JP2003347267A - Apparatus and method for treating substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus and a method for treating a substrate capable of drying with excellent drying performance without increasing the rotational speed of the substrate. <P>SOLUTION: Pure water rinsing liquid is thrown off by rotating a substrate W held by a spin chuck 1, and the substrate can be dried. A light source 53, such as a halogen lamp, is arranged on the upper position of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1. Light L from the light source 53 is transmitted to a shadow member 21, and is irradiated on the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1. Consequently, the substrate W rotated is irradiated with the light from the light source 53 and a surface temperature is raised. The pure water rinsing liquid is thrown off by rotating the substrate W and the substrate can be dried. At the same time, the light L is irradiated to the rotating substrate W and the surface temperature of the substrate W is raised. Thus, the drying can be promoted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer,
Substrate processing apparatus and substrate for rotating various substrates (hereinafter, simply referred to as “substrate”) such as a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for a plasma display, and a substrate for an optical disk, and drying the substrate It relates to a processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of drying a substrate which has been rinsed with a rinsing liquid such as pure water, there is a method of removing a rinsing liquid such as pure water adhered to the substrate by rotating the substrate. As a substrate processing apparatus employing such a drying method, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-330039
An apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-26095 is conventionally known. In this substrate processing apparatus, the holding table functioning as the substrate holding means can hold the substrate in a horizontal posture. In addition, a rotating shaft extends vertically from the lower surface of the holding table,
When the holding table is driven to rotate about the rotation axis, the substrate held by the holding table rotates in a horizontal posture, and the rinsing liquid attached to the substrate scatters around the substrate. Thus, the rinse liquid is removed from the substrate, and the substrate is dried. The scattered droplets are received and collected by a cup provided around the side of the substrate.

In this substrate processing apparatus, a blocking member is provided at a position facing the surface of the substrate. A gas supply pipe is connected to the blocking member, and a processing gas (such as nitrogen gas (N2) or a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and IPA (isopropyl alcohol) vapor) is supplied from the blocking member toward the surface of the substrate. . With such a configuration, the atmosphere inside the cup in which the substrate is arranged is isolated from the atmosphere outside the cup, and the atmosphere on the front surface side of the substrate is maintained at the atmosphere of the processing gas.

In such a substrate processing apparatus that performs a drying process in which a substrate is rotated and dried, there is a technical problem of improving the drying performance by preventing a watermark from being generated on the surface of the substrate by the drying process. In order to solve such a technical problem, the above-described conventional apparatus is configured as follows.
That is, in the above-described conventional apparatus, after rotating the substrate at a high speed for a predetermined time, the rotation speed of the substrate is changed to a low speed rotation, and at least while the substrate is rotating at a low speed, a necessary amount of the processing gas at the low speed rotation is supplied. Supplying to the substrate. Thus, most of the rinsing liquid is removed from the substrate before the watermark is generated at the time of high-speed rotation, and at the subsequent low-speed rotation, the supply of the processing gas prevents the entrainment of the atmosphere on the surface of the substrate, and the formation of the watermark is prevented. The occurrence is prevented. In addition, the time required for the drying process is reduced by high-speed rotation.

[0005]

However, in the conventional apparatus, it was necessary to rotate the substrate at a high speed in order to prevent generation of a watermark and obtain excellent drying performance.
For this reason, it is necessary to use a high-performance motor as a motor for rotating the holding table functioning as the substrate holding means, which causes an increase in apparatus cost. When rotating at a high speed, it is necessary to devise each part of the apparatus so as to enable the high-speed rotation. For example, the above-described conventional apparatus employs a structure for holding a substrate by engaging a plurality of pins erected on a holding table with an outer edge of the substrate, that is, a so-called mechanical chuck structure. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a structure that can withstand such problems, and this is one of the main factors that increase the cost of the apparatus. In addition, high-speed rotation of the substrate and the holding table generates airflow around the substrate, which carries dirt and mist to the surface of the substrate and adheres to the surface of the substrate, causing a reduction in product yield. there were.

