JP2003031460A - Apparatus and method for liquid processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent wasteful consumption of processing liquid and to improve production yield in an apparatus in which a substrate is processed with liquid such as in a development processing apparatus. SOLUTION: The development apparatus is provided with a plurality of liquid ejecting holes arranged over the same a length, as or longer than the effective length of a substrate, to supply the developing liquid onto the substrate. Vessel-like liquid receivers, each having a liquid-receiving opening on its upper face, are installed at four positions which are so close along the outer periphery of the substrate to recover much more of the developing liquid. A liquid draining means and an exhaust means are respectively connected to the bottom face and to a side face of each liquid receiver. When the developing liquid is recovered (during the development), exhaustion from the relevant liquid receiver is stopped to prevent liquid level on the substrate from waving. The recovered developing liquid is returned to the nozzle via a circulating mechanism, and is reused.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer or LC
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for performing a liquid treatment such as a D substrate (a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display) or the like, for example, an exposure process on a substrate after a coating process, and then a developing process for supplying a developing solution to the substrate surface .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the development processing performed in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices and LCDs, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the supply of the developing solution to the wafer W is performed by using the nozzle 12 in which a large number of ejection holes 11 are arranged over a length corresponding to the diameter direction of the wafer W to be processed. Is being done. This developer supply is shown in Fig. 11 (b).
, The nozzle 12 is positioned 1 mm above the wafer W, and the developing solution is supplied from the discharge hole 11 to the diametrical center of the surface of the wafer W, and the wafer W is
Rotate 0 degrees. By doing so, the developing solution discharged over the diametrical direction of the wafer W is spread from the central portion to the entire circle of the wafer W, and the liquid film of the developing solution is deposited on the entire surface of the wafer W with a predetermined thickness. Will be.

However, in this method, since the wafer W is rotated, the developing solution ejected first and the developing solution ejected last are mixed with each other, or due to the inertial force of the developing solution caused by the rotation, the liquid is piled up. For example, the level of development may be different and the line width may not be uniform due to waste of liquid on the surface of the developing solution, where the mixing of the developing solution is violent and where it is not. It may be damaged.

Therefore, in recent years, a developing solution supply method has been studied in which the same nozzle as that described above is used and the wafer W is not rotated. For example, as shown in FIG.
There is a scanning method as shown in 2. In this method, first, the nozzle 12 is arranged on the outer side of the peripheral edge of the wafer W as shown by the dotted line, and while ejecting the developing solution, the nozzle 12 is moved to the outer side of the peripheral edge of the wafer W on the opposite side, so that the entire surface of the wafer W is covered with the developing solution. It is intended to form a liquid film.

[0005]

However, according to the above scanning method, the wafer W as described in FIG. 11 is used.
Although various problems caused by rotation of the developer can be avoided, on the other hand, there is a problem that the waste of the developer increases. That is, when the wafer W was rotated, a very small amount of the developing solution was spilled from the outer edge of the wafer W, but according to the scanning method, it is supplied from the nozzle 12 to the portion shown by the diagonal line 13 in FIG. All the developing solution used is wasted. Specifically, it requires about twice as much developing solution as the conventional method, but some measures are necessary because the developing solution is extremely expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent waste of chemicals and to improve the yield of products in an apparatus for performing liquid processing on a substrate such as a developing apparatus. It is to provide a technology that can improve the

[0007]

A liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention is provided above a substrate holding portion for holding a substrate horizontally and a substrate held by the substrate holding portion, and supplies a chemical solution to the surface of the substrate. And a chemical solution recovery means for recovering the chemical solution not applied to the substrate at the time of supplying the chemical solution in the nozzle, and the chemical solution from the chemical solution recovery means to the nozzle for reusing the recovered chemical solution. And a circulation mechanism for circulating.

