JP2000150368A - Gas processing method and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lessen the dispersion of surface processing within a wafer face, in a device which contrives the increase of hydrophobicity prior to applying resist on a semiconductor wafer, or a device which gelatinizes the applied film being the material of an insulating film. SOLUTION: Processing for hydrophobicity is performed by repeating the intermittent supply and stoppage of HMDS(hexamethyl disilazane) gas, and reopening the processing for hydrophobicity after restoring the temperature of the wafer section which has dropped together with the progress of the processing for hydrophobicity by the supply of HMDS gas, during the stop period of the processing for hydrophobicity by the stoppage of supply of HMDS gas, thereby restraining the temperature of the section where the gas hits of the wafer W from remarkably dropping. Moreover, also in the cafe of gelatinizing the applied film with ammonium gas, it is performed in the same way. In this case, the control of the supply and stoppage of the gas may be performed with the specified timing or may be performed, based on the pressure within a processing container.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas processing method and apparatus for processing a substrate surface using a processing gas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, semiconductor wafers (hereinafter referred to as wafers) and glass substrates of liquid crystal displays (LCD substrates).
A mask for forming a desired pattern on the surface of the substrate is obtained by applying a resist on the surface of a substrate such as a wafer, irradiating the resist surface with light, an electron beam or an ion beam, and developing the resist. It is important to increase the adhesion between the substrate and the resist so that the resist mask does not peel off from the substrate at the time of the development step or the subsequent ion implantation or etching. For this reason, a process for hydrophobizing the substrate surface is usually performed before the application of the resist liquid, thereby improving the adhesiveness of the resist.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a conventional hydrophobizing apparatus. This processing apparatus includes a hermetically sealed container 11 for enclosing a wafer W, and a process gas H in the hermetically sealed container 11.
MDS (hexamethyldisilazane; chemical formula (CH3) 3S
a gas inlet 12 for introducing a gas composed of iNHSi (CH3)) vapor, an exhaust port 13 for exhausting the gas in the sealed container 11, a mounting table 14 for mounting the wafer W, and a wafer W
Resistance heating wire 1 built in the mounting table 14 for heating
5 is provided.

Then, the wafer W is carried into the closed container 11 by a transfer means (not shown), and is mounted on the mounting table 14. Then, the wafer W becomes 90
The temperature is kept at 110 ° C to 110 ° C. Subsequently, HMDS gas is supplied from a HMDS supply source (not shown) into the closed container 11 through the gas inlet 12. The HMDS gas introduced into the closed container 11 flows toward the exhaust port 13 while being in contact with the wafer surface, and is discharged from the container through the exhaust port 13. Usually, continuously for about 20 seconds, for example, in a closed container 1
1 is supplied with HMDS gas.

[0005] In the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, a gas inlet 12 is provided so as to be located above the center of the wafer W, and an exhaust port 13 is provided outside the peripheral edge of the wafer W. Therefore, the HMDS gas introduced from the gas inlet 12 hits the center of the wafer W, flows to the peripheral side along the wafer surface, and is exhausted.

[0008] Although not shown, the arrangement of the gas inlet and the exhaust port is reversed from that of the apparatus shown in FIG. 8, and HMDS gas is introduced into the sealed container from the periphery of the wafer, and exhausted from above the center of the wafer. Some devices are configured to perform

[0007] Alternatively, although not particularly shown, there is an apparatus provided with a gas introduction port and an exhaust port opposed to the sides of the sealed container. In that case, the HMDS gas flows across the wafer along the wafer surface and is exhausted.

[0008]

However, since the HMDS gas introduced into the closed container is lower than the temperature of the wafer W, in the apparatus shown in FIG. , The central portion of the wafer is cooled more than the peripheral portion. Similarly, in a device in which HMDS gas is introduced from near the wafer periphery and exhausted from above the center of the wafer, the periphery of the wafer is cooled more than the center. Further, in a device that introduces and exhausts HMDS gas at the side of the closed container, the wafer portion on the gas inlet side is cooled more than the wafer portion on the exhaust port side.