Here, without rotating the substrate at a high speed,
If the drying process is performed with the rotation at a low speed, the generation of the watermark cannot be suppressed, and the drying performance is reduced. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, it is conceivable to take measures to increase the flow rate of the processing gas supplied to the substrate (for example, increase the flow rate of several hundred liters / minute to several thousand liters / minute). However, this proposed technique consumes a large amount of high-purity nitrogen gas and the like, which inevitably increases the running cost, and it is practically difficult to adopt the proposed technique.

As described above, although there has been a demand for a drying technique capable of suppressing the generation of a watermark while rotating at a low speed, a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method satisfying such a demand exist to date. I didn't.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method capable of performing a drying process with excellent drying performance without increasing the rotation speed of the substrate. Aim.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for drying a substrate by rotating the substrate. Rotating means for rotating the substrate held by the substrate holding means, and heating means for heating the substrate rotated by the rotating means to increase the surface temperature of the substrate during the drying process.

[0010] In the invention configured as described above, the drying process is performed on the substrate by rotating the substrate by the rotating means. However, since the rotating substrate is heated by the heating means, the substrate during the drying process is heated. The surface temperature of the powder increases, and as a result, the drying process is accelerated. Since not only the substrate is rotated but also the surface temperature of the substrate is increased, the drying process is performed with good drying performance without increasing the rotation speed of the substrate.

Here, in order to further enhance the drying performance, for example, it is desirable to arrange a blocking member close to the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means during the drying process.
By providing the blocking member in this manner, the substrate during the drying process and the surrounding atmosphere are shut off, and the influence of the surrounding atmosphere on the substrate during the drying process can be prevented.

Further, in order to more effectively prevent the influence of the surrounding atmosphere on the substrate, for example, the blocking member may be configured to be rotated, or the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means and the blocking member may be rotated. The processing atmosphere may be formed by supplying a processing gas to a space between the processing gas and the processing gas.

Further, a light source may be arranged above the substrate held by the substrate holding means as a heating means, and the substrate may be heated by irradiating light from the light source toward the substrate surface. In this case, it is desirable that the blocking member be made of a material capable of transmitting light from the light source to the substrate surface.

A substrate processing method according to the present invention is a method of performing a drying process on a substrate by rotating the substrate. In order to achieve the above object, the drying process is performed by heating the substrate that has undergone the drying process. The surface temperature of the substrate inside.

According to the invention having the above-described structure, similarly to the above-described apparatus, not only the substrate is rotated to perform the drying process, but also the substrate is heated during the drying process to increase the surface temperature of the substrate. Therefore, the drying process can be performed without increasing the rotation speed of the substrate, and the drying process can be accelerated by the increase in the surface temperature, so that the drying performance can be improved.

Here, the substrate may be heated not only during the drying process as described above, but also before the start of the drying process. Thus, the substrate is preliminarily heated before the drying process. By doing so, the surface temperature of the substrate during the drying process is further increased, and the drying process can be performed more effectively. For example, when the rinsing process is performed by rotating the substrate before the drying process and supplying the rinsing liquid to the substrate, when the rinsing process is started or during the rinsing process until the drying process is started, The substrate may be preliminarily heated.

[0017]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of an entire substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, this substrate processing apparatus holds a substrate W by a spin chuck 1 functioning as a “substrate holding unit” of the present invention, and performs a chemical solution process, a rinsing process, and a drying process on the substrate W. In the same device.

The spin chuck 1 has a disk-shaped base member 2 which also functions as a blocking member on the back side of the substrate;
And three or more holding members 3 provided on the upper surface thereof. Each of these holding members 3 has a supporting portion 3a for placing and supporting the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W from below, and a regulating portion 3b for regulating the position of the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W. The member 3 is provided near the outer peripheral end of the base member 2. Further, each of the regulating portions 3b can take an operation state of contacting the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W and holding the substrate W, and a non-operating state of releasing the holding of the substrate W away from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W. The transport robot (not shown) carries the substrate W in and out of the support portion 3a in a non-operating state, and the support portion 3 with the surface of the substrate W facing upward.
The substrate W is held by the spin chuck 1 by switching each of the regulating portions 3b to the operating state after being placed on the spin chuck 1. In addition,
The operation of the holding member 3 (restriction portion 3b) can be realized by, for example, a link mechanism disclosed in JP-A-63-153839.