According to this structure, since the chemical liquid wastefully discarded in the conventional liquid processing can be effectively reused, the running cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Above all, it is effective when an expensive chemical solution such as a developing solution is used, and as a specific example, a chemical solution discharge port arranged in the left-right direction over the length of the effective area of the substrate or more. A device having a structure in which a developer having not been supplied to the substrate is received by a chemical solution supply means having a chemical solution recovery port around the substrate when the chemical solution is supplied while moving the nozzle forward by using the nozzle having the Can be mentioned.

In this example, it is preferable that a gap be formed between the outer edge of the substrate and the edge of the chemical solution recovery port so that the coating liquid supplied to the substrate surface does not flow down to the chemical solution recovery port. By doing so, for example, it is possible to prevent a reaction product generated by reacting with another chemical solution on the surface of the substrate from entering the chemical solution collecting means. Therefore, the collected chemical liquid can be reused without performing a treatment such as purification or separation.

Further, the chemical liquid recovery means may be provided with an exhaust means so that the exhaust by the exhaust means is stopped at the time of development. According to such a configuration, an air flow can be formed on the substrate surface to prevent particle contamination immediately before the supply of the developing solution (chemical solution), and no air stream is formed on the substrate surface during static development. Since the surface is not wavy, development defects can be suppressed and the product yield can be improved.

In the apparatus having the above structure, the chemical solution collecting means may be provided with a pair of liquid receiving units provided at positions corresponding to both ends of the nozzle so as to face each other. The chemical liquid recovery means having such a structure is effective when a semiconductor wafer is used as the substrate, and for example, the liquid receiving unit is a semiconductor device so that the chemical liquid supplied from a nozzle to a portion other than the chemical liquid supply region of the substrate can be recovered. By moving in the left-right direction according to the contour of the wafer, useless chemicals can be effectively collected.

Further, in the liquid processing method according to the present invention, a step of supplying a chemical solution from a nozzle to a horizontally held substrate, and a step of recovering the chemical solution not applied to the substrate among the chemical solutions supplied from the nozzle. The method is characterized by including a step and a step of circulating the recovered chemical liquid to the nozzle to reuse it.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments in which the liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a developing apparatus will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the figure, reference numeral 21 denotes a spin chuck that serves as a substrate holding unit that holds a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer) W, which is a substrate, by vacuum suction from the back surface side and horizontally holds it, and is rotated by a drive unit 22 that supports the lower side thereof. In addition to being freely configured, it is vertically movable up and down to a transfer height between a developing processing position and a transfer arm (not shown). An outer cup 23 and an inner cup 24, which are vertically movable, are provided on the sides of the wafer W sucked and held by the spin chuck 21 so as to surround the wafer W. The outer cup 23 can be moved up and down by the action of the elevating part 25, and the L-shaped parts 26 provided at regular intervals along the lower end circumference of the outer cup 23 are hooked, so that the inner cup 2
4 is configured to move up and down in conjunction with each other in a part of the movement range of the outer cup 23.

The outer cup 23 has a structure in which a square tubular upper side cup 23a and a cylindrical lower side cup 23b are integrally molded, and the upper side cup 23a is shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle 3 for supplying the developing solution to the wafer W placed on the lower side has the upper cup 2
The size is such that it can move parallel to one side of 3a. One of the inner cups 24 is a cylindrical body formed so that the upper side is inclined upward inward and the upper side opening is narrower than the lower side opening. The upper side inclined surface has a total of four chemical liquid recovery portions. Liquid receiving part 4 (4a, 4b, 4c, 4)
d) is provided. These liquid receiving portions 4 (4a to 4
Details of d) and related parts connected to this will be described later.

