JP2006156599A - Wafer processing method and processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a structure of a driving system of the apparatus for processing external circumference of wafer. <P>SOLUTION: The wafer 90 is aligned and allocated to a processing stage 41. This processing stage 41 is rotated around a rotating axis z. The nozzle position adjusting mechanism 46 is synchronized with this rotation. Thereby, when the circular external circumference 91 of the wafer 90 is caused to cross the first axis y crossing in orthogonal the axis z, a supply nozzle 43a for supplying processing fluid is stopped toward the crossing point, namely the position on the axis y separated substantially by the distance equal to the radius of the wafer from the rotating axis. When the cut-away part 92 of the wafer is crossing the axis y, the supply nozzle 43a is slid along the axis y corresponding to variation in the crossing point so that the nozzle 43a is always directed to the crossing point. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for performing surface treatment of a wafer, and more particularly to a processing method and apparatus suitable for processing such as removing unnecessary films on the outer peripheral portion of a wafer.

In the manufacturing process of a semiconductor wafer, if a film of photoresist or the like formed on the front side of the wafer reaches the outer periphery of the wafer, it is cracked due to contact with a jig or the like during transportation, etc. There is a risk. Therefore, removal of the outer peripheral film as an unnecessary material is performed (see Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-189515).
On the other hand, notches such as an orientation flat (hereinafter referred to as “orientation flat”) and a notch are formed in the outer peripheral portion of the wafer for positioning with respect to the crystal orientation and the stage. In order to remove the unnecessary film attached to the edge of the notch, an operation in accordance with the contour shape of the notch is required. For example, in the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-144725, an orientation flat nozzle is provided separately from a main nozzle for processing a circular portion of a wafer, and the orientation flat nozzle is provided along the orientation flat portion. In this way, the orientation flat portion is processed.
JP-A-10-189515 JP 05-144725 A

  For example, the drive system of a conventional apparatus for orientation flat processing includes a rotation axis for rotating the wafer, a radial axis for sliding the nozzle in the radial direction in accordance with the size of the wafer, and a nozzle for sliding in the tangential direction along the edge of the orientation flat. Three axes of tangential axis were required. Therefore, the structure is complicated and the cost is high.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
A method of processing the outer periphery of a wafer with a processing fluid,
The wafer is placed on a processing stage, the processing stage is rotated around a rotation axis, and the processing fluid supply nozzle is provided at a point where the outer periphery of the wafer crosses a first axis orthogonal to the rotation axis. When the crossing point changes continuously or temporarily with the rotation, the processing fluid is supplied while sliding the supply nozzle along the first axis in accordance with the change. It is characterized by that.

Further, the present invention is a method for processing a peripheral portion of a wafer in which a cutout portion such as an orientation flat or a notch is formed in a part of a circular peripheral portion with a processing fluid,
The wafer is centered and arranged on the processing stage, the processing stage is rotated around the rotation axis, and when the circular outer periphery of the wafer crosses the first axis perpendicular to the rotation axis, the crossing is performed. The processing fluid supply nozzle is stationary at a position on the first axis that is substantially equidistant from the point, that is, the radius of the wafer, and the notch of the wafer crosses the first axis. In some cases, the processing fluid is supplied while the supply nozzle is slid along the first axis in accordance with the variation of the crossing point so that the supply fluid is always directed to the crossing point.

Further, the present invention is an apparatus for processing an outer peripheral portion of a wafer with a processing fluid,
A processing stage on which the wafer is disposed and rotated about a rotation axis;
A supply nozzle for the processing fluid provided to be slidable along a first axis orthogonal to the rotation axis;
When the point where the outer periphery of the wafer crosses the first axis varies continuously or temporarily with the rotation, the position of the supply nozzle is adjusted along the first axis according to the variation, A nozzle position adjusting mechanism that is always directed to a crossing point;
It is provided with.

Further, the present invention is an apparatus for processing a peripheral portion of a wafer in which a cutout portion such as an orientation flat or a notch is formed in a part of a circular peripheral portion with a processing fluid,
A processing stage rotated about a rotation axis;
An alignment mechanism that aligns (centers) the wafer with the processing stage; and
A supply nozzle for the processing fluid provided to be slidable along a first axis orthogonal to the rotation axis;
When the circular outer periphery of the wafer crosses the supply nozzle with respect to the first axis, the supply nozzle is directed to a position on the first axis that is substantially equal to the radius of the wafer from the crossing point, that is, the rotation axis. When the notch of the wafer crosses with respect to the first axis, the supply nozzle is slid along the first axis in accordance with the variation of the crossing point so that it is always directed to the crossing point. A nozzle position adjustment mechanism;
It is provided with.

