CN217361512U - Substrate liquid processing apparatus - Google Patents

Substrate liquid processing apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
CN217361512U
CN217361512U CN202220636026.5U CN202220636026U CN217361512U CN 217361512 U CN217361512 U CN 217361512U CN 202220636026 U CN202220636026 U CN 202220636026U CN 217361512 U CN217361512 U CN 217361512U
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substrate
substrates
processing
processing apparatus
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丸本洋
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Tokyo Electron Ltd
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Tokyo Electron Ltd
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
    • H01L21/67063—Apparatus for fluid treatment for etching
    • H01L21/67075—Apparatus for fluid treatment for etching for wet etching
    • H01L21/67086—Apparatus for fluid treatment for etching for wet etching with the semiconductor substrates being dipped in baths or vessels
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/30—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26
    • H01L21/31—Treatment of semiconductor bodies using processes or apparatus not provided for in groups H01L21/20 - H01L21/26 to form insulating layers thereon, e.g. for masking or by using photolithographic techniques; After treatment of these layers; Selection of materials for these layers
    • H01L21/3105—After-treatment
    • H01L21/311—Etching the insulating layers by chemical or physical means
    • H01L21/31105—Etching inorganic layers
    • H01L21/31111—Etching inorganic layers by chemical means
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
    • H01L21/67126—Apparatus for sealing, encapsulating, glassing, decapsulating or the like
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67242—Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking
    • H01L21/67259—Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/67242—Apparatus for monitoring, sorting or marking
    • H01L21/67259—Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection
    • H01L21/67265—Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection of substrates stored in a container, a magazine, a carrier, a boat or the like
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
    • H01L21/67745—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber characterized by movements or sequence of movements of transfer devices
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67739—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber
    • H01L21/67757—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations into and out of processing chamber vertical transfer of a batch of workpieces
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/68—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for positioning, orientation or alignment
    • H01L21/681—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for positioning, orientation or alignment using optical controlling means

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
  • Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
  • General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Cleaning Or Drying Semiconductors (AREA)
  • Weting (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)

Abstract

The utility model provides a substrate liquid processing apparatus. The substrate liquid processing apparatus includes: a treatment tank; a substrate support member for supporting a plurality of substrates arranged in a vertical posture at a predetermined interval in a horizontal direction; a lifting mechanism for lifting the substrate supporting member between a processing position in the processing tank and a retreat position above the processing tank; an imaging unit provided at a position where a plurality of substrates in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath can be imaged; a substrate position determination unit that determines whether or not a deviation between an actual position of the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member and a reference position at which the substrates should be positioned is within an allowable range, based on image data captured by the imaging unit; and a control unit for controlling the operation of the substrate liquid processing apparatus. According to the present invention, it can be confirmed whether or not the substrate is appropriately held by the substrate support member in a state of being immersed in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath.

Description

Substrate liquid processing apparatus
Technical Field
The utility model relates to a substrate liquid processing apparatus.
Background
The process for producing a semiconductor device includes a silicon nitride film etching step of immersing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer in an aqueous phosphoric acid solution stored in a processing tank to wet-etch a silicon nitride film formed on the surface of the substrate. The substrates are immersed in a phosphoric acid aqueous solution in a state where the substrates are arranged at equal intervals in a horizontal direction in a vertical posture and are supported by a substrate supporting member.
In the treatment of a substrate, a flow of a treatment liquid from the bottom to the liquid surface is formed in a treatment tank, and nitrogen bubbling is performed to improve the uniformity of the treatment. Therefore, the substrate receives a force in a direction floating from the substrate holder. In the substrate liquid processing apparatus of patent document 1, in order to prevent the substrate from coming off or being displaced from the substrate supporting member due to the force applied to the substrate from the processing liquid, a substrate pressing member for preventing the upward displacement of the substrate is provided in the cover of the processing bath.
Documents of the prior art
Patent literature
Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2019-067995.
SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL
Problem to be solved by utility model
The utility model provides a technology for confirming whether a substrate is properly held by a substrate supporting part under the state of being immersed in a processing liquid stored in a processing tank.
Means for solving the problems
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a substrate liquid processing apparatus including: a processing tank for storing a processing liquid, the processing tank having an upper opening for feeding and discharging a substrate; a substrate support member for supporting a plurality of substrates arranged in a vertical posture at a predetermined interval in a horizontal direction; a lifting mechanism for lifting the substrate supporting member between a processing position in the processing tank and a retreat position above the processing tank through the upper opening; an imaging unit provided at a position where the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member can be imaged in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath; a substrate position determination unit that determines whether or not a deviation between an actual position of the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member and a reference position at which the substrates should be positioned is within an allowable range, based on the image data captured by the imaging unit; and a control unit for controlling the operation of the substrate liquid processing apparatus.
Effect of utility model
According to the above embodiment, it is possible to confirm whether or not the substrate is appropriately held by the substrate support member in a state immersed in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the overall configuration of a substrate liquid processing system.
FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing the configuration of an etching apparatus incorporated in a substrate liquid processing system.
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a treatment tank of an etching apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the treatment tank in a longitudinal direction.
FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view of the treatment tank.
Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional longitudinal sectional view of the treatment tank, which is shown in detail by taking out only the lid body and peripheral members thereof at the closing position.
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the cover.
Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view in the transverse direction showing the cover moved from the closed position shown in fig. 6 to the open position.
Fig. 9 is a schematic view showing a camera and an illumination disposed above the processing bath.
Fig. 10 is a schematic view showing a state where the substrate is appropriately arranged between the substrate supporting member and the substrate pressing member.
Fig. 11 is a schematic view showing an image captured by a camera.
Fig. 12 is a graph showing a distribution of gradation values.
Fig. 13 is a schematic view showing a state in which the substrate is not appropriately arranged between the substrate supporting member and the substrate holder (a state in which a bridge is formed).
Fig. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a distribution of gradation values when a bridge is generated.
Fig. 15 is a graph illustrating the oscillation of the substrate immediately after the substrate is sunk into the processing bath.
Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram showing another arrangement of the camera and the illumination.
Description of reference numerals
34. 34A treatment tank
36B substrate support member
36 lifting mechanism
90 image pickup unit
94 substrate position judging section
7 control part
Detailed Description
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the substrate liquid processing system 1A in which the substrate liquid processing apparatus 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention is incorporated will be explained as a whole.
As shown in fig. 1, the substrate liquid processing system 1A includes a carrier carrying-in/out section 2, a batch forming section 3, a batch placing section 4, a batch conveying section 5, a batch processing section 6, and a control section 7.
The carrier carry-in/out unit 2 carries out carry-in and carry-out of a carrier 9, and the carrier 9 stores a plurality of (for example, 25) substrates (silicon wafers) 8 in a horizontal posture in a vertical arrangement.
The carrier loading/unloading section 2 is provided with: a carrier table 10 on which a plurality of carriers 9 are placed; a carrier transport mechanism 11 for transporting the carrier 9; carrier libraries 12 and 13 for temporarily storing the carriers 9; and a carrier mounting table 14 on which the carrier 9 is mounted. Here, the carrier library 12 temporarily stores the substrates 8 to be products before the processing in the batch processing unit 6. The carrier library 13 temporarily stores the substrates 8 to be products after they are processed in the batch processing unit 6.
The carrier loading/unloading unit 2 then conveys the carrier 9, which is loaded from the outside into the carrier table 10, to the carrier magazine 12 or the carrier table 14 by the carrier conveying mechanism 11. The carrier loading/unloading unit 2 also transports the carrier 9 placed on the carrier placement table 14 to the carrier magazine 13 or the carrier table 10 by the carrier transport mechanism 11. The carrier 9 conveyed to the carrier stage 10 is sent out to the outside.
The batch forming section 3 combines the substrates 8 accommodated in 1 or more carriers 9 to form a batch composed of a plurality of (for example, 50) substrates 8 that are simultaneously processed. In forming a batch, the batch may be formed such that the patterned surfaces of the 2 substrates 8 adjacent to each other face each other, or the batch may be formed such that the patterned surfaces of the substrates 8 all face the same direction.
