JP2004103978A5 - - Google Patents

Description

Further, as a preferred embodiment, the drying processing unit sprays the vapor onto the upper surface of the substrate from above the transport path at the first position, and immediately downstream from the first position along the transport path. It may be configured to have a second steam injection nozzle for blowing steam to the lower surface of the substrate from under the transport path at the second position on the side. In such a configuration, by providing positional offset in the transport direction between a pair of steam injection nozzles disposed above and below the transport path, it is possible to timely sweep or sweep out the liquid on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate. An offset is provided, whereby the liquid can be satisfactorily removed at the rear end of the substrate, and the liquid remaining near the rear end of the substrate can be prevented or reduced.
Further, as another preferable aspect, the first and second steam injection nozzles may be disposed parallel to each other and inclined obliquely to the lateral direction of the transport path. According to this configuration, it is possible to gather the liquid on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate toward the same corner of the rear end of the substrate and to remove the liquid effectively in the diagonal direction.
In the drying processing unit, it is also possible to replace the steam injection nozzle for removing the liquid on the lower surface or the back surface of the substrate with a gas injection nozzle for blowing a gas other than steam (for example, air or nitrogen gas).

In the substrate processing method according to another aspect of the present invention, a first processing is performed by supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the front surface of the substrate while transporting the substrate in a substantially horizontal posture; After the liquid processing, while conveying the substrate in a substantially horizontal posture, vapor is blown to the front surface of the substrate to sweep out the liquid from the front surface of the substrate and at the same time dry gas is sprayed to the back surface of the substrate. And 2 steps.
In this substrate processing method, the liquid adhering to the substrate by the liquid processing in the first step is swept out by spraying vapor on the front surface of the substrate, and the drying gas is blown away on the back surface of the substrate. Preferably, in the second step, the front surface of the substrate immediately after the solution is swept may be in a state of raw dryness. In this state of raw drying, a very thin liquid film is formed on the front surface of the substrate such that it evaporates in 10 seconds to several tens of seconds by natural drying in the air. However, the liquid remaining on the front surface of the substrate after the second step may be evaporated by heat treatment.

According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the position to spray the vapor and the position to spray the drying gas are set so as to be approximately directly opposite to the substrate. According to another preferred aspect, the position for blowing the drying gas is set to be located downstream of the position for blowing the steam in the transport direction. Also, preferably, the vapor and the drying gas may be sprayed at least from one end of the substrate to the other end in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate.

The interface station (I / F) 18 has a carrier device 104 for exchanging the substrate G with the adjacent exposure device 12, and around it, a buffer stage (BUF) 106 , an extension cooling stage (EXT · COL) ) are arranged 108 and peripheral devices 110. In the buffer stage (BUF) 105, a stationary buffer cassette (not shown) is placed. The extension / cooling stage (EXT · COL) 108 is a stage for transferring a substrate having a cooling function, and is used when exchanging the substrate G with the process station (P / S) 16 side. Peripheral device 110 may have, for example, a configuration in which a titler (TITLER) and a peripheral exposure device (EE) are stacked vertically. The transfer device 104 has a means capable of holding the substrate G, for example, the transfer arm 104a, and transfers the substrate G to the adjacent exposure device 12 and each unit (BUF) 106 , (EXT · COL) 108 , (TITLER / EE) 110. Are able to

In the second thermal processing unit 30, the substrate G is rotated by a transport mechanism 90 through a predetermined unit in a predetermined sequence. For example, the substrate G is first transferred from the pass unit (PASS) to one of the heating units (PREBAKE), where it undergoes baking after resist application (step S9). The substrate G is then transferred to one of the cooling units (COL) where it is cooled to a constant substrate temperature (step S10). After that, the substrate G is extended / cooling stage (EXT / COL) on the interface station (I / F) 18 side with or without passing through the pass unit (PASS) on the downstream multi-stage unit part (TB) 92 side. It is delivered to 108 ).

At the interface station (I / F) 18, the substrate G is carried from the extension cooling stage (EXT · COL) 108 to the peripheral exposure device (EE) of the peripheral device 110, where the resist adhering to the peripheral portion of the substrate G is After receiving the exposure for removal at the time of development, it is sent to the next exposure device 12 (step S11).

In the exposure device 12, a predetermined circuit pattern is exposed on the resist on the substrate G. Then, when the substrate G which has finished the pattern exposure is returned from the exposure apparatus 12 to the interface station (I / F) 18 (step S11), first, it is carried into the tighter (TITLERER) of the peripheral device 110, where the predetermined on the substrate Predetermined information is described in the part of (step S12). Thereafter, the substrate G is returned to the extension / cooling stage (EXT · COL) 108 . The transfer of the substrate G at the interface station (I / F) 18 and the exchange of the substrate G with the exposure device 12 are performed by the transfer device 104.

