JP2002066475A - Substrate washing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate washing apparatus capable of rapidly removing organic matters adhering to a substrate. SOLUTION: Ozone water is supplied to a treatment tank 20 from an ozone water supply source 26 to be stored therein and the substrate W is held in the ozone water. Ozone gas is supplied to a chamber 10 from an ozone gas supply source 52. Since the air pressure in the chamber 10 is made higher than the atomospheric pressure by the supply of the ozone gas, the air pressure at the air-liquid interface of the ozone water in the treatment tank 20 also becomes higher than the atmospheric pressure and the foaming of the ozone gas in the treatment tank 20 can be suppressed. As a result, the lowering of the ozone concentration of the ozone water in the treatment tank 20 is prevented to make it possible to increase the decomposition speed of the organic matter such as a resist or the like adhering to the surface of the substrate W and the organic matter can be rapidly removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a flat panel display (FPD) such as a semiconductor substrate or a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device.
l Display), a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, and the like (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “substrate”) by immersing the substrate in ozone water to clean the surface of the substrate, for example, removing organic substances attached to the substrate The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning apparatus for performing the above-described operations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a process of manufacturing the above substrate, a cleaning process of the substrate has been indispensable. As one of cleaning apparatuses for performing a cleaning process of a substrate, there is an apparatus using ozone water. In this apparatus, a substrate is immersed in ozone water, and organic substances such as a resist are oxidized by ozone to decompose and remove the organic substances to clean the surface of the substrate. As is well known, ozone has an extremely strong oxidizing power, and the substrate is cleaned using such a strong oxidizing power of ozone.

[0003]

When a cleaning process using ozone water is performed, the higher the ozone concentration in the ozone water, the faster the decomposition rate of organic substances is increased, and the time required for the cleaning process can be shortened. In general, the solubility of gas in water increases as the temperature of the water decreases, and the same tendency applies to ozone water. That is, as the temperature of the ozone water is lowered, a large amount of ozone is dissolved in the water, so that a high-concentration ozone water can be obtained.

However, the decomposition rate of organic matter also depends on the temperature during the reaction. When low-temperature ozone water is supplied, the ozone concentration in the ozone water can be increased, but the reaction temperature is low. As a result, the decomposition rate of organic substances cannot be remarkably increased. Conversely, when high-temperature ozone water is supplied, the ozone concentration in the ozone water is low, so that the decomposition rate of organic substances cannot be significantly increased.

[0005] High-concentration ozone water can also be obtained by generating ozone water in a high-pressure ozone atmosphere. However, even when high-concentration ozone water is generated under high pressure, the pressure is reduced each time a gas passes through a valve or the like in a piping path, and the ozone gas foams. Further, when the ozone water is supplied to the periphery of the substrate, the pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the ozone gas is released as large bubbles. Therefore, the ozone water having a high concentration at the time of generation also has a problem that the ozone concentration decreases when the ozone water is subjected to the surface treatment of the substrate, and as a result, similarly to the above, the decomposition rate of the organic matter cannot be increased. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a substrate cleaning apparatus capable of quickly removing organic substances attached to a substrate.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a surface of a substrate by immersing the substrate in ozone water. A processing tank for storing, a closed chamber for storing the processing tank, a substrate holding unit for holding a substrate in the processing tank, an ozone water supply unit for supplying ozone water to the processing tank, and a gas for the closed chamber. And a gas supply means for supplying the pressure in the closed chamber to be higher than the atmospheric pressure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the gas supply means supplies ozone gas as the gas to the closed chamber.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the gas supply means supplies an inert gas as the gas to the closed chamber.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects,
The ozone water supply means includes a heating means for heating the ozone water supplied to the processing tank.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

<1. Overall Configuration of Substrate Cleaning Apparatus> FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. The substrate cleaning apparatus 1 is a cleaning apparatus that immerses a substrate in ozone water and decomposes and removes organic substances such as a resist attached to the surface of the substrate with the ozone water. The substrate cleaning apparatus 1 mainly includes a processing tank 20 for storing ozone water and the like.
, A chamber 10 for accommodating the processing tank 20, and a chamber 1
A gas supply nozzle 50 for supplying ozone gas or the like into 0,
A liquid supply nozzle 21 for supplying ozone water or the like to the processing tank 20 is provided.