A rotating shaft 4 is provided on the lower surface of the base member 2.
Is mounted at the upper end. A pulley 5a is fixed to the lower end of the rotating shaft 4 and a pulley 5b fixed to the pulley 5a and the rotating shaft of the motor 5.
And a belt 5c is stretched between them, and the rotational driving force from the motor 5 is transmitted to the rotating shaft 4 via the belt 5c. Therefore, the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1 by driving the motor 5 becomes the substrate W
Rotated around the center of As described above, in this embodiment, the rotational driving force of the motor 5 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 4 by the power transmission mechanism including the pulleys 5a, 5b and the belt 5c, thereby rotating the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1.
The rotation shaft 4, the pulleys 5a and 5b, the belt 5c, and the motor 5 constitute the "rotation means" of the present invention.

A nozzle 6 is provided at the center of the base member 2. The nozzle 6 is connected to a common port CP of a three-way valve 9 via a tube 7 provided along the center axis of the hollow rotary shaft 4 and a tube 8. A chemical supply unit 12 is connected to a first switching port P1 of the three-way valve 9 via a pipe 11 having an on-off valve 10 interposed therebetween. Further, a rinsing liquid supply unit 15 is connected to a second switching port P2 of the three-way valve 9 through a pipe 14 provided with an on-off valve 13.
Are connected. Therefore, the opening and closing of the on-off valves 10 and 13 and the switching of the three-way valve 9 cause the nozzle 6
A chemical liquid and a rinsing liquid (for example, a pure water rinsing liquid) can be switched and supplied toward the center of the back surface (the lower surface side in the figure) of the substrate W.

A nozzle 6 is provided at the center of the base member 2.
An opening 16 is provided coaxially. This opening 16
Hollow portion 17 provided in rotary shaft 4 coaxially with tube 7
Or the gas supply unit 2 via a pipe 19 with an on-off valve 18
0. Therefore, by opening the on-off valve 18, an inert gas (for example, nitrogen gas) is supplied to the space Slw between the base member 2 serving as the blocking member and the back surface of the substrate W, and the space Slw is inactive. It is configured to be able to purge into an active gas atmosphere.

Above the spin chuck 1, a blocking member 21 made of a transparent material is provided. This blocking member 21 is attached to the lower end of a suspension arm 22 arranged in the vertical direction. At the upper end of the suspension arm 22, a motor 23 is provided as "blocking member rotating means" of the present invention. By driving the motor 23, the blocking member 21 is rotated about the suspension arm 22 as a rotation center. It has become so. The rotation axis of the rotation shaft 4 of the spin chuck 1 and the rotation axis of the suspension arm 22 coincide with each other, and the base member 2 as a blocking member, the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1, and the blocking member 21 It is designed to be rotated around the same axis. Also, the motor 23
Is configured to rotate the blocking member 21 in the same direction as the spin chuck 1 (the substrate W held thereon) and at substantially the same rotation speed.

At substantially the center of the suspension arm 22, a lamp support arm 52 is mounted in a horizontal direction via a bearing 51, and a light source 53 such as a halogen lamp is fixed to the tip of the lamp support arm 52. I have. When a halogen lamp is used as the light source 53, it is desirable that the blocking member 21 be formed of, for example, a quartz material. May be appropriately selected according to the conditions.

When the light source 53 is turned on by the lamp controller 54, the light L from the light source 53 passes through the blocking member 21 and the substrate W held on the spin chuck 1
The surface is irradiated. For this reason, the substrate W that has been irradiated with light from the light source 53 is heated and its surface temperature rises. Thus, in this embodiment, the light source 53 functions as the “heating unit” of the present invention. In the embodiment described above, the lamp support arm 52 and the light source 53 are supported by the bearing 51 so as to be rotatable relative to the suspension arm 22.
Even if is rotated, the light source 53 is maintained in a stationary state, and the lamp controller 54 controls lighting / extinguishing in the stationary state.

