JP2004235235A - Device and method for treating substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the vertical vibration of a substrate when the substrate is rotated. <P>SOLUTION: An untreated wafer W is placed on the supporting surfaces 122A of three supporting members 12. After the wafer W is placed on the surfaces 122A, a pinching member 13 rotates around its shaft 131 and pinches the wafer W. When the upper inclined surface 136A of a pinching section 133 comes into contact with the upper edge of the end face of the wafer W and, thereafter, the pinching member 13 further rotates during this curse; the upper edge of the end face of the wafer W is pressed down by the upper inclined surface 136A. In addition, the lower edge of the end face of the wafer W comes into contact with the lower inclined surface 136B of the pinching section 133, and the end face of the wager W is pinched by the upper and lower inclined surfaces 136A and 136B from above and below. Consequently, the wafer W is held in an almost horizontal attitude by a spin chuck 1, because the wafer W is supported by the three supporting members 12 from below and pressed by the three pinching members 13 from above between each supporting member 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for processing a substrate. Substrates to be processed include, for example, semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for plasma displays, substrates for optical disks, substrates for magnetic disks, substrates for magneto-optical disks, substrates for photomasks, and the like. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, a substrate is subjected to a surface treatment using a treatment liquid. For example, in a single-wafer-type substrate processing apparatus that processes substrates one by one, a spin chuck for holding and rotating the substrate substantially horizontally is provided, and the substrate held by the spin chuck is held in a horizontal plane. The substrate is rotated and, on the other hand, the processing liquid is supplied to the surface of the rotating substrate, whereby the surface of the substrate is processed by the processing liquid.
[0003]
The configuration of the spin chuck is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-216, which is a prior application of the present applicant. As shown in FIG. 9, a device disclosed in Patent Document 1 below includes a turntable 91 that is rotated around a rotation axis along a vertical direction, and six turntables disposed on the turntable 91 at equal angular intervals. Pins 92 and 93 are provided. Every other pin 92 is provided with a stepped portion 921 for receiving a peripheral portion of a lower surface of a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a “wafer”) W as an example of a substrate and an end surface (peripheral end surface) of the wafer W. It is a fixed pin having a regulating surface 922 that opposes the movement of the wafer W, and the remaining pins 93 are movable chuck pins rotatable about a vertical axis. The movable chuck pin 93 has a stepped portion 931 that receives the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the wafer W, a holding surface 932 for holding the wafer W by abutting on the end surface of the wafer W, and a predetermined interval between the end surface of the wafer W And a regulating surface that faces in a state of being closed. In a state where the wafer W is supported from below by the steps 921 of the three fixed pins 92 and the steps 931 of the three movable chuck pins 93, the movable chuck pins 93 are rotated to hold the wafer W on the end face. The wafer W can be pinched or the pinching of the wafer W can be loosened by switching 932 or the regulating surface to face each other.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 23542/1993 [0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in such a configuration, since the wafer W is substantially held (held) only by the three movable chuck pins 93, the movable chuck pins 93 of the wafer W Vertical vibrations (chatters) occur in the parts that are not in contact.
When the wafer W is vibrated in the vertical direction, for example, how the processing liquid contacts the surface of the wafer W or how the processing liquid flows on the surface of the wafer W is changed. Of the wafer W, the processing quality of the wafer W may be deteriorated. Further, the wafer W and the pins 92 and 93 may be rubbed to generate abrasion powder (particles), and the abrasion powder may contaminate the wafer W.
[0006]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method that can suppress vertical vibration of a substrate during rotation of the substrate.
[0007]
Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention
The invention according to claim 1 for achieving the above object is to rotate the substrate (W) around an axis substantially perpendicular to a main surface thereof (for example, a device forming surface when the substrate is a wafer), A substrate processing apparatus for performing processing with a processing liquid on a surface of a rotating substrate, comprising: a rotating table (11) rotating around a rotation axis of the substrate; and a rotating table (11) provided on the rotating table. , Three mounting portions (12) for mounting a substrate, and provided on the rotary table, for sandwiching the end surface of the substrate mounted on the mounting portion, while holding the substrate A substrate processing apparatus characterized by including three holding members (13) pressed against a mounting portion.
[0008]
It should be noted that the alphanumeric characters in parentheses indicate corresponding components and the like in embodiments described later. Hereinafter, the same applies in this section.
According to the above configuration, a force in a direction of pressing the substrate against the mounting portion is applied from the three holding members to the rotating substrate mounted on the three mounting portions. The vertical force of the substrate during the rotation of the substrate can be suppressed by the force in the direction in which the substrate is pressed against the mounting portion. Variation, generation of wear powder, etc.) can be prevented.
[0009]
Since the vertical vibration of the substrate during the rotation of the substrate occurs at a portion where the mounting portion of the substrate is not in contact, the three mounting portions and the three holding members are configured as described above. Preferably, they are provided alternately in the direction of rotation of the turntable. By doing so, the substrate can be pressed by the holding member between the mounting portions, and the occurrence of vertical vibrations on the substrate can be favorably suppressed.
Further, it is preferable that the mounting portion be in contact with the peripheral portion of the substrate to support the substrate in a mounted state, as described in claim 3. Further, as described in claim 4, In addition, it is more preferable to have an inclined mounting portion (122A) that is in contact with the end face of the substrate from below. Here, the inclined mounting portion may be a mounting surface (a flat surface or a curved surface) inclined with respect to the horizontal, or may be an inclined ridge line portion. That is, any shape may be used as long as it comes into contact with the end surface of the wafer W from obliquely below.
[0010]
Usually, the foreign matter adhering to the mounting portion is transferred to the substrate or the member itself of the mounting portion is scraped, so that the portion of the substrate surface in contact with the mounting portion is considerably contaminated. Therefore, if the mounting portion contacts the peripheral portion of the substrate as in claim 3, the contamination range can be limited only to the peripheral portion of the substrate, which affects the device formation region in the central portion of the substrate. Nothing. Further, if the mounting portion has an inclined mounting portion that contacts the end surface of the substrate from below, the contamination range can be kept only at the end surface of the substrate, and the substrate including the device forming region in the center portion of the substrate can be provided. It does not affect the entire area except the end face of the.
[0011]
The holding member may have an inclined surface (136A) for abutting against an upper surface side edge of an end surface of the substrate and pressing the upper surface side edge against the mounting portion. As described in claim 5, two inclined surfaces (136A, 136B) contacting the upper edge and the lower edge of the end surface of the substrate, respectively (opening inward of the substrate). (V-shaped cross section).
[0012]
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for performing a treatment with a treatment liquid on a surface of a substrate (W), wherein a substrate to be processed is placed on three placing portions (12); A step of clamping an end surface of the substrate placed on the mounting portion with the three holding members and pressing the substrate against the mounting portion with the three holding members; A step of rotating the substrate around an axis substantially perpendicular to the main surface while being pressed against the mounting portion by the three holding members, and a step of supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the rotating substrate. A substrate processing method characterized in that:
[0013]
According to this method, the same effect as the effect described in claim 1 can be obtained.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This substrate processing apparatus is a single-wafer-type substrate processing apparatus that processes wafers W, which are examples of substrates, one by one. The spin chuck 1 rotates while holding the wafer W substantially horizontally, and the spin chuck 1 An upper processing liquid nozzle 2 for supplying a processing liquid to the upper surface (main surface) of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1, and a lower processing liquid nozzle 3 for supplying a processing liquid to the lower surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1. ing.
[0015]
If the processing on the wafer W is processing using a processing solution (chemical solution or pure water), for example, an unnecessary thin film is used from the entire surface (upper surface, lower surface, and end surface) or the peripheral portion of the wafer W using an etching solution. May be used, or a cleaning process may be performed using a cleaning liquid to remove unnecessary substances such as particles and various metal impurities from the entire surface or the periphery of the wafer.
The spin chuck 1 is fixed substantially horizontally to the upper end of a hollow rotary shaft 4 arranged in the vertical direction. The rotation shaft 4 is driven to rotate about a vertical axis passing substantially through the center by a rotation drive mechanism 5.
[0016]
A processing liquid supply pipe 6 communicating with the lower processing liquid nozzle 3 is inserted into the rotation shaft 4, and a processing liquid from a processing liquid supply source (not shown) is supplied to the processing liquid supply pipe 6. It is supplied via a valve 7. On the other hand, a processing liquid from a processing liquid supply source (not shown) is supplied to the upper processing liquid nozzle 2 via a processing liquid supply valve 8.
With this configuration, the spin chuck 1 holds the wafer W, and the spin chuck 1 is rotated by the rotation drive mechanism 5, and the upper surface processing liquid nozzle 2 and / or the lower surface processing liquid nozzle 3 are directed toward the rotating wafer W. The processing liquid is supplied from. Thereby, the processing with the processing liquid can be performed on the wafer W.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a plan view for explaining the configuration of the spin chuck 1. The spin chuck 1 includes a disk-shaped spin base 11, for example, on the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the spin base 11, at substantially equal intervals in the circumferential direction (at substantially equal angular intervals about the rotation axis of the spin chuck 1). ), Three support members 12 and three holding members 13 are alternately arranged.
The support member 12 supports the wafer W from below when the wafer W is transferred to the spin chuck 1 and when the wafer W is processed, and is fixed to the upper surface of the spin base 11. I have.
[0018]
The holding member 13 holds the wafer W supported by the support member 12 during processing of the wafer W, and is attached to the upper surface of the spin base 11 so as to be rotatable around an axis substantially orthogonal to the upper surface.
The lever 14 is integrally provided on one of the three holding members 13A. Further, the inside of the spin base 11 is hollow, and a link mechanism 15 for linking the three holding members 13 is accommodated in the internal space. An urging force is applied to the link mechanism 15 from an unillustrated urging means (for example, a coil spring). With this urging force, the holding member 13 is elastically urged in the direction of holding the wafer W. I have. Thus, in a state where no external force is applied to the lever 14, the three holding members 13 can abut the end surface of the wafer W to hold the wafer W. When the lever 14 is pushed from the outside of the spin chuck 1 to rotate the lever 14 against the urging force applied to the link mechanism 15, the three clamping members 13 are interlocked by the action of the link mechanism 15. Then, each is separated from the end face of the wafer W, and the holding state of the wafer W by the three holding members 13 is released.
[0019]
In this embodiment, a configuration in which three support members 12 and three holding members 13 are provided alternately on the spin base 11 is described. However, the support member 12 can support the wafer W, and As long as the wafer 13 can hold the wafer W, four or more support members 12 and four or more holding members 13 may be provided. In this case, the number of the support members 12 and the number of the holding members 13 do not need to be the same.
[0020]
FIG. 3 is a side view for explaining the configuration of the support member 12. The support member 12 includes a fixed base portion 121 fixed to the upper surface of the spin base 11 and a mounting portion 122 protruding from the fixed base portion 121.
The mounting portion 122 is continuous with a support surface 122A that is inclined so as to be closer to the rotation axis of the spin chuck 1 downward, and is connected to an upper end edge of the support surface 122A. And a guide surface 122B inclined so as to approach the first rotation axis. The support surface 122A is a surface on which the lower edge of the end surface of the wafer W (the lower end edge of the end surface) is placed, and supports the lower end edge of the end surface of the wafer W from below. Further, the guide surface 122B is a surface for guiding the lower end edge of the end surface of the wafer W carried in by the transfer robot hand (not shown) onto the support surface (first inclined surface) 122A, and the guide surface 122B is provided. By this, it is possible to prevent the wafer W from being hooked on the upper end on the mounting portion 122 to be mounted (supported) diagonally, and from falling off without being properly mounted on the support surface 122A.
[0021]
In this embodiment, the support surface 122A is a flat surface, but may be a curved surface. Alternatively, the wafer W may be supported by an inclined ridge line instead of the inclined surface.
FIG. 4 is a side view for explaining the configuration of the holding member 13. The holding member 13 penetrates the upper surface of the spin base 11 and is rotatably supported by the spin base 11, a base 132 connected to an upper end of the shaft 131, and an upper surface of the base 132. And a holding portion 133 provided at a position deviated from the center axis of the shaft portion 131 (the rotation axis of the holding member 13).
[0022]
The base portion 132 includes a circular portion 134 formed in a circular shape around the center axis of the shaft portion 131 in a plan view, and a protruding portion 135 formed to protrude from a part of the periphery of the circular portion 134. On the protruding portion 135, a holding portion 133 is provided. The holding portion 133 is formed substantially in the shape of a quadrangular prism, and has a V-shaped groove 136 on a part of the side surface 133A, which is in contact with the upper edge and the lower edge of the end surface of the wafer W. The V-shaped groove 136 connects the upper inclined surface 136A inclined so as to enter the inside of the holding member 13 downward from the upper end edge of the holding portion 133, and connects the lower end edge of the upper inclined surface 136A to the side surface 133A of the holding portion 133. The lower inclined surface 136 </ b> B inclined downward as approaching the side surface 133 </ b> A forms a V-shaped cross section that opens toward the wafer W supported by the support member 12. In the holding portion 133 having such a V-shaped groove 136, the upper inclined surface 136 </ b> A is in contact with the upper edge of the end surface of the wafer W (the upper edge of the end surface), and the lower inclined surface 136 </ b> B is in contact with the lower edge of the end surface of the wafer W. Thus, the end surface of the wafer W can be held while being sandwiched between the upper inclined surface 136A and the lower inclined surface 136B from above and below. The V-groove 136 is formed such that a portion of the end surface of the wafer W that contacts the upper inclined surface 136A and the lower inclined surface 136B is lower than a portion of the end surface of the wafer W that contacts the support surface 122A of the support member 12. Formed at the location.
[0023]
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state where the wafer W is held on the spin chuck 1. When the wafer W to be processed (unprocessed) is transferred from the transfer robot hand to the spin chuck 1, for example, the lever 14 is pushed by a lever operating member (not shown), and the holding portions 133 of the three holding members 13 In order not to hinder the transfer of the wafer W, the wafer W is retracted away from the rotation axis of the spin chuck 1 from the position where the wafer W is held. In this state, the wafer W is placed on the support surfaces 122A of the three support members 12 by the transfer robot hand.
[0024]
In a state where the wafer W is mounted on the support surface 122A of the support member 12, the end face of the wafer W is held in a non-contact state with the holding portion 133 of the holding member 13 as shown in FIG. The portion 133 faces the upper inclined surface 136A.
Thereafter, when the lever operating member is retracted from the lever 14, the holding member 13 rotates around the shaft 131 by the urging force applied to the link mechanism 15, and the wafer W is held by the holding member 13. In the process in which the holding member 13 rotates and is displaced to the holding state, the upper inclined surface 136A of the holding portion 133 comes into contact with the upper end edge of the end surface of the wafer W. Thereafter, when the holding member 13 further rotates, the upper inclined surface 136A causes The upper edge of the end surface of the wafer W is pressed from above, and as shown in FIG. 5B, the upper edge of the end surface of the wafer W is pushed down along the upper inclined surface 136A. Then, when the lower end edge of the end face of the wafer W abuts on the lower inclined surface 136B of the holding portion 133 and the end surface of the wafer W is sandwiched from above and below by the upper inclined surface 136A and the lower inclined surface 136B, the holding member 13 is moved. The urging force applied to the link mechanism 15 without rotating as described above is used as a force for holding the wafer W by the three holding members 13. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5C, the wafer W is supported from below by the three support members 12, and is pressed from above by the three holding members 13 between the support members 12, The wafer W is held by the spin chuck 1 in a state where the portion held by the holding member 13 on the end surface is lower than the portion supported by the support member 12.
[0025]
When the wafer W is held by the spin chuck 1 in this manner, the spin chuck 1 is driven to rotate, and the wafer W rotating together with the spin chuck 1 is processed from the upper processing liquid nozzle 2 and / or the lower processing liquid nozzle 3. Liquid is supplied. At this time, since the end faces of the wafer W are alternately supported in the circumferential direction from below by the support member 12 and pressed from above by the holding member 13, even if the spin chuck 1 is rotated, the wafer W No vertical vibration (chatter) occurs. The support member 12 contacts the wafer W at the lower end edge of the end surface of the wafer W, and the holding member 13 contacts the wafer W at the upper end edge and the lower end edge of the end surface of the wafer W. Since nothing is in contact with the portion other than the lower edge, the processing liquid spreads over the entire surface of the wafer W, and the processing liquid can be satisfactorily applied to the entire surface of the wafer W.
[0026]
When the processing liquid is sufficiently processed on the surface of the wafer W, if necessary, the supply of the processing liquid is stopped, and then the spin chuck 1 is rotated at a high speed to adhere to the surface of the wafer W. A treatment is performed in which the treatment liquid is shaken off by centrifugal force and dried. When the processing on the wafer W is completed, the lever 14 is pushed by the lever operating member, and the holding state of the wafer W by the holding member 13 is released. Thus, the processed wafer W is supported while being placed on the support surfaces 122A of the three support members 12. Since the support surface 122A of the support member 12 contacts the lower end edge of the end surface of the wafer W and does not contact the lower surface of the wafer W, the processed wafer W is supported by the three support members 12 so that the wafer W There is no possibility that the lower surface of W is contaminated. Thereafter, the wafer W is received from the spin chuck 1 by the transfer robot hand, and is unloaded from the substrate processing apparatus.
[0027]
As described above, according to this embodiment, when the wafer W is rotated, no vertical vibration is generated on the wafer W, and therefore, there is no possibility that various problems due to such vibration will occur. That is, since the wafer W can be rotated without causing the wafer W to vibrate in the vertical direction, the processing liquid can be supplied to the upper surface and the lower surface of the wafer W at a certain position and at a certain angle, and The flow of the processing liquid on the upper and lower surfaces of the wafer W can be made uniform. Therefore, there is no possibility that the progress of the processing will vary within the surface of the wafer W. In addition, since the wafer W does not rub against the support member 12 and the holding member 13, no abrasion powder (particles) of the wafer W or the support member 12 or the holding member 13 is generated, and the wafer W is not affected by such particles. No risk of contamination.
[0028]
As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention can be embodied in other forms. For example, in the above embodiment, the support surface 122A of the support member 12 is inclined, and the lower end edge of the end face of the wafer W is supported by the support surface 122A from below. The surface 122A does not need to be an inclined surface, and as shown in FIG. 6, the support member 12 has a substantially horizontal support surface 122A, and the peripheral surface of the lower surface of the wafer W is supported by the support surface 122A from below. The supporting structure may be adopted.
[0029]
In addition, the support member 12 is not limited to the configuration that supports the wafer W on the surface, and as shown in FIG. 7, has a substantially horizontal protrusion formation surface 123, and a support protrusion 124 is formed on the protrusion formation surface 123. In addition, the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the wafer W may be supported from below by the support protrusion 124.
However, since the effect of preventing contamination (formation of contact marks) due to contact of the support member 12 with the lower surface of the wafer W is obtained, the wafer is more inclined on the support surface 122A than the configuration shown in FIG. A configuration in which the lower end edge of the end face of W is supported from below is more preferable.
[0030]
Further, in the above embodiment, a step is generated between the support surface 122A of the support member 12 and the upper surface of the fixed base portion 121, but the processing liquid scattered from the wafer W is As shown in FIG. 8, a side surface 122C of the mounting portion 122 facing the wafer W is formed as an inclined surface, and the supporting surface 122A and the fixed base portion 121 are formed by the inclined surface 122C. The upper edge may be connected to the edge closer to the wafer W.
[0031]
The holding member 13 only needs to be able to press at least the upper end edge of the end face of the wafer W from above, and has a lower inclined surface 136B that comes into contact with the lower end edge of the end face of the wafer W when holding the wafer W. It does not have to be. That is, the holding member 13 has, on a part of the side surface 133A of the holding portion 133, an upper inclined surface 136A that contacts the upper end edge of the end surface of the wafer W and a vertical surface that is continuous with the lower end edge of the upper inclined surface 136A. With the upper inclined surface 136A contacting the upper end edge of the end surface of the wafer W and the vertical surface contacting the end surface of the wafer W, the upper inclined surface 136A presses the upper end edge of the end surface of the wafer W from above, and May be sandwiched.
[0032]
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the wafer W is taken up as an example of the substrate to be processed, but the substrate to be processed is not limited to the wafer W, and a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a plasma display panel, Other types of substrates such as a photomask glass substrate may be used.
In addition, various design changes can be made within the scope of the matters described in the claims.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view for explaining a configuration of a spin chuck.
FIG. 3 is a side view for explaining a configuration of a support member.
FIG. 4 is a side view for explaining a configuration of a holding member.
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a state when a wafer is held by a spin chuck.
FIG. 6 is a side view for describing a configuration in which a support surface for supporting a wafer is formed substantially horizontally.
FIG. 7 is a side view for describing a configuration in which a support protrusion for supporting a wafer is provided on a support member.
FIG. 8 is a side view for explaining still another configuration of the support member.
FIG. 9 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a conventional spin chuck.
[Explanation of symbols]
11 Spin Base 12 Supporting Member 13 Holding Member 121 Fixed Base 122 Placement Part 122A Supporting Surface 122B Guide Surface 123 Protrusion Forming 124 Supporting Protrusion 136 V Groove 136A Upper Inclined Surface 136B Lower Inclined Surface W Wafer

Claims (6)

A substrate processing apparatus for performing processing with a processing liquid on a surface of the rotating substrate while rotating the substrate around an axis substantially orthogonal to the main surface,
A turntable that rotates around the rotation axis of the substrate,
Three mounting portions provided on the turntable for mounting the substrate,
And three holding members that are provided on the turntable and hold the end surface of the substrate placed on the mounting portion, and press the substrate against the mounting portion on the other hand. Substrate processing equipment. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the three mounting portions and the three holding members are provided alternately in a rotation direction of the turntable. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mounting portion contacts the peripheral portion of the substrate and supports the substrate in a mounted state. 4. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the mounting portion has an inclined mounting portion that is in contact with an end surface of the substrate from below. 5. The holding member according to claim 1, wherein the holding member has a V-groove formed of two inclined surfaces which are in contact with an upper edge and a lower edge of an end surface of the substrate, respectively. A substrate processing apparatus according to any one of the above. A method for performing a treatment with a treatment liquid on a surface of a substrate,
Placing the substrate to be processed on the three placing sections;
A step of clamping the end face of the substrate placed on the mounting portion with the three holding members, and pressing the substrate against the mounting portion with the three holding members;
Rotating the substrate around an axis substantially orthogonal to the main surface in a state where the substrate to be processed is pressed against the mounting portion by the three holding members;
Supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the rotating substrate.

Images