JP2000061377A - Method and apparatus for treating substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate treatment method which can prevent the generation of nonuniformity and defective treatment caused by the falling of treating liquid from the discharge opening of a treating liquid discharge nozzle without lowering throughput and an apparatus for the method. SOLUTION: A cleaning/suction unit 16 is installed in one waiting pot 6, and a suction unit 17 is installed in the other waiting pot 7. After the tip part of a developer discharge nozzle 11 being cleaned by the unit 16 in the waiting pot 6, while the nozzle 11 is being moved from a position on one side of the outside of a substrate 100 held in a standstill state in a substrate holding part 1 to a position on the other side of the outside of the substrate 100 passing on the substrate 100, a developer is supplied on the substrate 100. After the developer in the slit-shaped discharge opening 15 of the nozzle 11 being sucked/ removed by the suction unit 17 in the waiting pot 7, the nozzle 11 is returned from the waiting pot 7y to the waiting pot 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method having a processing liquid discharge nozzle for discharging a processing liquid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A developing device is used for developing a photosensitive film formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk and the like.

For example, a rotary developing device is provided with a rotation holding portion for holding a substrate horizontally and rotating it about a vertical axis, and a developing solution discharge nozzle for supplying a developing solution to the surface of the substrate. The developing solution discharge nozzle is attached to the tip of a nozzle arm rotatably provided in a horizontal plane, and can move between a position above the substrate and a standby position outside the substrate.

During the developing process, the developing solution discharge nozzle moves from the standby position to the position above the substrate, and then the developing solution is supplied to the photosensitive film such as photoresist on the substrate. The supplied developing solution is spread on the entire surface of the substrate by the rotation of the substrate and comes into contact with the photosensitive film. The photosensitive film is developed by allowing the substrate to stand for a certain period of time while the developer is held on the substrate (liquid puddle) due to surface tension. When the supply of the developing solution is completed, the developing solution discharge nozzle is moved to the standby position off the substrate by the rotation of the nozzle arm.

[0005]

In the conventional rotary type developing device described above, the photosensitive film on the substrate receives a large impact when the rotating substrate is hit with the developing solution at the start of discharge. Bubbles may be generated in the developer due to the impact, and minute bubbles remaining on the surface of the photosensitive film may cause development defects. Further, the photosensitive film may be damaged by the impact of the developing solution at the start of ejection.

Therefore, the inventor of the present invention linearly moves the developing solution discharge nozzle from one end to the other end on the substrate while discharging the developing solution from the developing solution discharge nozzle having a slit-shaped discharge port, It proposes a developing method in which the developing solution is supplied onto the substrate with a uniform impact force while suppressing the flow of the developing solution on the substrate in the initial stage of the supply of.

In this developing method, while the developing solution is ejected from the developing solution ejection nozzle having the slit-shaped ejection port, the developing solution ejection nozzle passes over the substrate from a position on one side outside the substrate to the other side outside the substrate. The developer is supplied onto the substrate by moving it to the position of, and the developer is puddle on the substrate. After that, the developing solution discharge nozzle moves from the position on the other side outside the substrate to above the substrate on which the developing solution is piled up, moves in the opposite direction, and returns to the position on the one side outside the substrate. By repeating this operation, the development processing can be sequentially performed on the substrates that are sequentially loaded.

However, when the developing solution discharge nozzle is returned from the position on the other side outside the substrate to the position on one side outside the substrate after supplying the developing solution onto the substrate, the developing solution discharge nozzle remains in the slit-shaped discharge port of the developing solution discharge nozzle. The developed developer may drop on the substrate in the puddle, impairing the uniformity of development or causing defective development. To prevent this, it is conceivable to return the developing solution discharge nozzle from the position on the other side of the substrate to the position on the one side of the substrate after the development processing with the developing solution on the substrate is completed. To be However, in that case,
The time required for the development process of one substrate becomes long, and the throughput decreases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate capable of preventing the occurrence of processing non-uniformity and processing defects due to the dropping of the processing liquid from the discharge port of the processing liquid discharge nozzle without lowering the throughput. It is to provide a processing method.