The chamber 10 is a housing for accommodating the processing tank 20, and an auto cover 11 is provided on an upper portion thereof. The auto cover 11 is slid in the horizontal direction by a drive mechanism (not shown). Auto cover 11
Is closed (the state shown in FIG. 1), the gap between the main body of the chamber 10 and the auto cover 11 is sealed by the O-ring 15, the chamber 10 becomes a closed chamber, and the inside thereof becomes a closed space. In this state, the gas in the chamber 10 does not leak out, and the inside of the chamber 10 can be in a pressurized state at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure or a depressurized state at a lower pressure. On the other hand, when the auto cover 11 is opened, the inside of the chamber 10 becomes an open space, and an unprocessed substrate W is loaded into the chamber 10 by a substrate transfer robot (not shown) and a processed substrate W is unloaded from the chamber 10. can do.

A restraining portion 12 is provided on the upper outside of the chamber 10. The restraining part 12 can rotate around the support point 13. When the auto cover 11 is closed, the restricting portion 12 is positioned as shown in FIG. The restraining part 12 is the auto cover 11
, It is possible to prevent gas leakage particularly when the inside of the chamber 10 is in a pressurized state. When the auto cover 11 is opened, the lock is released by rotating the restraining portion 12.

A processing tank 20 is fixedly disposed inside the chamber 10. Two liquid supply nozzles 21 are provided inside the bottom of the processing tank 20. Two liquid supply nozzles 2
Numeral 1 is a hollow cylindrical member arranged with its longitudinal direction being substantially horizontal, and a plurality of discharge holes are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder. The liquid supply nozzle 21 is connected to an ozone water supply source 26 via an ozone water valve 24. By opening the ozone water valve 24,
Ozone water sent from the ozone water supply source 26 is supplied into the processing tank 20 from a plurality of discharge holes provided in the liquid supply nozzle 21.

The ozone water supply source 26 can generate ozone water by dissolving ozone gas in pure water. In particular, the ozone water supply source 26 according to the present embodiment can generate high-concentration ozone water by generating ozone water under a high-pressure ozone atmosphere and supply the ozone water to the treatment tank 20.

A heater 25 is provided in the middle of the path from the ozone water supply source 26 to the ozone water valve 24. The heater 25 is supplied from the ozone water supply source 26 to the processing tank 20.
To increase the temperature to a predetermined temperature.

The liquid supply nozzle 21 is connected to the pure water valve 2.
2 and a chemical liquid supply source 28 via a chemical liquid valve 23.
The pure water or the chemical supplied from the pure water supply source 27 or the chemical supply source 28 to the liquid supply nozzle 21 also
From the plurality of discharge holes provided in the processing tank 20.
Supplied. The chemical used in the present embodiment is, for example, a liquid such as hydrofluoric acid for cleaning the surface of the substrate W. In this specification, pure water, chemical liquid, and ozone water are collectively referred to as a processing liquid.

The processing liquid such as ozone water supplied from the liquid supply nozzle 21 is stored in the processing tank 20. Processing tank 2
When the processing liquid is further supplied from the liquid supply nozzle 21 to the processing tank 20, the processing liquid eventually overflows from the processing tank 20 and the recovery unit 29.
Flow into The recovery unit 29 is connected to a drain line via a drain valve 16 and a flow control valve 17. Therefore, by opening the drain valve 16, the collection unit 2 is opened.
The processing liquid flowing into 9 is discharged to a drain line outside the apparatus. The ozone water supply source 26, the pure water supply source 27, the chemical solution supply source 28, and the drain line in FIG. 1 are all provided outside the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention (for example, the present invention). Is disposed in a substrate processing apparatus in which the substrate cleaning apparatus according to (1) is incorporated.) In this regard, the same applies to the ozone gas supply source 52, nitrogen gas supply source 56, IPA vapor supply source 58, vacuum decompression line, and exhaust line described below.

A lifter L is provided inside the chamber 10.
H is provided (see FIG. 2). The lifter LH has a function of moving the lifter arm 6 up and down in the vertical direction. The lifter arm 6 has three holding rods 7a, 7b,
7c is fixed so that its longitudinal direction is substantially horizontal (parallel to the liquid supply nozzle 21). Each of the three holding rods 7a, 7b, and 7c is provided with a plurality of holding grooves arranged at predetermined intervals to hold the substrate W in an upright posture by fitting the outer edge portion of the substrate W.

