JP2000317376A - Spin treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a fluidic substance from readhering to a body to be treated by rebounding and also to prevent inconvenience accompanied thereby in a spin treatment device in which treatment is performed by placing the fluidic substance on the body to be treated and rotating the same and rotary treatment of the body to be treated is performed in the inside of an outer frame member. SOLUTION: In the spin treatment device, treatment is performed by placing a fluidic substance 3 such as a resist on a body 1 to be treated such as a substrate and rotating the same and also treatment is performed in the inside of an outer frame member 4. The body 1 is arranged freely movably (vertically movably) in a position apart from such the position that the fluidic substance 3 is flown and rebounded by the outer frame member 4 and can be returned to the body 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spin processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a spin processing apparatus which applies a fluid substance to a workpiece and rotates the fluid substance so as to apply the fluid substance. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a process of placing a fluid substance on a workpiece and rotating it has been performed in various fields. Typically, in the case of manufacturing a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal, when a photosensitive resin called a resist is uniformly coated on a processing surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a quartz substrate for forming a pattern, Spin coating is performed. When a fluid film forming agent is applied on a substrate to form a film, for example, SOG (Spin on Glass) is used.
s) to form a silicon-based insulating film by applying a liquid coating glass agent or an anti-reflection film such as BAR
This is performed when C is formed. Further, it is also used in a case where various treatment agents such as a cleaning solution are applied to a substrate to perform edge rinsing, for example, and a case where a developing solution is applied to the substrate and a resist is spin-developed. Various objects such as a semiconductor wafer, a quartz substrate, an optical disk substrate, and the like are processed using the spin processing apparatus.

[0003] In a spin processing apparatus, processing (such as spin coating) of the object to be processed is generally performed in an outer frame member serving as a cover or the like. In the prior art, inconveniences such as splashing of a fluid substance on the outer frame member and rebounding back to the object to be processed, resulting in a defect may occur. This problem will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, taking the case of resist coating on a substrate as an example.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of a conventional spin processing apparatus (particularly, a spin coater in this case). A semiconductor wafer substrate (or a quartz substrate or the like) to be processed 1 is placed on a support 2.
Is supported on a chuck (generally, suction support), and the object 1 is rotated on the support portion 2 to spread the resist, which is the fluid substance 3 to be applied, over the entire surface of the substrate. In the figure, reference numeral 4
Is an outer frame member called a cup, which is provided as a cover. Reference numeral 5 denotes a supply unit of the resist which is the fluid substance 3, which is a resist nozzle here. Symbol 6 is
It is a driving member (here, a motor) that rotates the substrate, which is the processing target 1, by rotating the chuck, which is the support unit 2. Reference numeral 7 indicates exhaust, and reference 8 indicates drain (discharge of excess fluid substance 3).

The operation of the illustrated conventional spin processing apparatus is as follows. The substrate as the object to be processed 1 is guided by a transfer arm (not shown) onto a chuck as a support unit 2 and held (here, supported by vacuum suction). From the resist nozzle, which is the supply unit 5 of the fluid substance 3,
The fluid substance 3 (resist) is dropped on the center of the object 1 (substrate). The driving member (motor) rotates, and the object to be processed 1 (substrate)
Is rotated, and the fluid substance 3 (resist) is transferred to the object 1 to be processed.
It can be spread over the entire surface of the (substrate). This results in a coating.

[0006] As described above, spin coating as spin processing is performed. Here, the following problem occurs.
That is, at the time of the coating, the fluid substance 3 (resist) that has flown in the outer peripheral direction of the object 1 (substrate) due to the rotational force hits the outer frame member 4 (cup), and the drain 8
Led to. However, when the fluid substance 3 (resist) collides with the outer frame member 4 (cup) at high speed, the fluid substance 3 (resist) may rebound to the surface of the workpiece 1 (substrate). Generally, to spin at high speed,
This is because it is considered that the fluid substance 3 (resist) vigorously hits the outer frame member 4 (cup) and rebounds on the processing target 1 (substrate). FIG. 4 schematically shows the collision of the fluid substance 3 (resist) with the outer frame member 4 (cup) and the rebound of the fluid substance 3 (resist) onto the workpiece 1 (substrate) by arrows 9. Arrow 10 in FIG. 4 indicates rotation.