The batch forming section 3 is provided with a substrate transport mechanism 15 that transports a plurality of substrates 8. Further, the substrate transport mechanism 15 can change the posture of the substrate 8 from the horizontal posture to the vertical posture and from the vertical posture to the horizontal posture during transport of the substrate 8.
The lot forming unit 3 then conveys the substrates 8 from the carriers 9 mounted on the carrier mounting tables 14 to the lot mounting unit 4 by the substrate conveying mechanism 15, and mounts the substrates 8 forming a lot on the lot mounting unit 4. The lot forming unit 3 conveys the lot placed on the lot placing unit 4 to the carrier 9 placed on the carrier placing table 14 by the substrate conveying mechanism 15. The substrate transfer mechanism 15 includes 2 types of substrate support portions before processing for supporting the substrates 8 before processing (before transfer by the batch transfer unit 5) and 2 types of substrate support portions after processing for supporting the substrates 8 after processing (after transfer by the batch transfer unit 5), as substrate support portions for supporting the plurality of substrates 8. This prevents particles and the like adhering to the substrate 8 and the like before processing from being transferred to the substrate 8 and the like after processing.
The lot loading unit 4 temporarily loads (waits) the lot, which is transported between the lot forming unit 3 and the lot processing unit 6 by the lot transport unit 5, on the lot table 16.
The batch mounting unit 4 is provided with a delivery-side batch mounting table 17 on which a batch before processing (before being conveyed by the batch conveying unit 5) is placed, and a delivery-side batch mounting table 18 on which a batch after processing (after being conveyed by the batch conveying unit 5) is placed. A plurality of substrates 8 of 1 lot are placed on the feed-side lot mounting table 17 and the feed-side lot mounting table 18 in a vertical posture in tandem.
Then, in the lot placing section 4, the lot formed by the lot forming section 3 is placed on the delivery-side lot placing table 17, and the lot is delivered to the lot processing section 6 via the lot conveying section 5. Further, in the batch mounting portion 4, the batch fed out from the batch processing portion 6 via the batch conveying portion 5 is mounted on the feeding-out-side batch mounting table 18, and the batch is conveyed to the batch forming portion 3.
The batch transport unit 5 transports the batch between the batch loading unit 4 and the batch processing unit 6 or between the inside of the batch processing unit 6.
The batch transport unit 5 is provided with a batch transport mechanism 19 for transporting a batch. The batch transport mechanism 19 is composed of a guide rail 20 disposed along the batch loading unit 4 and the batch processing unit 6, and a moving body 21 that moves along the guide rail 20 while holding the plurality of substrates 8. The movable body 21 is provided with a substrate holder 22 which can advance and retreat and holds a plurality of substrates 8 arranged in a vertical posture.
The batch transport unit 5 receives the batch placed on the delivery-side batch mounting table 17 by the substrate holder 22 of the batch transport mechanism 19, and delivers the batch to the batch processing unit 6. The batch transport unit 5 receives the batch processed by the batch processing unit 6 through the substrate holder 22 of the batch transport mechanism 19, and transfers the batch to the delivery-side batch mounting table 18. The batch transport unit 5 transports the batch within the batch processing unit 6 by the batch transport mechanism 19.
The batch processing unit 6 performs processes such as etching, cleaning, and drying on a plurality of substrates 8 arranged in a vertical posture in tandem as 1 batch.
The batch processing unit 6 is provided with: a drying device 23 for performing drying of the substrate 8; a substrate holder cleaning device 24 for performing a cleaning process of the substrate holder 22; a cleaning processing device 25 for performing cleaning processing of the substrate 8; and 2 etching treatment apparatuses (substrate liquid treatment apparatuses) 1 for performing etching treatment of the substrate 8.
The drying processing device 23 has a processing bath 27 and a substrate elevating mechanism 28 provided in the processing bath 27 in an elevatable manner. A drying process gas (IPA (isopropyl alcohol) or the like) is supplied to the process tank 27. In the substrate lifting mechanism 28, a plurality of substrates 8 of 1 lot size are held in a vertical posture in tandem. The drying apparatus 23 receives a batch from the substrate holder 22 of the batch transport mechanism 19 by the substrate lift mechanism 28, and performs a drying process on the substrate 8 by the process gas for drying supplied to the process tank 27 by lifting and lowering the batch by the substrate lift mechanism 28. The drying apparatus 23 delivers the lot from the substrate lifting mechanism 28 to the substrate holder 22 of the lot transport mechanism 19.
The substrate holder cleaning apparatus 24 has a processing bath 29, and is configured to supply a cleaning processing liquid and a dry gas to the processing bath 29, and to perform a cleaning process of the substrate holder 22 by supplying the cleaning processing liquid to the substrate holder 22 of the batch transfer mechanism 19 and then supplying the dry gas.
The cleaning apparatus 25 has a cleaning processing bath 30 and a rinsing processing bath 31, and substrate elevating mechanisms 32 and 33 are provided in the respective processing baths 30 and 31 so as to be capable of elevating. The cleaning treatment tank 30 stores a cleaning treatment liquid (SC-1, etc.). The processing bath 31 for rinsing stores a processing liquid (pure water or the like) for rinsing.
The etching processing apparatus 1 has a processing bath 34 for etching and a processing bath 35 for rinsing, and substrate elevating mechanisms 36, 37 are provided in the respective processing baths 34, 35 so as to be capable of elevating. The etching treatment tank 34 stores an etching treatment liquid (phosphoric acid aqueous solution). The processing bath 35 for rinsing stores a processing liquid (pure water or the like) for rinsing. As described above, the etching processing apparatus 1 becomes a substrate liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention.
The cleaning apparatus 25 and the etching apparatus 1 have the same configuration. In the etching processing apparatus (substrate liquid processing apparatus) 1, a plurality of substrates 8 of 1 lot size are held in the substrate lifting mechanism 36 in a vertical posture in tandem. In the etching processing apparatus 1, the substrate lifting mechanism 36 receives a batch from the substrate holder 22 of the batch transport mechanism 19, and the substrate lifting mechanism 36 lifts and lowers the batch, thereby immersing the batch in the processing liquid for etching in the processing bath 34 and performing the etching processing of the substrate 8. Thereafter, the etching apparatus 1 transfers the batch from the substrate lifting mechanism 36 to the substrate holder 22 of the batch transfer mechanism 19. Further, the substrate lifting mechanism 37 receives a batch from the substrate holder 22 of the batch transport mechanism 19, and the substrate lifting mechanism 37 lifts and lowers the batch, so that the batch is immersed in the processing liquid for rinsing in the processing bath 35 to perform the rinsing process of the substrate 8. After that, the lot is delivered from the substrate lifting mechanism 37 to the substrate holder 22 of the lot transport mechanism 19.
The control unit 7 controls the operations of the respective units (the carrier supply/discharge unit 2, the batch forming unit 3, the batch loading unit 4, the batch transport unit 5, the batch processing unit 6, and the etching processing apparatus 1) of the substrate liquid processing system 1A.
The control unit 7 is constituted by a computer, for example, and has M readable by the computer. A program for controlling various processes performed in the substrate liquid processing apparatus 1 is stored in the storage medium 38. The control unit 7 reads and executes a program stored in the storage medium 38, thereby controlling the operation of the substrate liquid processing apparatus 1. The program is stored in the storage medium 38 that can be read by a computer, but may be installed in the storage medium 38 of the control unit 7 from another storage medium. As the storage medium 38 that can be read by the computer, for example, a Hard Disk (HD), a Flexible Disk (FD), an optical disk (CD), a magneto-optical disk (MO), a memory card, or the like is used.
As described above, in the processing bath 34 of the etching processing apparatus 1, an aqueous solution (phosphoric acid aqueous solution) of a chemical (phosphoric acid) having a predetermined concentration is used as a processing liquid (etching liquid), and the substrate 8 is subjected to liquid processing (etching processing).
Next, the schematic results and piping system of the etching processing apparatus (substrate liquid processing apparatus) 1 will be described with reference to fig. 2.