With this configuration, the lifter LH is
A plurality of substrates W supported by being stacked and arranged in parallel with each other by the holding rods 7a, 7b, and 7c can be held in the processing tank 20 and immersed in the processing liquid stored therein (FIG. 1). State). Further, the lifter LH can move up and down between a position where the plurality of substrates W are immersed in the processing liquid and a position where the substrates W are pulled up from the processing liquid. The lifter LH can employ various mechanisms such as a feed screw mechanism using a ball screw and a belt mechanism using a pulley and a belt as a mechanism for moving the lifter arm 6 up and down.

A gas supply nozzle 50 is provided inside the chamber 10. The gas supply nozzle 50 is
A hollow cylindrical member arranged with its longitudinal direction being substantially horizontal, and a plurality of discharge holes 30 a
Is provided. The gas supply nozzle 50 is connected to an ozone gas supply source 52 via an ozone gas valve 51. When the ozone gas valve 51 is open, the ozone gas is supplied from the ozone gas supply source 52 to the gas supply nozzle 50. The supplied ozone gas is supplied to a plurality of discharge holes 30 a provided in the ozone gas supply nozzle 50.
From the chamber 10.

The gas supply nozzle 50 is connected to a nitrogen gas supply source 56 via a nitrogen gas valve 55, and is connected to an IPA vapor supply source 58 via an IPA valve 57. Nitrogen gas valve 55 or IP
By opening the A valve 57, nitrogen gas or I gas is introduced into the chamber 10 from the gas supply nozzle 50.
PA (isopropyl alcohol) vapor can be supplied. The IPA vapor is supplied into the chamber 10 using nitrogen gas as a carrier gas.

In the present embodiment, the chamber 1
0 is provided with a pressure transducer 53. The pressure transducer 53 includes a piezoelectric element such as a piezo element therein, converts the atmospheric pressure in the chamber 10 into an electric signal, and transmits the electric signal to the pressure regulator 54. Pressure regulator 54
Receives a signal from the pressure transducer 53, transmits a control signal to the ozone gas valve 51 or the nitrogen gas valve 55 based on the detection result, and controls the opening / closing thereof. Then, the pressure regulator 54 can supply the ozone gas or the nitrogen gas to the chamber 10 and control the ozone gas valve 51 or the nitrogen gas valve 55 so that the pressure in the chamber 10 becomes higher than the atmospheric pressure.

Further, the chamber 10 is connected to a vacuum pressure reducing line via a vacuum pressure reducing valve 19, and is connected to an exhaust line via an exhaust valve 18. By opening the exhaust valve 18, the gas inside the chamber 10 can be exhausted to the exhaust line outside the apparatus, and by opening the vacuum depressurizing valve 19, the inside of the chamber 10 is evacuated to a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure. be able to.

In this embodiment, the lifter L
H corresponds to the substrate holding means, the gas supply nozzle 50 corresponds to the gas supply means, the liquid supply nozzle 21 corresponds to the ozone water supply means, and the heater 25 corresponds to the heating means.

<2. Processing Details in Substrate Cleaning Apparatus> Next, processing details in the substrate cleaning apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a gas supply state and a pressure change in the chamber 10 of the substrate cleaning apparatus 1.

First, after the substrate W is loaded into the chamber 10 (strictly, after a plurality of substrates W are loaded as a lot into the processing tank 20 of the chamber 10), the ozone gas valve 51 is turned on at time t0. Opened ozone gas supply source 52
Is supplied from the gas supply nozzle 50 into the chamber 10. At this time, the auto cover 11 is closed to make the inside of the chamber 10 a sealed space, and the nitrogen gas valve 55 and the IPA valve 5 are closed.
7 is closed, and the supply of nitrogen gas and IPA vapor is stopped. Further, the exhaust valve 18 and the vacuum pressure reducing valve 19 are also closed, and the gas outflow from the chamber 10 is stopped. Then, the air pressure in the chamber 10 is monitored by the pressure transducer 53 and the pressure regulator 54
Is controlled by controlling the opening and closing of the ozone gas valve 51.

Eventually, an ozone gas atmosphere is formed in the chamber 10 by the supply of the ozone gas. When the pressure in the chamber 10 becomes higher than the atmospheric pressure and reaches a predetermined pressure at time t1, the ozone water valve 24 is opened. Ozone water is supplied to the processing tank 20 from the liquid supply nozzle 21. A plurality of substrates W are held in the processing tank 20 by a lifter LH. Therefore, the substrate W held by the lifter LH is immersed in the ozone water stored in the processing tank 20. As a result, organic substances such as a resist attached to the surface of the substrate W are removed by an oxidative decomposition reaction using ozone water. At this time, since the pressure in the chamber 10 is set to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure by the supply of the ozone gas, a decrease in the ozone concentration of the ozone water in the processing tank 20 is suppressed, which will be described later in detail. .