The lower side of the inner cup 24 is the spin chuck 2.
1 is provided with a disk 27a surrounding the circumference of the disk 27, and a liquid receiving portion 27b having a concave portion formed around the entire circumference of the disk 27a. The liquid receiving portion 27b is slightly inward from the side surface of the liquid receiving portion 27b. The cup 23 (and the inner cup 24) is configured to fit therein. Further, a drain line 27c which also serves as a drain pipe and an exhaust pipe is connected to the bottom surface of the liquid receiving portion 27b, and a ring body 28 having a mountain-shaped cross section whose upper end approaches the back surface of the wafer W is provided at the peripheral edge of the disc 33. Has been. 29 in FIG.
For example, a is a cleaning nozzle provided for cleaning the back surface of the outer edge of the wafer W, and 29b is a drain line for naturally draining the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning nozzle 29a and splashed back to the disk 27a side. . Also,
An air supply unit 30 is provided above the developing device including the spin chuck 21 and the outer cup 23. To prevent particles from adhering to the wafer W, for example, clean air adjusted to a predetermined temperature and humidity is used. It is configured so that it can be supplied to the surface of the wafer W as a downward flow.

Here, the liquid receiving part 4 and the parts related thereto, which are the main parts of the present embodiment, will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid receiving portion 4 (4a to 4d) is provided with a developing liquid in a developing liquid supply region by the nozzle 3 in which the discharge hole 31 is formed over a length corresponding to the diameter direction of the wafer W. It is provided so as to correspond to a region that is not supplied to the surface of the wafer W and to cover a region slightly wider than the developer supply region. Here, the liquid receiving portion 4 (4a to 4d) will be described by taking the liquid receiving portion 4a as an example and referring to the perspective view of FIG. The liquid receiving portion 4a is a container in which a substantially triangular chemical liquid recovery port 41 is formed on the upper surface, and the inner upper end thereof has a shape that draws an arc so as to approach the wafer W and follow the outer periphery thereof. Further, the height of the chemical solution recovery port 41 is
For example, during the developing process in which the inner cup 23 descends, the inner cup 23 is positioned so as to be at the same level as the surface of the wafer W. Further, for example, the nozzle 3 is provided between the arc portion 41a of the chemical solution recovery port 41 and the outer edge of the wafer W. When the wafer W moves from the wafer W side toward the liquid receiving portion 4a while discharging the developing liquid, the developer once supplied to the surface of the wafer W is not connected to the liquid receiving portion 4a side by surface tension. Thus, a constant separation distance α is provided. The value of α is, for example, about 5 mm to 20 mm.

An exhaust duct 42, which is an exhaust means, is connected to the outer wall surface of the liquid receiving portion 4a, and a recovery pipe 51 for discharging (recovering) the developer accumulated in the liquid receiving portion 4a is connected to the bottom surface. Are connected. 2, the downstream side of the exhaust duct 42 will be described. The liquid receiving portion 4a
The exhaust ducts 42 and 4b are connected to the exhaust pump 45 via the valve 43, and the exhaust ducts 42 of the liquid receiving portions 4c and 4d are connected to the exhaust pump 45 via the valve 44, respectively.
By controlling the opening and closing of the valves 43 and 44, it is possible to switch between two parts of the liquid receiving part 4 where exhaust is performed and two parts where it is not exhausted. Exhaust gas is switched for each of the two liquid receiving portions 4 having the same X coordinate. That is, when the nozzle 3 scans in the X direction, the exhaust gas is exhausted between a portion where the developer is collected and a portion where the developer is not collected. This is so that the presence or absence can be switched.

Next, the developer circulation mechanism including the recovery pipe 51 of the liquid receiver 4 and the developer supply system related thereto will be described with reference to FIG. Liquid receiver 4 (4a-
4d) is connected to the downstream side of each recovery pipe 51, and the recovery tank 5
2 is provided therein, and a sensor 53 for measuring, for example, the height of the liquid surface, which is connected to the control unit 6, is provided therein. A circulation path 54 is connected to the bottom surface of the recovery tank 52 to circulate the recovered developer solution to the nozzle 3 and enable reuse. In the middle of the path, for example, from the upstream side, from the sensor 53. A valve 55 whose opening and closing is controlled by the control unit 6 based on the sent measurement data, a filter unit 56 for purifying the developer sent from the recovery tank 52 to, for example, a reusable level, and the purified developer Alternatively, a storage tank 58 for storing a new developer liquid supplied from the developer supply source 57 is interposed. Further, a pump P1 is provided on the upstream side of the storage tank 58 in the circulation path 54.
However, similarly, the pumps P2 are respectively provided on the downstream side.