As described above, in any type of apparatus, a temperature difference occurs conventionally in the direction of the flow of the HMDS gas, and the in-plane temperature distribution of the wafer W is not uniform. HM
In the hydrophobic treatment using the DS gas, the higher the temperature of the wafer W during the treatment, the higher the hydrophobicity of the wafer surface. Therefore, in any type of apparatus, the hydrophobicity of the wafer portion near the gas inlet 12 becomes worse. There was a problem.

Here, the hydrophobicity (or hydrophilicity) of the wafer W
The contact angle of a water drop dropped on the surface of the wafer W is generally used as an index indicating (see FIG. 5). Although the contact angle will be described later, the contact angle in the wafer surface after the hydrophobization treatment in any of the conventional apparatuses has a variation of 3 to 4 degrees.

The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gas processing method capable of further reducing the state of surface treatment in a substrate surface, for example, a variation in hydrophobicity. It is in.

[0012]

According to the gas processing method of the present invention, when a substrate is subjected to surface treatment using a gas in a closed container, the substrate is loaded into the closed container, and the substrate is loaded. Intermittently supplying the processing gas into the closed container while exhausting the inside of the closed container. According to the present invention, by intermittently and repeatedly supplying and stopping the processing gas, the temperature of the substrate portion lowered with the progress of the surface treatment is returned to the suspension period of the surface treatment, and then the surface treatment is restarted. Therefore, the surface treatment can be performed while suppressing the temperature of the portion of the substrate exposed to the gas from being extremely low. Therefore, variations in the surface treatment within the substrate surface, for example, variations in hydrophobicity can be further reduced.

[0013] Alternatively, in the gas treatment method according to the present invention, in performing the surface treatment of the substrate using the gas in the closed container, the step of carrying the substrate into the closed container and the step of exhausting the inside of the closed container into which the substrate is loaded are performed. A step of supplying a processing gas into the closed vessel to make the inside of the closed vessel an atmosphere of the processing gas, and then stopping the exhaust of the closed vessel and stopping the introduction of the processing gas, and leaving the apparatus in that state. And a step may be included.

According to the present invention, during the supply period of the processing gas, the new processing gas is continuously supplied, and the surface processing proceeds while the temperature of the substrate portion cooled by the supplied processing gas is reduced. During the gas supply suspension period, the surface treatment proceeds with the processing gas remaining in the closed vessel while the cooled substrate portion returns to or near the original temperature, so that the portion of the substrate gas hit by the gas is stopped. The surface treatment can be performed while suppressing the temperature from becoming extremely low. Therefore, variations in the surface treatment within the substrate surface, for example, variations in hydrophobicity can be further reduced.

In these inventions, the surface treatment is, for example, a treatment for making the substrate surface hydrophobic. The hydrophobic treatment is
For example, the heating is performed by supplying a hexamethyldisilazane gas while heating the substrate. When such processing is performed, the supply and stop timings of the processing gas are controlled based on a predetermined timing using a timer or the like or based on the temperature in the closed container.

Further, as the surface treatment, a treatment for gelling a sol-like coating film in which particles or colloids of an insulating film material are dispersed in an organic solvent can be mentioned. In this case, a treatment gas is ammonia gas. be able to. When such processing is performed, the timing of supply and stop of the processing gas is controlled based on a predetermined timing using, for example, a timer or the like, or based on the pressure in the sealed container.

In order to carry out the above-mentioned invention, for example, a gas is supplied to a chemical solution surface in a chemical solution storage portion via a valve, and the vapor of the chemical solution is supplied as a process gas into the closed container, and the supply and stop of the process gas are performed. Is controlled by opening and closing the valve.

The present invention is also realized as a gas processing apparatus, which comprises a sealed container having a substrate mounting portion therein, a transport means for loading the substrate into the sealed container, and the sealed container. A processing gas supply unit for supplying a processing gas into the closed container, and a control unit for controlling the processing gas supply unit so as to process the surface of the substrate by intermittently supplying the processing gas into the closed container. It is characterized by the following.