The etching apparatus 1 includes the above-described processing tank 34, and stores a phosphoric acid aqueous solution having a predetermined concentration as a processing liquid. The processing bath 34 has an inner bath 34A and an outer bath 34B. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution overflowing from the inner tank 34A flows into the outer tank 34B. The liquid level in the outer tank 34B is maintained lower than the liquid level in the inner tank 34A.
The upstream end of the circulation line 50 is connected to the bottom of the outer tank 34B. The downstream end of the circulation line 50 is connected to a processing liquid supply nozzle 49 provided in the inner tank 34A. In the circulation line 50, a pump 51, a heater 52, and a filter 53 are inserted in this order from the upstream side. By driving the pump 51, a circulating flow of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution is formed, which is sent from the outer tank 34B into the inner tank 34A through the circulation line 50 and the treatment liquid supply nozzle 49, and then flows out from the inner tank 34A to the outer tank 34B.
The liquid treatment portion 39 is formed by the treatment tank 34, the circulation line 50, and the devices (51, 52, 53, etc.) in the circulation line 50. Further, the treatment tank 34 and the circulation line 50 constitute a circulation system.
A gas nozzle 60 (for bubbling) for discharging bubbles of an inert gas such as nitrogen gas into the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A is provided below the treatment liquid supply nozzle 49 in the inner tank 34A. The gas nozzle 60 is supplied with an inert gas such as nitrogen from a gas supply source 60B via a flow regulator 60C configured by an on-off valve, a flow rate control valve, a flow meter, and the like.
The processing bath 34 is provided with the substrate lifting mechanism 36 described above. The substrate lifting mechanism 36 can hold the plurality of substrates 8 in a state of being arranged in a vertically erected posture at intervals in the horizontal direction, and can lift and lower the substrates in this state.
The etching apparatus 1 includes: a phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply unit 40 for supplying a phosphoric acid aqueous solution to the liquid treatment unit 39; a deionized water supply unit 41 for supplying deionized water to the liquid treatment unit 39; a silicon supply unit 42 for supplying a silicon solution to the liquid treatment unit 39; and a phosphoric acid aqueous solution discharge portion 43 for discharging the phosphoric acid aqueous solution from the solution treatment portion 39.
The phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply unit 40 preferably supplies a phosphoric acid aqueous solution having a predetermined concentration to the outer tank 34B as shown in the figure, at an arbitrary position in the liquid treatment unit 39, which is a circulation system including the treatment tank 34 and the circulation line 50. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply unit 40 includes: a phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply source 40A constituted by a tank for storing a phosphoric acid aqueous solution; a phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply line 40B connecting the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply source 40A and the outer tank 34B; a flow meter 40C inserted in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply line 40B in this order from the upstream side; a flow control valve 40D and an opening and closing valve 40E. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply unit 40 can supply the phosphoric acid aqueous solution to the outer tank 34B at a controlled flow rate via the flow meter 40C and the flow rate control valve 40D.
The pure water supply unit 41 supplies pure water for replenishing water evaporated by heating the phosphoric acid aqueous solution. The deionized water supply unit 41 includes a deionized water supply source 41A for supplying deionized water at a predetermined temperature, and the deionized water supply source 41A is connected to the outer tank 34B via a flow regulator 41B. The flow regulator 41B may be an on-off valve, a flow control valve, a flow meter, or the like.
The silicon supply section 42 has a silicon supply source 42A constituted by a tank storing a liquid in which a silicon-containing compound solution such as colloidal silica is dispersed, and a flow rate regulator 42B. The flow regulator 42B may be an on-off valve, a flow control valve, a flowmeter, or the like.
The phosphoric acid aqueous solution discharge unit 43 is provided to discharge the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the liquid treatment unit 39, which is a circulation system including the liquid treatment unit 39 and the circulation line 50. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution discharge portion 43 has: a discharge line 43A branched from the circulation line 50; and a flow meter 43B, a flow rate control valve 43C, an opening/closing valve 43D, and a cooling tank 43E provided in the discharge line 43A in this order from the upstream side. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution discharge unit 43 can discharge the phosphoric acid aqueous solution at a controlled flow rate through the flow meter 43B and the flow rate control valve 43C.
The cooling tank 43E temporarily stores and cools the phosphoric acid aqueous solution flowing through the discharge line 43A. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution (see reference numeral 43F) flowing out of the cooling tank 43E may be discarded in a factory waste liquid system (not shown), or silicon contained in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution may be removed by a regeneration device (not shown) and then transferred to the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply source 40A for reuse.
In the illustrated example, the discharge line 43A is connected to the circulation line 50 (the position of the filter discharge port in the drawing), but is not limited thereto, and may be connected to another part in the circulation system, for example, the bottom of the inner tank 34A.
A silicon concentration meter 43G that measures the silicon concentration in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution is provided in the discharge line 43A. A phosphoric acid concentration meter 55B for measuring the concentration of phosphoric acid in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution is inserted into a branch line 55A that branches from the circulation line 50 and is connected to the outer tank 34B. The outer tank 34B is provided with a liquid level meter 44 that detects the liquid level in the outer tank 34B.
Next, the structure of the processing bath 34 of the etching processing apparatus 1 will be described in detail with reference to fig. 3 to 7. For convenience of explanation, an XYZ rectangular coordinate system is set and referred to as necessary. The X negative direction is referred to as "front side" or "front side", the X positive direction is referred to as "rear side" or "rear side", the Y negative direction is referred to as "right side" or "right side", and the Y positive direction is referred to as "left side" or "left side".
As described above, the processing bath 34 has the inner bath 34A having an upper part opened and the outer bath 34B having an upper part opened. The inner tank 34A is housed inside the outer tank 34B. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution overflowing from the inner tank 34A flows into the outer tank 34B. During the liquid treatment, most of the bottom portion including the inner tank 34A is immersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the outer tank 34B.
The outer tank 34B is housed inside a liquid receiver (water tank) 80, and a discharge space 81 is formed between the outer tank 34B and the liquid receiver 80. A discharge line 82 is connected to the bottom of the discharge space 81.
The treatment liquid supply nozzle 49 is formed of a cylindrical body extending in the X direction (horizontal direction) in the inner tank 34A. The processing liquid supply nozzle 49 discharges the processing liquid to the substrate 8 held by the substrate lifting mechanism 36 from a plurality of discharge ports 49D (see fig. 3 and 4) bored in the circumferential surface thereof. In the figure, 2 treatment liquid supply nozzles 49 are provided, but 3 or more treatment liquid supply nozzles 49 may be provided. The processing liquid (phosphoric acid aqueous solution) is supplied to the processing liquid supply nozzle 49 from a pipe 49A extending in the vertical direction.
The gas nozzle 60 is formed of a cylindrical body extending in the X direction (horizontal direction) at a position lower than the processing liquid supply nozzle 49 in the inner tank 34A. The gas nozzle 60 discharges bubbles of an inert gas (e.g., nitrogen gas) from a plurality of discharge ports 60D (see fig. 3 and 4) provided on the circumferential surface thereof. The boiling state of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A can be stabilized by bubbling of the inert gas. The gas nozzle 60 is supplied with a processing liquid (phosphoric acid aqueous solution) from a pipe 60A extending in the vertical direction.
The substrate lifting mechanism 36 includes a support plate 36A extending in the vertical direction (Z direction) and lifted by a lifting mechanism (not shown); and a pair of substrate support members 36B (see also fig. 9) extending in the horizontal direction (X direction) and having one end supported by the support plate 36A. Each substrate support member 36B has a plurality of (e.g., 50 to 52) substrate holding grooves (not shown) arranged at intervals in the horizontal direction (X direction). The peripheral edge portion of the substrate 8 is inserted into the substrate holding groove. The substrate lifting mechanism 36 can hold a plurality of (for example, 50 to 52) substrates 8 in a vertical posture at intervals in the horizontal direction (X direction). Such a substrate lifting mechanism 36 is well known in the art, and illustration and description of the detailed configuration are omitted.
