• 한국기계가공학회지
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• 제10권6호
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• pp.146-151
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• 2011

Wax spin coating is a part of several wafer handling processes in the silicon wafer polishing station. It is important to ensure the wax layer free of contamination to achieve the high degree of planarization on wafers after wafer polishing. Three-dimensional air flow characteristics in a wax spin coater are numerically investigated using computational fluid dynamics techniques. When the bottom of the wax spin coater is closed, there exists a significant recirculation zone over the rotating ceramic block. This recirculation zone can be the source of wax layer contamination at any rotational speed and should be avoided to maintain high wafer polishing quality. Thus, four air suction ducts are installed at the bottom of the wax spin coater in order to control the air flow pattern over the ceramic block. Present computational results show that the air suction from the bottom is quite an effective method to remove or minimize the recirculation zone over the ceramic block and the wax coating layer.