The suspension arm 22 is configured to be moved up and down by an elevating mechanism (for example, expansion and contraction of a rod of an air cylinder) (not shown), so that the light source 53 is moved up and down together with the suspension arm 22 and shut off. The member 21 is moved toward and away from the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1. Blocking member 21
However, the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1 is sandwiched between the base member 2 as a blocking member and the blocking member 21 in a state in which the substrate W is disposed close to the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1. In this state, a chemical solution process, a rinsing process, and a drying process described below are performed.

A nozzle 25 is provided at the center of the blocking member 21. The nozzle 25 is connected to a common port CP of a three-way valve 28 via a tube 26 provided along the center axis of the hollow suspension arm 22 and a tube 27. In the first switching port P1 of the three-way valve 28,
A chemical solution supply section 31 is connected to and communicated with a chemical liquid supply section 31 via a pipe 30 provided with an on-off valve 29. A rinsing liquid supply unit 34 is connected to a second switching port P2 of the three-way valve 28 via a pipe 33 provided with an on-off valve 32. Then, in a state where the blocking member 21 is arranged close to the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1, the on-off valves 29 and 32 are opened and closed, and the three-way valve 28 is switched to cause the nozzle 25 to move the surface of the substrate W from the nozzle 25. A chemical solution and a pure water rinsing solution can be switched and supplied toward the center of the upper surface of the drawing.

The nozzle 2 is located at the center of the blocking member 21.
An opening 35 is provided coaxially with 5. This opening 35
Is connected to a gas supply unit 39 through a hollow portion 36 provided in the suspension arm 22 coaxially with the tube 26 and a tube 38 provided with an on-off valve 37. Then, in a state where the blocking member 21 is disposed close to the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1, the on-off valve 37 is opened, so that the space Sup between the blocking member 21 and the surface of the substrate W is formed. An inert gas (for example, nitrogen gas) is supplied and the space Sup
Is purged into an inert gas atmosphere.

Around the spin chuck 1, there is provided a cup 40 for preventing a chemical solution or a rinsing liquid from scattering around. At the bottom of the cup 40, the chemical and rinsing liquid collected by the cup 40 are collected outside the apparatus, and the cup 4
A drain / exhaust pipe 41 for exhausting the gas in the chamber 0 is provided. The cup 40, the blocking member 21, and the like are housed in a chamber (not shown) and configured as one device (one unit).

Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the operation timing of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. Spin chuck 1 of this substrate processing apparatus
After the unprocessed substrate W is transferred by the transfer robot and held by the holding member 3, each part of the apparatus is controlled as follows by a control unit that controls the entire apparatus, and the chemical processing, the rinsing processing, and the drying processing are performed in this order. Done in

First, the chemical treatment is started at timing T1. That is, after the blocking member 21 is arranged close to the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1, the motor 5 is held in a state where the substrate W is sandwiched between the base member 2 and the blocking member 21.
To rotate the substrate W together with the spin chuck 1 at a low speed. Further, the common port CP of the three-way valve 9 and the first
The three-way valve 9 is switched so that the switching port P1 is communicated with the switching port P1.
Is supplied toward the center of the back surface (the lower surface side in the figure).
At the same time, the common port CP of the three-way valve 28
The three-way valve 28 is switched so that the switching port P1 is connected to the switching port P1, and the on-off valves 29, 32 which are closed
The chemical is supplied from the nozzle 25 toward the center of the surface of the substrate W (upper side in the drawing) by opening the on-off valve 29. As a result, the substrate W is subjected to the chemical treatment.