The processing bath 34 is provided with a first lid 71 and a second lid 72 for opening and closing an upper opening of the inner bath 34A. The first cover 71 and the second cover 72 are coupled to rotation shafts 71S, 72S extending in the horizontal direction (X direction), respectively. The rotary shafts 71S and 72S are coupled to a bearing 83 fixed to the liquid-receiving container 80 and a rotary actuator 84 (see fig. 4 and 5). By operating the rotary actuator 84, the first cover 71 and the second cover 72 can be rotated (rotated) between a closed position (the position shown in fig. 3 and 6) covering the first region (left half) and the second region (right half) of the upper opening of the inner tank 34A, respectively, and an open position (the position shown in fig. 8) in which the first region and the second region of the upper opening of the inner tank 34A are opened in a substantially upright state, with the respective rotation axes extending in the horizontal direction (X direction) as the center (see arrows SW1 and SW2 in fig. 3).
The first cover 71 and the second cover 72 do not cover the area where the support plate 36A and the pipes 49A and 60A are provided in the upper opening of the inner tank 34A.
In the normal operation of the etching apparatus 1, the first lid member 71 and the second lid member 72 are located at the closed positions except for the time of carrying in/out the substrate 8 held by the substrate lifting mechanism 36 to the inner tank 34A, thereby preventing the temperature of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A from being lowered and suppressing the escape of water vapor generated from the boiling phosphoric acid aqueous solution to the outside of the processing tank 34.
The first lid 71 includes: a substantially rectangular main body 71A when viewed from directly above; a first mist shielding portion 71B, a second mist shielding portion 71C, and a closing portion 71D extending in the X direction; and a third mist shielding portion 71E extending in the Y direction. Similarly, the second lid 72 includes: a substantially rectangular main body portion 72A; a first mist shielding portion 72B, a second mist shielding portion 72C, and a closing portion 72D extending in the X direction; and a third mist shielding portion 72E extending in the Y direction.
A large rectangular recess 71R is formed in the upper surface of the body portion 71A. The recess 71R is divided by a bottom wall 711R and 4 sidewalls 712R, 713R, 714R, 715R.
When the first lid body 71 is in the closed position, a gap is provided between the side wall OF the inner tank 34A and the side walls 712R and 713R facing closely thereto so as not to prevent the overflow OF the phosphoric acid aqueous solution from the inner tank 34A to the outer tank 34B (see arrow OF fig. 6). Although not shown, a plurality of V-shaped notches are formed at intervals at the upper ends of the 4 side walls of the inner tank 34A to allow the overflow to proceed smoothly.
The bottom wall 711R of the first lid 71 is inclined so as to become higher as it is farther from the second lid 72 in the Y direction (as it is closer to the side wall of the inner groove 34A in the Y direction). Due to this inclination, the above-described overflow can be smoothly performed.
Since the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A is in a boiling state or is subjected to bubbling, droplets of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution fly out of the inner tank 34A together with the phosphoric acid aqueous solution overflowing from the inner tank 34A to the outer tank 34B. The splashed droplets collide with the first droplet shielding portion 71B of the first lid 71 in the closed position, fall into a space between the side walls of the inner tank 34A and the outer tank 34B, and are not scattered to the outside of the outer tank 34B. The lower end of the first splash guard 71B of the first lid 71 in the closed position is preferably at least lower than the upper end of the side wall of the adjacent inner tank 34A.
The second mist shielding part 71C functions similarly to the first mist shielding part 71B when the first cover 71 is in the closed position when the first cover 71 is in the open position. The lower end of the first splash guard 71B of the first cover 71 in the open position is preferably at least lower than the upper end of the side wall of the adjacent inner tank 34A.
The closing portion 71D covers an area from the rotation shaft 71S to the side wall of the outer tank 34B in the gap between the upper end of the side wall of the inner tank 34A and the upper end of the side wall of the outer tank 34B when the first lid 71 is in the open position (see fig. 8). The closing portion 71D guides the liquid adhering to the upper surface of the main body portion 71A when the first cover 71 is in the closed position (for example, the liquid falling from the wetted substrate when the substrate passes over the processing bath 34) into the discharge space 81 between the outer bath 34B and the liquid receiver 80 when the first cover 71 is in the open position, and prevents the liquid from flowing into the outer bath 34B. The liquid introduced into the discharge space 81 is discarded from the discharge line 82.
The third mist shielding portion 71E is provided so as to extend above the space between the side wall of the inner tank 34A and the side wall of the outer tank 34B on the side farther from the substrate lifting mechanism 36. The third mist shielding portion 71E extends in the Y direction from the rotation shaft 71S along the end edge of the first cover 71 over the entire length of the end edge. The third mist shielding portion 71E functions similarly to the first mist shielding portion 71B when the first lid 71 is in the closed position. The lower end of the third mist shielding part 71E of the first lid 71 in the open position is preferably positioned lower than at least the upper end of the side wall of the adjacent inner tank 34A.
The mist shielding portion extending along the end edge of the first cover 71 extending in the Y direction may not be provided on the side closer to the substrate lifting mechanism 36. This is because the phosphoric acid aqueous solution scattered in the X-direction hardly reaches the outer tank 34B because it collides with the support plate 36A, the pipes 49A, 60A, and the like of the substrate lifting mechanism 36.
The second cover 72 is formed substantially in mirror symmetry with respect to the first cover 71, and each of the first cover 71 and the second cover 72 is substantially identical to each other. The difference between the two is the presence or absence of an accessory (plate-like body 73P, substrate holder 74) described later. Therefore, the description of the structure and operation of the first cover 71 can be referred to the description of the structure and operation of the second cover 72. The same letter is attached to the end of the reference symbol of the mutually corresponding members (the members at the symmetrical positions, the members having the same function) of the first cover 71 and the second cover 72, and only the first two digits of the reference symbol are different from each other as "71" or "72".
As shown in fig. 6, when the first cover 71 and the second cover 72 are in the closed position, the side wall 712R extending upward from the bottom wall 711R of the first cover 71 and the side wall 722R extending upward from the bottom wall 721R of the second cover 72 face each other, and a gap G having a height H is formed between the two side walls. By providing the recesses 71R and 72R, an increase in weight of the first cover 71 and the second cover 72 due to the gap of the installation height H can be suppressed.
As shown in fig. 6, when the lower surface of the main body portion 71A (the lower surface of the bottom wall 711R) of the first cover 71 and the lower surface of the main body portion 72A (the lower surface of the bottom wall 721R) of the second cover 72 in the closed position contact the liquid surface of the processing liquid in the inner tank 34A, the boiling or bubbling phosphoric acid aqueous solution may fly upward from the gap between the first cover 71 and the second cover and may scatter around. However, by providing the gap G with the height H as described above, it is difficult for the processing liquid to fly outward from the gap G. To achieve this effect, the height H can be formed to be, for example, about 5cm or more.
When the treatment liquid in the inner tank 34A is an aqueous phosphoric acid solution, at least the main bodies 71A and 72A of the first lid 71 and the second lid 72 are not penetrated by the treatment liquid, and are formed of a material such as quartz, for example. In the case where the main bodies 71A and 72A are made of quartz, there is a possibility that the quartz will break or chip when it collides with each other, and in order to prevent such a situation, it is preferable to provide a gap between the first lid 71 and the second lid 72 so that the main bodies 71A and 72A do not contact each other when they are in the closed position. When the main bodies 71A and 72A have a gap therebetween, the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the treatment tank 34, particularly in the inner tank 34A, may be scattered outward through the gap. However, by providing the gap G having the height H as described above, scattering of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution from the gap G can be greatly suppressed.
In order to smooth the overflow, when the bottom wall 711R (721R) is inclined as described above and the bottom wall 711R (721R) is brought into contact with the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A, the tip of the bottom wall 711R (721R) is submerged in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution if there is no side wall 712R (722R) extending upward from the bottom wall 711R (721R). However, by providing the side wall 712R (722R) extending upward from the bottom wall 711R (721R) as described above, the height position of the liquid surface of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution can be made lower than the upper end of the side wall 712R (722R).
As shown in fig. 6, it is preferable that a covering portion 73 that extends above or beyond the tip of the other (here, the body portion 72A) is provided on one of the body portion 71A of the first cover 71 and the body portion 72A of the second cover 72 (here, the body portion 71A), and covers the gap G from above. The covering portion 73 prevents the processing liquid from flying upward from the gap G. Note that, in fig. 3 to 5, the covering portion 73 (and the plate-like body 73P) is not described in order to prevent complication of the drawings.