  It is desirable that the alignment mechanism has a notch detection unit for detecting the position of the notch part of the wafer, and the notch part is directed in a predetermined direction of the processing stage in parallel with the centering. Further, it is desirable that the nozzle position adjusting mechanism adjusts the position of the supply nozzle in synchronization with the rotation of the processing stage. That is, when the processing stage has a rotation angle range corresponding to the first axis crossing period of the circular outer peripheral portion, the supply nozzle is positioned at a position on the first axis that is substantially equidistant from the rotation axis from the radius of the wafer. When the rotation angle range corresponding to the first axis crossing period of the notch is fixedly arranged, the supply nozzle is moved at a speed and direction according to the rotation angle and rotation speed of the processing stage (the rotation axis along the first axis). Move in the direction of approaching or moving away). As a result of this synchronous control, it is desirable that the supply nozzle is always directed to the first axis crossing point of the wafer.

  According to the present invention, not only can the wafer size be accommodated by sliding the supply nozzle in the first axis direction, but also the processing of the edge of the wafer notch can be accommodated. Therefore, only two axes, the slide axis in the first axis direction and the rotation axis, are required as the drive system, and the structure can be simplified.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the wafer to be processed will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the wafer 90 has a disk shape. There are various standards for the size (radius r) of the wafer 90. A part of the circular outer peripheral portion 91 of the wafer 90 is cut out flat to form an orientation flat portion 92 (cutout portion). The size of the orientation flat portion 92 is determined by standards such as SEMI and JEIDA. For example, the orientation flat length L ₉₂ of a wafer with r = 100 mm is L ₉₂ = 55 mm to 60 mm. Therefore, the distance d from the outer edge of the wafer to the central portion of the orientation flat portion 92 when it is assumed that there is no orientation flat portion 92 is d = 3.8 mm to 4.6 mm.

As shown in FIG. 1, a film 93 such as a photoresist is formed on the front side surface (upper surface) of the wafer 90. As indicated by phantom lines in the drawing, the film 93 reaches the outer peripheral portion 90 a including the circular outer peripheral portion 91 and the orientation flat portion 92 of the wafer 90. Since the film 93a on the wafer outer peripheral portion 90a is likely to cause particles, it is removed by the wafer processing apparatus M.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the wafer processing apparatus M includes a cassette 10, a robot arm 20, an alignment unit 30, and a processing unit 40. The cassette 10 contains a wafer 90 to be processed. The robot arm 20 picks up the wafer 90 from the cassette 10 (FIG. 2A), passes through the alignment unit 30 (FIG. 2B), and transports it to the processing unit 40 (FIG. 2C). Is omitted, but the processed wafer 90 is returned to the cassette 10.

  The alignment unit 30 is provided with an alignment unit 31 and an alignment stage 32. As shown in FIG. 2A, the alignment stage 32 has a disk shape and is rotatable around the central axis. As shown in FIG. 2B, the wafer 90 is temporarily placed on the alignment stage 32 for alignment (centering).

Although not shown in detail, the alignment unit 31 is provided with an optical non-contact sensor. For example, the non-contact sensor includes a light projector that outputs a laser and a light receiver that receives the light. These projectors and light receivers are disposed so as to sandwich the outer peripheral portion 90a of the wafer 90 disposed on the alignment stage 32 from above and below. The laser light from the projector is blocked at a rate corresponding to the degree of protrusion of the outer periphery of the wafer, and the amount of light received by the light receiver changes. Thereby, the amount of eccentricity of the wafer can be detected. Moreover, the orientation flat part 92 (notch part) can also be detected by measuring the location where the amount of received light changes discontinuously and suddenly.
The alignment unit 31 not only constitutes an eccentricity detection part of the wafer 90 but also constitutes a “notch detection part” for detecting the orientation flat part 92 (notch part).
The alignment unit 30 and the robot arm 20 constitute an “alignment mechanism”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the processing unit 40 of the wafer processing apparatus M is provided with a processing stage 41 and a processing head 43. The processing stage 41 has a horizontal disk shape and is rotatable around a vertical z axis (rotation axis). An encoder motor 42 is used for rotational driving. A wafer 90 that has undergone alignment by the alignment unit 30 is set on the upper surface of the processing stage 41. Although not shown, an electrostatic chuck mechanism and a vacuum chuck mechanism for holding the wafer 90 are provided in the processing stage 41.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2C, the processing head 43 is disposed on the y-axis (first axis) orthogonal to the z-axis. Of course, the y-axis is along the radial direction of the processing stage 41.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a supply nozzle 43 a that opens in a spot shape is provided at the lower end of the processing head 43. As shown in FIG. 3, the spot-like opening of the supply nozzle 43a is arranged just on the y-axis. As shown in FIG. 1, the proximal end portion of the supply nozzle 43 a is connected to an ozonizer 45 (processing fluid supply source) via a fluid supply pipe 44. The ozonizer 45 generates ozone as a processing fluid. As is well known, ozone causes a good reaction with organic substances such as a photoresist constituting the film 93a to be removed.