Further, another apparatus includes a sealed container having a substrate mounting portion therein, a conveying means for carrying the substrate into the sealed container, and a processing gas supply means for supplying a processing gas into the sealed container. Exhaust means for exhausting the inside of the closed container, and setting the inside of the closed container to a processing gas atmosphere while exhausting the inside of the closed container for processing the surface of the substrate, and then exhausting the closed container and supplying the processing gas. And control means for controlling the processing gas supply means and the exhaust means so as to stop the process. These devices include, for example, a heating unit that heats a substrate placed on the placement unit.

[0020]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a hydrophobizing apparatus (gas processing apparatus) used when applying a gas processing method according to the present invention to a hydrophobizing treatment. The hydrophobizing apparatus includes a sealed container 2 for enclosing a wafer W as a substrate, an HMDS supply source 3 for supplying an HMDS gas as a processing gas to the sealed container 2 via a gas flow path 30, and a sealed container 2. And control means 4 for controlling the supply and stop of the HMDS gas.

The sealed container 2 includes a mounting table 21 as a mounting section on which the wafer W is mounted, and a base 22 supporting the mounting table 21.
And a lid 24 which is closely attached to a peripheral portion of the base 22 via a seal member 23 and constitutes the closed container 2 together with the mounting table 21 and the base 22. The mounting table 21 has a built-in heating unit 25 formed of, for example, a resistance heating wire for heating the wafer W to, for example, 90 degrees to 110 degrees.

For example, a diffusion plate 5 is provided at, for example, a central portion of the lid 24. The diffusion plate 5 is made of a hollow container, and a gas passage 30 is provided in an air supply port 51 opened on the upper surface thereof.
Are connected to each other, and a large number of gas holes 52 are formed in the bottom surface.

The base 22 of the sealed container 2 is provided with, for example, four to six exhaust holes 61 outside the mounting table 21. A valve 63 is connected to the exhaust holes 61 via a gas exhaust path 62, and an exhaust pump 64 is connected downstream of the valve 63. The exhaust hole 61, the gas exhaust path 62, the valve 63, and the exhaust pump 64 constitute an exhaust unit that exhausts the gas in the closed container 2.

The HMDS supply source 3 generates HMDS vapor as a chemical by spraying, for example, N 2 gas onto the surface of the HMDS solution stored in a storage container 31 which is a hermetic chemical storage section. ing. The generated HMDS gas is sent out to a gas channel 30 via an exhaust nozzle 32 connected to a storage container 31. The N2 gas is blown into the storage container 31 from an N2 gas cylinder or the like (not shown) via an N2 nozzle 33 having a diameter of, for example, 1 mm connected to the storage container 31. Although not particularly limited, FIG.
In the example shown in (1), the storage container 31 is provided with only one N2 nozzle 33.

A valve 42 for supplying and stopping N2 gas to the storage container 31 is provided in the N2 supply path 41 from an N2 gas cylinder or the like (not shown) to the N2 nozzle 33 of the storage container 31. When the valve 42 is in the open state, N2 gas is sent into the HMDS storage container 31 so that the HMDS gas is removed from the storage container 31 to the closed container 2.
Supplied within. On the other hand, when the valve 42 is closed, the supply of the N2 gas to the storage container 31 is stopped, and the supply of the HMDS gas to the closed container 2 is also stopped. In this example, the N2 supply path 41, the valve, the storage container 31, and the gas flow path 30 constitute processing gas supply means. Further, the control means 4 includes a valve control section 40 for opening and closing the valve 42, and further includes a valve control section for opening and closing the valve 63, though not shown.