Since the gap G has the height H, the momentum of the droplets of the processing liquid scattered from the liquid surface of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A is weakened when the droplets collide with the covering portion 73. Therefore, the processing liquid colliding with the covering portion 73 does not fly out to the side.
The covering portion 73 can be provided by attaching a plate-like body 73P having a substantially rectangular cutout portion 73Q that matches the contour of the recess 71R of the first cover 71 to the upper surface of the main body portion 71A of the first cover 71, for example, as shown in fig. 6. In this case, the covering portion 73 is formed by the edge portion of the plate-like body 73P.
As shown in fig. 6, when the first lid 71 and the second lid 72 are in the closed position, a gap may be provided between the covering portion 73 and the second lid 72. Alternatively, the covering portion 73 may be in contact with the second cover 72 when the first cover 71 and the second cover 72 are in the closed position. In this case, the covering portion 73 functions as a seal for closing the upper end portion of the gap G.
When the covering portion 73 is brought into contact with the second lid 72, it is preferable that the covering portion 73 is formed of a resin material having flexibility to such an extent that quartz is not damaged even if it collides with quartz and that has relatively high corrosion resistance, for example, a fluorine-based resin material such as PTFE or PFA.
The covering portion 73 may be formed integrally with the first cover 71. The covering portion 73 may not be provided. In the case where the covering portion 73 is not provided, the height H is preferably set higher than in the case where the covering portion is provided.
Further, a substrate pusher 74 is provided on either one of the main body portion 71A of the first cover 71 and the main body portion 72A of the second cover 72 (the tip end portion of the main body portion 72A of the second cover 72 in the illustrated example). A plurality of substrate holding grooves 74G (see fig. 7 and 10) are formed in the lower surface of the substrate holder 74 at the same pitch and at the same X-direction position as the substrate holding grooves 36BG (see fig. 10) of the substrate support member 36B along the arrangement direction (X-direction) of the substrates 8. The peripheral edge portions of 1 substrate 8 are received in each of the substrate holding grooves 74G. Note that, although the lower end portion of the substrate holder 74 (the portion where the substrate holding groove 74G is formed) can be seen in the perspective view of fig. 7, the lower end portion is actually hidden in the bottom wall 721R of the recess 72R and cannot be seen.
In the illustrated embodiment, the substrate holder 74 is formed of an elongated plate-like body formed separately from the second lid 72, and is fixed to the body portion 72A of the second lid 72 by screwing. Instead of this structure, the substrate holder 74 may be formed integrally with the second cover 72. In any case, the substrate holder 74 constitutes a part of the side wall 722R of the main body portion 72A of the second lid 72.
When the substrate 8 is processed, the substrate presser 74 provided to the second lid 72 located at the closing position engages with the substrate 8 supported by the substrate support member 36B, and upward displacement of the substrate 8 can be prevented or suppressed. Therefore, even if the processing liquid is discharged from the processing liquid supply nozzle 49 at a large flow rate, or even if the boiling level of the processing liquid in the inner tank 34A is high, or even if nitrogen bubbling is performed vigorously, the possibility that the substrate 8 is detached from the substrate support member 36B can be eliminated.
As schematically shown in fig. 9, a camera 90 and an illumination 92 are provided above the processing bath 34. The illumination 92 dedicated to the camera 90 may be omitted as long as an image necessary for image processing described later can be obtained. The image signal is output from the camera 90 to a substrate position determination section 94 having an image processing function by wired or wireless communication. The substrate position determination unit 94 may be a part of the control unit 7 or may be another arithmetic processing unit.
The camera 90 may be disposed directly above the upper opening of the inner tank 34A and above an upper limit position of the substrate 8 supported by the substrate support member 36B (a height position at which the substrate 8 is transferred between the substrate support member 36B of the substrate lift mechanism 36 and the substrate holder 22 of the batch transport mechanism 19). Instead of this configuration, the camera 90 may be provided at a low position (a height position close to the upper opening of the inner tank 34A), and a moving mechanism that can move the camera 90 between a position directly above the inner tank 34A and a position deviated from the position directly above the inner tank 34A may be provided. The camera 90 may be provided at a position different from the above-described position as long as an image necessary for determining the substrate position described later can be obtained.
A Fan Filter Unit (FFU)100 is disposed further above the camera 90. Clean air is blown downward from the fan filter unit 100. By this downward flow of the clean air, even if gas or mist from the processing liquid (chemical liquid) rises from the processing bath 34, for example, which may blur the lens of the camera 90 or corrode the camera 90, such gas or mist does not reach the camera 90.
By providing a cover (not shown) surrounding the camera 90 and flowing an appropriate shielding gas (clean air or inert gas) through the cover, the camera 90 can be protected from the gas or mist from the processing liquid.
In addition, when the processing liquid stored in the processing tank 34 is phosphoric acid, the gas rising upward of the processing tank 34 is substantially water vapor, and the influence on the camera 90 is small.
Next, the operation of the etching apparatus 1 will be described. First, the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply unit 40 supplies the phosphoric acid aqueous solution to the outer tank 34B of the liquid treatment unit 39. When a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of the supply of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution, the pump 51 of the circulation line 50 is operated to form a circulation flow circulating in the circulation system.
The heater 52 of the circulation line 50 is operated to heat the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A to a predetermined temperature (for example, 160 ℃). The first lid 71 and the second lid 72 are positioned at the closing position at the latest until the heating by the heater 52 is started. The phosphoric acid aqueous solution at 160 ℃ is brought into a boiling state (preferably a slightly boiling state). When the phosphoric acid concentration meter 55B detects that the phosphoric acid concentration exceeds a predetermined upper limit of the control due to evaporation of water by boiling, pure water is supplied from the pure water supply unit 41.
Before the 1 lot of substrates 8 are charged into the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A, the silicon concentration in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution present in the circulation system (including the inner tank 34A, the outer tank 34B, and the circulation line 50) (which affects the etching selectivity of the silicon nitride film with respect to the silicon oxide film) is adjusted. The silicon concentration can be adjusted by immersing the dummy substrate in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A or by supplying a silicon-containing compound solution from the silicon supply portion 42 to the outer tank 34B. In order to confirm that the silicon concentration in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution present in the circulation system is within a predetermined range, the phosphoric acid aqueous solution may be passed through the discharge line 43A, and the silicon concentration may be measured by the silicon concentration meter 43G.
After the silicon concentration adjustment is completed, the first lid 71 and the second lid 72 are moved to the open positions. At this time, the substrate support member 36B of the substrate lifting mechanism 36 that receives the substrate 8 from the substrate holder 22 of the moving body 21 of the batch transport mechanism 19 is on standby above the processing bath 34. The substrate support member 36B suitably supports a plurality, e.g., 50, of substrates 8, i.e., forming 1 lot (also referred to as a process lot or batch). The term "appropriately support" means that, as shown in the lower half of fig. 10 as a schematic view, the lower peripheral edge portions of the substrates 8 are fitted into the substrate holding grooves 36BG of the substrate support member 36B by 1, respectively, and the substrates 8 are arranged in a vertical posture at a predetermined arrangement pitch (for example, about 5 mm) in the horizontal direction. Subsequently, the substrate support member 36B is lowered, whereby the substrate 8 supported by the substrate support member 36B is immersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner bath 34A. At this time, bubbling is preferably stopped in order to prevent the substrate 9 from floating from the substrate support member 36B.
After a predetermined time (for example, about 5 seconds) has elapsed after the substrate 8 is immersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A, the second cover 72 is moved to the closed position. The substrate presser 74 provided in the second cover 72 engages with the upper peripheral edge of the substrate 8 to restrain the substrate 8. Next, the substrate 8 is photographed by the camera 90. Based on the imaging result, it can be determined (hereinafter referred to as "substrate position determination") whether all the substrates 8 are in proper positions (particularly, whether the substrate presser 74 is properly engaged with the substrate 8). The method of this determination will be described later. If all the substrates 8 are judged to be in the proper position, the first cover 71 is moved to the closed position.