Note that a plasma processing head having a pair of electrodes may be used as the processing head 43. A normal pressure glow discharge occurs between the pair of electrodes, and a processing fluid (for example, oxygen gas) from the processing fluid source is introduced into this discharge space to be turned into plasma (activated, radicalized) and blown out from the supply nozzle 43a. Is done.
Instead of the dry method such as the above-described ozonizer or plasma processing apparatus, a wet method in which a chemical solution is blown out from the supply nozzle 43a as a processing fluid may be used.
Although not shown, the dry processing head 43 is provided with a suction nozzle for sucking a processed fluid (including a by-product) in the vicinity of the supply nozzle 43a.

The processing head 43 is connected to the nozzle position adjusting mechanism 46. The nozzle position adjusting mechanism 46 includes a servo motor, a linear motion device, and the like, and adjusts the position by sliding the processing head 43 and thus the supply nozzle 43a along the y axis (FIGS. 3A and 3B). e) to (i)). The processing head 43 and thus the supply nozzle 43a can move only along the y-axis and are restricted in other directions.
There are various sizes of wafers 90 to be processed. In accordance with this size, the position of the processing head 43 is adjusted in the y-axis direction by the position adjusting mechanism 46, and is disposed opposite to the wafer outer peripheral portion 90a.

Further, the position adjustment mechanism 36 is driven by the control unit 50 in synchronization with the rotation operation of the processing stage 41. The control unit 50 stores information on a point where the processing head 43 should be located or information on a direction and speed where the processing head 43 should be moved according to the rotation angle of the processing stage 41. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, when the rotation angle of the processing stage 41 is in the first rotation angle range phi _1, the position of the processing head 43 is fixed, is set with its fixed point, second when the rotational angle range phi ₂ is intended to move the processing head 43, the direction and speed are set.

Here, the rotation angle of the processing stage 41 is set as a clockwise clockwise angle from the y axis to the reference point 41a on the stage 41 indicated by a triangle mark in FIG.
The first rotation angle range φ ₁ is set to a range from 0 degree to a rotation angle φ ₉₁ corresponding to the central angle of the circular outer peripheral portion 91. The angular range phi ₁ corresponds to the period in which the circular outer peripheral portion 91 traverses the y-axis.
The second rotation angle range phi ₂ is set to a range from phi ₉₁ to 360 degrees. The width (360−φ ₉₁ ) of the second rotation angle range φ ₂ exactly matches the central angle φ ₉₂ (see FIG. 5) of the orientation flat portion 92. The angular range phi ₂ corresponds to a period where the orientation flat portion 92 traverses the y-axis.

Fixed point of the first rotation angle range φ supply nozzle 43a in _1, a point on substantially the same y-axis and the radius r of the wafer 90 (radius r substantially equidistant apart locations of the wafer 90 from the axis of rotation) Is set. This point overlaps the y-axis crossing point of the circular outer peripheral portion 91.

In the second rotation angle range φ ₂ , the first half moves along the y axis in the direction of the origin (the direction approaching the rotation axis z), and reverses at the midpoint of the second angle range φ _2. It is set to move in the plus direction (direction away from the rotation axis z) along the axis. The moving speed v is assumed to be ω _{41 when} the rotational speed of the processing stage 41 is ω ₄₁ .
v = (2 × d × ω ₄₁ ) / φ ₉₂ (≈ (2 × d × ω ₄₁ × r) / L ₉₂ ): It is set in the equation (1). Here, d is the depth d of the orientation flat portion 92, and L ₉₂ is the length (see FIG. 5). As shown in Expression (1), the moving speed v (gradient in FIG. 4) is set to be proportional to the rotational speed ω ₄₁ of the processing stage 41.
In the case of the wafer having the radius r = 100 mm and the orientation flat length L ₉₂ = 55 mm to 60 mm, the processing head speed v in the rotation angle range φ ₂ is v = 1.5 mm / sec. ˜1.6 mm / sec.

