JP2006041445A - Substrate processing equipment and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide substrate processing equipment and method capable of removing unnecessary matters from the peripheral portion on the surface of a substrate by etching while controlling the peripheral etching width accurately over the entire circumferential surface. <P>SOLUTION: A processing definition member 146 moves along the substrate surface Wf while spacing apart therefrom by a predetermined gap and being positioned for the peripheral portion of the substrate W thus forming a space GP between the processing definition member and the peripheral portion. Chemical is supplied to the space GP and liquidtight state is formed with the chemical in the space GP, and then etching is performed with peripheral etching width EH corresponding to the position of the processing definition member 146. Since etching is performed by supplying chemical to the peripheral portion of the substrate W rotating while controlling the peripheral etching width EH, the peripheral etching width EH can be controlled uniformly over the entire circumferential surface. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a substrate processing apparatus and method for supplying a processing solution such as a chemical solution or a rinsing solution to a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal, or a substrate for an optical disk to perform a predetermined process on the substrate. About.

  In a series of processing steps of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer, there are a plurality of film forming steps for forming a thin film such as a photoresist on the surface of the substrate. The film may also be formed on the part. However, in general, it is only the surface of the substrate that needs to be formed on the substrate. If the film is formed on the back surface or the peripheral edge of the substrate, contact with other devices in the subsequent step of the film forming step. The thin film formed on the back surface or the surface edge of the substrate may be peeled off, which may cause a decrease in yield and trouble in the substrate processing apparatus itself.

  Therefore, in order to remove the thin film formed on the back surface and the peripheral surface of the substrate, for example, an apparatus described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. In this apparatus, a substrate having a thin film formed on the surface thereof is held by the substrate holding means, and the substrate holding means is rotated. Further, a chemical solution is supplied to the back surface of the rotating substrate. At this time, when a rotating member having a facing surface facing the surface of the substrate and spaced apart from the surface of the substrate by a predetermined distance is rotated, the chemical solution spreads over the entire back surface of the substrate due to the rotation of the substrate and the rotation of the rotating member. Not only the unnecessary material on the back surface of the substrate is removed by etching, but also the peripheral surface portion of the substrate surface is passed through the end surface of the substrate, and the unnecessary material on the peripheral portion is also etched away. Thus, the thin film is etched away only at the back surface of the substrate and the peripheral edge of the front surface of the substrate.

  Furthermore, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 2, a ring-shaped mask is disposed on the peripheral edge of the substrate, and the peripheral edge of the substrate is etched so that the processing liquid is held in the region defined by the mask.

JP 2000-235948 A (page 2-3, FIG. 1) JP 2002-246364 A (paragraphs [0036] to [0037], FIG. 1)

  By the way, the above-described substrate processing is performed in order to remove a certain range of thin film from the periphery of the non-processed portion formed in the substantially central portion of the substrate surface, but this removal range, that is, etching removal from the end face to the inside. It is desirable to accurately control the width (hereinafter referred to as “periphery etching width”). In particular, when a metal layer such as copper is formed on the substrate surface as a thin film, the above substrate processing aims to remove the metal near the end face (bevel), so the peripheral etching width is made uniform over the entire peripheral surface. It has become very important.

  In the conventional apparatus, the peripheral etching width is controlled by the amount of the chemical solution. That is, the amount of chemical solution wraps around by changing the number of revolutions of the substrate, and the peripheral etching width is adjusted accordingly. However, it is difficult to stabilize the amount of wraparound depending on the number of rotations of the substrate, and it has been practically impossible to control the peripheral etching width with sufficient uniformity. Further, when the number of rotations of the substrate is increased in order to control the peripheral etching width to a desired value, the chemical liquid scattered from the substrate collides with a member disposed around the substrate, for example, a cup for collecting the scattering treatment liquid. In some cases, the chemical solution bounced off due to the above may adhere to the non-processed portion.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a substrate processing apparatus and method capable of etching and removing unnecessary substances from the peripheral edge portion of the substrate while controlling the peripheral etching width accurately and uniformly over the entire peripheral surface. The purpose is to provide.

  A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus for supplying a chemical solution to a peripheral portion of a surface of a rotating substrate and etching away unnecessary substances from the surface of the peripheral portion. A process defining member provided to be movable along the substrate surface while being spaced apart from the substrate surface by a predetermined gap, and a driving means for driving the process defining member to move along the substrate surface. The chemical solution supply means for forming a liquid-tight state by the chemical solution in the space sandwiched between the peripheral portion of the substrate and the processing regulating member to etch away unnecessary substances from the surface of the peripheral portion of the substrate. And a control means for controlling the driving means to adjust the relative position of the processing regulating member with respect to the peripheral edge of the substrate and to control the etching width of the chemical at the peripheral edge of the substrate. There.