At the process station (P / S) 16, the transfer mechanism 90 in the second thermal processing unit 30 receives the exposed substrate G from the extension / cooling stage (EXT · COL) 108 , and the multistage unit unit on the process line B side At (TB) 92, it is delivered to the development processing unit 32 via a pass unit (PASS).

Thus, in this embodiment, water vapor is blown from the vapor knife VN _U , V N _L to the substrate G having the rinse liquid RU, RL on the surface, and the rinse liquid is swept out from above the substrate by the pressure of the steam flow. As a result, the substrate surface after the rinse liquid is swept out is in a semi-dried or dry state. That is, even if the rinse liquid is swept out, part of the water vapor sprayed onto the substrate G is liquefied on the substrate surface, and the substrate surface is not completely dried and is covered with the extremely thin water film M. . As a result, even if there is mist generated by scattering of the rinse liquid around the downstream side (forward side in the transport direction) of the vapor knife VN _U , V N _L and attached to the substrate surface, the inside of the water film M It does not cause stains because it In addition, since the liquid dissolved from the resist film or the base film on the substrate surface, in particular, the upper surface (surface to be treated) is also dispersed in the water film M, it does not aggregate to form a residue. The water film M on the substrate is easy to evaporate in the air because of its extremely thin thickness, and disappears after 10 seconds to several tens of seconds due to natural drying.

Claims (17)

A first step of supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the substrate to transport the liquid while transporting the substrate in a substantially horizontal posture;
A second step of spraying the vapor onto the substrate while transporting the substrate in a substantially horizontal posture after the liquid processing and sweeping out the liquid from the substrate.   The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid remaining on the surface of the substrate after the second step is evaporated by natural drying.   The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid remaining on the surface of the substrate after the second step is evaporated by heat treatment. A transport path for horizontally transporting the substrate to be processed in a substantially horizontal posture;
A liquid processing unit that supplies a predetermined processing liquid to the substrate on the transport path to perform liquid processing;
A drying processing unit having one or more vapor injection nozzles for injecting vapor, and spraying the vapor from the vapor injection nozzle onto the substrate on the transport path downstream of the liquid processing unit to sweep out the liquid from the substrate; Substrate processing apparatus having   5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the drying processing unit includes a vapor generation unit that evaporates a predetermined liquid to generate a vapor, and a pressurizing unit that mixes the vapor with another gas and raises the pressure.   The first processing unit sprays the vapor onto the upper surface of the substrate from above the transfer path at the first position, and the lower surface of the substrate from under the transfer path at the second position The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising: a second steam injection nozzle for blowing steam onto the substrate.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second position is set to a position immediately downstream of the first position along the transport path.   The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second position is set to a position substantially directly opposite the first position with respect to the transport path.   The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the first and second steam injection nozzles are disposed obliquely with respect to the lateral direction of the transport path.   The drying processing unit sprays the vapor onto the upper surface of the substrate from above the transport path at the first position, and the second position from the lower side of the transport path to the lower surface of the substrate other than the vapor The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising: a gas injection nozzle that blows the gas. A first step of supplying a predetermined processing liquid to the front surface of the substrate while conveying the substrate in a substantially horizontal posture to perform liquid processing;
After the liquid processing, while conveying the substrate in a substantially horizontal posture, vapor is blown to the front surface of the substrate to sweep out the liquid from the front surface of the substrate and at the same time dry gas is sprayed to the back surface of the substrate. With 2 processes
A substrate processing method comprising: The substrate processing method according to claim 11, wherein the front surface of the substrate just after sweeping out the solution in the second step is in a state of raw dryness. The substrate processing method according to claim 11, wherein the position to spray the vapor and the position to spray the drying gas are substantially directly opposite to the substrate. The substrate processing method according to claim 11, wherein a position to which the drying gas is sprayed is located on the downstream side in the transport direction with respect to the position to spray the vapor. The substrate processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the liquid remaining on the front surface of the substrate after the second step is evaporated by heat treatment. The above-mentioned state of being dry is a state in which an extremely thin liquid film of such a degree as to evaporate in 10 seconds to several tens of seconds by natural drying in the atmosphere is formed on the front surface of the substrate. 14. The substrate processing method according to any one of 14. The substrate processing method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the vapor and the drying gas are sprayed at least from one end of the substrate to the other end in the horizontal direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate.