JP2007066954A - Resist coater and resist coating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coater and a coating method for coating a substrate for photomask with resist having a uniform in-plane film thickness, and to provide a resist coating method by which the thickness of a resist film can be adjusted arbitrarily during coating. <P>SOLUTION: The resist coater comprises a substrate mounting section, a nozzle drip portion located at a position parallel with the surface of a substrate on the upper surface side, and a device control section for managing the entirety. The nozzle drip portion 10 is an assembly consisting of a plurality of nozzles in odd rows having the same number of rows and columns wherein the central one is a resist drip nozzle 3 and a plurality of other nozzles are gas blow-out nozzle 4. After resist solution is dripped from the resist drip nozzle to the central surface of the substrate, above-mentioned procedure for blowing out gas from a gas blow-out nozzle located in close proximity to that nozzle and for blowing out gas from a gas blow-out nozzle next to that located in close proximity to that nozzle is repeated, and then a procedure for blowing gas from the outermost circumferential nozzle is carried out thus applying resist. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a resist coating apparatus and a resist coating method used for forming a resist film when manufacturing a photomask for a semiconductor integrated circuit.

  With recent high integration of semiconductor integrated circuits and miniaturization of circuit pattern shapes, miniaturization and high precision of circuit patterns are also required for photomasks used in the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits.

  That is, along with rapid miniaturization of semiconductor integrated circuits, lithography technology for transferring a mask pattern onto a Si wafer for semiconductor integrated circuits has also progressed simultaneously. In order to improve the resolution, the reduction projection exposure apparatus (stepper) has a far ultraviolet region such as a KrF excimer laser (wavelength 248 nm) and an ArF excimer laser (wavelength 193 nm) and further an F2 laser (wavelength 193 nm) after the i-line (wavelength 365 nm). The wavelength has been continuously shortened to the vacuum ultraviolet region having a wavelength of 157 nm. If the wavelength of the exposure light is shortened, there is a problem that the resist film thickness formed on the substrate to be transferred becomes thinner, and the influence of variations in resist film thickness becomes more remarkable.

  In order to meet the demands for circuit pattern miniaturization and high accuracy, it is required not only to improve the resolution of the pattern, but also to increase the control of in-plane uniformity of pattern dimensions to a higher level. . If the circuit pattern is miniaturized, there is a problem that the amount of light for pattern resolution becomes very small, and the influence of variations in resist film thickness becomes more remarkable.

  Further, it is required to increase the control of the in-plane variation of the circuit pattern arrangement density, that is, the in-plane variation of the pattern dimension caused by the density difference of the pattern arrangement density to a higher level.

  Conventionally, a method for forming a pattern on a photomask is to irradiate the resist with exposure light, change the integrated amount of the irradiation energy, that is, change the dose amount, and form an insoluble resist by polymerization or the like. A resist pattern is formed through development processing. In forming the resist pattern, the quality of the cross-sectional shape of the resist is important. In resist, the sensitivity for miniaturization is increased and the wavelength of exposure light is shortened. To cope with this, it is important to make the resist film thinner and to increase the sensitivity.

  Recently, there is a problem that the resist has a thinner film thickness, the fluctuation of the position of the dissolution / indissolution boundary becomes remarkable, and the shape of the bottom of the resist becomes unstable. If the film thickness in the resist surface approaches the upper limit of variation, the neighboring pattern shifts to the outside of the dissolved / insoluble boundary, that is, the shape of the resist pattern increases, and conversely approaches the lower limit. For example, the position of the neighboring pattern shifts to the inner side of the boundary between dissolution and non-dissolution, and the shape of the resist pattern becomes smaller. There is a problem that a desired pattern shape cannot be formed uniformly in the surface. Therefore, the resist film thickness variation becomes a problem.

Similarly, there is a problem that the resist has a lower dose setting value, the position of the boundary between dissolution / dissolution becomes prominent, and the shape of the bottom of the resist becomes unstable. If the integrated area of the irradiated area in the resist surface approaches the upper limit of variation, the pattern in the vicinity tends to be insufficient in dose, and the position shifts to the inner side from the boundary of dissolution / dissolution, that is, the shape of the resist pattern Conversely, if the total area of the irradiated region approaches the lower limit, the dose pattern tends to be excessive, the position shifts outside the dissolved / insoluble boundary, and the resist pattern shape increases. . There is a problem that a desired pattern shape cannot be formed uniformly in the surface. Therefore, the average value of the resist film thickness becomes a problem. In a region where the integrated area of the irradiation region has a variation upper limit, it may be necessary to finely adjust the resist film thickness to a thinner film thickness.

  First, the production of a conventional photomask will be described. First, in the manufacture of a mask blank for a photomask, a light-shielding film is formed on the entire surface of one side of a transparent substrate, a photosensitive resist is applied on the light-shielding film, and a pre-baking process is performed to align the sensitivity of the resist film. To manufacture. Next, the circuit pattern is formed by drawing or exposing the resist with the mask blank using the drawing or exposure apparatus, developing the resist, and etching the light shielding film using the resist pattern as a mask. Thereafter, the resist is stripped and manufactured.

  In order to satisfy the requirements for photomasks as described above, in the manufacture of photomasks, particularly in the manufacture of mask blanks for photomasks, in-plane uniformity of the resist coating thickness is required, and at the same time, the sensitivity of the resist Uniformity is required. Furthermore, if necessary, it is also required to finely adjust the resist film thickness in a specific region.

  In the manufacture of a mask blank, a photosensitive resist is applied to a uniform film thickness, and pre-bake processing is performed to maintain the uniformity of the pattern dimensions in order to uniformly align the sensitivity of the resist film.

