JP2001023879A - Resist coating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a resist coating device which is capable of preventing a photoresist mist produced, when a wafer is coated with a photoresist from being redeposited on the wafer as contamination, so as to improve the wafers in yield in a semiconductor lithography process. SOLUTION: A wafer 9 is housed in a hermetically closed processing chamber 2 composed of a lower vessel 3 and an upper vessel 4, the wafer 9 is rotated at a high speed by a spin motor 6 and coated with photoresist 14, which drips down from a resist nozzle 11 provided on the side of the upper chamber 4. All photoresist mist produced at coating is discharged through exhaust openings 16, 17, 18 and others. Therefore, resist mist is prevented from redepositing on the wafer 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a resist coating apparatus, and more particularly to a resist coating apparatus suitable for reducing adverse effects on a wafer due to photoresist mist generated during resist coating in a semiconductor lithography process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are a great number of conventional techniques relating to a photoresist apparatus, for example, a "photoresist film developing cup" disclosed in JP-A-5-102028, and a JP-A-6-3280.
No. 34, "Cup rotating spin motor and cup rotating coating film forming method", JP-A-7-142378, "Coating device", JP-A-9-10658, "Coating method and coating device", Known techniques related to the present invention include “coating device” disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9-17722 and “spin coater” disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-43665.

Each of the above-mentioned known techniques has a feature, and various measures are taken to improve the mist exhaust efficiency. All of these techniques are, as shown schematically in FIG. The mist is exhausted only from the bottom side of the processing container 20 for storing the wafer 9. That is, as shown in FIG.
Is formed in a cylindrical container shape surrounding the bottom surface and the outer periphery of the wafer 9, and the upper side is opened. The wafer 9 is driven to rotate by rotating means such as a spin motor 6. An exhaust port 21 for exhausting mist is provided on the lower surface (bottom surface) side of the processing container 20. There are various structures in the processing container 20 around the exhaust port 21 as disclosed in the above-mentioned known technology. A resist nozzle 11 for dropping and supplying a photoresist 14 is disposed at a position opposed to the wafer 9 at the center of the opening of the processing container 20. A desired photoresist is applied on the upper surface of the wafer 9 by dropping the photoresist 14 from the resist nozzle 11. In the case of the lithography process, since different types of photoresists are applied on the wafer 9, a plurality of resist nozzles 11 are exchanged or used, or the same resist nozzles 11 are used.
A nozzle mechanism (not shown) for supplying a plurality of types of photoresists 14 is employed.

[0004]

The photoresist is applied from the resist nozzle 11 to the photoresist 14 while the wafer 9 on the chuck of the spin motor 6 is rotated at a high speed.
In this case, a large amount of mist, that is, a photoresist mist, is generated and scattered outside the wafer 9. Most of the scattered photoresist mist is guided to the exhaust port 21 side through a not-shown exhaust duct or the like, and is discharged to the outside of the processing container 20. There is a problem in that it flows down and becomes foreign matter. Due to the formation of foreign matter, the quality of the wafer 9 is reduced, and the yield as a non-defective product is reduced.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and completely prevents the photoresist mist from re-adhering to the wafer by a relatively simple means merely devising a processing container and an exhaust port of the mist. It is another object of the present invention to provide a resist coating apparatus in a semiconductor lithography process that improves the yield of a wafer and smoothly coats various types of photoresists in a lithography process.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a resist coating apparatus for applying a photoresist on a semiconductor wafer which is disposed in a processing vessel and is driven to rotate. The processing container, a lower container having a bottom surface and side surfaces surrounding the bottom surface and the outer periphery of the wafer, and detachably attached to the upper opening of the lower container, disposed over the upper surface of the wafer, An upper container that forms a closed space with the lower container,
An exhaust port for exhausting mist generated at the time of the resist coating constitutes a resist coating device provided on a bottom surface and a side surface of the lower container and an upper surface of the upper container, respectively. A resist nozzle for supplying a photoresist onto a wafer is detachably mounted on the upper container, and the resist nozzle is automatically replaceable from a resist nozzle magazine for storing a resist nozzle having various types of photoresist. It is mounted on the upper container side.