  In addition, a substrate processing method according to the present invention is a substrate processing method for supplying a chemical solution to the peripheral portion of the surface of a rotating substrate and etching away unnecessary materials from the surface of the peripheral portion, in order to achieve the above object. In the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the substrate, the process defining member is moved along the substrate surface while being separated from the substrate surface by a predetermined gap to adjust the relative position of the process defining member with respect to the peripheral edge of the substrate. Positioning the positioning step, supplying the chemical solution to a space sandwiched between the processing regulation member positioned by the positioning step and the peripheral portion of the substrate, thereby forming a liquid-tight state by the chemical solution in the space to form the peripheral portion of the substrate And an etching step for removing unnecessary substances from the surface of the substrate by etching.

  In the invention configured as described above (substrate processing apparatus and method), the processing defining member is moved along the substrate surface in the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the substrate while being separated from the substrate surface by a predetermined gap. Relative to the part. A space is formed between the processing-defining member thus positioned and the peripheral portion of the substrate surface. And a chemical | medical solution is supplied with respect to this space, and the liquid-tight state by a chemical | medical solution is formed in this space. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the chemical liquid from entering the inside in the radial direction of the substrate, and the supply range of the chemical liquid is defined in a range corresponding to the process defining member. Further, the substrate is rotated while the supply range of the chemical solution is defined in this way, and unnecessary substances are etched away from the peripheral surface of the substrate surface. As a result, unnecessary substances are removed by etching from the peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate uniformly with the peripheral etching width corresponding to the processing defining member and over the entire peripheral surface. Further, since the peripheral etching width can be controlled by moving the process defining member by the driving means, it is possible to flexibly cope with the contents of the required etching process, and excellent versatility is obtained.

  Here, a plurality of contents of the etching process may be defined in advance as a process recipe, and the etching process defined by a process recipe appropriately selected from these process recipes may be performed. In this case, a plurality of job data that associates the etching recipe with the processing recipe that defines the content of the etching process is stored in the storage unit, and when the processing recipe is selected, the job data corresponding to the selected processing recipe is stored. The etching width may be controlled by reading from the storage unit and moving the process defining member based on the job data. Thereby, even when the content of the etching process is changed, the change can be quickly dealt with.

  In addition, it is desirable to perform a rinsing process on the peripheral portion of the substrate surface that has been etched away, and a conventionally known rinsing process may be performed, or a processing regulating member may be used as follows. Good. That is, by supplying a rinsing liquid to the space formed between the processing regulating member and the peripheral edge of the substrate surface, a liquid-tight state by the rinsing liquid is formed in the space, and the peripheral edge of the substrate subjected to the etching process by the chemical liquid A rinsing process may be applied to the surface. In this way, by using the treatment defining member, the rinsing liquid can be reliably supplied to the peripheral portion of the substrate surface to perform the rinsing process well, and the amount of the rinsing liquid used can also be reduced.

  In performing this rinsing process, the process defining member positioned corresponding to the peripheral etching width for the etching process may be used as it is. Further, after the etching process and before the rinsing process by the rinsing liquid supply means, the process defining member may be positioned radially inward of the substrate by a position corresponding to the etching width. As a result, the range in which the rinsing liquid is supplied expands further radially inward from the peripheral etching width. As a result, the rinsing liquid is reliably supplied to the boundary portion of the etching process on the substrate surface, and the rinsing failure at the boundary portion can be reliably prevented.

  Further, a surface-side gas discharge means is provided on the inner side in the radial direction of the substrate with respect to the process definition member, and the Bernoulli effect is exhibited by discharging gas from the surface-side gas discharge means toward the substrate surface toward the process definition member. You may comprise as follows. Further, a back-side gas discharge means may be provided on the opposite side of the process defining member across the substrate, and gas may be discharged toward the peripheral edge of the back surface of the substrate. By providing such a gas discharge means, the etching process can be performed more stably.

  Further, the process defining member may be configured to be movable in a direction substantially orthogonal to the substrate surface, and the gap between the peripheral portion of the substrate surface and the process defining member may be adjusted by controlling the driving means. Good. In this way, the process defining member can be positioned two-dimensionally with respect to the substrate surface by moving the process defining member not only along the substrate surface but also in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate surface. Accordingly, the size and position of the space formed between the process defining member and the peripheral edge of the substrate surface can be controlled, and the diversity of the etching process can be enhanced.