Although not shown, the valve controller 40 includes a timer for determining the opening / closing timing of the valve 42, a driving mechanism such as a solenoid and a motor for opening / closing the valve 42, and a driving mechanism for the driving mechanism. It is composed of a drive control unit for controlling the supplied driving force.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. The wafer W is carried into the hydrophobizing apparatus by a transfer arm (not shown), and the closed container 2 with the lid 24 opened.
Is mounted on the mounting table 21 for cooperation of a lifting arm (not shown) incorporated in the mounting table 21 and the transfer arm. At that time, the mounting table 21 is heated to 90 ° C to 110 ° C. Then, the lid 24 is closed, and the exhaust-side valve 63 is closed.
Is opened, and the exhaust pump 64 is operated,
The valve 42 is opened and the HMDS gas is supplied into the closed container 2. Thereafter, the valve 42 is controlled according to a predetermined control pattern.
Is opened and closed to supply and stop the HMDS gas, and the hydrophobic treatment proceeds.

FIG. 2 shows the valve 4 by the valve control unit 40.
4 is a graph schematically showing an example of a change in wafer temperature due to opening and closing of 2, ie, supply and stop of HMDS gas.
In the example shown in FIG. 2, the valve 42 is opened four times, for example, every 5 seconds, for example, every 5 seconds. That is, the closed container 2
HMDS gas is continuously supplied, for example, for 5 seconds (see FIG. 2).
(A)) Then, for example, the supply is continuously stopped for 5 seconds (FIG. 2 (B)), and the same cycle is continued three times thereafter (FIGS. 2 (C) to (G)). In any period, the exhaust side valve 63 is opened, and the exhaust pump 64 is operated to exhaust the air in the sealed container 2. Therefore, the hydrophobic treatment proceeds during the HMDS gas supply period ((A), (C), (E), (G) in FIG. 2), while the HMDS gas supply suspension period ((B), (B) in FIG. 2). In (D) and (F)), the hydrophobic treatment is also stopped.

According to the control pattern shown in FIG.
The temperature of the wafer portion cooled by the introduction of the S gas (the center of the wafer in the example of FIG. 1) depends on the supply period of the HMDS gas ((A), (C), (E), (G) in FIG. 2). Since the wafer W is heated by the mounting table 21, the supply stop period of the HMDS gas (see FIG. 2B,
(D), (F)), and returns to or near the original temperature.

According to the above-described embodiment, the supply and the stop of the HMDS gas are intermittently and repeatedly performed, so that the temperature of the wafer portion which has decreased with the progress of the hydrophobic treatment returns to the stop period of the hydrophobic treatment. Since the hydrophobizing process is restarted, the hydrophobizing process can be performed while suppressing the temperature of the portion of the wafer W exposed to the gas from being extremely low. Therefore, the dispersion of the hydrophobicity in the wafer surface can be further reduced.

According to the above-described embodiment, while the supply of the HMDS gas is stopped, the concentration of the HMDS gas in the storage vessel 31 of the HMDS supply source 3 increases due to evaporation of the HMDS solution. The hydrophobization treatment can be performed using a higher concentration of HMDS gas as compared with the case where the gas is continuously supplied. Therefore, even if the total supply time of the HMDS gas is the same as the conventional one, for example, 20 seconds, the effect that the hydrophobic treatment is further advanced than before can be obtained. Further, since the concentration of the HMDS gas is high, the processing time can be shortened.

FIG. 3 shows the HMDS associated with the opening and closing of the valve 42.
9 is a graph schematically showing another example of a change in wafer temperature due to supply and stop of gas. In the example shown in FIG. 3, for example, the valve 42 is opened continuously for 10 seconds and H
The MDS gas is supplied (FIG. 3 (H)), and then the supply is stopped by, for example, continuously closing the valve 42 for 10 seconds (FIG. 3 (I)). During the HMDS supply period (FIG. 3 (H)), the exhaust side valve 63 is opened, the exhaust pump 64 is operated to exhaust the air in the closed vessel 2, and the inside of the closed vessel 2 is HM.
Make the atmosphere of DS gas. Supply suspension period (Fig. 3 (I))
Then, the exhaust valve 63 is closed to stop the exhaust.

According to the control pattern shown in FIG.
In the S supply period, new HMDS gas is continuously supplied, and the hydrophobic processing proceeds while the temperature of the wafer portion cooled by the supplied HMDS gas decreases.
On the other hand, during the HMDS supply suspension period, the HMDS gas remaining in the sealed container 2 progresses the hydrophobic treatment while the cooled wafer portion returns to or near the original temperature by heating by the mounting table 21.

Therefore, according to the embodiment employing the pattern shown in FIG. 3, similar to the pattern shown in FIG.
Since the hydrophobic treatment can be performed while suppressing the temperature of the portion exposed to the gas from becoming extremely low, the variation in hydrophobicity in the wafer surface can be further reduced.

FIG. 4 shows the HMDS associated with opening and closing of the valve 42.
11 is a graph schematically showing still another example of a change in wafer temperature due to supply and stop of gas. In the example shown in FIG. 4, for example, the valve 42 is opened continuously for 7 seconds and H
The MDS gas is supplied (FIG. 4 (J)), and then the valve 42 is closed, for example, continuously for 7 seconds to stop the supply (FIG. 4 (J)).
(K)), and thereafter, for example, every 3.5 seconds, for example, 3.5.
The valve 42 is opened twice every second (FIG. 4 (L)-
(O)). Note that exhaust is not performed during the period (K) in FIG. 4, but exhaust is performed during the periods (J) and (L) to (O) in FIG. During the period of (J) in FIG. 4, the temperature inside the closed container 2 is drastically reduced due to the supply of the HMDS gas. However, during the period of (K) in FIG. In addition, the inside of the closed container 2 can be raised to a desired temperature. Further, after that, the supply and the stop of the HMDS gas are intermittently and repeatedly performed, so that the temperature of the wafer portion which has decreased with the progress of the hydrophobic treatment is returned to the stop period of the hydrophobic treatment, and then the hydrophobic treatment is restarted. ,
The hydrophobic treatment can be further advanced while suppressing the temperature of the portion of the wafer W exposed to the gas from being extremely low.

In the above embodiments, the valve 4
Although the valve 42 is opened and closed, the valve 42 may be a mass flow valve and the valve may be used to adaptively control the flow rate of the HMDS gas.

Further, in the above embodiment, the opening and closing of the valve 42 is controlled based on the result of the time measurement by the timer. However, as shown in FIG. Temperature sensor 50 for detection
For example, control may be performed such that the valve 42 is closed when the temperature of the wafer W becomes lower than a predetermined temperature after the valve 42 is opened, and the valve 42 is opened again when the temperature of the wafer W becomes higher than the predetermined temperature. This makes it possible to more accurately control the temperature of the wafer W being processed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, instead of the storage container 31, a storage container 36 having a plurality of (six in the illustrated example) N2 nozzles 33 may be used. When the storage container 36 having such a configuration is used, the N2 nozzle has more N on the surface of the HMDS solution than the single storage container 31.
2 Higher concentration of H
The MDS gas can be supplied to the closed container 2, so that the hydrophobic treatment can be further promoted and the treatment time can be shortened.

Next, the results of experiments conducted by the present inventors will be described. The HMDS gas is supplied in the pattern shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 to perform the hydrophobizing treatment, and the wafer that has been subjected to the HMDS gas and the hydrophobizing treatment is continuously performed for 20 seconds in the conventional manner. The contact angle of the water droplet was measured at 49 places. As a result, in both the pattern of FIG. 2 and the pattern of FIG. 3, the variation of the contact angle in the wafer surface was 1 to 2 degrees, whereas in the conventional method, the variation of the contact angle in the wafer surface was 3 degrees. Was about 4 degrees.

Here, the contact angle is an index indicating the state of a water droplet on the surface of the wafer W, and is a line connecting the center of the water droplet D and the outer edge of the water droplet D on the surface of the wafer W as shown in FIG. (Dotted line) is an angle obtained by doubling the angle θ formed with respect to the surface of the wafer W. As shown in FIG. 7B, when the contact angle 2θ is small, the surface of the wafer W is hydrophilic, and as shown in FIG. 7A, the hydrophobicity of the surface of the wafer W is remarkable as the contact angle 2θ increases. become.