[0010]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention A substrate processing apparatus according to the first invention is a substrate holding means for holding a substrate, a processing liquid discharge nozzle having a discharge port for discharging a processing liquid, and a substrate holding means. Moving means for moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle from one position outside the substrate held stationary by the means to a position on the other side outside the substrate, and outside the substrate held by the substrate holding means. Is located at the other side of
And a removing means for removing the processing liquid from the discharge port of the processing liquid discharge nozzle.

In the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the processing liquid discharge nozzle is provided from the position on one side outside the substrate held stationary by the substrate holding means to the position on the other side outside the substrate through the substrate. By ejecting the treatment liquid from the treatment liquid ejection nozzle while moving the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid is supplied onto the stationary substrate. After that, the treatment liquid at the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle is removed by the removing means arranged on the other side of the substrate.

This prevents the treatment liquid from the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle from dropping onto the substrate when the treatment liquid ejection nozzle returns from the position on the other side outside the substrate to the position on the one side outside the substrate. It Therefore, with the processing liquid supplied onto the substrate, the processing liquid discharge nozzle can be returned from the position on the other side outside the substrate to the position on the one side outside the substrate via the upper side of the substrate. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of processing non-uniformity and processing failure due to the drop of the processing liquid from the ejection port of the processing liquid ejection nozzle without lowering the throughput.

A substrate processing apparatus according to a second invention is the substrate processing apparatus according to the first invention, wherein the removing means is
It is provided with a suction unit for sucking the processing liquid from the discharge port of the processing liquid discharge nozzle.

In this case, the processing liquid at the discharge port of the processing liquid discharge nozzle is sucked by the suction portion at the position on the other side outside the substrate. As a result, the treatment liquid at the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle is removed.

A substrate processing apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the substrate processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is disposed at a position on one side outside the substrate held by the substrate holding means for processing. The cleaning device further includes a cleaning unit that discharges the cleaning liquid to the liquid discharge nozzle and sucks the cleaning liquid discharged to the treatment liquid discharge nozzle.

In this case, the cleaning liquid is discharged to the processing liquid discharge nozzle by the cleaning means at one position outside the substrate to clean the processing liquid discharge nozzle, and the cleaning liquid discharged to the processing liquid discharge nozzle is sucked. To be done. This makes it possible to remove the processing liquid adhering to and around the ejection port of the processing liquid ejection nozzle. Therefore, the fresh processing liquid can be uniformly supplied from the ejection port of the processing liquid ejection nozzle onto the substrate held by the substrate holding means in a stationary state.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing a substrate, wherein the substrate holding means holds the processing liquid discharge nozzle from the position on one side outside the substrate held stationary to the position on the other side outside the substrate. A step of supplying the processing liquid onto the substrate while moving the substrate, and a step of removing the processing liquid at the ejection port of the processing liquid ejection nozzle at the position on the other side outside the substrate held by the substrate holding means. is there.

In the substrate processing method according to the present invention, the processing liquid discharge nozzle is passed from the position on one side outside the substrate held stationary by the substrate holding means to the position on the other side outside the substrate through the substrate. By ejecting the treatment liquid from the treatment liquid ejection nozzle while moving the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid is supplied onto the stationary substrate. Then, the treatment liquid at the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle is removed at the position on the other side outside the substrate.

This prevents the processing liquid from the ejection port of the processing liquid ejection nozzle from dropping onto the substrate when the processing liquid ejection nozzle returns from the position on the other side outside the substrate to the position on the one side outside the substrate. It Therefore, with the processing liquid supplied onto the substrate, the processing liquid discharge nozzle can be returned from the position on the other side outside the substrate to the position on the one side outside the substrate via the upper side of the substrate. As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of processing non-uniformity and processing failure due to the drop of the processing liquid from the ejection port of the processing liquid ejection nozzle without lowering the throughput.

A substrate processing method according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the substrate processing method according to the fourth aspect, wherein the step of removing the treatment liquid from the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle is the treatment of the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle. It includes a step of sucking the liquid.

In this case, the processing liquid at the ejection port of the processing liquid ejection nozzle is sucked at the position on the other side outside the substrate. As a result, the treatment liquid at the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle is removed.