During the chemical treatment (T1 to T3), the chemical supplied to the center of the front and back surfaces of the substrate W spreads on the front and back surfaces of the substrate W by the rotation of the substrate W, and the chemical treatment for the entire front and back surfaces of the substrate W is performed. Done. Then, the chemical solution is shaken off from the edge of the substrate W, and scatters toward the cup 40 from a gap between the base member 2 as a blocking member and the blocking member 21.
Even if this chemical solution is rebounded by the cup 40, it is blocked by the base member 2 and the blocking member 21 as the blocking member, so that the mist of the rebounded chemical solution is prevented from re-adhering to the substrate W. Further, even if the mist of the chemical solution that is shaken off from the edge of the substrate W or hits the cup 40 is floating in the cup 40, the mist is blocked by the base member 2 and the blocking member 21 as the blocking member. The mist of the chemical liquid floating in the cup 40 is also prevented from re-adhering to the substrate W.

The timing T before the end of the chemical solution treatment
At 2, the purging of each space Slw, Sup with nitrogen gas is started. That is, by opening the on-off valve 18 at this timing T2, an inert gas (for example, nitrogen gas) is supplied as a processing gas to the space Slw between the base member 2 as the blocking member and the back surface of the substrate W. Then, the space Slw is purged to an inert gas atmosphere, and the on-off valve 37 is opened, so that an inert gas (for example, nitrogen gas) is supplied to the space Sup between the blocking member 21 and the surface of the substrate W. Supply,
The space Sup is purged to an inert gas atmosphere.

In addition, the chemical treatment is performed for a predetermined time (= T3−T1).
At this time, the processing liquid supplied from the nozzles 6 and 25 is switched from the chemical liquid to the pure water rinse liquid at the timing T3 while the rotation of the substrate W and the purging of the nitrogen gas are continued, and the chemical liquid adhering to the substrate W is rinsed. To end the chemical treatment. The processing liquid supplied from the nozzle 6 is switched from the chemical liquid to the pure water rinsing liquid by closing the on-off valve 10 so that the common port CP of the three-way valve 9 is connected to the second switching port P2. The switching is performed by switching the three-way valve 9 and opening the on-off valve 13. Also,
Similarly, switching the processing liquid supplied from the nozzle 25 from the chemical liquid to the pure water rinsing liquid closes the on-off valve 29 so that the common port CP of the three-way valve 28 is connected to the second switching port P2. The switching is performed by switching the three-way valve 28 and opening the on-off valve 32.

At the beginning of the switching from the chemical processing to the rinsing processing, the chemical liquid remains in the spaces Slw and Sup including the substrate W between the base member 2 and the blocking member 21. After an hour, it is replaced with a pure water rinse solution. That is, the above-mentioned residual chemical is deposited on the substrate W with the rotation of the substrate W.
Along with the pure water rinsing liquid that is shaken off from the edge of the substrate W and is discharged out of the spaces Slw and Sup including the substrate W between the base member 2 and the blocking member 21. Thereafter, a rinsing process using a pure water rinsing liquid is performed.

In this rinsing treatment, the chemical solution is merely replaced by the pure water rinsing solution. Therefore, similarly to the above-described chemical solution treatment, the mist of the pure water rinsing solution bounced back by the cup 40 and the cup 40
The mist of the pure water rinse liquid floating in the base member 2
In addition, the reattachment to the substrate W can be prevented by the blocking member 21, and the generation amount of the mist of the pure water rinsing liquid itself can be reduced. Furthermore, even if the mist of the chemical generated during the chemical treatment performed prior to the rinsing is floating in the cup 40 during the rinsing, the mist of the chemical is rinsed by the base member 2 and the blocking member 21 during the rinsing. It can be prevented from re-adhering to the substrate W inside. Therefore, the rinsing process can be performed without being affected by the chemical solution atmosphere, and the chemical solution process and the rinsing process can be performed in the same apparatus. Note that the mist of the chemical solution or the pure water rinse liquid floating in the cup 40 always flows down toward the bottom of the cup 40 due to the downflow airflow taken in from above the cup 40, and from the drain / exhaust pipe 41. Has been exhausted.