Therefore, according to the above-described contact angle measurement experiment, each of the above-described embodiments has a smaller contact angle variation than the conventional case, and therefore has a smaller hydrophobicity variation within the wafer surface.

Next, an outline of an example of a coating / developing apparatus in which a gas processing apparatus used for carrying out the gas processing method according to the present invention is incorporated as a hydrophobic processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 8, reference numeral 71 denotes a cassette loading / unloading stage for loading / unloading a wafer cassette. For example, a cassette C containing 25 sheets is placed by an automatic transfer robot, for example. On the back side of the loading / unloading stage 71, for example, when viewed from the loading / unloading stage 71, for example, a coating / developing system unit is arranged on the left side, and a heating / cooling / hydrophobicity processing unit is arranged on the right side. I have.

In the coating / developing system unit, for example, two developing units 72 are provided in an upper stage, and two coating units 73 are provided in a lower stage. In the heating / cooling / hydrophobic treatment system unit, as shown in FIG. 9, a heating unit 74, a cooling unit 75, and a hydrophobic treatment unit 7 are provided.
6 etc. are above and below.

The coating / developing system unit and the heating / cooling /
A wafer transfer arm 77, which is a means for loading a substrate, is provided between the unit and the hydrophobic processing unit. The wafer transfer arm 77 is configured to be movable up and down, movable left and right, back and forth, and rotatable about a vertical axis, for example, a coating / developing system unit, a heating / cooling / hydrophobic processing system unit, a loading / unloading stage 71, and The wafer W is transferred between the interface units 78. The interface unit 78 includes a coating / developing system unit and a heating / cooling / hydrophobic treatment system unit, and is referred to as a clean track. The interface unit 78 is interposed between the clean track and the exposure device 79 and is not shown. The transfer of the wafer between the two devices is performed by the transfer system.

The wafer flow of this apparatus will be described. First, a wafer cassette C containing a wafer W from the outside is loaded into the loading / unloading stage 71, and the wafer is transferred from the cassette C by a wafer transfer arm 77 (see FIG. 9). W
Is taken out and subjected to a hydrophobic treatment in the heating / cooling / hydrophobic treatment unit described above, and then a resist liquid is applied in a coating unit 73 to form a resist film. The wafer coated with the resist film is heated by the heating unit 74 and then exposed through the interface unit 78 to the exposure device 7.
9, where exposure is performed via a mask corresponding to the pattern.

Thereafter, the wafer W is heated by the heating unit 74, then cooled by the cooling unit 75, and then sent to the developing unit 72 to be subjected to a developing process to form a resist mask. Thereafter, the wafer W is returned to the cassette C on the loading / unloading stage 71. In the above, the present invention is not limited to the hydrophobization treatment, and can be applied to a case where a temperature difference occurs in the substrate due to the flow of the treatment gas introduced into the closed container, thereby causing treatment unevenness.

FIG. 10 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to an aging apparatus for aging a wafer.

The aging treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 10 uses a sol-like coating film in which particles or colloids of metal alkoxide, for example, TEOS (tetraethoxysilane), which are applied on a wafer as an insulating film material, are dispersed in an organic solvent. This is for performing a gelling process when the gel is formed.

As shown in FIG. 10, a hot plate 160 is disposed substantially at the center of the processing chamber main body 152. Hot plate 160
Is heated to a temperature for performing an aging process by a heater, for example, about 100 ° C. A plurality of holes, for example, three holes 161 are provided concentrically from the front surface to the back surface of the hot plate 160. A support pin 158 is located in each hole 161 so as to be able to protrude and retract from the surface of the hot plate 160. The support pins 158 transfer the wafer W to and from, for example, an external transfer device while protruding from the surface of the hot plate 160. The support pins 158 that have received the wafer W from the transfer device descend and sink into the hot plate 160,
Thereby, the wafer W is placed on the hot plate 160, and the wafer W is heated.