Next, bubbling of nitrogen gas discharged from the gas nozzle 60 was started. The substrate 8 is immersed in a phosphoric acid aqueous solution for a predetermined time to perform wet etching treatment (liquid treatment) on the substrate 8.
By positioning the first lid 71 and the second lid 72 at the closed positions in advance during the etching process of the substrate 8, it is possible to suppress a temperature decrease in the vicinity of the liquid surface of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A, and to suppress the temperature distribution of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A to be small. Further, since the inner tank 34A is immersed in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the outer tank 34B, it is possible to suppress a decrease in temperature of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A due to heat dissipation from the wall body of the inner tank 34A, and to suppress the temperature distribution of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the inner tank 34A to be small. Therefore, the in-plane uniformity and the inter-plane uniformity of the etching amount of the substrate 8 can be maintained high.
In the treatment of 1 lot of the substrates 8, since silicon is eluted from the substrates 8, the silicon concentration in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution existing in the circulation system increases. In the treatment of the substrates 8 of 1 lot, the phosphoric acid aqueous solution can be supplied from the phosphoric acid aqueous solution supply unit 40 while the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the circulation system is discharged from the phosphoric acid aqueous solution discharge unit 43 in order to maintain the silicon concentration in the phosphoric acid aqueous solution present in the circulation system or to intentionally change the silicon concentration.
As described above, after the processing of one batch of substrates 8 is completed, the first lid 71 and the second lid 72 are moved to the open positions. Then, the substrate support member 36B is raised to feed the substrate 8 out of the inner bath 34A.
After the processing of the substrate 8 is completed and before the substrate 8 is sent out from the inner tank 34A, the substrate position is determined while the first cover 71 is moved to the open position with the second cover 72 kept at the closed position. By doing so, it is possible to detect the misalignment of the substrate 8 that may occur during the processing (although the occurrence probability is very low).
Thereafter, the first lid 71 and the second lid 72 are moved to the closed positions again, the temperature of the phosphoric acid aqueous solution in the circulation system, the phosphoric acid concentration, and the silicon concentration are adjusted, and then another batch of substrates 8 is processed in the same manner as described above.
Next, an embodiment of the substrate position determination will be described. Before the substrate position determination, a plurality of, for example, 50 substrates 8 supported by the substrate support member 36B are immersed in the processing liquid stored in the inner tank 34A. At this time, the entire substrate 8 is positioned below the liquid surface of the processing liquid. After a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds) has elapsed, the second cover 72 with the substrate holder 74 attached thereto is moved to the closed position while the first cover 71 is kept at the open position (indicated by a broken line in fig. 9). Subsequently, substrate position determination is performed.
When the substrate position is determined, the illumination 92 is turned on, and in this state, an image of the substrate 8 is captured by the camera 90 (image pickup section). At this time, the illumination light reaches the substrate 8 through the region of the upper opening of the inner tank 34A not closed by the first cover 71, and the reflected light (object light) from the substrate 8 reaches the camera 90. Thus, the camera 90 can acquire an image having a sharpness to the extent that the substrate position determination described below can be performed without any trouble. In this image, substantially only APEX (outermost peripheral edge of the substrate) and its vicinity appear on the entire surface of each substrate 8, and the front surface (device formation surface) and the back surface of the substrate do not appear (see the schematic diagram of fig. 11). The illumination 92 is preferably irradiated with illumination light from a position where APEX of each substrate 8 can be brightest reflected.
The substrate position determination unit 94 cuts out a partial area AR of the image so as to include a portion of each substrate 8 close to the liquid surface (see the schematic diagram of fig. 11). The area AR can be formed as a stripe-like area whose longitudinal direction is the arrangement direction of the substrates 8, for example. In the image of the area AR, APEX (particularly, a portion perpendicular to the optical axis of the illumination light) of each substrate 8 seen in fig. 11 reflects the illumination light well, and the luminance in the image becomes the highest.
The substrate position determination section 94 obtains the distribution of the gradation values (values corresponding to the brightness of the image) along the arrangement direction of the substrates 8 (which is the direction along the arrow XS parallel to the X axis in fig. 11) within the area AR.
As the distribution of the gradation values, a distribution along a line having a width corresponding to a plurality of pixels extending in the arrangement direction (X direction) of the substrate 8 (for example, a width in the Y direction corresponding to the number of pixels corresponding to the width of the area AR) can be used. In this case, an average value of gradation values calculated based on signals from a plurality of pixels aligned in the Y direction at the same X-direction position may be treated as a gradation value at a certain X-direction position. By doing so, the detection accuracy can be improved.
Alternatively, a distribution along a line having a width (width in the Y direction) corresponding to 1 pixel extending in the direction of the arrow XS can be used as the distribution of the gradation values. In this case, a line sensor can be used as the imaging unit instead of the camera 90. The line sensor can be provided on the first cover 71 or the second cover 72, for example. If the first cover 71 or the second cover 72 is transparent, the line sensor may be provided inside the recesses 71R, 72R, for example, in which case the line sensor receives the object light transmitted through the first cover 71 or the second cover 72.
Fig. 12 shows an example of the distribution of the gradation values along the arrow XS in fig. 11. The brightness of the image portion corresponding to APEX of each substrate 8 is the highest, and the gray value shows a peak. The gray value of the image portion corresponding to the gap of the adjacent substrate 8 exhibits a valley value. In all the substrates 8, if the deviation of the actual position (X coordinate) of each substrate 8 from the reference position where the substrate 8 should be located is within the allowable range, the peak value is at a prescribed arrangement interval of the substrates 8 (for example, an offset amount within 5mm ± an allowable range), and there is a valley value between the adjacent peak values. At this time, as schematically shown in fig. 10, the lower peripheral edge portions of 1 substrate 8 are fitted into the substrate holding grooves 36BG of the substrate supporting member 36B, and the upper peripheral edge portion of one substrate 8 is fitted into the substrate holding groove 74G of the substrate presser 74. This is referred to as "proper substrate holding state".
The reason why the improper substrate holding state is generated is shown in fig. 13. As shown in the left side of fig. 13, when the second lid 72 is closed and the substrate presser 74 is brought close to the substrate 8 in a state where the upper peripheral edge of a certain substrate 8 is brought close to the upper peripheral edge of the adjacent substrate 8, a phenomenon occurs in which the upper peripheral edges of the adjacent substrates 8 are fitted into the same substrate holding groove 74G in a state where they are in contact with each other. This is called "bridging (wafer bridging)". The flow of the processing liquid is deteriorated among the 2 substrates 8 on which the bridges are formed, and thus, there is a possibility that an intended substrate processing result (for example, deterioration of in-plane uniformity) cannot be obtained.
Fig. 12 shows an example of the gradation value distribution obtained with respect to 50 substrates 8. In fig. 12, at the end of the substrate arrangement, the interval between adjacent gray value peaks becomes wider. This is due to the bridging that is created. That is, when the bridge shown on the right side of fig. 13 is generated, as shown by the broken line in fig. 14, the peak of the gradation value of the APEX image of the adjacent 2 substrates 8 is detected as 1 peak which cannot be separated. In addition, the distance between adjacent peaks also increases. The occurrence of the bridge can be detected by using this state. In fig. 14, the solid line is a curve obtained in an appropriate substrate holding state.
The judgment as to whether or not the bridge is generated is included in at least the judgment as to whether or not the deviation between the actual position of 1 substrate 8 and the reference position is within the allowable range.
Immediately after closing the second lid 72 with the substrate holder 74, the substrate position is determined, and if it is confirmed that no bridge is formed (that is, all the substrates 8 are in an appropriate holding state), bubbling of nitrogen gas is started and the first lid 71 is closed, and the liquid processing (for example, wet etching processing) is performed in this manner.
In the case where no bridge is created, the second lid 72 is opened and then closed again (retry). At this time, it is not necessary to open the second cover 72 to the fully open state (even if it is moved to the open position), and it is sufficient that the substrate holder 74 is once separated from the substrate 8. While the substrate presser 74 is away from the substrate 8, the substrate support member 36B may be reciprocated up and down by a slight amount to shake the substrate 8. After the second cover 72 is closed, the substrate position determination is performed again. After confirming that the substrate 8 is stored in the proper position (i.e., no bridging occurs), the process is continued by discharging nitrogen gas from the gas nozzle 60 (see fig. 2 to 4) to start bubbling and closing the first lid 71.