[0022]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A developing apparatus and a developing method will be described below as an example of a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of the main part of the developing device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a main part of the developing device of FIG. It is a YY line sectional view.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the developing device includes a substrate holder 1 for holding the substrate 100 in a horizontal posture by suction.
Equipped with. The substrate holding unit 1 is fixed to the tip of the rotary shaft 3 of the motor 2 and is configured to be rotatable around a vertical axis. A circular inner cup 4 is provided around the substrate holder 1 so as to surround the substrate 100 so as to be vertically movable. A square outer cup 5 is provided around the inner cup 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, standby pots 6 and 7 are arranged on both sides of the outer cup 5, respectively.
A guide rail 8 is provided on one side of the one side.
Further, the nozzle arm 9 is provided so as to be movable in the scanning direction A and the opposite direction along the guide rail 8 by the arm driving unit 10. A pure water discharge nozzle 12 for discharging pure water is provided on the other side of the outer cup 5 so as to be rotatable in the direction of arrow R.

On the nozzle arm 9, a developing solution discharge nozzle 11 having a slit-shaped discharge port 15 at its lower end is attached vertically to the guide rail 8. As a result, the developer discharge nozzle 11 moves from the position of the standby pot 6 to the substrate 100.
It can be moved linearly in parallel along the scanning direction A to the position of the standby pot 7 passing above.

A washing suction unit 16 is provided in the standby pot 6.
And a suction unit 17 is provided in the standby pot 7. As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning suction unit 1
6 is connected to a suction source 20 such as an aspirator and a pure water supply source 21 that supplies pure water as a cleaning liquid. The suction unit 17 is a suction source 22 such as an aspirator.
It is connected to the.

As shown in FIG. 2, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11
The developing solution is supplied to the developing solution by the developing solution supply system 14. The control unit 13 controls the rotation operation of the motor 2, the scanning of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 by the arm driving unit 10, the developing solution discharge nozzle 1
The discharge of the developing solution from No. 1 and the operations of the cleaning suction unit 16 and the suction unit 17 are controlled.

In this embodiment, the substrate holding section 1 corresponds to the substrate holding means, the arm driving section 10 corresponds to the moving means, the motor 2 corresponds to the driving means, and the control section 13 corresponds to the control means. The cleaning suction unit 16 corresponds to the cleaning means, and the suction unit 17 corresponds to the suction means.

As shown in FIG. 4, the slit-shaped discharge port 15
Are arranged perpendicular to the scanning direction A of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11. The slit width t of the slit-shaped discharge port 15 is 0.05 to
It is 1.0 mm, and in this embodiment is 0.2 mm. Further, the discharge width L of the slit-shaped discharge port 15 is set to be equal to or larger than the diameter of the substrate 100 to be processed, and when processing the substrate 100 having a diameter of 8 inches, it is 210 mm in this embodiment. Is set to.

The bottom surface of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is the substrate 10.
The scanning is performed in the scanning direction A so as to maintain the state parallel to the 0 surface. The distance between the slit-shaped ejection port 15 and the surface of the substrate 100 is 0.2 to 5 mm, more preferably 0.5 to
It is 2 mm, and in this embodiment is 1.5 mm.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a part of the cleaning / suction unit 16. As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning suction unit 16
Has a nozzle storage portion 16a having a substantially V-shaped cross section, and a plurality of suction ports 18 and a plurality of pure water discharge ports 19 are provided on the bottom surface of the nozzle storage portion 16a. The plurality of suction ports 18 are connected to the suction source 20 of FIG. 3, and the plurality of pure water discharge ports 19 are connected to the pure water supply source 21 of FIG.

When the tip of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is located inside the nozzle housing portion 16a of the cleaning suction unit 16, the pure water supplied from the pure water supply source 21 shown in FIG.
Pure water is discharged from the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 through the suction port 18 by the suction source 20 shown in FIG. As a result, the developing solution attached to the slit-shaped ejection port 15 of the developing solution ejection nozzle 11 and its surroundings is removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a part of the suction unit 17,
FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 and the suction unit 17.

As shown in FIG. 6, the suction unit 17 includes
The nozzle housing portion 17a has a substantially V-shaped cross section, and a plurality of suction ports 23 are provided on the bottom surface of the nozzle housing portion 17a. The plurality of suction ports 23 are connected to the suction source 22 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the developer discharge nozzle 11
When the leading end of the developing solution is positioned inside the nozzle housing portion 17a of the suction unit 17, the developing solution in the slit-shaped ejection port 15 of the developing solution ejection nozzle 11 is sucked through the suction port 23 by the suction source 22 in FIG. As a result, the developing solution in the slit-shaped ejection port 15 of the developing solution ejection nozzle 11 is removed.

