(EP536160-A1)      Spin-on glass is applied to a substrate over low m.pt. non-refractory metal, esp. Al., in a moisture-free environment which may be a vacuum or an inert gas esp. N2, Ar or other noble gas. Pref. the glass is inorganic and phosphorus-alloyed. The substrates are passed singly and sequentially from a load cassette to a zone where they are spun after a few ml of glass soln. has been applied to their centres. They are then successively transported over an in line series of hot plates and then to a cooling zone from where they are received in a storage cassette. The coating sequence is repeated as many times as necessary.    USE/ADVANTAGE -   Planarising of semiconductor wafers; other steps in prodn. of integrated circuits and prodn. of emission diodes, liq. crystal displays, electrochromic displays, photodetectors and solar batteries. Reverse hydrolysis during curing is minimised when high temp. processing cannot be used, enabling prodn. of high quality film.    (JP5508740-W)      Spin-on glass is applied to a substrate over low m.pt. non-refractory metal, esp. Al, in a moisture-free environment which may be a vacuum or an inert gas, esp. N2, Ar or other noble gas. Pref. the glass is inorganic and phosphorus-alloyed. The substrates are passed singly and sequentially from a load cassette to a zone where they are spun after a few ml of glass soln. has been applied to their centres. They are then successively transported over an in line series of hot plates and then to a cooling zone from where they are received in a storage cassette. The coating sequence is repeated as many times as necessary.    USE/ADVANTAGE -   Planarising of semiconductor wafers (claimed); other steps in prodn. of integrated circuits and prodn. of emission diodes, liq. crystal displays, electrochromic displays, photodetectors and solar batteries.    Reverse hydrolysis during curing is minimised when high temp. processing cannot be used, enabling prodn. of high quality film.    (US5470798-A)      Planarising a semiconductor wafer, having interconnect tracks of non-refractory material, comprises: (i) applying a layer of inorganic phosphorus-based spin-on glass to the wafer in a coating and spinning chamber in the absence of moisture; (ii) transferring the wafer in the absence of moisture to a curing station; (iii) curing the spin-on glass at a temperature in the range of at least about 80C and not more than 450C in the absence of moisture at the curing station to form an SiO2 lattice connected to phosphorus atoms; (iv) returning the wafer to the coating and spinning chamber and repeating steps (i) to (iii) until a sufficient film thickness has been achieved without in the interim exposing the wafer to moisture so as to minimize reverse hydrolysis during a planarisation process and thereby prevent irreversible reactions that form phosphorus acids and thus lead to disconnection of the phosphorus atoms from the SiO2 lattice.    (EP536160-B1)      Spin-on glass is applied to a substrate over low m.pt. non-refractory metal, esp. Al., in a moisture-free environment which may be a vacuum or an inert gas esp. N2, Ar or other noble gas. Pref. the glass is inorganic and phosphorus-alloyed. The substrates are passed singly and sequentially from a load cassette to a zone where they are spun after a few ml of glass soln. has been applied to their centres. They are then successively transported over an in line series of hot plates and then to a cooling zone from where they are received in a storage cassette. The coating sequence is repeated as many times as necessary.    USE/ADVANTAGE -   Planarising of semiconductor wafers (claimed); other steps in prodn. of integrated circuits and prodn. of emission diodes, liq. crystal displays, electrochromic displays, photodetectors and solar batteries.    Reverse hydrolysis during curing is minimised when high temp. processing cannot be used, enabling prodn. of high quality film.