JP2000084502A - Substrate treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately measure the flow rate of a treating liquid by a set of an ultrasonic flow meter and an arithmetic part irrespective of the number of the treating liquids, and to miniature of a substrate treating device and lowering the cost thereof. SOLUTION: An ultrasonic flow meter 91 is fitted in a main flow passage 72 so that it is located between a substrate washing part (substrate treating part) 20 and a treating liquid feeding mechanism 30. A switching mechanism part 93 is constituted of three air valves 93a, 93b, 93c and is opened and closed according to a valve opening/closing command from a control part 40 to select a treating liquid to be fed to the substrate washing part 20. Further, the control part 40 gives treating liquid information (a parameter value) corresponding to the selected treating liquid to an arithmetic part 94. Then, the arithmetic part 94 obtains a flow rate based on the parameter value corresponding to the treating liquid flowing in the ultrasonic flow meter 91 and an output signal from the ultrasonic flow meter 91.

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 for selectively supplying a plurality of processing liquids to a substrate processing section and performing predetermined processing on a substrate in the substrate processing section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of this type of substrate processing apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-45654.
This apparatus is used in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device (LCD), a plasma display device (PDP), a semiconductor device, various electronic components, and the like. In this substrate processing apparatus, a nozzle is arranged above a support base that holds and rotates various substrates such as a glass substrate for LCD or PDP and a semiconductor substrate, and a substrate processing unit is configured. Is selectively supplied to the substrate surface from the nozzle, and the substrate is cleaned by rotating the substrate.

The above-mentioned apparatus is a so-called single-wafer type substrate processing apparatus for processing substrates one by one. In addition to this, for example, a substrate processing apparatus described in JP-A-6-204201 is used. A so-called batch type substrate processing apparatus for performing a cleaning process on a plurality of substrates at a time has been conventionally known. In this apparatus, a plurality of processing liquids are selectively supplied to an overflow type substrate processing tank (substrate processing unit) for immersing a plurality of substrates, and the substrate is cleaned in the substrate processing tank. .

In such a substrate processing apparatus,
It is necessary to selectively supply a plurality of processing liquids to the substrate processing unit. Conventionally, for example, a processing liquid supply mechanism as shown in FIG. 3 has been employed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a partial configuration of a conventional substrate processing apparatus, particularly showing a processing liquid supply mechanism. The processing liquid supply mechanism 70 includes one main flow path 72 connected to the substrate processing unit, and two branch flow paths 74 and 75 individually connected to the main flow path 72. A pure water supply port 80 is connected to an end of the main flow path 72 opposite to the outlet side (the right-hand side in the figure), and the branch flow paths 74 and 75 are provided on the opposite side to the main flow path 72. First and second chemical liquid tanks 81 and 82 are connected to the ends, respectively.

As shown in the figure, a flow meter 91a, a flow regulating valve 92a, and an air valve 93a are provided in the main flow path 72 at an upstream side of the connection with the branch flow paths 74, 75 from the upstream side. They are arranged in order. The branch flow paths 74 and 75 have flow meters 91b and 91c and flow control valves 92b and 92c, respectively.
And the air valves 93b and 93c are respectively assigned in order from the upstream side. Note that the pure water supply port 80 of the main flow path 72 is provided.
A regulating valve 95 is also provided in the vicinity, that is, on the most upstream side.

On the other hand, the first chemical liquid tank 81 and the second chemical liquid tank 82 are respectively connected with nitrogen gas supply paths 97 and 99 connected to a nitrogen gas source (not shown). , 99 are provided with pressure regulating valves 97a, 99a, respectively. Therefore, the pressure regulating valves 97a, 99a
Is adjusted, the branch flow paths 74,
It becomes possible to purge the chemical solution supply path to 75 with nitrogen gas.

According to the processing liquid supply mechanism 70 having such a configuration, by controlling the opening and closing of each of the air valves 93a, 93b, and 93c, the two types of chemicals A and B stored in the chemical tanks 81 and 82, the pure water, Is selectively supplied to the substrate processing unit.