Then, at timing T4 before the end of the rinsing process, the light source 53 is turned on by the lamp controller 54. Then, the light L from the light source 53 passes through the blocking member 21 and irradiates the surface of the rotating substrate W while being held by the spin chuck 1, thereby starting the substrate heating.
Then, the surface temperature of the substrate W increases with time.

Further, the rinsing process is performed for a predetermined time (= T5−T
When only 3) is performed, the supply of the pure water rinse solution from the nozzles 6 and 25 is stopped at the timing T5 while the rotation of the substrate W, the purging of the nitrogen gas, and the lighting of the light source 53 are continued, and the rinsing process is terminated. Then, the drying process is started. Nozzles 6, 25
Is stopped by closing the on-off valves 13 and 32.

By this drying process, the pure water rinse liquid adhering to the substrate W is shaken off from the edge of the substrate W as the substrate W rotates, and the substrate W is dried. At this time, even if the mist of the chemical solution or the pure water rinse solution is floating in the cup 40, the mist is blocked by the base member 2 and the blocking member 21 and can be prevented from re-adhering to the substrate W during the drying process.
Drying can be performed without being affected by the mist (external atmosphere) of the chemical solution or the pure water rinse solution. In addition, since the drying process can be performed without receiving the chemical solution atmosphere, the chemical solution process and the drying process can be performed in the same apparatus.

In this embodiment, since the drying process is performed while the substrate W is irradiated with the light from the light source 53, the substrate W is heated during the drying process, and the surface temperature increases. As a result, the drying process can be performed in a shorter time than in a substrate processing apparatus in which the substrate W is simply rotated to perform the drying process. Moreover, since the surface temperature of the substrate W is high, generation of a watermark can be suppressed, and excellent drying performance can be obtained.

Then, the drying process is performed for a predetermined time (= T6−T
If only 4) is performed, the rotation of the spin chuck 1 is stopped at the timing T6, and the drying process ends. At the same time, the on / off valves 18 and 37 are closed to stop purging of nitrogen gas, and the light source 53 is turned off.

When a series of substrate processing (chemical processing, rinsing processing and drying processing) is completed in this way, the blocking member 21
Is separated from the surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1 and the holding of the substrate by the holding member 3 is released, and then the transfer robot unloads the processed substrate W to the next substrate processing apparatus.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by rotating the substrate W held by the spin chuck 1, not only the pure water rinse solution is shaken off, but also the substrate is dried.
At the same time, since the rotating substrate W is irradiated with the light L to increase the surface temperature of the substrate W, the drying process can be promoted. As a result, the substrate W can be dried with excellent drying performance without increasing the rotation speed of the substrate W.

Since the substrate W is preliminarily heated during the rinsing process and before the drying process is started (timing T4 to T5), the surface temperature of the substrate W at the start of the drying process is reduced. Since it has risen to some extent, the drying process can be further accelerated, and the time required for the drying process can be further reduced, and the drying performance can be further improved. Here, the second half of the rinsing process (timing T
Although the light source 53 is turned on from 4), the light source 53 may be turned on from the start of the rinsing process, or may be turned on from the start of the drying process. What is necessary is just to set suitably according to the kind, amount, etc. of a liquid.

In the above embodiment, the nitrogen gas is supplied to the spaces Slw and Sup during the drying process to form an inert gas atmosphere (processing atmosphere). Since the generation of the watermark is suppressed by promoting the process, it is not necessary to increase the nitrogen gas more than necessary as in the proposed technique while maintaining the rotation speed of the substrate W at a low speed, which is advantageous in terms of running cost.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes other than those described above can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the light source 53 is provided as the “heating unit” of the present invention, and the substrate W is heated to promote the drying process. However, any heating unit can be used as long as the substrate W can be heated. For example, the substrate W may be heated by providing a heat generating member 61 such as a heater in the blocking member 21 instead of the light source 53 and operating the heat generating member 61 at an appropriate timing. Good (Figure 3). Alternatively, the temperature of a processing gas such as a nitrogen gas supplied to the spaces Slw and Sup may be adjusted, and the substrate W may be heated by supplying the processing gas.