When the removal of organic substances by the oxidative decomposition reaction of the ozone water is completed, the ozone gas valve 5 is turned off at time t2.
1, the ozone gas supply is stopped, and the exhaust valve 18 is opened to release the ozone gas in the chamber 10 to the exhaust line, thereby returning the pressure in the chamber 10 to the atmospheric pressure.

When the pressure in the chamber 10 drops to the atmospheric pressure at the time t3, the nitrogen gas valve 55 is opened,
Nitrogen gas is supplied into the chamber 10 from the gas supply nozzle 50, and the inside of the chamber 10 is replaced with a nitrogen gas atmosphere. In addition, either the pure water valve 22 or the chemical liquid valve 23 is opened, and pure water or a predetermined chemical liquid is supplied from the liquid supply nozzle 21 to the processing tank 20, and the processing liquid in the processing tank 20 is also replaced. At this time, the ozone water valve 2
4 is closed, and the supply of ozone water to the processing tank 20 is stopped.

In this manner, between time t3 and time t4, pure water or a chemical is alternately supplied to the processing tank 20 under an atmosphere of nitrogen at atmospheric pressure to clean the surface of the substrate W with the chemical. The rinsing process with pure water is alternately repeated.

When the cleaning process and the rinsing process are completed at time t4, the nitrogen gas valve 55 is closed and the IPA valve 57 is opened, so that the IPA vapor flows into the chamber 10 from the gas supply nozzle 50 together with the nitrogen gas as a carrier gas. Supplied. Further, the pure water valve 22 is opened and pure water is supplied to the processing tank 20. At this time, the ozone gas valve 51, the ozone water valve 24 and the chemical liquid valve 23 are closed.

Thereafter, from time t4 to time t5, the substrate W is subjected to the lifting and drying process. Withdrawing and drying treatment means that the substrate W is pulled up from pure water while IP
A vapor is supplied, and moisture adhering to the surface of the substrate W is removed by I
This is the process of replacing with PA. Specifically, the lifter LH
While pulling up the substrate W from the pure water in the processing tank 20,
The IPA vapor is supplied from the gas supply nozzle 50 to the chamber 10. Thereby, the IP supplied around the substrate W
A vapor replaces the moisture on the surface of the substrate W, and the surface of the substrate W
It will be covered by PA.

When the lifting and drying process is completed, finally, a reduced pressure drying process is performed between time t5 and time t6. The vacuum drying process is a process of evaporating the attached IPA by putting the substrate W to which the IPA has been attached under a reduced pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure. Specifically, the ozone gas valve 51 and the IPA valve 57 are closed, and the vacuum pressure reducing valve 19 is opened (the exhaust valve 1).
8 is closed) to evacuate the inside of the chamber 10 and put the substrate W under reduced pressure. At this time, the substrate W is held at a position lifted from the processing tank 20 by the lifter LH. Further, only the nitrogen gas valve 55 is open for controlling the pressure reduction in the chamber 10. By being placed under reduced pressure, the IPA covering the substrate W evaporates, and the substrate W is completely dried.

Thereafter, the vacuum pressure reducing valve 19 is closed and the nitrogen gas valve 55 is opened to return the inside of the chamber 10 to the atmospheric pressure. Then, at time t6, the auto cover 11 is opened and the substrate W is carried out. The process ends. According to the above-described embodiment, all the cleaning processes (organic substance removal process, chemical solution process, rinsing process, and the like) related to the substrate W can be performed in one chamber 10, so that the substrate W is kept in the atmosphere. There is no exposure to the inside, and contamination of particles and the like hardly occurs. Further, diffusion of ozone gas, IPA vapor, and the like to the outside of the apparatus can be easily prevented, and safety is high.