[0009]

When the substrate processing is performed by selectively supplying a processing liquid such as pure water or a chemical solution to the substrate processing section as described above, each processing liquid is supplied to the substrate processing section. It is necessary to adjust the supply amount accurately and with high precision. Therefore, in recent years, ultrasonic flow meters have been adopted as the flow meters 91a, 91b, and 91c.

[0010] The ultrasonic flow meter transmits ultrasonic waves in the processing liquid flowing therein in both directions along the flow of the ultrasonic waves, and also has a propagation time tA of the ultrasonic waves propagating from the upstream side to the downstream side, and a downstream time tA. The flow rate is measured from the propagation time tB of the ultrasonic wave propagating from the side to the upstream side.
1a, 91b, and 91c, respectively,
a, 94b, and 94c are electrically connected to each other, and output signals from the ultrasonic flow meters 91a, 91b, and 91c and parameter values (kinematic viscosity coefficient and fluid And the like, and calculates the flow rate based on the sound velocity, and displays the calculation result (flow rate).

However, as described above, it is necessary to provide the ultrasonic flow meters 91a, 91b, and 91c corresponding to the respective processing liquids, and it is necessary to prepare the ultrasonic flow meters and the arithmetic units as many as the processing liquids. This has been one of the factors such as an increase in the size of the substrate processing apparatus and an increase in product cost.

In the above description, the case where the types of the processing liquids are different from each other has been described. However, the same type of processing liquid may be used at a different temperature. If it changes, the parameter value will also be different. Therefore, even if the type of the processing liquid is the same, it is necessary to provide an ultrasonic flow meter and an arithmetic unit every time the temperature is different.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and it is possible to accurately measure the flow rate of a processing solution by using a set of ultrasonic flowmeters and a calculation unit regardless of the number of processing solutions. It is an object of the present invention to reduce the size and cost of a substrate processing apparatus.

[0014]

According to the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for selectively supplying a plurality of processing liquids to a substrate processing unit and performing predetermined processing on the substrate in the substrate processing unit. A switching mechanism disposed between the plurality of processing liquid supply sources and the substrate processing unit for selectively switching the processing liquid supplied to the substrate processing unit; An ultrasonic flowmeter disposed between a mechanical unit and the substrate processing unit for outputting a signal related to a flow rate of a processing liquid flowing from the switching mechanism unit to the substrate processing unit; and a signal from the ultrasonic flowmeter. And a control unit for calculating the flow rate of the processing liquid based on the control unit, controlling the switching mechanism unit to select the processing liquid to be supplied to the substrate processing unit, and providing the processing unit with processing liquid information relating to the selection result. And the operation unit, Serial is configured to calculate a signal from the ultrasonic flow meter, the flow rate of the processing solution based on the treatment liquid information provided from the control unit (claim 1).

According to the present invention, the switching unit is operated by the control unit to selectively supply one processing liquid from the plurality of processing liquids to the substrate processing unit. Passes through an ultrasonic flowmeter disposed between the switching mechanism and the substrate processing unit. At this time, the ultrasonic flow meter outputs a signal corresponding to the flow rate of the processing liquid to the calculation unit. On the other hand, in addition to the signal thus output from the ultrasonic flow meter, the processing unit is provided with processing liquid information related to the processing liquid selected by the control unit, and is selected based on these signals and the processing liquid information. The flow rate of the processing liquid is accurately calculated.

A display unit for displaying the calculated flow rate of the processing solution may be provided in the calculation unit (claim 2).
The operator can directly and visually check the flow rate of the processing liquid.

Further, parameter values for each processing liquid necessary for the flow rate calculation in the arithmetic section are stored in the control section in advance, and the control section selects the processing liquid according to the switching of the processing liquid by the switching mechanism section. The parameter value corresponding to the liquid may be provided to the calculation unit as the processing liquid information.

[0018]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus as an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. The substrate cleaning apparatus 10 selectively supplies a substrate cleaning unit (substrate processing unit) 20 for cleaning a substrate W, and pure water and two types of chemicals A and B as processing liquids to the substrate cleaning unit 20. And a processing liquid supply mechanism 30 for performing the processing.