  According to the present invention, in the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the substrate, the processing defining member is moved along the substrate surface while being separated from the substrate surface by a predetermined gap, thereby adjusting the relative position of the processing defining member with respect to the peripheral portion of the substrate. At the same time, a chemical solution is supplied to a space sandwiched between the processing regulation member and the peripheral portion of the substrate, thereby forming a liquid-tight state by the chemical solution in the space and removing unnecessary substances from the surface of the peripheral portion of the substrate by etching. Therefore, the peripheral etching width can be set accurately. Also, since the chemical solution is supplied to the peripheral portion of the rotating substrate while controlling the peripheral etching width, the etching process is performed, so that the peripheral etching width is uniformly controlled over the entire peripheral surface from the surface peripheral portion of the substrate. Unnecessary substances can be removed by etching.

<Substrate processing equipment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. This substrate processing apparatus is a bevel etching apparatus that etches and removes a thin film such as a metal layer or a photoresist layer from a peripheral portion of a substrate surface, and is configured as follows. In this substrate processing apparatus 1, a vacuum chuck 11 is provided, and a substantially central portion of the back surface Wb of the substrate W is sucked and held by the vacuum chuck 11 with the front surface Wf of the substrate W facing downward. As a result, the substrate W formed by forming a thin film TF such as a metal layer or a photoresist layer on the substrate surface Wf is positioned at the bevel etching position P1 in a face-down posture and in a substantially horizontal posture. A motor 12 is connected to the rear end of the vacuum chuck 11 and is driven to rotate in response to an operation command from the control unit 4 that controls the entire apparatus. By this motor drive, the vacuum chuck 11 rotates while holding the substrate W, and as a result, the substrate W is rotated at the bevel etching position P1.

  In the outer peripheral direction of the substrate W held by the vacuum chuck 11, processing heads 14A and 14B are movably provided along guides 13A and 13B extending in the horizontal direction. In addition, actuators 15A and 15B are connected to the processing heads 14A and 14B, respectively. The actuators 15A and 15B are operated in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 4, so that the processing heads 14A and 14B are peripheral portions of the substrate W. 1 (solid line position in FIG. 1) or conversely separated (dashed line position in FIG. 1). As described above, in the present embodiment, the actuators 15A and 15B function as the “driving means” of the present invention to move a process defining member, which will be described later, along the substrate surface while being separated from the substrate surface by a predetermined gap. In this embodiment, the actuators 15A and 15B are configured so that the movement amounts of the processing heads 14A and 14B in the horizontal direction can be set continuously, and processing by controlling the movement amounts of the processing heads 14A and 14B. The positioning of the defining member will be described in detail later.

  The two processing heads 14A and 14B both have the same configuration, receive a chemical solution suitable for the etching process from the chemical solution supply unit 16 and execute an etching process as described later, or from the rinse liquid supply unit 17 A rinsing process is performed as described later upon receiving a rinse liquid such as pure water or DIW. A gas supply unit 18 is connected to the gas nozzles of the processing heads 14A and 14B, and supplies nitrogen gas to each nozzle. More specifically, the processing heads 14A and 14B are configured as follows. Since both processing heads 14A and 14B have the same configuration, only the configuration of the processing head 14A will be described, and the configuration description of the processing head 14B will be omitted.

  The processing head 14A has a head main body formed by connecting two main body members 141 and 142. In this head main body, a gap SP slightly wider than the thickness of the substrate W is formed between the main body members 141 and 142. When the processing head 14A comes close to the peripheral edge of the substrate W by the operation of the actuator 15A, the substrate W The end surface enters the inside of the processing head 14A, and the peripheral portions of the substrate back surface Wb and the substrate surface Wf face the main body members 141 and 142, respectively.

  Of these main body members 141 and 142, a gas nozzle 143 is provided on the back-side main body member 141 facing the substrate rear surface Wb. The gas nozzle 143 is connected to the gas supply unit 18 as described above, and discharges nitrogen gas from the substrate back surface Wb side toward the peripheral portion. This stabilizes the bevel etching process by preventing the processing liquid (chemical solution or rinsing liquid) from scattering and adhering to the back surface Wb of the substrate during the bevel etching process (etching process + rinsing process) as will be described later. I am trying. In this embodiment, nitrogen gas is supplied to the gas nozzle 143, but air or other inert gas may be discharged.

  The other surface side main body member 142 is provided with a gas nozzle 144 and a treatment liquid nozzle 145. Similarly to the gas nozzle 143, the gas nozzle 144 is connected to the gas supply unit 18, and discharges nitrogen gas from the substrate surface Wf side toward the peripheral portion. As a result, the Bernoulli effect is exerted to float the substrate surface Wf while adsorbing the substrate surface Wf close to the surface-side main body member 142, and the separation distance between the substrate surface Wf and the surface-side main body member 142 is kept constant.