A lid 15 is provided above the processing chamber main body 152.
3 is arranged so as to be able to move up and down. A sealing member 162 is disposed on the contact surface of the lid 153 on the outer periphery of the processing chamber body 152, and a plurality of suction holes 164 connected to a vacuum evacuation device (not shown) are provided on the contact surface. I have. Then, with the lid 153 lowered, the suction hole 16
4 is evacuated, and the close contact surface of the outer periphery of the lid 153 and the close contact surface of the processing chamber main body 152 are in close contact with each other to form a closed container 151.

Further, almost at the center of the lid 153, that is, the hot plate 1
An exhaust hole 165 connected to the exhaust device 181 is provided at the upper center of the 60. A supply connected to a supply device 182 for supplying a processing gas containing ammonia (NH 3) vaporized in a closed container 151 and a nitrogen (N 2) gas for purging near the outer periphery of the back surface of the processing chamber main body 152. A road 166 is provided. A guide chamber that stores a bit of the processing gas supplied from the supply device 182 through the supply path 166 along the inside of the outer periphery of the back surface of the hot plate 160 and guides the processing gas from the outer edge of the hot plate 160 toward the surface of the hot plate 160. 167 are provided.

A partition plate 168 is provided in the guide room 167 to partition the inside of the guide room 167 up and down. The above-described supply passage 166 is provided outside the bottom surface of the lower chamber 169 partitioned by the partition plate 168.
The lower chamber 169 communicates with the upper chamber 170 partitioned by the partition plate 168 inside the inside.

The supply device 1 is provided on the bottom of the lower chamber 169.
For example, four annular guide grooves 171 are provided to guide the processing gas supplied from 82 along the outer periphery of the back surface of the hot plate 160. Further, the upper chamber 170 is provided with, for example, four annular guide plates 172 to 175 for guiding the processing gas supplied from the supply device 182 along the outer periphery of the back surface of the hot plate 160. The guide plate 172 disposed on the innermost periphery is disposed on the partition plate 168 and has a gap with the back surface of the hot plate 160, and the next guide plate 173 is disposed on the back surface of the hot plate 160, and The next guide plate 174 is disposed on the partition plate 168, has a gap between the back surface of the hot plate 160, and the outermost guide plate 175 is disposed on the back surface of the hot plate 160, There is a gap between the partition plate 168. A gap 176 is provided between the inner periphery of the processing chamber body 152 and the outer edge of the hot plate 160, and the guide chamber 16 is provided through the gap 176.
From 7, a processing gas and a nitrogen (N 2) gas for purging are supplied to the surface of the hot plate 160.

The operation of the above-described exhaust device 181 and supply device 182 is controlled by a control section 183. For example, the exhaust device 181 and the supply device 182
Is controlled by the control unit 183 to supply and stop the ammonia gas at the timing shown in FIGS. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce the temperature change during the processing, and to further reduce the variation in the aging processing.

Reference numeral 184 shown in FIG. 10 is a pressure detection sensor. Such a pressure detection sensor 184 may be provided in the closed container 151, and the exhaust device 181 and the supply device 182 may be controlled based on the detected pressure in the closed container 151. For example, the supply device 18
For example, after the supply of ammonia gas is started in step 2, if the pressure becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined pressure, the supply is stopped, and if the pressure becomes lower than the predetermined pressure, the ammonia gas is supplied again. Thus, the processing can be performed under a constant pressure, and the variation in the processing can be reduced.