The arrangement of the light source 53 is not limited to the configuration in which the light source 53 is attached to the suspension arm 22 via the lamp support arm 52, but may be configured to have an independent lifting mechanism.

Further, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the substrate processing apparatus for performing the chemical liquid processing and the rinsing processing by supplying the chemical liquid and the rinsing liquid also to the front surface and the rear surface of the substrate W. The present invention may be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that performs chemical processing and rinsing processing only on the surface of W. Further, the present invention can be applied to a substrate processing apparatus that performs rinsing processing and drying processing on a substrate, a substrate processing apparatus that performs only drying processing on a substrate, and the like. That is, the present invention can be applied to all substrate processing apparatuses and methods for drying a substrate by rotating the substrate.

In the above-described embodiment, a so-called mechanical chuck structure in which the substrate W is held by the holding member 3 is employed, but any structure may be used as long as the substrate W can be held. Alternatively, the substrate W may be fixed by a suction chuck. Further, the posture of the held substrate W is not limited to the horizontal posture.

The motor 5 is not limited to an electric motor, but may be of any type as long as it generates power for rotating the substrate W.

The nitrogen gas (processing gas) from the gas supply units 20 and 39 is supplied to the opening 16 of the base member 2 and the shut-off member 2.
Although it is supplied from one opening 35, any form may be used as long as the processing gas can be supplied to the front and back surfaces of the substrate W. For example, the substrate W
A processing gas such as nitrogen gas may be ejected onto the upper surface of the substrate W by passing a thin tube above the substrate.

Further, in the above embodiment, the nitrogen gas is used as the processing gas. However, the type of the processing gas is not limited to this, and the processing gas in which the IPA vapor is mixed with the nitrogen gas, and other organic solvents are used. May be a gas containing steam,
Alternatively, an inert gas other than nitrogen gas may be used, and any inert gas may be used as long as it is suitable for drying.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, the drying process is performed on the substrate by rotating the substrate, and the rotating substrate is heated. The drying process can be promoted by raising the surface temperature of the substrate in the inside. Therefore, the drying process can be performed without increasing the rotation speed of the substrate, and moreover, the formation of the watermark on the substrate surface is suitably suppressed by the increase in the surface temperature, and the drying process is performed on the substrate with excellent drying performance. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a schematic configuration of an entire substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a partial configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Spin chuck (substrate holding means) 2. Base member 3. Holding member 3a ... Support 3b ... Regulatory department 4 ... Rotating shaft (rotating means) 5. Motor (rotating means) 5a, 5b ... pulley (rotating means) 5c: Belt (rotating means) 21 ... blocking member 23 ... motor (blocking member rotating means) 39 ... Gas supply unit 53 ... Light source (heating means) 61 ... heating member (heating means) L ... light Sup… space W ... substrate

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A substrate processing apparatus for performing a drying process on a substrate by rotating the substrate, comprising: substrate holding means for holding the substrate; rotating means for rotating the substrate held by the substrate holding means; A heating unit configured to heat the substrate rotated by a rotation unit to increase a surface temperature of the substrate during the drying process. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a blocking member disposed close to a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means during the drying process. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a blocking member rotating means for rotating said blocking member. 4. A gas supply unit for supplying a processing gas for forming a processing atmosphere in a space between a surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit and the blocking member. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 5. The heating unit includes a light source that is disposed above the substrate held by the substrate holding unit and irradiates light toward the surface of the substrate, and the blocking member includes light from the light source. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the substrate can be transmitted to the substrate surface. 6. A substrate processing method for performing a drying process on a substrate by rotating the substrate, wherein the surface temperature of the substrate during the drying process is increased by heating the substrate that has been subjected to the drying process. A substrate processing method comprising: 7. The substrate processing method according to claim 6, wherein the substrate is preliminarily heated before starting the drying process. 8. The substrate processing method according to claim 6, wherein the rinsing process is performed by rotating the substrate and supplying a rinsing liquid to the substrate before the drying process. A substrate processing method in which the substrate is preliminarily heated during the rinsing process and before the drying process is started.