A method of removing the unnecessary film 93a on the outer peripheral portion of the wafer 90 by the wafer processing apparatus M having the above configuration will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the wafer 90 to be processed is taken out from the cassette 10 by the robot arm 20 and placed on the alignment stage 32. At this time, the wafer 90 is normally decentered with respect to the alignment stage 32, and the location a having the maximum protrusion amount from the stage 32 and the location b having the minimum amount exist 180 degrees apart. In this state, the alignment stage 32 rotates once, and during this time, the non-contact sensor of the alignment unit 31 detects the maximum projecting location a and its projecting amount, and the minimum projecting location b and its projecting amount. Specifically, the wafer outer peripheral portion 90a is sandwiched between the projector and the light receiver from above and below, and the minimum and maximum values of the received light amount and the rotation angle of the stage 32 at that time are measured. At the same time, the position of the orientation flat portion 92 is also detected by measuring the rotation angle of the stage 32 when the amount of received light increases discontinuously. Based on this measurement result, the robot arm 20 performs centering (alignment) of the wafer 90. That is, the wafer 90 is moved relative to the stage 32 in the direction from the maximum protruding portion to the minimum protruding portion by a distance that is 1/2 of the maximum protruding amount and the minimum protruding amount. For the movement, the wafer 90 may be moved, or the stage 32 may be moved. At the same time, the orientation flat portion 92 is directed in a predetermined direction.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2C, the wafer 90 is transferred to the processing unit 40 by the robot arm 20 and set on the processing stage 41. Since the wafer 90 has undergone the above alignment operation, the processing stage 41 and the center can be accurately aligned.
Note that the wafer 90 may be directly transferred from the cassette 10 to the processing stage 41, and alignment (centering) similar to the above may be performed on the processing stage 41. Then, the alignment stage 32 can be omitted.

  At the time of setting the wafer 90 on the processing stage 41, not only the center is aligned with the processing stage 41 but also the orientation flat portion 92 is directed in a predetermined direction. As shown in FIGS. 2C and 3A, in the present embodiment, the left end portion 92 a of the orientation flat portion 92 is directed to the reference direction 41 a of the processing stage 41. The reference direction 41a of the processing stage 41 is directed to the y axis in the initial state (processing start time).

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3A, the position of the processing head 43 is adjusted in the y-axis direction according to the size of the wafer 90 by the position adjusting mechanism 46. As a result, the supply nozzle 43a is disposed opposite to the wafer outer peripheral portion 90a. In this embodiment, the corner portion formed by the orientation flat end portion 92a and the circular outer peripheral portion 91 is opposed to the corner portion.

  Thereafter, ozone from the ozonizer 45 is supplied to the processing head 43 through the pipe 44 and blown out from the supply nozzle 43a. This ozone is sprayed on the wafer outer peripheral portion 90a and reacts with the unnecessary film 93a. Thereby, the unnecessary film 93a can be removed.

  In parallel with this ozone spraying, the processing stage 41 is rotated around the rotation axis (z axis) by the encoder motor 42 at a constant rotation speed. The direction of rotation is, for example, clockwise in plan view as indicated by the arrow in FIG. As a result, as shown in (a) to (i) of FIG. 5 with time, the wafer 90 is rotated, the ozone sprayed portion sequentially shifts in the circumferential direction, and the unnecessary film 93a on the wafer outer peripheral portion 90a is moved in the circumferential direction. It can be removed sequentially. In FIGS. 5B to 5I, the striped hatched portion of the wafer outer peripheral portion 90a indicates a portion where the unnecessary film 93a has been removed.