In the case where the bridge is not eliminated despite the above-described operation, the opening and closing of the second lid 72 and the substrate position determination are repeated until the bridge is eliminated. Alternatively, after the opening and closing of the second lid 72 and the judgment of the substrate position are performed a predetermined number of times, the bubbling is started and the first lid 71 is closed to continue the liquid processing regardless of whether the bridging is eliminated. Alternatively, instead of this method, even if bridging occurs when the second lid 72 is initially closed, bubbling is started and the first lid 71 is closed to continue the liquid treatment.
The bubbling of the nitrogen gas is performed for the purpose of improving the in-plane uniformity and the inter-plane uniformity of the processing of the substrate 8. Therefore, it is not preferable to continuously immerse the substrate 8 in the processing liquid without bubbling. From this viewpoint, it is preferable to limit the number of times of tests for opening and closing the second lid 72 and determining the substrate position. However, the above-described problem may not occur depending on the type of the treatment, and therefore, the number of retests may not be limited.
Further, if the substrate 8 is not pressed by the substrate presser 74, the substrate 8 may float from the substrate support member 36B due to bubbling, and the lower peripheral edge portion of the substrate 8 may be separated from the substrate holding groove of the substrate support member 36B. Therefore, regardless of the order of the treatment, it is preferable that the bubbling be performed with the second lid 72 in the closed position.
Software marking may also be performed on the substrate 8 on which the bridges are created. The software marking means, for example, that the storage medium 38 of the control unit 7 stores a content such as "when wet etching is performed on the substrates 8 of the lot M (M is the ID of the lot) in the processing bath 34, the nth substrate 8 and the (N + 1) th substrate 8 are bridged". Based on the software marking, the substrate 8 on which the bridge is generated or the semiconductor device obtained from the substrate 8 can be carefully inspected in the post-process. All the substrates 8 even if the bridge has once occurred can be targeted for marking by software. Instead of this method, only the substrate 8 on which the bridge has been formed a predetermined number of times or more may be marked by software. Instead of this method, only the liquid-processed substrate 8 in a state where the bridge is kept may be used as the object of the software marking.
If the bridging occurs in the initial substrate position determination, the second lid 72 may be handled as it is without performing opening and closing operations (retry) thereafter. In this case, the substrate 8 on which the bridge has been formed is subjected to software marking. Whether or not to perform the opening and closing operation of the second lid 72 after the bridge has been formed in the first substrate position determination can be set by an operator via a user interface (keyboard, touch panel, etc.), not shown, of the substrate liquid processing system 1A.
If the occurrence of the bridge is detected, the operator may notify a warning via a user interface (not shown) of the substrate liquid processing system 1A (e.g., a display, an alarm lamp, and an alarm buzzer).
The timing of closing the second lid 72 with the substrate holder 74 can be determined by the substrate position determination described above. In the process of immersing the substrate 8 into the processing liquid stored in the inner tank 34A while keeping the substrate 8 in a vertical posture at an equal interval in the horizontal direction by the substrate support member 36B, the substrate 8 swings due to the influence of the laplace pressure, and the distance between the upper peripheral edge portions of the adjacent substrates 8 fluctuates. Fig. 15 shows the time-dependent change in the distance between the adjacent substrates 8 in the array based on the moment when the substrate 8 is immersed in the treatment liquid (0 second). As can be seen from the graph of fig. 15, after a certain amount of time (for example, about 5 seconds) has elapsed after the substrate 8 is immersed in the processing liquid, the substrate is shaken. After the rocking of the substrate 8 is reduced to a level free from problems, the second cover 72 with the substrate presser 74 can be closed.
It was confirmed by experiments that the time (for example, about 5 seconds) from the time when the substrate 8 is immersed in the processing liquid in the inner tank 34A to the time when the oscillation of the substrate 8 becomes sufficiently small is substantially constant. Therefore, after a predetermined time (for example, about 6 seconds in view of a slight safety margin) has elapsed from the time when the substrate 8 is loaded into the inner tank 34A, the second lid 72 can be closed without determining the substrate position. Even in this case, the problem of bridging hardly occurs. Even if the bridging occurs, the occurrence of the bridging can be grasped by the substrate position judgment after closing the second lid 72, and the handling can be performed as necessary.
Instead of the above-described method, the substrate position determination may be performed based on images acquired after the substrate 8 is immersed in the processing liquid, for example, after 5 seconds, 6 seconds, and 7 seconds have elapsed, and if it can be confirmed that the deviation (positional deviation) of the actual position of the substrate 8 from the reference position of the substrate 8 is stable and falls within a predetermined range, the second lid 72 may be closed. In this case, the occurrence of bridging can be more reliably prevented.
According to the above embodiment, batch processing can be performed in a state where the substrate 8 is stably held at an appropriate position (reference position) by the substrate support member 36B and the substrate presser 74. If the bridging occurs, the in-plane uniformity and the inter-plane uniformity of the processing result (for example, etching amount) of the substrate 8 may be reduced, and such a situation does not occur according to the present embodiment.
In the above embodiment, the determination of the substrate position is made in consideration of the presence or absence of the bridge, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the substrate position determination, the deviation between the reference X coordinate and the actual X coordinate of each substrate 8 may be determined separately. The reference X-coordinate of each substrate 8 is equal to the X-coordinate of the substrate holding groove 36BG of the substrate supporting member 36B (or the X-coordinate of the substrate holding groove 74G of the substrate presser 74) with which the substrate 8 is to be engaged. The deviation between the reference X coordinate and the actual X coordinate is obtained for each substrate 8, and when the deviation exceeds a predetermined threshold value among 1 or more substrates 8, it can be determined that an inappropriate substrate holding state has occurred.
In the above embodiment, all the substrates 8 are imaged and the position determination is performed on all the substrates 8, but the position determination may be performed only on a part of the substrates 8 by imaging only a part of the substrates. Due to the arrangement of the inner tank 34A and the nozzles, there is a case where a positional deviation occurs only in the substrate 8 at a specific position, and in such a case, it is also possible to perform imaging and substrate position determination for only a part of the substrates. Therefore, a function of determining and adjusting the imaging range of the camera 90 based on the past substrate position may also be provided. By doing so, the burden of arithmetic processing can be reduced, and the accuracy of substrate position determination can be improved.
In the above embodiment, the camera is disposed above the upper opening of the inner tank 34A, and performs imaging of the substrate 8 with the first cover 71 in the open position. That is, the object light (light from the illumination 92 reflected by the substrate 8 and going to the camera 90) emitted from the object is incident on the camera 90 without passing through the constituent members of the processing bath 34 or the covers 71 and 72. That is, the object light is substantially disturbed only when passing through the processing liquid and when passing through the liquid surface (gas-liquid interface) of the processing liquid. As is clear from the structure shown in the drawings of the above embodiment, the distance from the portion (upper peripheral edge portion) of the substrate 8 that is involved in the determination of the substrate position to the liquid surface of the processing liquid is relatively small. Therefore, the camera 90 can capture an image having a sharpness to the extent that the substrate position determination can be performed without hindrance.
Further, as shown in fig. 3, when the first cover 71 is at the closed position, if the first cover 71 is in close contact with the liquid surface of the processing liquid and the first cover 71 is formed of a transparent material such as quartz, even if the first cover 71 is at the closed position, an image having a sharpness enough to allow the substrate position determination to be performed without any trouble may be captured by the camera 90. In such a case, the substrate position determination may be performed based on an image obtained in a state where the first cover 71 is in the closed position.
In addition, if the processing bath 34 is transparent, the substrate 8 may be photographed from below the processing bath 34. In this case, the presence or absence of the skip groove in the substrate support member 36B can be determined. The skip groove referred to herein means, for example, that when the substrate is immersed into the processing liquid with a large force, an upward force is applied to the substrate 8, the lower peripheral edge portion of the substrate 8 is separated from the substrate holding groove 36BG of the substrate support member 36B, and the substrate 8 is moved to an inappropriate position. In addition, a liquid supply line, a liquid discharge line, and various devices attached to these lines are usually provided in a space below the processing bath 34, and these lines and devices are preferably arranged so as not to interfere with imaging.