By providing a lower container as a processing container and an upper container to be wrapped above the lower container and providing exhaust ports on all of the bottom, side, and top surfaces of the processing container, the photoresist mist generated inside can be reduced to the wafer side. Almost all are discharged out of the processing container without falling down. This eliminates the formation of foreign matter on the wafer and improves the yield of the wafer.
When the type of photoresist is changed, it is easily performed by automatically replacing the photoresist nozzle with a resist nozzle in a resist nozzle magazine and setting the resist nozzle in a processing container. Thereby, the resist coating in the lithography process is performed smoothly.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a resist coating apparatus in a semiconductor lithography process according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall structure of a resist coating apparatus 1 according to the present invention. The processing container 2 includes a lower container 3 and an upper container 4. A support 7 for a spin motor 6 is formed at the center of the bottom surface 5 of the lower container 3. A chuck 8 is provided above the spin motor 6, and the wafer 9 is horizontally supported on the chuck 8. On the other hand, a nozzle support hole 10 is formed at the top of the upper container 4 at a position facing the center wafer 9.

In the present embodiment, the resist nozzle 11 comprises a resist nozzle portion 12 which can be inserted into and removed from the nozzle support hole 10, and a nozzle holder 13 for holding the resist nozzle portion. The photoresist 14 is dropped from the lower end of the resist nozzle unit 12 and applied on the wafer 9. On the other hand, a plurality of exhaust ports 16 and 17 are provided on the bottom surface 5 and the side surface 15 of the lower container 3. In addition, exhaust ports 18 are provided at a plurality of locations on the upper surface of the upper container 4. In addition, the wafer 9 and each exhaust port 1
Exhaust ducts of various structures (not shown) are interposed between the exhaust ducts 6, 17, and 18. In the present invention, the structure of the exhaust duct is not particularly limited, and a known technique is applied. It is preferable to provide an exhaust duct having a structure for smoothly introducing the photoresist mist scattered on the wafer 9 to the respective exhaust ports 16, 17, 18.

The resist coating apparatus 1 having the above structure
In step 2, when the spin motor 6 is driven to rotate the wafer 9 at a high speed and the photoresist 14 is dropped from the resist nozzle 11 onto the wafer 9, the photoresist 14 becomes a mist and is applied to the upper surface of the wafer 9. Further, the scattered mist that is not applied is guided to the respective exhaust ports 16, 17, and 18, and is forcibly discharged. As described above, foreign matter formation on the wafer 9 is prevented.

FIG. 2 shows the structure of a replacement device for the resist nozzle 11. A resist nozzle magazine 19 is arranged near the resist coating device 1. The resist magazine 19 stores the resist nozzle portion 12 of the resist nozzle 11 having various photoresists 14. When the resist nozzle unit 12 is replaced, the nozzle holder 13 is moved or rotated to a predetermined position by a robot mechanism or the like (not shown) to grip a desired resist nozzle unit 12 and remove unnecessary resist nozzle units 12 from the resist nozzle magazine. Store on the 19 side. As described above, by inserting the replaced resist nozzle portion 12 into the nozzle support hole 10 of the upper container 4 of the processing container 2, a coating application of a photoresist with another photoresist is performed. As described above, a plurality of photoresists can be easily applied on the wafer 9. In order to remove the processed wafer 9 from the processing container 2, the upper container 4
Is lifted upward and the upper part of the lower container 3 is opened to facilitate this.

[0012]

1) According to the resist coating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, foreign matter due to the re-adhesion of the photoresist mist generated in the processing container onto the wafer is prevented, and a high-quality photoresist coating is performed. Is performed,
An improvement in wafer yield can be realized. 2) According to the resist coating apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, since the resist nozzle is automatically replaced, a plurality of photoresist coatings can be performed smoothly and in a short time, so that an efficient lithography process can be performed. Resist coating becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall structure of a resist coating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of an apparatus structure for automatic replacement of a resist nozzle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a conventional resist coating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... resist coating device, 2 ... processing container, 3
... Lower container, 4 upper container, 5 bottom, 6 spin motor, 7 support, 8 chuck, 9 wafer, 10 nozzle support hole, 11 resist nozzle , 12 ... resist nozzle part, 13 ... nozzle holder, 14 ... photoresist, 15 ... side surface, 16 ...
Exhaust port, 17: Exhaust port, 18: Exhaust port, 19: Resist nozzle magazine.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A resist coating apparatus for applying a photoresist on a semiconductor wafer disposed in a processing container and driven to rotate, wherein the processing container has a bottom surface surrounding a bottom side and an outer periphery of the wafer. And a lower container having a side surface, and an upper container detachably attached to an upper opening of the lower container, disposed over the upper surface of the wafer, and forming a sealed space with the lower container. A resist coating apparatus, wherein exhaust ports for exhausting mist generated at the time are provided on the bottom and side surfaces of the lower container and the upper surface of the upper container, respectively. 2. A resist nozzle for supplying a photoresist onto a wafer is detachably mounted on the upper container, and the resist nozzle is automatically moved from a resist nozzle magazine for storing a resist nozzle having various types of photoresist. 2. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resist coating apparatus is exchangeably mounted on the upper container side.