The substrate cleaning section 20 has a cleaning processing chamber 22 as shown in FIG.
Inside, a spin chuck 50 holding the substrate W and rotating horizontally at a predetermined rotation speed, and a processing liquid such as chemicals A and B and pure water which are disposed above the substrate W and are supplied from the processing liquid supply mechanism 30 are provided. A processing liquid spray nozzle 52 for spraying toward the substrate W, and a cup 54 surrounding the horizontally rotating substrate W and preventing the water droplets blown off from the substrate W from being scattered are arranged. A drive motor 56 for rotating and driving the spin chuck 50 is provided.

The processing liquid spray nozzle 52 includes a nozzle main body 60 for supplying the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply mechanism 30 to the substrate W, and a nozzle 62 communicating with the nozzle main body 60. An ultrasonic vibration plate 66 electrically connected to an ultrasonic oscillator 64 is left inside the nozzle body 60. The ultrasonic vibration plate 66 generates vibration of a predetermined frequency.
Ultrasonic vibration is applied to the processing liquid stored in 0.

On the other hand, the processing liquid supply mechanism 30 for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate cleaning unit 20 configured as described above is the same as the conventional processing liquid supply mechanism 70 except for the following points. That is, the difference is that in the treatment liquid supply mechanism 30, the flow meter is removed, the adjustment valve 95 and the flow adjustment valve 92a are directly connected, and the chemical solution tanks 81 and 82 and the flow adjustment valve 92 are removed.
b and 92c are directly connected to each other,
Other configurations are the same. Therefore, when the air valves 93a, 93b, and 93c open and close in response to valve opening and closing commands from the control unit 40 that controls the entire apparatus, pure water and 2
One of the treatment liquids A and B is supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 via the main flow path 72. As described above, in this embodiment, the switching mechanism 93 for switching the processing liquid supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 is configured by the three air valves 93a, 93b, and 93c. However, the configuration is arbitrary as long as the three processing liquids can be selectively switched.

An ultrasonic flow meter 91 is interposed in the main flow path 72 so as to be located between the substrate cleaning section 20 and the processing liquid supply mechanism 30, and the processing liquid selected by the processing liquid supply mechanism 30 is provided. It is configured to be supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 side via the ultrasonic flow meter 91. The ultrasonic flow meter 91 uses the same measurement principle as that described in the section of “Problems to be Solved by the Invention” to calculate a signal corresponding to the flow rate of the processing liquid to the flow rate of the processing liquid flowing inside the arithmetic unit 94. Output to

The arithmetic section 94 is configured to be supplied with processing liquid information indicating the processing liquid selected by the switching mechanism section 93, in addition to the above signal. In this embodiment, the processing liquid information means parameter values required for flow rate calculation according to the type and temperature of the processing liquid,
These values are stored in advance in a memory (not shown) of the control unit 40, and each time the processing liquid is selectively switched by the control unit 40, the parameter value corresponding to the selected processing liquid is stored in the processing liquid information. Is given to the operation unit 94.

The arithmetic unit 94 which has received the signal from the ultrasonic flow meter 91 and the processing liquid information (parameter value) from the control unit 40 as described above receives the signal of the processing liquid selected based on these signals and the processing liquid information. The flow rate is calculated, and the calculation result is displayed on a display unit 941 attached to the calculation unit main body.

Next, in the substrate cleaning apparatus 10 configured as described above, first, a cleaning process using the chemical solution A in the chemical solution tank 81 is performed, and then a cleaning process using the chemical solution B in the chemical solution tank 82 is performed. The case of performing a cleaning process with pure water will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the switching operation of the processing liquid in the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. In the substrate cleaning apparatus 10, as shown in the figure, an operator inputs parameter values corresponding to each processing liquid via an operation panel (not shown) of the control unit 40 prior to an actual cleaning process. The parameter values thus input are registered as processing liquid information in the memory of the control unit 40 (step S1).
At this initial stage, the switching mechanism 93
The three air valves 93a, 93b, 93c are all closed.

Then, a command to start processing is given to the control unit 40 ("YES" is determined in step S2).
Then, the control unit 40 executes the following steps S3 to S11 according to a program stored in the memory in advance to sequentially perform the cleaning process using the chemical solution A, the chemical solution B, and pure water.