The step of removing the unnecessary film will be described in detail.
The control unit 50 drives the position adjusting mechanism 46 in synchronization with the rotation of the processing stage 41 based on the setting data corresponding to FIG. 4, and adjusts the position of the processing head 43 and thus the supply nozzle 46a. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the rotation angle of the processing stage 41 is in the range phi ₁ is kept fixed substantially equal to a point and the radius r of the wafer 90 to supply nozzles 43a on the y-axis. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3E, the supply nozzle 43a can be reliably directed to the circular outer peripheral portion 91 during the period in which the circular outer peripheral portion 91 crosses the y-axis. Therefore, ozone can be reliably sprayed onto the circular outer peripheral portion 91, and the unnecessary film 93a on the circular outer peripheral portion 91 can be reliably removed. Then, the processed portion extends in the circumferential direction of the circular outer peripheral portion 91 along with the rotation, and eventually the processing of the entire circular outer peripheral portion 91 is finished as shown in FIG. 3 (e), and the right end portion 92b of the orientation flat portion 92 is finished. Reaches the position of the supply nozzle 43a. At this time, the rotation angle range is switched from phi ₁ to phi _2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first half of the rotation angle range phi ₂ moves the processing head 43 in turn supply nozzle 43a in the direction of approaching the processing stage 41 at a velocity v in the formula (1). On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3E to 3G, at this time, the right side portion of the orientation flat portion 92 crosses the y axis, and the crossing point shifts to the rotation axis (z axis) side with the rotation. To go. The change in the crossing point and the movement of the supply nozzle 43a substantially coincide with each other. Thereby, the supply nozzle 43a can be always along the edge of the right side portion of the orientation flat portion 92, and the unnecessary film 93a in the portion can be reliably removed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the supply nozzles 43a just midpoint of the rotation angle range phi _2, the depth of the orientation flat portion 92 from (substantially point r of the y-axis) to the processing stage 41 the circular outer peripheral portion 91 processing position at the time It has moved by the same amount as d. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3G, the orientation flat portion 92 is orthogonal to the y-axis, and the intermediate portion of the orientation flat portion 92 crosses the point (rd) on the y-axis. Therefore, the position of the intermediate portion between the supply nozzle 43a and the orientation flat portion 92 matches, and the unnecessary film 93a at the intermediate portion of the orientation flat portion 92 can be reliably removed.

As shown in FIG. 4, by reversing the direction of movement of the supply nozzle 43a at an intermediate point of the rotation angle range phi _2, the second half of the rotation angle range phi _2, moves in a direction away from the processing stage 41. The moving speed is the same size as the first half (speed v in the above formula (1)). At this time, as shown in FIGS. 3G to 3I, the left side portion of the orientation flat portion 92 crosses the y-axis, and the crossing point shifts in the positive direction of the y-axis with rotation. The change in the crossing point and the movement of the supply nozzle 43a substantially coincide with each other. Accordingly, the supply nozzle 43a can be always along the edge of the left side portion of the orientation flat portion 92, and the unnecessary film 93a in the portion can be reliably removed.
Thus, the unnecessary film 93a can be reliably removed not only in the circular outer peripheral portion 91 of the wafer 90 but also in the entire outer peripheral region including the orientation flat portion 92.
As shown in FIG. 3 (i), when the rotation angle is exactly 360 degrees, the supply nozzle 43a returns to the initial position.
The wafer 90 after the unnecessary film removal processing is taken out from the processing stage 41 by the robot arm 20 and returned to the cassette 10.

According to the wafer processing apparatus M, not only can the size of the wafer 90 be accommodated by sliding the processing head 43 in the y-axis direction, but also the processing of the orientation flat portion 92 can be accommodated. Therefore, only two axes, one slide axis (y axis) and one rotation axis (z axis), are required as a drive system for the entire processing unit 40, and the structure can be simplified.
By aligning the orientation flat portion 92 in a predetermined direction 41 a of the processing stage 41 during alignment and adjusting the position of the supply nozzle 43 a in synchronization with the rotation of the processing stage 41, the supply nozzle 43 a eventually follows the orientation flat portion 92. It is not necessary to detect and feed back the orientation flat portion 92 simultaneously with the unnecessary film removal process, and the control can be facilitated.