Now, returning to FIG. 2 again, the outside of the outer cup 23 will be described. On the outside of the outer cup 23, for example, a guide rail 71 extending in the Y direction is provided so as to be parallel to one side of the upper cup 23a. In the state shown in FIG. 2, the first moving mechanism 72 for moving the nozzle 3 is provided on one end side of the guide rail 71, and the cleaning nozzle 7 is provided on the other end side.
A second moving mechanism 74 for moving 3 is located respectively, and these are guided by the guide rails 71 to move above the wafer W. The drive unit 22, the elevating unit 25, the first moving mechanism 72, and the second moving mechanism 74 described above are connected to the control unit 6, respectively.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the spin chuck 21 is raised above the outer cup 23 in the lowered position, and the wafer W, which has already been coated with the resist in the previous step and has been exposed, is transferred to the spin chuck 2 from a transfer arm (not shown). Then, the upper surface of the wafer W is the inner cup 2
4 Lower to the position where it becomes almost the same height as the upper end, and
Moves to a standby position outside the periphery of the wafer W, for example.
At this time, the nozzle 3 is positioned so that the developing solution is supplied to the wafer W, that is, the ejection hole 31 is higher than the surface level of the wafer W by, for example, about 1 mm. Then, while evacuation of the drain line 27c is stopped and the developing solution is discharged, for example, 1
The scan of the nozzle 3 is started at a speed of 0 cm / sec, and the nozzle 3 moves from one end side of the wafer W to the other end side as shown in FIG.

Here, the relationship between the position of the nozzle 3 at the time of scanning and the exhaust state of each liquid receiving portion 4 (4a to 4d) will be described. For example, FIG. 6 (a) until just before the nozzle 3 starts scanning. As shown in FIG.
Exhaust is performed at a to 4d. That is, the air supply unit 30
The clean air supplied from the wafer W changes its direction to the outside on the surface of the wafer W and forms an air flow toward the four liquid receiving portions 4a to 4d, so that the surface of the wafer W is kept in a state in which particles are hard to adhere. There is.

When the movement of the nozzle 3 is started, the control unit 6 first controls the valve 43 to be closed, and as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the evacuation of the liquid receiving portions 4a and 4b is stopped. The developer is supplied. At this time, the developing solution which is not supplied to the surface of the wafer W is collected in each of the solution receiving sections 4a and 4b as shown by the hatched lines, and when the nozzle 3 reaches the center of the wafer W after that, the control section 6 now controls the valve. The control of closing 44 is performed, and the exhaust of the liquid receiving portions 4c and 4d in addition to the liquid receiving portions 4a and 4b is stopped.

Layer of coating liquid on wafer W surface (coating film)
Reacts with the developer supplied from the nozzle 3 and the development proceeds from the relevant portion. When the nozzle 3 reaches the liquid receivers 4c and 4d as shown in FIG. As shown in, the reaction product of the coating film Q1 and the developing solution Q2 may try to move toward the liquid receiving portion 4 (4c) side at the outer edge of the wafer W. However, as described above, the surface tension of the developing solution in the vicinity of the discharge hole 31 is the arc portion 41a from the surface of the wafer W.
The reaction product overflowing to the outside of the wafer W falls into the gap between the wafer W and the arc portion 41a, and the liquid receiving portion 4c to which the nozzle 3 is moved.
It does not reach inside. Therefore, only the pure developing solution which has not reacted with the coating solution components is collected in the solution receiving portion 4c.