  Further, the processing liquid nozzle 145 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the substrate (the left hand side in FIG. 2) than the gas nozzle 144. The treatment liquid nozzle 145 is connected to the chemical liquid supply unit 16 and the rinsing liquid supply unit 17 so that the chemical liquid or the rinsing liquid is selectively supplied. Further, a treatment defining member 146 having a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape and having a facing surface parallel to the substrate surface Wf is attached to the tip of the treatment liquid nozzle 145, and is close to the peripheral edge of the substrate surface Wf. Be placed. For this reason, for example, when the chemical solution is pumped from the chemical solution supply unit 16 in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 4, the chemical solution is discharged from the processing solution nozzle 145, and between the processing regulation member 146 and the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf. A liquid-tight state is formed in the minute space GP formed by the chemical solution, and a part of the chemical solution spreads to the outer peripheral side of the substrate with respect to the processing defining member 146. Therefore, the chemical solution is not supplied to the inside of the substrate W in the radial direction (the right-hand side in FIG. 2) of the processing defining member 146. As a result, the etching range by the chemical solution, that is, the peripheral etching width EH depends on the position of the processing defining member 146. It is determined. Furthermore, since the movement amount of the processing head 14A can be set continuously as described above, the position of the processing defining member 146 is changed by controlling the movement amount of the processing head 14A, and the peripheral etching width EH. Can be adjusted to an arbitrary value.

  In the above description, the case where the chemical liquid is pumped to the processing liquid nozzle 145 has been described. However, the same applies to the case where the rinse liquid is pumped instead of the chemical liquid. That is, when the rinsing liquid is pumped from the rinsing liquid supply unit 17 in accordance with the operation command from the control unit 4, the rinsing liquid is discharged from the processing liquid nozzle 145, and the processing regulation member 146 and the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf A liquid-tight state is formed by the rinsing liquid in the minute space GP formed therebetween, and a part of the rinsing liquid spreads to the outer peripheral side of the substrate with respect to the processing defining member 146. This makes it possible to control the range in which the rinse liquid is supplied.

  Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. In this apparatus, when a substrate W on which a thin film TF such as a metal layer or a photoresist layer is formed on the surface Wf of the substrate W is loaded into the substrate processing apparatus 1 in a face-down position, a bevel etching process is performed on the substrate W. (Etching step + Rinse step + Drying step) is performed. More specifically, a series of processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is executed.

  First, in step S11, the vacuum chuck 11 sucks and holds the substantially central portion of the back surface Wb of the substrate W that has been transported in a face-down posture to the bevel etching position P1. As a result, the substrate W is positioned at the bevel etching position P1 in a face-down posture and in a substantially horizontal posture. At this time, both the processing heads 14A and 14B are separated from the peripheral edge of the substrate W (the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 1), thereby preventing interference with the substrate W.

  Then, the driving of the motor 12 is started to rotate the substrate W at the bevel etching position P1 (step S12). At the same time as or before or after step S12, both processing heads 14A and 14B are moved close to the peripheral edge of the substrate W so as to be positioned in a state where an etching process can be performed on the peripheral edge of the substrate surface Wf by the chemical solution (step S13). ). That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, (1) a processing recipe that defines the content of the etching process, (2) an etching width EH, (3) a movement amount Me of the processing head during etching, and (4 ) A plurality of job data (one line data) correlated with the movement amount Mr of the processing head at the time of rinsing is stored in the memory (storage unit) 41 of the control unit 4 in advance. Then, when the operator selects a processing recipe number via the operation panel (not shown) of the substrate processing apparatus, the processing heads 14A and 14B are moved along the guides 13A and 13B by the movement amount Me set in advance in the processing recipe, respectively. Then, the processing defining member 146 is positioned so as to correspond to the peripheral etching width EH by being moved to the inner peripheral side of the substrate (the right hand side in FIG. 2) (FIG. 2A).

  When the positioning of the process regulating member 146 is completed in this way, nitrogen gas is discharged from the gas nozzles 143 and 144 toward the substrate W. Further, a chemical solution suitable for the etching process is pumped from the chemical solution supply unit 16 to the nozzle 145 to form a liquid-tight state by the chemical solution in the minute space GP between the processing defining member 146 and the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf. A part of the treatment defining member 146 extends to the outer peripheral side of the substrate. As a result, the peripheral etching width EH is the peripheral etching width EH determined by the position of the processing defining member 146, and unnecessary materials (thin film TF) are etched away from the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf (step S14; etching process). During the etching process, the chemical solution is continuously pumped. This etching process is continuously performed with the rotation of the substrate, and the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf is etched and removed accurately with a predetermined peripheral etching width EH and uniformly over the entire outer periphery.