[0007] The rebound described above may cause inconvenience, and in the case of a resist, it becomes a problem as a pattern defect. That is, the thickness of the portion where the resist bounces locally becomes large, which may cause a problem that a pattern cannot be formed well. Further, the film thickness of the resist becomes uneven, and the uniformity may be impaired.

[0008] The above-mentioned problem of rebound is caused by a spin processing apparatus in which a fluid substance is placed on an object to be processed and rotated, and the rotation of the object is performed in an outer frame member. In other words, both are problems.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and has been made to prevent a fluid substance from hitting an outer frame member and rebounding and reattaching to an object to be processed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a spin processing apparatus which has solved the problems associated with the adhesion.

[0010]

A spin processing apparatus according to the present invention performs processing by placing a fluid substance on a workpiece and rotating the same, and performs processing of the workpiece in an outer frame member. In the spin processing apparatus to be processed, the object to be processed is movably arranged at a position other than a position where the flowable substance jumps back by the outer frame member and returns to the object to be processed. It is assumed that.

According to the present invention, an object to be processed such as a substrate can be moved up and down, for example, so that the object to be processed such as a substrate temporarily rebounds due to the outer frame member during the rotation process. The processing can be performed at a position where it cannot return to the object to be processed, or at a position where collision of the fluid substance itself against the outer frame member can be avoided. As a result, re-adhesion is prevented by the rebound of the fluid substance to the object to be processed, and the problem caused by the re-adhesion is also eliminated.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-115827 discloses a prior art in which a sloped wall is provided and guided in a specific direction by the sloped wall to prevent the coating agent from re-adhering to a disk to be coated. Although described, this does not change the position of the object to be processed such as a disk.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-224113 discloses a technique for controlling the thickness of a coating film by making the temperature control means vertically movable. However, this technique does not change the position of the object to be coated. Notably different. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-81669 discloses a technique in which the nozzle can be lifted upward, but this is not related to the present invention.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the present invention will be further described below, and preferred specific examples will be described with reference to the drawings. However, needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below.

In the present invention, the treatment is performed by placing the fluid substance on the object to be processed and rotating it. Such processing may include spreading the fluid substance on the object by rotation. it can. For example, in the case of spin coating.

[0015] The fluid substance can be generally used for a substance that is likely to collide and rebound.
It can be preferably applied to a film formed for processing a photosensitive resist or the like, and a film forming material (SOG (liquid coating glass agent), an antireflection film forming material, and the like)
Further, the present invention can be preferably applied to various processing agents (various cleaning, rinsing, developing solutions and other chemicals for various processes).

As the object to be processed, various objects such as a semiconductor wafer, a quartz substrate, an optical disk substrate, etc.
Can be implemented.

The outer frame member is typically a cover member. However, any member that has a possibility of bouncing off due to collision of a fluid substance can be preferably implemented.

Changing the position of the object to be processed is typically to allow the object to be moved vertically (up and down with respect to gravity), but can be moved to a position where reattachment can be prevented. Can be implemented in any form. Hereinafter, a specific example will be described.

Embodiment 1 In this embodiment, the present invention is embodied by embodying a coater for spin-coating a photoresist on a semiconductor wafer. In the manufacture of a liquid crystal device, the case where a transparent substrate (quartz substrate) is spin-coated with a resist can be performed in exactly the same manner, and the same applies to the case where a resist is spin-coated on an optical disk.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of the spin processing apparatus according to this embodiment. 1, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 3 and 4 denote the same components.

As shown in FIG. 1, the height of the cup (cover member) as the outer frame member 4 of the spin processing apparatus of the present embodiment is smaller than that of the structure of the prior art (for example, see FIGS. 3 and 4). Is getting higher. Further, the chuck serving as the support portion 2 has a function of being able to move up and down (up and down in the vertical direction with respect to gravity). This vertical movement is indicated by an arrow indicated by reference numeral 11. In this example, the support portion 2 (chuck) is configured to move up and down integrally with the motor as the drive member 6.

That is, also in this embodiment, the semiconductor wafer substrate as the object 1 is supported on a chuck as the support 2 (in this case, vacuum suction support), and the object 1 is rotated on the support 2. The resist, which is the fluid substance 3 to be applied, is spread over the entire surface of the substrate. However, the length of the outer frame member 4 in the vertical direction is long, and there is enough room for the object 1 (semiconductor wafer substrate) to move up and down. It has. Fluid substance 3
In this example, a resist nozzle serving as a (resist) supply unit can move up and down as indicated by an arrow 12.