In addition, if the processing bath 34 is transparent (for example, in the case of a quartz processing bath), the camera 90 may photograph the substrate 8 from the side of the inner bath 34A. In this case, from the viewpoint of obtaining a clearer image, as shown in fig. 16, a processing bath of a type in which the outer bath (34B) surrounds only the upper portion of the inner bath (34A) can be used. In this case, the camera 90 may be provided such that the camera lens is in close contact with the side surface of the inner tank 34A. Further, if an image having a sharpness enough to allow determination of the substrate position without hindrance can be obtained, the image of the substrate 8 may be captured via the outer tank (34B) and the inner tank (34A).
There is also a substrate liquid processing apparatus of a type that processes a substrate without using a substrate holder (74) for holding the substrate 8, while supporting the substrate only from below by a substrate supporting member (36B). In this case, when the processing liquid is boiled vigorously or when the gas is discharged vigorously for bubbling, the substrate may float from the substrate supporting member, and a jumping groove may occur. The occurrence of such a jumping groove can be detected by performing the same substrate position determination as described above based on an image taken by a camera provided at the side or lower side of the processing groove 34.
Further, a camera for confirming the position of the substrate 8 held by the substrate holding member 36B pulled up from the liquid may be additionally provided. This makes it possible to detect a positional deviation of the substrate occurring during the processing of the substrate or a positional deviation of the substrate occurring when the substrate is pulled up from the processing liquid.
In the above embodiment, the treatment liquid is a phosphoric acid aqueous solution, but the treatment liquid is not limited to this, and SC1 or a treatment liquid in which an additive such as acetic acid is mixed with a phosphoric acid aqueous solution may be used. In the above embodiment, the film to be etched is a silicon nitride film, but the film is not limited to this, and may be another film to be etched. The process to be performed on the substrate in the processing bath may not include the etching step, and may include only the cleaning step. That is, the present invention can be applied to a case where treatment is performed in a treatment tank under conditions where droplets can be generated from the liquid surface of the treatment liquid. The substrate is not limited to a semiconductor wafer, and may be a substrate made of other materials such as glass and ceramic.
Note that, in the specification, the numbers such as "first" and "second" attached to the members do not necessarily coincide with the numbers attached to the constituent elements described in the claims (for example, the "lid").

Claims (18)

1. A substrate liquid processing apparatus, comprising:
a processing tank for storing a processing liquid, the processing tank having an upper opening for feeding and discharging a substrate;
a substrate support member for supporting a plurality of substrates arranged in a vertical posture at a predetermined interval in a horizontal direction;
a lifting mechanism for lifting the substrate supporting member between a processing position in the processing tank and a retreat position above the processing tank through the upper opening;
an imaging unit provided at a position where the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member can be imaged in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath;
a substrate position determination unit that determines whether or not a deviation between an actual position of the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member and a reference position at which the substrates should be positioned is within an allowable range, based on the image data captured by the imaging unit; and
and a control unit for controlling the operation of the substrate liquid processing apparatus.
2. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
the substrate support member is configured to support a peripheral edge portion of a lower half portion of each substrate from below so that each substrate can be displaced upward,
the substrate liquid processing apparatus includes:
a first lid capable of closing at least a portion of the upper opening;
a first lid opening/closing mechanism for opening/closing the first lid; and
and a substrate presser member that is provided in the first cover, and that engages with a peripheral edge portion of an upper half portion of each of the substrates supported by the substrate support member when the substrate support member supporting the plurality of substrates is located at the processing position and the first cover is located at the closing position, thereby preventing upward displacement of each of the substrates and preventing horizontal displacement of the substrates.
3. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:
the control unit causes the substrate position determination unit to determine the substrate position based on image data of the substrate captured at least one of a first time and a second time,
the first timing is a timing after the substrate supporting member supporting the plurality of substrates is submerged in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath and before the first lid is closed,
the second timing is a timing after the substrate support member supporting the plurality of substrates is immersed in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath and after the first cover is closed.
4. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:
the substrate position determination unit performs the substrate position determination based on the image data of the substrate captured at the first time, and the control unit moves the first cover to the closed position by the first cover opening/closing mechanism when the substrate position determination unit determines that the deviation is within the allowable range.
5. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein:
the substrate position determination unit performs the substrate position determination based on the image data of the substrate captured at the second time, and the control unit causes the first cover opening/closing mechanism to perform an opening/closing operation of opening the first cover and then moving the first cover to the closed position when the substrate position determination unit determines that the deviation is not within the allowable range.
6. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:
the control unit causes the first lid opening/closing mechanism to repeat the opening/closing operation up to the upper limit of the number of times set in advance until the deviation after the first lid is moved to the closed position for the last time falls within the allowable range, based on the result of the determination of the substrate position.
7. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:
the control unit raises and lowers the substrate support member by the lift mechanism to shake the substrate supported by the substrate support member while opening the first cover and then moving the first cover to the closed position.
8. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:
a gas nozzle provided in the processing bath below the substrate support member at the processing position and configured to discharge a gas for bubbling; and
a gas supply mechanism for supplying gas to the gas nozzle,
the controller controls the gas supply mechanism to stop the discharge of the bubbling gas from the gas nozzle until the first lid is moved to the closed position after the first lid is opened.
9. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein:
the upper opening is constituted by a first region and a second region, the first lid body is provided so as to be able to close the first region,
the substrate liquid processing apparatus further includes:
a second cover configured to close the second region; and
a second lid opening/closing mechanism for opening/closing the second lid,
when the substrate is to be imaged at the second timing, the control unit causes the second cover opening/closing mechanism to open the second cover, and images the substrate through the second region of the upper opening.
10. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising:
a gas nozzle provided in the processing bath below the substrate support member at the processing position and configured to discharge a gas for bubbling; and
a gas supply mechanism for supplying gas to the gas nozzle,
the controller controls the gas supply mechanism to stop the discharge of the bubbling gas from the gas nozzle until the first cover moves to the closed position after the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member are immersed in the processing liquid stored in the processing bath, and to discharge the bubbling gas from the gas nozzle after the first cover moves to the closed position.
11. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:
the substrate position determination unit determines that the deviation is not within the allowable range when a distance between at least 2 adjacent substrates among the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member is smaller than a preset threshold value in the substrate position determination.
12. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:
the substrate position determining unit determines a deviation between the reference position and the actual position of each substrate supported by the substrate supporting member in the substrate position determination, and determines whether or not the deviation is within an allowable range for each substrate.
13. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and 6 to 12, wherein:
the imaging unit is provided at a position where the plurality of substrates can be imaged from a predetermined direction, and when the plurality of substrates are imaged from the predetermined direction, substantially only APEX of the plurality of substrates held by the substrate support member at the processing position can be made to appear on the image.
14. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein:
the imaging unit further includes an illumination unit that irradiates illumination light required for imaging the substrate, and the illumination unit is disposed at a position where the illumination light can be irradiated so that APEX can be brightest reflected.
15. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein:
the substrate position determination section is configured to: the substrate position determination is performed by considering that APEX of each substrate exists at a position where a peak of brightness appears in the image acquired by the imaging unit, and considering the position of each peak as the actual position of each substrate.
16. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 12, 14 and 15, wherein:
the imaging unit includes 1 or more cameras, and the 1 or more cameras are provided at 1 or more positions among a position above the treatment tank, a position on a side of the treatment tank, and a position below the treatment tank.
17. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 12, 14 and 15, wherein:
the image pickup section includes a line image sensor having an image pickup element arranged along an arrangement direction of the plurality of substrates supported by the substrate support member.
18. The substrate liquid processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 12, 14 and 15, wherein:
when the substrate position determination unit determines that 2 adjacent substrates are in contact, the control unit stores each of the 2 substrates as a substrate having a contact record with the other substrate.
CN202220636026.5U 2021-04-01 2022-03-23 Substrate liquid processing apparatus Active CN217361512U (en)

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