The developer collected in the liquid receiving portion 4 (4a-4d) is sent from the collecting tank 52 to the storing tank 58 when the amount exceeds a predetermined amount, and after a certain cleaning, the nozzle 3
It will be reused in, but will be described below with a specific example. For example, the amount of the developer discharged from the nozzle 3 in one development process (wafer W, one sheet) is set to 10, and the developer is collected in the collecting tank 52 via the liquid receiving portions 4 (4a to 4d). When the amount of the developing solution is 3, one-time developing solution is obtained during the processing of the four wafers W. Therefore, while the nozzle 3 first processes the four sheets, the developing process is performed using the developer supplied from the developer supply source 57 through the storage tank 58 and stored in the recovery tank 52. When the amount of the developing solution to be reached reaches 10, the control unit 6 opens the valve 55, and purifies the developing solution in the collecting tank 52 to the extent that it can be reused, and sends it to the storage tank 58. Then, for example, no new liquid is supplied from the developing liquid supply source 57 to the storage tank 58, and the developing process is performed on the fifth wafer W only with the collected developing liquid.

Returning again to the developing process for one wafer W, a liquid film having a height of, for example, 1.2 mm is formed on the surface of the wafer W at the end of the scanning of the nozzles 3, and the wafer W Static development is performed. On the other hand, the nozzle 3 rises to the upper side of the upper cup 23a at the outer position of the wafer W and returns to the reference position shown in FIG. Then, for example, after the static development is completed, the drain line 27c and the liquid receiving portion 4 (4
a) to 4d), the exhaust is returned, the inner cup 24 is raised together with the outer cup 23, and then the wafer W is rotated.
By supplying the cleaning liquid by the cleaning nozzle 73 which is replaced with the nozzle 3, the developing liquid on the wafer W is washed away. After the cleaning, the cleaning nozzle 29a cleans the back surface of the wafer W, spin-drys, etc., and then the wafer W is unloaded from the developing device by a transfer arm (not shown).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the liquid receiving portions 4 (4a to 4d) are provided corresponding to the portions other than the wafer W in the developing solution supply region of the nozzle 3.
Since the developer collected in the liquid receiving portion 4 (4a to 4d) is circulated so that it can be reused in the nozzle 3, the developer which has been wastefully discarded can be efficiently used. Therefore, the running cost can be reduced.

Further, the distance between the liquid receiving portion 4 and the wafer W at the time of supplying the developing solution is reduced so that a larger amount of the developing solution can be collected, and the closest portion of each is, for example, the surface of the wafer W. In order to prevent the reaction product of the developing solution that has reacted with the coating film component from heading toward the liquid receiving portion 4 side due to surface tension, a certain separation distance is formed, so that a highly pure developing solution can be collected. There is also an advantage that it is possible to do so and the labor related to reuse can be reduced.

Regarding the exhaust in the liquid receiving section 4,
The control unit 6 is configured to be able to separately switch ON and OFF of exhaust, and for example, exhaust is performed only on the front side until the nozzle 3 reaches the center of the wafer W, and after reaching the center, at all parts. Since the control in conjunction with the position of the nozzle 3 is performed so as to perform the exhaust, the unsupplied region of the wafer W can be cleaned until just before the developer is supplied, while the exhaust of the already-supplied region is performed. Is stopped and an air flow is not formed, so that the risk of, for example, undulating the surface of the developing solution and developing defects is reduced.

By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the switching of the exhaust point is carried out for each liquid receiving part 4 (4a to 4d). For example, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to provide a plurality of controllable exhaust ducts and perform more detailed switching of the exhaust site. In this embodiment, for example, exhaust ducts 51a, 51b, 51 are provided on the side surface of the liquid receiving portion 4b so as to be along the traveling direction of the nozzle 3.
c, 51d are provided, and the control unit 6 first stops the exhaust of the exhaust duct 51a when the nozzle 3 starts scanning and reaches the position shown in the figure, and then the Y coordinate at which the exhaust duct 51a is provided. The exhaust of the exhaust duct 51b is stopped by the time it reaches, and similarly the exhaust ducts 51c and 51d are sequentially closed. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent contamination of the non-supplying area of the developing solution in the wafer W, even immediately before the case where the exhaust control is performed for each solution receiving unit 4.