In step S3, a command to open the valve is given from the control unit 40 to the air valve 93b.
Then, the chemical solution A is selected from pure water. That is, the chemical solution A in the chemical solution tank 81 is supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 via the flow control valve 92b, the air valve 93b, and the ultrasonic flow meter 91, and the cleaning process of the substrate W with the chemical solution A is started. At this time, the ultrasonic flow meter 91 outputs a signal related to the flow rate of the liquid medicine A to the calculation unit 94.

After step S3, a parameter value corresponding to the selected chemical solution A is given from the control unit 40 to the calculation unit 94 as processing liquid information (step S4). Then, the calculation unit 94 that has received the signal from the ultrasonic flow meter 91 and the processing liquid information (parameter value) from the control unit 40 calculates the flow rate of the selected chemical A based on these signals and the processing liquid information. Is displayed on the display unit 941. This calculation display processing is continued until the air valve 93b is closed in response to the valve closing command from the control unit 40 (step S5), and the cleaning processing with the chemical solution A is stopped. In this embodiment, the display unit 941 is provided in the calculation unit 94 to display the flow rate. However, a display unit is separately provided at a position that is easy for the operator to see.
Alternatively, the flow rate may be displayed on the display unit based on a signal from the controller.

When the cleaning process using the chemical solution A is completed, a command to open the valve is given from the control unit 40 to the air valve 93c (step S6), and the chemical solution B is selected from the chemical solutions A and B and pure water. Is done. That is, the chemical solution B in the chemical solution tank 82 is supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 via the flow control valve 92c, the air valve 93c, and the ultrasonic flow meter 91, and
Is started. At this time, a signal related to the flow rate of the chemical solution B is output from the ultrasonic flow meter 91 to the calculation unit 94.

After step S6, a parameter value corresponding to the selected chemical B is given from the control unit 40 to the calculation unit 94 as processing liquid information (step S7). Then, the calculation unit 94 which receives the signal from the ultrasonic flow meter 91 and the processing liquid information (parameter value) from the control unit 40 calculates the flow rate of the selected chemical B based on these signals and the processing liquid information. Is displayed on the display unit 941. This calculation and display process is continued until the air valve 93c is closed in response to the valve closing command from the control unit 40 (step S8), and the cleaning process with the chemical solution B is stopped.

Finally, in order to perform a cleaning treatment with pure water,
A command to open the valve is given from the control unit 40 to the air valve 93a (step S9), and pure water is supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 via the regulating valve 95, the flow regulating valve 92a, the air valve 93a and the ultrasonic flow meter 91. And the cleaning process of the substrate W with pure water is started. At this time, a signal related to the flow rate of pure water is output from the ultrasonic flow meter 91 to the calculation unit 94.

After step S9, a parameter value corresponding to the selected pure water is given from the control unit 40 to the calculation unit 94 as processing liquid information (step S9).
10). Then, the calculation unit 94 that has received the signal from the ultrasonic flow meter 91 and the processing liquid information (parameter value) from the control unit 40 calculates the flow rate of the selected pure water based on these signals and the processing liquid information. , The calculation result is displayed on the display unit 9
41 is displayed. This calculation and display process is continued until the air valve 93c is closed in response to the valve closing command from the control unit 40 (step S11), and the cleaning process with pure water is stopped.

As described above, according to the substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment, the main flow path 72 is located between the substrate cleaning section (substrate processing section) 20 and the processing liquid supply mechanism 30.
The processing liquid information (parameter value) according to the selected processing liquid while the processing liquid to be supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 is selected by the switching mechanism 93 while the ultrasonic flow meter 91 is interposed therebetween.
Is given to the arithmetic unit 94, so that the parameter value corresponding to the processing liquid flowing in the ultrasonic flow meter 91 is always appropriately set in the arithmetic unit 94, and the ultrasonic flow meter 9
Accurate flow rate measurement can be performed based on the output signal from 1. Therefore, when the three treatment liquids are selectively supplied to the substrate cleaning unit 20 as in this embodiment,
In an apparatus for selectively supplying two processing liquids or four or more processing liquids to the substrate cleaning unit 20, only one set of the ultrasonic flow meter 91 and the arithmetic unit 94 is required.
The substrate cleaning apparatus 10 can be reduced in size,
The cost can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the parameter values are stored in the memory of the control unit 40 as the processing liquid information. However, the parameter values are registered in the calculation unit 94, and the processing liquid that has been switched and selected from the control unit 40. Only the index value indicated is calculated by the operation unit 94
The calculation unit 94 receives the parameter value and reads the parameter value corresponding to the index value, and calculates the flow rate of the processing liquid selected from the parameter value and the output signal from the ultrasonic flow meter 91. Is also good.

