-service and out-of-service condition monitoring plans developing using a consolidated targeted system management template to serve as a system inspection guideline.
5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3, wherein the damage mechanisms classifying comprises at least one of:
defining current active damage mechanisms and mitigation plans;
collecting site-specific engineer and inspector knowledge for a task benchmarking, reliability risk ranking, and prioritization (TB&RP) processing;
establishing a baseline for at least one of mean time to repair (MTTR), mean time to inspect (MTTI) and mean time between failures (MTBF) from event timelines for mapping failures;
examining existing system failure root-cause analysis results to extract, map, validate and document failure causes, mechanisms, modes and locations;
incorporating operational consequences and map vulnerable areas resulting from the determining operational consequences determining step through use of the processor; and
mapping the instruments identified in the instruments enabling step to physical boiler locations.
6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein the damage mechanisms diagnosing by the processor for the inherent damage impact from the precursors comprises at least one of:
identifying at least one failure mode of the system;
determining a cause for the at least one failure mode resulting from at least one precursor and establishing a failure mechanism;
determining the precursor for the failure mechanism by characterizing damaging influences;
determining operating conditions of the system for measuring the precursor;
measuring the precursor through the monitoring step; and
determining whether the precursor measuring is appropriate for in-service or out-of service monitoring.
7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, wherein determining the operational consequences comprises at least one of:
determining detrimental properties of impurities in a material operable with the system;
extracting a number of operating hours for each major component for determining a remaining useful life for the major component;
extracting a number of hot and cold starts in thermal cycles per major component for determining a for thermal fatigue of the system;
extracting and mapping a mode of operation over time for determining a for cyclic fatigue; and
determining detrimental damage from upsets in cycle water treatment.
8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising forming a graphic component map using an alpha-numeric character string to enable electronic linking to data management software applications comprising at least one of a computerized maintenance management system, an out-of-service periodic inspection data management system, and an in-service continuous data management system.
9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1, further comprising ranking risks and prioritizing tasks associated with the inherent damage impact from the precursors.
10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 9, wherein the processor calculates risk parameters including repair time, cost and availability consequence for each identified failure, the processor combining condition monitoring outputs for failure probabilities for quantifying the risk to support decision-making, the processor further determining criticality for economicbudgetary prioritization of recommended protection schemes for all the identified failure scenarios based on benefit-to-cost.