Furthermore, the liquid receiving portion in the present embodiment can have the same effect as that of the above-mentioned embodiment even if it is configured as shown in FIG. The liquid receiving section 100 according to the present embodiment is provided with a pair of opposed trays 101 and 102 provided at both ends of the nozzle 3 so as to be located between the discharge hole 31 of the nozzle 3 and the wafer W, and these nozzles. A drive unit 103 that moves the trays 101 and 102 in the X direction so as to correspond to a portion of the wafer W other than the developing solution supply region at the Y coordinate, along with the movement of the unit 3. The developing solution collected in the trays 101 and 102 can be returned to the nozzle 3 via a circulation mechanism (not shown).

In the above, the chemical liquid used for the liquid treatment is not limited to the developing liquid, and may be, for example, a resist liquid used in the coating treatment performed prior to the developing treatment, or used in the protective film forming treatment. It may be a polyimide liquid used. By the way, the “chemical liquid not applied to the substrate” described in the claims means not only the chemical liquid directly recovered by the chemical liquid recovery means from the nozzle without contacting the substrate but also indirectly through the substrate surface, for example. It also includes a chemical solution that is laterally or downwardly directed to the substrate. That is, if it is reproducible even if other types of chemicals are mixed, all the chemicals discharged from the nozzle are once collected regardless of whether impurities are mixed and then purified or separated. It may be configured to be reused from.

Further, for example, the exhaust control need not be performed in a process in which the influence on the liquid surface does not pose a problem, such as static development. Furthermore, the liquid receiving portion is not limited to the one configured to receive the chemical liquid falling from the upper side by the opening portion as in the above-described embodiment, and for example, surrounds the periphery of the wafer W and moves the wafer W sideways up and down. It may have an opening that opens inward in the straddling range. According to such a configuration, in the process of supplying the chemical liquid while rotating the wafer W, such as spin coating, the side is moved by centrifugal force. It is possible to collect the chemical liquid that has been blown away.

Next, a pattern forming device in which the above-described developing device is incorporated in a developing unit will be briefly described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 81 in the figure denotes a cassette station, for example, a cassette mounting portion 82 for mounting a cassette C containing 25 wafers W and a transfer for transferring the wafer W between the mounted cassettes C. And an arm 83. A processing unit S1 surrounded by a casing 84 is connected to the back side of the transfer arm 83. A main transport means 85 is provided in the center of the processing section S1, and a liquid processing unit 86 that is a combination of coating and developing units is provided on the right side as viewed from the back so as to surround the main transport means 85 on the left side, the front side, and the back side. On the side, shelving units U1, U2, U in which heating / cooling units, etc. are stacked in multiple stages
3 are arranged respectively.

The shelf units U1, U2, U3 are constructed by combining various units for performing pretreatment and posttreatment of the liquid treatment unit 86, for example, a reduced pressure drying unit, a heating unit, a cooling unit, etc. Is included. It should be noted that the shelf units U2 and U3 also incorporate a delivery unit including a delivery table for delivering the wafer W. Further, the main transfer means 85 described above is configured to be movable up and down, moved back and forth, and rotatable around a vertical axis, and a wafer is provided between the liquid processing unit 86 and each unit constituting the shelf units U1, U2, U3. W
It is possible to deliver.

An exposure unit S3 is connected to the back of the processing section S1 via an interface unit S2. The interface unit S2 can be raised and lowered, for example.
The wafer W is transferred between the processing section S1 and the exposure unit S3 by the transfer means 87 that is movable left and right, front and rear, and rotatable around the vertical axis.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the waste of the chemical liquid and improve the product yield in the apparatus for performing the liquid processing on the substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a structure of a liquid receiving section.

FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a supply and recovery path of a developing solution in the liquid processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanation view for explaining the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a developing solution supply step and exhaust in the liquid receiving section.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing how the developing solution is supplied to the outer edge of the wafer W.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing another embodiment of the liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing still another embodiment of the liquid processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an example of a pattern forming apparatus incorporating the liquid processing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a conventional liquid processing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing another example of a conventional liquid processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

W semiconductor wafer 21 Spin chuck 23 Outer Cup 24 inner cup 3 nozzles 31 discharge hole 4 (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) Liquid receiving part 41 Chemical recovery port 42 Exhaust duct 51 recovery pipe 52 Collection tank 58 Storage tank 6 control unit

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H096 AA25 GA29 GA30                 4D075 AC11 AC79 AC84 DA08 DB13                       DB14 DC22 DC24 EA05 EA45                 4F042 AA07 AA08 AB00 CB00 CC03                       CC06 CC30 DE03 DE09 DF03                       DF09 DF28 DF32 EB05 EB09                       EB18 EB24                 5F046 LA14 LA19

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A substrate holding part for holding a substrate horizontally, a nozzle provided above the substrate held by the substrate holding part for supplying a chemical solution to the surface of the substrate, and a substrate for supplying the chemical solution at this nozzle. And a circulation mechanism that circulates the drug solution from the drug solution recovery unit to the nozzle in order to reuse the drug solution recovered. Liquid processing equipment. 2. The circulation mechanism stores a chemical liquid collected by the chemical liquid collecting means, and a storage tank for storing the chemical liquid sent from the collection tank or a new chemical liquid before the liquid is sent to the nozzle side. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a tank. 3. The nozzle has a chemical solution discharge port arranged in the left-right direction over a length equal to or longer than the width of the effective area of the substrate, and supplies the chemical solution while moving forward. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the chemical liquid recovery means has a chemical liquid recovery port provided around the substrate. 4. A gap is formed between the substrate and the edge of the chemical liquid recovery port so that the coating liquid supplied to the substrate surface does not flow down to the chemical liquid recovery port. 3. The liquid processing apparatus according to item 3. 5. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chemical solution recovery means is provided with an exhaust means. 6. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chemical solution is a developing solution. 7. A control unit for stopping the exhaust by the exhaust means during the developing process.
The liquid processing apparatus described. 8. A plurality of chemical liquid recovery means, each having an exhaust means, is provided, and the control unit sequentially stops the evacuation for each chemical liquid recovery means of the portion where the chemical liquid has been supplied by the nozzle passing above. 8. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the exhaust means is controlled in a gradual manner. 9. A plurality of exhaust means are provided along the path of the nozzle, and the control section controls to sequentially stop the exhaust from the exhaust means corresponding to the position where the nozzle has passed. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 7. 10. The nozzle has a discharge port for the chemical liquid which is arranged in the left-right direction over a length equal to or longer than the width of the effective region of the substrate, and supplies the chemical liquid while moving forward. The liquid treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chemical liquid recovery means includes a pair of liquid receiving units provided at positions corresponding to both ends of the nozzle so as to face each other. 11. The substrate is a semiconductor wafer, and the liquid receiving unit is moved in the left-right direction according to the contour of the semiconductor wafer so that the liquid chemical supplied from the nozzle to a region other than the liquid chemical supply region of the substrate can be collected. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the liquid processing apparatus is configured as follows. 12. An exhaust unit provided in each liquid receiving unit, and a control unit for controlling to stop the exhaust by the exhaust unit when a developing process is performed by using a developing solution as a chemical solution. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 10. 13. A step of supplying a chemical solution from a nozzle to a horizontally held substrate, a step of recovering a chemical solution not applied to the substrate among the chemical solutions supplied from the nozzle, and a recovered chemical solution to a nozzle. And a step of recycling the solution for reuse.