  When this etching process is completed, the control unit 4 reads the movement amount Mr corresponding to the selected processing recipe from the memory 41, and controls the actuators 15A and 15B based on the movement amount Mr to guide the processing heads 14A and 14B to the guides 13A and 13A, respectively. It moves to the inner peripheral side of the substrate (the right hand side in FIG. 2) along 13B. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, since the movement amount Mr is set to (Me + 2 mm) for any recipe number, the processing heads 14A and 14B are further moved toward the inner periphery of the substrate along the guides 13A and 13B, respectively. It is moved by 2 mm and positioned so as to oppose the end of the portion where the process defining member 146 has been removed by etching (step S15). Then, instead of the chemical liquid, the rinsing liquid is pumped to the nozzle 145 to form a liquid-tight state by the rinsing liquid in the space GP between the processing regulation member 146 and the peripheral edge of the substrate surface Wf, and a part of the rinsing liquid is It spreads to the outer peripheral side of the substrate relative to the processing defining member 146. Thus, the rinsing process is performed not only on the peripheral edge and the outer peripheral edge of the thin film TF but also on the peripheral edge of the substrate surface Wf that has been etched away (step S16).

  Thus, when the etching process and the rinsing process are completed, the rotation speed of the motor 12 is increased and the substrate W is rotated at a high speed. Thus, after the liquid component adhering to the substrate W is shaken off and the substrate W is dried (step S17), the rotation of the substrate W is stopped (step S18). When the bevel etching process (etching process + rinsing process + drying process) is completed in this way, it is confirmed that the substrate W can be received by the transfer arm of the substrate transfer unit (not shown) and the substrate is held by the vacuum chuck 11. Is canceled (step S19). As a result, the substrate W that has undergone the bevel etching process is transferred to the transfer arm of the substrate transfer unit.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the processing defining member 146 moves along the substrate surface Wf in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the substrate W while being separated from the substrate surface Wf by a predetermined gap. A space GP is formed between the processing defining member 146 and the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf by positioning with respect to the peripheral portion. And a chemical | medical solution is supplied with respect to this space GP, and the liquid-tight state by a chemical | medical solution is formed in this space GP. For this reason, it is possible to effectively suppress the chemical solution from entering the inside of the substrate W in the radial direction, and as a result, the chemical supply range is defined in a range corresponding to the process defining member 146, that is, the peripheral etching width EH is set. It can be set accurately. In addition, since the etching process is performed by supplying the chemical solution to the peripheral portion of the rotating substrate W while controlling the peripheral etching width EH, the peripheral etching width EH is uniformly controlled over the entire peripheral surface. Unnecessary substances can be removed by etching from the peripheral edge of the surface of the substrate W.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the peripheral etching width EH can be controlled by moving the processing defining member 146 by the actuators 15A and 15B, it is possible to flexibly cope with the contents of the required etching processing, and it is excellent. The bevel etching process can be performed with versatility.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of process recipes are defined in advance for the contents of the etching process, and when a process recipe is selected from them, job data corresponding to the selected process recipe is read from the memory 41, Since the etching width EH is controlled by moving the process defining member 146 based on the movement amount Me in the job data, it is possible to quickly cope with a change in the content of the etching process.

  Furthermore, also in the rinsing process, as in the etching process, the rinsing liquid is supplied to the space GP formed between the processing defining member 146 and the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf, so that the liquid GP is in a liquid-tight state in the space GP. The surface of the peripheral portion of the substrate W that has been subjected to the etching process using the chemical solution is rinsed. In this way, by using the treatment defining member 146, the rinsing liquid can be reliably supplied to the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf to perform the rinsing process well, and the amount of the rinsing liquid used can be reduced.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the bevel etching process is performed on the substrate W in the face-down position. However, as shown in FIG. 5, the bevel etching process may be performed in the face-up position.

  In the above-described embodiment, the two processing heads 14A and 14B are arranged opposite to each side of the substrate W to perform the bevel etching process. However, the number of processing heads, the arrangement relationship, the shape, and the like are arbitrary. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although nitrogen gas is used, it cannot be overemphasized that gases, such as inert gas and air other than nitrogen gas, may be used.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the movement amount Mr at the time of rinsing is always moved inward in the radial direction of the substrate W by 2 mm from the movement amount Me at the time of the etching process. The value is not limited to this, and can be appropriately changed according to the content of the rinsing process. However, from the viewpoint of reliably preventing the rinsing failure at the boundary of the etching process in the substrate surface Wf, the movement amount Mr during the rinsing is set to be larger than the movement amount Me during the etching process. Is desirable.