Further, between time t1 and time t2,
The surface cleaning process of the substrate W with ozone water is performed in a state where the pressure in the chamber 10 is higher than the atmospheric pressure by supplying the ozone gas. Assuming that the pressure in the chamber 10 is the atmospheric pressure as in the related art, the pressure at the gas-liquid interface of the ozone water in the processing tank 20 also becomes the atmospheric pressure.
Even if high-concentration ozone water is generated in the ozone water supply source 26 under a high-pressure ozone atmosphere, ozone gas is emitted as bubbles in the processing tank 20. For this reason, the ozone concentration of the ozone water is reduced, and the decomposition rate of the organic substance such as the resist attached to the surface of the substrate W cannot be increased.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, the pressure in the chamber 10 is made higher than the atmospheric pressure by the supply of the ozone gas. Even when the pressure becomes higher than the atmospheric pressure and high-concentration ozone water is generated in the ozone water supply source 26 under a high-pressure ozone atmosphere, bubbling of ozone gas in the processing tank 20 can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the ozone concentration of the ozone water in the processing tank 20 and increase the decomposition rate of organic substances such as a resist attached to the surface of the substrate W, thereby quickly removing such organic substances. You can do it.

This will be further described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the actual organic matter decomposition rate in consideration of the temperature and the ozone concentration of the ozone water. The solid line L1 in the figure is a curve showing the correlation between the temperature of the ozone water and the organic matter decomposition rate (however, the ozone concentration is constant). As shown in the figure, under the condition that the ozone concentration is constant, the oxidation reaction is activated as the temperature of the ozone water increases,
The organic matter decomposition rate is increased.

The dashed line L2 in the figure is a curve showing the correlation between the temperature of ozone water at atmospheric pressure and the ozone concentration, and is a so-called solubility curve of ozone water at atmospheric pressure.
As with general gases, the higher the temperature, the lower the solubility of ozone in water. This means that it is impossible to obtain ozone water having a high ozone concentration and high temperature, that is, ozone water suitable for decomposing organic substances in an equilibrium state (stable form).

The solid line L1 and the dashed line L2 are
This shows that the characteristics of the ozone concentration in the ozone water and the decomposition rate of organic substances with respect to the respective temperatures are contradictory. As described above, conventionally, it is possible to significantly increase the decomposition rate of organic substances due to this. I couldn't.

For this reason, conventionally, ozone water having a temperature and an ozone concentration at which an optimum balance for the decomposition of organic substances is obtained is supplied to the substrate W. That is,
The actual organic substance decomposition rate including the influence of the temperature on both the organic substance decomposition rate and the ozone concentration is as shown by a dashed line L3 in the figure. The actual decomposition rate of the organic substance is a curve that projects upward with respect to the temperature, and the point P1 in the curve L3 where the decomposition rate of the organic substance is maximized is the optimum point for cleaning the substrate. Therefore, in the conventional ozone water cleaning process under the atmospheric pressure, the ozone water at the temperature T1 corresponding to the point P1 is supplied to the substrate.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the pressure at the gas-liquid interface of the ozone water in the processing tank 20 is higher than the atmospheric pressure, foaming of the ozone gas is suppressed, and the solubility of ozone is increased. The solubility curve L2 of the ozone water at atmospheric pressure moves to the high concentration side and moves to the solid line L4. That is, the ozone water in the chamber 10 whose atmospheric pressure is higher than the atmospheric pressure has a correlation (solubility curve) between the temperature and the ozone concentration as indicated by the solid line L4.

Accordingly, the actual organic substance decomposition rate including the influence of the temperature on both the organic substance decomposition rate (solid line L1) and the ozone concentration (L4) is as shown by the solid line L5 in the figure. The decomposition rate of the organic substance also becomes an upward curve with respect to the temperature, and the decomposition rate of the organic substance is improved over the entire temperature range as compared with the dashed line L3. Therefore, it is possible to increase the decomposition rate of the organic substance such as the resist attached to the surface of the substrate W,
Such organic matter can be quickly removed.

In this embodiment, since the pressure in the chamber 10 is made higher than the atmospheric pressure by the supply of the ozone gas, an ozone gas atmosphere is formed around the processing tank 20 in the chamber 10. Ozone can be replenished to the ozone water during the cleaning process by the ozone gas atmosphere. That is, the ozone water supplied to the processing tank 20 oxidizes and decomposes the organic matter attached to the substrate W to consume ozone, and the ozone concentration of the ozone water gradually decreases as the cleaning process proceeds. By re-dissolving and replenishing ozone from the ozone gas atmosphere around the processing tank 20 (strictly, gas-liquid interface),
A decrease in ozone concentration can be suppressed. as a result,
Organic substances such as a resist attached to the surface of the substrate W can be removed stably and quickly.

In this embodiment, the processing tank 20
Can be heated by the heater 25. By heating and raising the temperature of the ozone water, a cleaning process using high-temperature and high-concentration ozone water can be performed, and the decomposition rate of an organic substance such as a resist attached to the surface of the substrate W can be further increased. Even if the ozone water is heated to a high temperature, the pressure inside the chamber 10 is higher than the atmospheric pressure due to the supply of the ozone gas,
Bubbling of ozone gas in the inside can be suppressed.

However, when the ozone water is heated to an excessively high temperature, a large amount of ozone gas is generated even at a high pressure, and the ozone concentration of the ozone water is reduced, and the organic matter decomposition rate is reduced. For this reason, it is preferable to raise the temperature of the ozone water to an appropriate temperature by the heater 25. Specifically, the point P2 in the curve L5 in FIG. 4 at which the organic substance decomposition rate is the maximum is the optimum point for substrate cleaning. Speed can be maximized. As shown in FIG. 4, the decomposition rate of the organic substance at the point P2 is higher than the decomposition rate of the organic substance at the point P1, and the organic substance attached to the substrate W can be decomposed more quickly than the conventional optimum condition.

<3. Modifications> While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described examples. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the pressure in the chamber 10 is made higher than the atmospheric pressure by supplying the ozone gas, but the pressure in the chamber 10 is made higher than the atmospheric pressure by supplying an inert gas instead. You may do it. As the inert gas, for example, nitrogen gas can be used. Specifically, the pressure regulator 53 controls the opening and closing of the nitrogen gas valve 55 while monitoring the air pressure in the chamber 10 with the pressure transducer 53, and supplies nitrogen gas from the gas supply nozzle 50 to thereby control the air pressure in the chamber 10. Above atmospheric pressure. Even in this case, as described above, since the pressure at the gas-liquid interface of the ozone water in the processing tank 20 is higher than the atmospheric pressure, the bubbling of the ozone gas is suppressed and the solubility of ozone is increased. A decrease in the concentration can be prevented, and organic substances such as a resist attached to the surface of the substrate W can be quickly removed.

Further, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas does not dissolve in ozone water and does not change its properties, so that there is no danger of hindering the cleaning treatment with ozone water. However, since the consumed ozone cannot be replenished by dissolution from the ozone gas atmosphere, the chamber 10 is supplied by the ozone gas supply as in the above embodiment.
It is more preferable that the internal pressure be higher than the atmospheric pressure.

In the above-described embodiment, a so-called batch type apparatus for processing a plurality of substrates W at once is described.
The technology according to the present invention can also be applied to a so-called single-wafer apparatus that processes the substrates W one by one.

[0051]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the gas is supplied to the closed chamber to make the pressure in the closed chamber higher than the atmospheric pressure. By suppressing ozone gas foaming and preventing a decrease in ozone concentration, organic substances such as resist adhering to the substrate can be quickly removed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since ozone gas is supplied to the closed chamber, ozone consumed by dissolution of the ozone gas is replenished, and a decrease in ozone concentration in ozone water is suppressed. As a result, organic substances such as a resist attached to the substrate can be removed stably and quickly.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the inert gas is supplied to the closed chamber, the inert gas does not dissolve in the ozone water and the function of the ozone water can be prevented from deteriorating. Can be.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the ozone water supplied to the processing tank is heated, the oxidative decomposition reaction by the ozone water is activated, and the organic substances attached to the substrate are removed more quickly. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a part of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a gas supply state and a pressure change in a chamber of the substrate cleaning apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an actual organic matter decomposition rate in consideration of the temperature and ozone concentration of ozone water.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 10 Chamber 20 Processing tank 21 Liquid supply nozzle 25 Heater 50 Gas supply nozzle LH Lifter

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomonori Kojimaru 4-chome Tenjin Kitamachi 1-chome Horikawa-dori Teranouchi, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto F-term (reference) 3B201 AA03 AB08 AB42 BB04 BB82 BB93 BB96 BB98 CB12 CC01 CC11 CD11 CD22

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate cleaning apparatus for performing a surface cleaning process on a substrate by immersing the substrate in ozone water, comprising: a processing tank for storing ozone water; a closed chamber containing the processing tank; Substrate holding means for holding a substrate in a tank; ozone water supply means for supplying ozone water to the processing tank; gas for supplying a gas to the closed chamber to make the pressure in the closed chamber higher than atmospheric pressure A substrate cleaning apparatus comprising: a supply unit. 2. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas supply unit supplies ozone gas as the gas to the closed chamber. 3. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas supply unit supplies an inert gas as the gas to the closed chamber. 4. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ozone water supply unit includes a heating unit that heats the ozone water supplied to the processing tank. Substrate cleaning equipment.