In the above-described embodiment, a single-wafer-type substrate cleaning unit 20 for processing substrates W one by one as a substrate processing unit.
Although, the substrate processing unit is not limited to this, even if a so-called batch type substrate cleaning unit that performs a cleaning process on a plurality of substrates at a time, The same effects as above can be obtained.

Further, in the above description, the substrate processing is described by taking the example of substrate cleaning. However, the substrate processing includes etching processing and developing processing, and a plurality of processing liquids are supplied to the substrate. The present invention can be applied to all substrate processing apparatuses that perform processing.

[0038]

As described above, according to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the control unit operates the switching mechanism to select one processing liquid from a plurality of processing liquids, and selects the selected processing liquid. The arithmetic unit receives the processing liquid information related to the selected processing liquid from the control unit while supplying the processing liquid to the substrate processing unit via the ultrasonic flow meter, and according to the flow rate of the processing liquid flowing through the ultrasonic flow meter. Received from the ultrasonic flow meter and calculates the flow rate of the selected processing liquid based on these signals and the processing liquid information, so that one set of ultrasonic flow meter and The calculation unit can accurately measure the flow rate of the processing liquid. As a result, the size of the substrate processing apparatus can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus as one embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a switching operation of a processing liquid in the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a partial configuration of a conventional substrate processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10: substrate cleaning device (substrate processing device) 20: substrate cleaning unit (substrate processing unit) 30, 70: processing liquid supply mechanism 40: control unit 80: supply port (processing liquid supply source) 81: first chemical liquid tank (Supply source of treatment liquid) 82: Second chemical tank (supply source of treatment liquid) 91, 91a, 91b, 91c: Ultrasonic flow meter 93: Switching mechanism section 93a, 93b, 93c: Air valves 94, 94a, 94b, 94c: arithmetic unit 941: display unit A, B: chemical solution (treatment liquid) W: substrate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) // H01L 21/027 H01L 21/30 569A F term (reference) 3B201 AB02 AB34 AB47 BB83 BB92 BB93 CB12 CD42 CD43 5F043 DD10 DD13 EE05 EE07 EE08 EE29 EE40 5F046 LA03 LA04 LA05

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for selectively supplying a plurality of processing liquids to a substrate processing unit and performing predetermined processing on a substrate in the substrate processing unit, comprising: a supply source for the plurality of processing liquids; A switching mechanism disposed between the substrate processing unit and selectively switching a processing liquid supplied to the substrate processing unit; and a switching mechanism disposed between the switching mechanism and the substrate processing unit. An ultrasonic flowmeter that outputs a signal related to a flow rate of the processing liquid flowing from the switching mechanism unit to the substrate processing unit; a calculation unit that calculates a flow rate of the processing liquid based on a signal from the ultrasonic flowmeter; A control unit that controls a mechanism unit to select a processing liquid to be supplied to the substrate processing unit, and that provides processing liquid information relating to the selection result to the arithmetic unit. The arithmetic unit includes the ultrasonic flow meter. From the control unit and The substrate processing apparatus characterized by calculating the flow rate of the processing solution based on the treatment liquid information. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit has a display unit that displays the calculated flow rate of the processing liquid. 3. The control unit stores in advance parameter values for each processing solution required when calculating the flow rate of the processing solution in the arithmetic unit, and switches the processing solution by the switching mechanism unit. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a parameter value corresponding to the processing liquid selected accordingly is provided to the arithmetic unit as the processing liquid information.