The substrate to be processed is not limited to a wafer.
It may be a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, the surface treatment can be performed while suppressing a significant difference in the in-plane temperature distribution of the substrate. Can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a gas processing apparatus used for carrying out a gas processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph schematically showing an example of a change in a wafer temperature by a gas processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph schematically showing another example of a change in a wafer temperature by the gas processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph schematically showing still another example of a change in wafer temperature by the gas processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the gas processing apparatus used for performing the gas processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing another example of a gas supply source in the gas processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram for explaining a contact angle of a water droplet as an index of hydrophobicity.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a coating / developing device to which the hydrophobizing device is applied.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the coating / developing apparatus as viewed from the side.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing still another example of the gas processing apparatus used for performing the gas processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an outline of a conventional hydrophobizing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W wafer 2 closed vessel 25 heating means 3 HMDS supply source 30 gas flow path 31 storage vessel (chemical solution storage section) 4 control means 40 valve control section 42 valve 5 diffusion plate (gas introduction means) 61 exhaust hole (exhaust means) 62 gas Exhaust path (exhaust means) 63 Valve (exhaust means) 64 Exhaust pump (exhaust means) 77 Wafer transfer arm (load-in means) 151 Sealed container 152 Processing chamber body 160 Hot plate 181 Exhaust device 182 Supply device 184 Pressure detection sensor 501 Temperature sensor

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A process for carrying out a surface treatment of a substrate using a gas in a closed container, a step of carrying the substrate into the closed container, and a process in the closed container while exhausting the inside of the closed container into which the substrate is loaded. Supplying a gas intermittently. 2. A step of carrying a substrate into a closed container when performing surface treatment of a substrate using a gas in the closed container, and treating the substrate in the closed container while exhausting the inside of the closed container into which the substrate is loaded. A step of supplying a gas to make the inside of the closed vessel an atmosphere of the processing gas, and subsequently stopping the exhaust of the closed vessel, stopping the introduction of the processing gas, and leaving the state in that state. Gas processing method. 3. The gas processing method according to claim 1, wherein the supply and the stop of the processing gas are performed according to a predetermined timing. 4. The gas processing method according to claim 1, wherein timing control of supply and stop of the processing gas is performed based on a temperature in the closed vessel. 5. The gas processing method according to claim 1, wherein the timing of supply and stop of the processing gas is controlled based on the pressure in the closed vessel. 6. The gas processing method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is subjected to a surface treatment in a heated state. 7. The gas processing method according to claim 1, wherein the surface treatment is a treatment for hydrophobizing a substrate surface. 8. The gas processing method according to claim 7, wherein the processing gas is hexamethyldisilazane gas. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surface treatment is a treatment for gelling a sol-like coating film in which particles or colloids of an insulating film material are dispersed in an organic solvent. Gas treatment method. 10. The gas processing method according to claim 9, wherein the processing gas is an ammonia gas. 11. Supplying a gas to a chemical solution in a chemical solution storage section via a valve to supply a vapor of the chemical solution as a processing gas into a closed container, and controlling the supply and stop of the processing gas by opening and closing the valve. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The gas processing method according to any one of the above. 12. A sealed container having a substrate mounting portion therein, transport means for loading a substrate into the sealed container, processing gas supply means for supplying a processing gas into the sealed container, and the sealed container Control means for controlling the processing gas supply means so as to process the surface of the substrate by intermittently supplying a processing gas into the gas processing apparatus. 13. A sealed container having a substrate mounting portion therein, transport means for loading a substrate into the sealed container, processing gas supply means for supplying a processing gas into the sealed container, and the sealed container Exhaust means for exhausting the inside of the container; and evacuation of the closed container to process the surface of the substrate, the inside of the closed container is set to a processing gas atmosphere, and then the exhaust of the closed container and supply of the processing gas are stopped. And a control means for controlling the processing gas supply means and the exhaust means. 14. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in the closed container, wherein the control means supplies and stops the processing gas in accordance with the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means. Item 14. The gas processing apparatus according to item 12 or 13. 15. A pressure detecting means for detecting a pressure in the closed container, wherein the control means supplies and stops the processing gas in accordance with the pressure detected by the pressure detecting means. Item 14. The gas processing apparatus according to item 12 or 13. 16. A heating device for heating a substrate mounted on a mounting portion, the heating device comprising:
The gas processing apparatus according to any one of the above.