  In the above embodiment, the process defining member 146 is provided to be movable along the substrate surface Wf. However, the process defining member 146 can be moved in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate surface Wf (vertical direction in FIG. 2). In addition, the gap between the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf and the processing defining member 146 may be adjusted by controlling driving means such as the actuators 15A and 15B. Alternatively, the vacuum chuck 11 may be moved and adjusted in the vertical direction in FIG. In this way, the processing defining member 146 is not only moved along the substrate surface Wf, but also moved in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate surface Wf to thereby position the processing defining member 146 with respect to the substrate surface Wf in a two-dimensional manner. can do. Thereby, the size and position of the space GP formed between the process defining member 146 and the peripheral edge of the substrate surface Wf can be controlled, and the diversity of the etching process can be enhanced.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, although the process prescription | regulation member 146 whose cross-sectional shape has trapezoid shape is used, the shape of the process prescription | regulation member 146 is not limited to this, It is arbitrary. In short, when the processing defining member 146 is positioned in proximity to the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf, a liquid-tight state by a chemical solution or a rinsing liquid is stably formed with the peripheral portion of the substrate surface Wf. As long as it is, a treatment defining member having any shape or size may be used.

<Substrate processing system>
In addition, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention may be used alone, but a substrate processing system is constructed in combination with a substrate processing apparatus that performs other substrate processing, a substrate transport unit that transports the substrate W, an indexer unit, and the like. May be. One example is a substrate processing system shown in FIG. Hereinafter, an embodiment of a substrate processing system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing an embodiment of a substrate processing system configured using the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. This substrate processing system is a single wafer processing system for processing a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer with a processing liquid or a processing gas. The substrate processing system includes a substrate processing unit PP for processing a substrate W, an indexer unit ID coupled to the substrate processing unit PP, and a configuration for supplying / discharging a processing fluid (liquid or gas). The processing fluid boxes 110 and 120 are accommodated.

  The indexer unit ID is a cassette C for accommodating the substrates W (FOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod) for accommodating a plurality of substrates W in a sealed state, SMIF (Standard Mechanical Inter Face) pod, OC (Open Cassette), etc.) A cassette holding unit 210 that can hold a plurality of substrates, and the cassette C held in the cassette holding unit 210 is accessed to take out an unprocessed substrate W from the cassette C or to transfer a processed substrate to the cassette C. And an indexer robot 220 for storage. Each cassette C is provided with a plurality of shelves (not shown) for stacking and holding a plurality of substrates W in the vertical direction with minute intervals, and one substrate W on each shelf. Can be held. Each shelf is configured to contact the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the substrate W and hold the substrate W from below. The substrate W has the front surface (device formation surface) facing upward and the back surface facing downward. The cassette C is accommodated in a substantially horizontal posture.

  The substrate processing unit PP includes a substrate transfer robot (substrate transfer device) 130 disposed substantially in the center in plan view, and a frame 300 to which the substrate transfer robot 130 is attached. The frame 300 is provided with a plurality (four in this embodiment) of unit arrangement units 310, 320, 330, and 340 so as to surround the substrate transfer robot 130, and is further accessed by the substrate transfer robot 130. The substrate reversing unit 140 is attached at a position where the above can be performed.

  In addition to the processing unit in which the substrate processing apparatus according to the above embodiment is unitized, the unit placement units 310, 320, 330, and 340 include (a) holding and rotating the substrate W and supplying the chemical solution from the chemical solution nozzle to the substrate W. (B) A scrub cleaning unit SS that holds and rotates the substrate W, supplies pure water to the substrate W, and scrubs the substrate surface with a scrub brush, (c) ) A polymer removal unit SR for holding and rotating the substrate W and supplying a polymer removal solution to the substrate W to remove residues on the substrate W; and (d) a vapor or chemical containing a chemical solution on the held substrate W. Any processing unit selected from the vapor phase cleaning unit VP for supplying the vapor containing gas and processing the substrate W can be attached. In other words, the frame 300 provides a common platform for the above-described plural types (in this embodiment, five types) of processing units, and a plurality of types (up to four types) of processing units are mounted in any combination. It is configured to be able to. Thereby, it is possible to easily cope with a process corresponding to a new material and a process corresponding to miniaturization. In addition, when two types of processing units are mounted, one first type processing unit is mounted and three second type processing units are mounted according to the processing tact. It is also possible to mount two processing units and two second type processing units.

  With this configuration, since at least two types of processing units are provided in one substrate processing system together with the substrate transport unit, two or more types of processing are continuously performed on the substrate W by one substrate processing system. Is possible. Thereby, it can respond | correspond favorably to multi-item small quantity production. In addition, when a plurality of processes are required, throughput can be improved by processing the substrate W continuously.

  Each processing unit (chemical solution processing unit MP, scrub cleaning unit SS, polymer removal unit SR, and vapor phase cleaning unit VP) has a common base unit in the basic skeleton, and the base unit is the same as that in the above embodiment. It has the same configuration as this substrate processing apparatus. Then, a common substrate delivery position P3 is set in the height direction in order to deliver the substrate W to and from the substrate transport robot 130 at the substrate delivery position P3. Therefore, no matter which processing unit is arranged in the substrate processing unit PP, the access from the substrate transfer robot 130 is performed without change.