Next, referring to FIG. 8 and FIG.
The operation of the developing device will be described. As shown in FIG. 8A, the substrate 100 is held stationary by the substrate holding unit 1. During standby, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 stands by at the position P0 in the standby pot 6. At this time, the tip of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is located inside the nozzle housing portion 16 a of the cleaning suction unit 16. As a result, the cleaning suction unit 16 cleans the tip of the developer discharge nozzle 11 with pure water.

During the developing process, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 moves up, then moves in the scanning direction A, and moves down at the scanning start position P1 in the outer cup 5.

After that, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 starts scanning from the scanning start position P1 at a predetermined scanning speed. At this point, the developer is not yet discharged from the developer discharge nozzle 11. In this embodiment, the scanning speed is 10 to 500 m.
m / sec.

After the scanning of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is started, the slit-shaped discharging port 15 of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is placed on the substrate 100.
Before reaching the top, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 starts discharging the developing solution at a predetermined flow rate at the discharging start position P2.
In this embodiment, the flow rate of the developing solution is 1.2 L / min.

The developing solution discharge nozzle 11 discharges the developing solution from the discharge start position P2 onto the substrate 100 in the scanning direction A.
To a straight line (see FIG. 9). As a result, the substrate 1
The developing solution is continuously supplied to the entire surface of No. 00. The supplied developing solution is held (liquid buildup) on the substrate 100 by surface tension.

After the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 has passed over the substrate 100, the discharging of the developing solution by the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is stopped at the discharging stop position P3 deviated from the substrate 100. Then, when the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 reaches the scanning stop position P4 in the outer cup 5, the developing solution discharge nozzle 1
Stop the scan of 1.

After that, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 ascends at the scanning stop position P4 and then moves to the position P of the other standby pot 7.
It moves to 5 and descends into the standby pot 7. At this time,
The tip of the developer discharge nozzle 11 is located inside the nozzle housing 17 a of the suction unit 17. As a result, the suction unit 17 sucks and removes the developer from the slit-shaped discharge port 15 of the developer discharge nozzle 11.

As shown in FIG. 8 (b), after completion of the puddle,
The state in which the developing solution is supplied onto the stationary substrate 100 is maintained for a predetermined time. As a result, the development of the photosensitive film on the substrate 100 proceeds. During this period, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11
Passes over the substrate 100 from the standby pot 7 and returns to the standby pot 6.

After that, for example, the substrate 100 is rotated at a rotation speed of about 1000 rpm, and the pure water discharge nozzle 12 for cleaning is used.
Pure water is supplied to the substrate 100 from the above to stop the progress of development and perform a rinse treatment with pure water.

Finally, the pure water supply from the pure water discharge nozzle 12 is stopped, the substrate 100 is rotated at, for example, 4000 rpm, the pure water is shaken off from the substrate 100, and the substrate 100 is dried. After that, the rotation of the substrate 100 is stopped and the developing process is ended.

In the developing device of this embodiment, after the developing solution is supplied onto the substrate 100, the slit-shaped ejection port 1 of the developing solution ejection nozzle 11 is moved by the suction unit 17 in the standby pot 7.
The developer of No. 5 is removed by suction. Therefore, the substrate 1
Even if the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is returned from the standby pot 7 to the standby pot 6 via the upper side of the substrate 100 while the developing solution is piled up on the upper surface of the substrate 100, development is performed from the slit-shaped discharge port 15 of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11. The liquid does not drop on the substrate 100. Therefore, the developer discharge nozzle 11 can be returned from the standby pot 7 to the standby pot 6 via the upper side of the substrate 100 while the developer 100 is piled up on the substrate 100. As a result, it is possible to prevent uneven development and defective development due to the dropping of the developing solution without lowering the throughput.

Further, since the cleaning suction unit 16 in the standby pot 6 cleans the tip of the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 before the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 supplies the developing solution, the substrate 100 in a stationary state is fresh. The developing solution can be supplied uniformly.

Further, in the developing device of this embodiment, since the developing solution is started to be discharged before the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 reaches the stationary substrate 100, the developing solution at the start of discharging impacts the substrate 100. Is avoided. Thereby, generation of bubbles in the developing solution is suppressed and development defects are prevented.

Further, the developing solution in the vicinity of the slit-shaped ejection port 15 which comes into contact with air during the movement of the developing solution ejection nozzle 11 is discarded to the outside of the substrate 100, and the developing solution ejection nozzle 11 is replaced by the substrate 10.
When the temperature reaches 0, a new developing solution is supplied from the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 onto the stationary substrate 100. As a result, it is possible to prevent development defects from being generated by the deteriorated developer, and also to prevent particles generated by the drying of the developer from adhering to the surface of the photosensitive film on the substrate 100.

Further, on the substrate 100 on which the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is stationary, the slit-shaped discharge port 15 and the upper surface of the substrate 100 are moved in parallel in a straight line in a horizontal direction,
Since the strip-shaped developer formed in the slit-shaped ejection port 15 continuously contacts the surface of the substrate 100, the developer is uniformly supplied to the entire surface of the substrate 100 without being impacted on the surface of the substrate 100.

Further, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is provided on the substrate 100.
Since the supply of the developing solution is continued until the developer passes above, the adverse effect on the developing solution in the puddle due to the impact when the discharge is stopped is prevented. As a result, the occurrence of development defects is suppressed, and the line width uniformity of the photosensitive film pattern after development is improved.

Further, the developing solution discharge nozzle 11 is provided on the substrate 100.
Since the discharge of the developing solution is stopped after passing over, it is possible to prevent the photosensitive film on the substrate 100 from being impacted by the dripping of the developing solution when the discharging is stopped. Therefore, the occurrence of development defects and the deterioration of the line width uniformity of the photosensitive film pattern are prevented.

In the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the developing device and the developing method using the developing solution discharge nozzle having the slit-shaped discharge port has been described.
It can also be applied to a developing device and a developing method using another developing solution discharge nozzle.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the developing device and the developing method has been described. However, the present invention is a coating device provided with a coating liquid discharge nozzle for discharging a coating liquid such as a resist liquid. It can also be applied to other substrate processing apparatuses and substrate processing methods such as a coating method.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line XX of the main part of the developing device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line YY of the main part of the developing device in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing slit-shaped discharge ports of a developer discharge nozzle.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a part of the cleaning suction unit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a part of the suction unit.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a developing solution discharge nozzle and a suction unit.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the developing device in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing scanning of a developing solution discharge nozzle on a substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Substrate holder 8 guide rails 9 nozzle arm 10 Nozzle drive 11 Developer discharge nozzle 13 Control unit 14 Developer supply system 15 Slit discharge port 16 Washing suction unit 16a, 17a Nozzle storage part 17 Suction unit 18,23 Suction port 19 Pure water outlet 20,22 suction source 21 Pure water supply source

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H096 AA25 GA31                 4F041 AA06 AB01 BA05 BA57 BA60                       CA02 CA22 CA28                 4F042 CC03 CC08 EB24 EB29                 5F046 LA03 LA07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substrate holding means for holding a substrate, a processing liquid ejection nozzle having an ejection port for ejecting a processing liquid, and the substrate from one side outside the substrate held stationary by the substrate holding means. Displacement means for moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle to a position on the other side outside the substrate passing above, and the processing liquid discharge disposed on the other side position outside the substrate held by the substrate holding means. A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a removing unit that removes the processing liquid from the discharge port of the nozzle. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the removing unit includes a suction unit that sucks the processing liquid from the discharge port of the processing liquid discharge nozzle. 3. The treatment liquid discharge nozzle is disposed at the position on the one side outside the substrate held by the substrate holding means to discharge the cleaning liquid to the processing liquid discharge nozzle and suck the cleaning liquid discharged to the processing liquid discharge nozzle. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning unit. 4. The processing liquid on the substrate while moving the processing liquid discharge nozzle from one position outside the substrate held stationary by the substrate holding means to the position on the other side outside the substrate passing over the substrate. And a step of removing the treatment liquid from the ejection port of the treatment liquid ejection nozzle at a position on the other side outside the substrate held by the substrate holding means. . 5. The process of removing the processing liquid from the discharge port of the processing liquid discharge nozzle includes the step of sucking the processing liquid from the discharge port of the processing liquid discharge nozzle. Substrate processing method.