The operation of the spin processing apparatus according to this embodiment is as follows. (1) The semiconductor wafer substrate as the object to be processed 1 is guided by a transfer arm (not shown) onto a chuck as a support unit 2 and held (here, vacuum suction supported). (2) The fluid material 3 (resist) is dropped from the resist nozzle, which is the supply unit 5 for the fluid material 3, to the center of the workpiece 1 (substrate). From the substrate 1 to the substrate 1 (substrate). That is, resist supply is performed in a state where the object 1 (substrate) is located at the position shown in FIG. At this time, the supply unit 5 (resist nozzle) is also located at the bottom. (3) The driving member (motor) rotates, the object 1 (substrate) rotates, and the fluid substance 3 (resist) is spread over the entire surface of the object 1 (substrate). Thereby, resist coating is performed. At this time, the support 2 (chuck) is raised, and the workpiece 1 (substrate) is raised.
For example, at the same time as the coating, the support 2 (chuck) and the driving member (motor) are raised using a driving system such as an air cylinder or a combination of a motor and a gear. The supply unit 5 (resist nozzle) may be raised in conjunction therewith, or may be raised to the uppermost position shown by a solid line in FIG.

The workpiece 1 (substrate) rises as the support 2 (chuck) rises. Therefore, when the fluid substance 3 (resist) bounces back,
The object 1 (substrate) is already ascending, and its position changes.
Adhesion to the surface of the object 1 (substrate) is avoided.

FIG. 2 shows the above operation in detail.
First, the coating starts at the position shown in FIG. 2A, and the workpiece 1 (substrate) rises while rotating. At this time,
As shown by reference numeral 13, it is assumed that the fluid substance 3 (resist) collides with the outer frame member 4 (cup) and rebounds. The rebound indicated by reference numeral 13 is a rebound that reattaches when the object 1 (substrate) is located at the position (A), but at the time when the fluid substance 3 (resist) returns by the rebound, The processing object 1 (substrate) has risen to the position indicated by the symbol (B) in FIG. 2 and does not adhere to the processing object 1 (substrate).

Rotation can be continued while the object 1 (substrate) is raised to the position (A), the position (B), and the uppermost position (C) shown in FIG. By the above operation, reattachment of the fluid substance 3 (resist) can be prevented.

As described above, according to the present embodiment,
The re-adhesion of the resist, which is the fluid substance 3, to the object 1 (substrate) can be prevented. Therefore, pattern defects due to resist rebound are reduced, and product defects are reduced. That is, the pattern thickness is locally increased due to the rebound of the resist, and the pattern defects due to the unevenness of the resist film thickness are reduced, the reliability of the product is increased, and the defects are reduced.

[0028]

As described above, according to the spin processing apparatus of the present invention, the processing is performed by placing the fluid substance on the processing object and rotating it, and the processing of the processing object in the outer frame member is performed. It is possible to prevent the re-adhesion of a fluid substance to an object to be processed due to rebound, which is a common problem in a spin processing apparatus in which a rotation process is performed, and to eliminate a pattern defect, a product defect, and other problems due to the adhesion. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Processing object (semiconductor wafer substrate) 2 ... Support part (wafer chuck) 3 ... Fluid substance (resist) 4 ... Outer frame member (cup) 5 ... Fluid material supply unit (resist nozzle), 6 ... Driving member (motor), 9, 13 ... Bounce of fluid material (resist), 11 ... Vertical movement (of the object).

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A spin processing apparatus for performing a process by placing a fluid substance on a workpiece and rotating the workpiece, and performing the processing of the workpiece in an outer frame member. Characterized in that the fluid processing material is movably arranged at a position other than a position where the flowable substance flies and is rebounded by the outer frame member and returned to the object to be processed. 2. The spin processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing includes spreading the fluid substance on the object by rotation. 3. The spin processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be processed is arranged movably in a vertical direction. 4. The spin processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluid substance is a photosensitive resist. 5. The spin processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluid substance is a film forming material. 6. The spin processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluid substance is a processing liquid. 7. The spin processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object to be processed is a substrate.