  The substrate transfer robot 130 can receive the unprocessed substrate W from the indexer robot 220 and can transfer the processed substrate W to the indexer robot 220. In addition, the substrate transfer robot 130 can access the processing units and the substrate reversing unit 140 arranged in the unit arrangement units 310, 320, 330, and 340, and transfer the substrate W between them. Can be done.

  More specifically, for example, the substrate transfer robot 130 includes a base unit fixed to the frame 300 of the substrate processing unit PP, a lift base attached to the base unit so as to be lifted and lowered, A rotation base attached so as to be able to rotate about a vertical axis with respect to the base, and a pair of hands attached to the rotation base are provided. Each of the pair of substrate holding hands is configured to be able to advance and retract in a direction approaching / separating from the rotation axis of the rotation base. With such a configuration, the substrate transport robot 130 directs the substrate holding hand to any one of the indexer robot 220, the processing units disposed in the unit placement units 310, 320, 330, and 340 and the substrate reversing unit 140. In this state, the substrate holding hand can be advanced and retracted, whereby the substrate W can be transferred.

  The pair of substrate holding hands may be selectively used so that one is used to hold an unprocessed substrate W and the other is used to hold a processed substrate W. The pair of substrate holding hands is one substrate holding hand when the substrate W is transferred to and from the processing unit arranged in the indexer robot 220, the unit arrangement units 310, 320, 330, and 340 and the substrate reversing unit 140. You may make it operate | move so that the board | substrate W may be received from the other party and then the board | substrate W may be delivered to the other party side with the other board | substrate holding hand.

  The indexer robot 220 takes out an unprocessed substrate W from one of the cassettes C and delivers it to the substrate transport robot 130, and operates to receive the processed substrate W from the substrate transport robot 130 and store it in the cassette C. . The processed substrate W may be stored in the cassette C that is stored when the substrate W is in an unprocessed state, or the cassette C that stores the unprocessed substrate W and the processed substrate W are stored. The cassette C to be processed may be separated, and the processed substrate W may be stored in a cassette C different from the cassette C stored in the unprocessed state.

  The substrate transfer robot 130 can carry the substrate W into the substrate reversing unit 140 and reverse the front and back of the substrate W. Therefore, in the processing units arranged in the unit arrangement units 310, 320, 330, and 340, the substrate W Both of the device forming surface (corresponding to the “substrate front surface” of the present invention) and the non-device forming surface (corresponding to the “substrate back surface” of the present invention) can be processed.

  With this configuration, since the front and back of the substrate W can be reversed between the two types of processing units, different processing by the two types of processing units can be performed on the front and back surfaces of the substrate W. Thereby, an optimal process can be performed on each of both surfaces of the substrate W. More specifically, the other surface of the substrate W can be processed by carrying it into a certain processing unit, inverting the substrate W, and carrying the inverted substrate W into another processing unit for processing. Thereby, the process suitable for each surface of the board | substrate W can be performed, and both surfaces of the board | substrate W can be processed favorably.

  With respect to the substrate processing system configured as described above, a cassette C containing a plurality of substrates W with the front surface (device forming surface) of the substrate W facing upward is transferred by the indexer robot 220 to the indexer unit ID. Then, each substrate W is processed as follows. Here, for example, the processing unit of the substrate processing apparatus according to the above embodiment is arranged in the unit arrangement unit 310, and the processing unit causes the back surface of the substrate (non-device forming surface) and / or the surface of the substrate W (device forming surface). The operation of the system in the case of processing the peripheral part will be described.

  First, after the indexer robot 220 takes out the substrate W from the cassette C in the face-up state and delivers it to the substrate transport robot 130, the substrate transport robot 130 transports the substrate W to the substrate reversing unit 140 (loading). Then, the substrate reversing unit 140 that has received the substrate W inverts the substrate W and then transfers it to the substrate transport robot 130 in a face-down state, that is, with the device formation surface facing downward. The substrate transfer robot 130 is carried into a processing unit (for example, a processing unit having the same configuration of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1) arranged in the unit arrangement unit 310.

  In this processing unit, when the unprocessed substrate W is transferred from the substrate transfer robot 130 to the bevel etching position P1, the unprocessed substrate W is received from the substrate transfer robot 130. Then, the processing unit performs the same operation as that of the substrate processing apparatus according to the above-described embodiment, and executes a bevel etching process for etching away unnecessary materials from the peripheral portion of the substrate surface (device forming surface) Wf.

  When the series of processing is completed, the substrate transfer robot 130 receives the processed substrate W from the bevel etching position P 1 and transfers it to the substrate reversing unit 140. Then, after the substrate reversing unit 140 puts the substrate W in a face-up state, the substrate transport robot 130 receives the substrate W, and further transfers it to the indexer robot 220. Then, the indexer robot 220 returns to the cassette C (unloading). ). In addition, when another process is continuously executed after the processing by the processing unit, the substrate transfer robot 130 transfers the substrate W in the face-down state as it is or to the substrate reversing unit 140 according to the processing content. After the face-up state is reached, it is transported to other processing units (chemical solution processing unit MP, scrub cleaning unit SS, polymer removal unit SR, and vapor phase cleaning unit VP).

  In the substrate processing system according to this embodiment, four processing units are equipped as processing units, but the number and arrangement thereof are arbitrary. In addition, if the substrate processing system is provided with at least a processing unit having the same configuration as the substrate processing apparatus according to the above embodiment and a transport unit for transporting the substrate to the processing unit, the above-described effects can be obtained. can get. Therefore, in addition to the processing unit and the transfer unit, other units may be added to construct the substrate processing system.

  The present invention is applied to a substrate processing apparatus for performing a bevel etching process on the entire surface of a substrate including a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for photomask, a glass substrate for liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for plasma display, a substrate for optical disk, and the like. Can do.

It is a figure showing one embodiment of a substrate processing device concerning this invention. It is the elements on larger scale of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the job data memorize | stored in memory. It is a figure which shows other embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure showing one embodiment of a substrate processing system constituted using a substrate processing device concerning this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate processing apparatus 4 ... Control unit (control means)
15A, 15B ... Actuator (drive means)
16 ... Chemical solution supply unit (chemical solution supply means)
17 ... Rinse solution supply unit (rinse solution supply means)
41. Memory (storage unit)
146: Process defining member GP: Space (between the peripheral edge of the substrate and the process defining member) Wb ... Substrate back surface Wf ... Substrate surface W ... Substrate

Claims (8)

In the substrate processing apparatus for supplying chemicals to the peripheral portion of the surface of the rotating substrate and etching away unnecessary substances from the surface of the peripheral portion,
A treatment regulating member provided movably along the substrate surface while being separated from the substrate surface by a predetermined gap in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the substrate;
Driving means for driving the processing defining member to move along the substrate surface;
By supplying a chemical solution to a space sandwiched between the peripheral portion of the substrate and the processing regulating member, a liquid-tight state is formed by the chemical solution in the space, and unnecessary substances are etched away from the surface of the peripheral portion of the substrate. Chemical supply means;
And a control means for controlling the driving means to adjust the relative position of the processing-defining member with respect to the peripheral edge of the substrate, and to control the etching width of the chemical solution at the peripheral edge of the substrate. Processing equipment. The control unit includes a storage unit that stores a plurality of job data in which a processing recipe that defines the content of the etching process and an etching width are associated with each other, and an etching that is defined by a processing recipe selected from the plurality of processing recipes The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing is performed.
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the control unit reads job data corresponding to a selected processing recipe from the storage unit, and moves the processing defining member based on the job data to control an etching width.   Rinsing liquid supply means for forming a liquid-tight state by the rinsing liquid in the space by supplying a rinsing liquid to the space and performing a rinsing process on the surface of the peripheral edge of the substrate subjected to the etching process by the chemical liquid The substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1 or 2 provided.   The control means drives the driving member so that the processing defining member is positioned radially inward of the substrate by a position corresponding to the etching width after the etching process and before the rinse process by the rinse liquid supply unit. 4. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, which controls the means.   The apparatus further comprises a surface-side gas discharge means that is arranged on the inner side in the radial direction of the substrate with respect to the process-defining member and that exhibits a Bernoulli effect by discharging gas toward the process-defining member toward the substrate surface. Item 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 4.   The back surface side gas discharge means which is arrange | positioned on the opposite side of the said process prescription | regulation member on both sides of the said board | substrate, and discharges gas toward the peripheral part of the back surface of the said board | substrate is further provided. Substrate processing equipment. The drive means is configured to drive the process defining member and move the process defining member in a direction substantially orthogonal to the substrate surface;
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the driving unit to adjust a gap distance between a peripheral portion of the substrate surface and the processing defining member. In the substrate processing method of supplying chemicals to the peripheral portion of the surface of the rotating substrate and etching away unnecessary substances from the surface of the peripheral portion,
Adjusting the relative position of the process prescribing member with respect to the peripheral edge of the substrate by moving the process prescribing member along the substrate surface while being separated from the substrate surface by a predetermined gap in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the substrate. A positioning step of positioning the processing-defining member;
By supplying a chemical solution to a space sandwiched between the processing-defining member positioned by the positioning step and the peripheral portion of the substrate, a liquid-tight state by the chemical solution is formed in the space, and the peripheral portion of the substrate A substrate processing method comprising: an etching step of etching away unnecessary substances from the surface.

Images