As shown in FIG. 6, the moving speed of the processing head 43 in turn supply nozzle 43a in the rotation angle range phi ₂ of the orientation flat processing period, so as to draw an arc on the graph, is gradually decreased in the first half of the rotation angle range phi _2, the second half Then, you may make it increase gradually. Accordingly, the movement of the processing head 43 can be more matched with the fluctuation of the crossing point of the first axis of the orientation flat portion 92, and the supply nozzle 43 a can be surely moved along the edge of the orientation flat portion 92.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
For example, the notch portion of the wafer is not limited to the orientation flat and may be a notch, and the present invention can also be applied to the notch.
The supply nozzle need only be slidable in the first axis direction, and the entire processing head does not need to move.
When the treatment rate is improved when the temperature is high, a heater for locally heating the part being treated may be provided. The heater is preferably a non-contact heater such as a radiation heater using a laser or the like. On the other hand, it is preferable to provide heat absorption means for absorbing heat from the center of the wafer and cooling it inside the processing stage.
The processing fluid is not limited to ozone gas, and various components of gas or liquid can be appropriately selected according to the quality of the unnecessary film 93a and the processing method such as wet or dry.
During the unnecessary film removal process, the first axis crossing point on the outer periphery of the wafer may be measured and calculated and fed back to the nozzle position adjusting mechanism. Then, even if it does not align, the position of the supply nozzle can be adjusted in the first axial direction according to the contour of the outer periphery of the wafer as needed, the alignment mechanism becomes unnecessary, and the structure can be further simplified.

  The present invention can be applied to a process of removing unnecessary films on the outer periphery in the field of manufacturing semiconductor wafers.

It is side surface sectional drawing of the process part of the wafer processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the said wafer processing apparatus, (a) shows the state which picks up a wafer from a cassette, (b) shows the state which aligns a wafer, (c) sets a wafer to a process part. Indicates the state. (A)-(i) is the top view which represented a mode that the unnecessary film | membrane removal process of a wafer outer peripheral part was performed in the said process part over time. It is the figure which showed and graphed the setting information of the supply nozzle position stored in the control part of the nozzle position adjustment mechanism. It is a top view of a wafer. It is the figure which showed the modification of the setting information of FIG. 4 in the graph.

Explanation of symbols

M Wafer peripheral processing unit 20 Robot arm (component of alignment mechanism)
30 Alignment part (component of alignment mechanism)
32 Alignment unit (notch detector)
40 processing unit 41 processing stage 43 processing head 43a supply nozzle 46 nozzle position adjusting mechanism 50 control unit 90 wafer 90a wafer outer peripheral part 91 circular outer peripheral part 92 orientation flat part (notch part)
93a Unnecessary film y First axis z Rotation axis

Claims (4)

A method of processing the outer periphery of a wafer with a processing fluid,
The wafer is placed on a processing stage, the processing stage is rotated around a rotation axis, and the processing fluid supply nozzle is provided at a point where the outer periphery of the wafer crosses a first axis orthogonal to the rotation axis. And when the crossing point temporarily changes with the rotation, the processing fluid is supplied while sliding the supply nozzle along the first axis in accordance with the change. Wafer processing method. A method of processing the outer periphery of a wafer having a notch formed in a part of a circular outer periphery with a processing fluid,
The wafer is centered and arranged on the processing stage, the processing stage is rotated around the rotation axis, and when the circular outer periphery of the wafer crosses the first axis perpendicular to the rotation axis, the crossing is performed. The processing fluid supply nozzle is stationary at a position on the first axis that is substantially equidistant from the point, that is, the radius of the wafer, and the notch of the wafer crosses the first axis. The wafer processing method is characterized in that the processing fluid is supplied while the supply nozzle is slid along the first axis in accordance with the change of the crossing point so that the supply fluid is always directed to the crossing point. An apparatus for processing an outer peripheral portion of a wafer having a notch formed in a part of a circular outer peripheral portion with a processing fluid,
A processing stage rotated about a rotation axis;
An alignment mechanism for centering and arranging the wafer on the processing stage;
A supply nozzle for the processing fluid provided to be slidable along a first axis orthogonal to the rotation axis;
When the circular outer periphery of the wafer crosses the supply nozzle with respect to the first axis, the supply nozzle is directed to a position on the first axis that is substantially equal to the radius of the wafer from the crossing point, that is, the rotation axis. When the notch of the wafer crosses with respect to the first axis, the supply nozzle is slid along the first axis in accordance with the variation of the crossing point so that it is always directed to the crossing point. A nozzle position adjustment mechanism;
A wafer processing apparatus comprising: The alignment mechanism has a notch detection unit for detecting the position of the notch part of the wafer, and the notch part is directed in a predetermined direction of the processing stage in parallel with the centering,
The wafer processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the nozzle position adjusting mechanism adjusts the position of the supply nozzle in synchronization with rotation of the processing stage.

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