  In the resist coating step, a resist film is formed on a transparent substrate by a resist dropping rotation method using a spin coater.

  The resist dropping rotation method (hereinafter referred to as a spin coater) of a spin coater is a method in which a mask blank is placed on a stage and the resist is dropped from the upper surface while rotating at high speed. The coating method is that a predetermined amount of resist solution is dropped from the resist dropping nozzle on the upper surface side of the substrate to the center of the substrate while rotating the substrate mounting portion on which the substrate is placed at a high speed, and the resist solution is removed by centrifugal force. This is a method of diffusing to the periphery of the substrate.

  In this coating method, there is a problem that variations in the resist film thickness in the surface of the transparent substrate tend to be concentric, and the consumption of the resist to be used is wasted.

  Since the transparent substrate is quadrangular, the resist in the four corner areas is first dried, which makes it difficult to uniformly control the in-plane resist film thickness (see Patent Document 1).

The known literature is described below.
JP-A-5-96224

  An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a coating method for applying a resist to a mask blank for a photomask with a uniform in-plane film thickness. It is to provide a resist coating method capable of controlling the film thickness to be adjusted.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is the resist coating apparatus, wherein the substrate mounting portion for mounting the substrate, the nozzle dropping portion at a position facing the substrate surface parallel to the upper surface side of the substrate mounting portion, It is a resist coating apparatus comprising an apparatus control unit that manages the entire apparatus including incidental equipment at a position near the apparatus, and the nozzle dropping unit is represented by the following equation (1): K = (2n + 1) × (2n + 1) Number 1
K is the total number of nozzles in the nozzle dropping section.
n is an aggregate composed of a plurality of integers of 1 or more,
The central nozzle is
A resist dripping nozzle,
The other nozzles are
The resist coating apparatus is a gas blowing nozzle.

In the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention, the apparatus control unit sequentially performs operations from the operation of placing the substrate to be coated on the substrate placing unit to the operation of applying the resist to one surface of the substrate. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least the following procedure is included among the procedures.
(A) A procedure of dropping a resist solution near the center of the surface of the substrate from a resist dropping nozzle. (B) A procedure in which gas is blown out from a gas blowing nozzle in the immediate vicinity of the resist dropping nozzle, and the blowing of gas is maintained until a predetermined time.
(C) A procedure in which gas is blown out from the next gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the gas blowing nozzle immediately after the gas is blown out, and the gas blowing is maintained until a predetermined time.
(D) A procedure in which the procedure of (c) is repeated, gas is blown out from the outermost gas blowing nozzle, and the gas blowing is maintained until a predetermined time.

In the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention, the apparatus control unit sequentially performs operations from an operation of placing the substrate to be coated on the substrate placing unit to an operation of applying a resist to one surface of the substrate. 3. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resist coating apparatus includes at least the following procedure in order to make the resist film thickness in the region smaller than the resist film thickness in the other region.
(A) In a procedure for blowing out gas from a gas blowing nozzle located in the immediate vicinity of a specific region and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, a procedure for executing the procedure again or extending the predetermined time.
(B) Immediately after blowing out the gas, in the procedure of blowing out gas from the next gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the gas blowing nozzle and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, the step (b) is executed again. Or a procedure for extending the predetermined time.
(C) The above procedure is repeated, and in the procedure of blowing out gas from the outermost gas blowing nozzle in the specific region and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, the procedure (c) is executed again, or the predetermined time is increased. Procedure to extend.

In the invention according to claim 4 of the present invention, the apparatus control unit sequentially performs operations from the operation of placing the substrate to be coated on the substrate placing unit to the operation of applying the resist on one surface of the substrate. 4. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least the following procedure in order to make the resist film thickness in the region smaller than the resist film thickness in the other region. It is.
(A) A procedure of increasing the gas flow rate and / or the gas pressure in a procedure of blowing out gas from a gas blowing nozzle in the immediate vicinity of the specific region and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time.
(B) Immediately after blowing out the gas, in the procedure of blowing out gas from the gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the gas blowing nozzle and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, the gas flow rate and / or the gas pressure is further increased. Steps to enlarge.
(C) The above procedure is repeated, and in the procedure in which gas is blown out from the outermost gas blowing nozzle in the specific region and the gas blowing is maintained until a predetermined time, the gas flow rate and / or the gas pressure is increased. .

  The invention according to claim 5 of the present invention is the resist coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the gas is nitrogen gas.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a resist coating method for coating a resist on one surface of a substrate, wherein the resist coating apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is used. Application method.

  According to the resist coating apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of gas blowing nozzles outside the resist dropping nozzle are arranged around the resist dropping nozzle so that the resist solution dropped from the resist dropping nozzle Among the nozzles, by sequentially blowing gas from the gas blowing nozzle adjacent to the central resist dropping nozzle to the outer gas blowing nozzle, a flow of the resist solution that diffuses the resist solution from the center to the outside is formed, and the resist solution It is possible to control the film thickness to be uniform from the center of the transparent substrate to the outer peripheral part by spreading of the resist solution due to the flow of.

  According to the resist coating apparatus of the third or fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to control the film thickness by adjusting the coating thickness of the resist for each specific region.

  According to the resist coating apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention, the gas used for the gas blowing nozzle is a film thickness for adjusting the coating thickness of the resist for each specific region by using nitrogen gas which is an inert gas. Control becomes possible.

  A resist coating apparatus and a resist coating method of the present invention will be described below based on an embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a partially enlarged view for explaining a resist coating apparatus of the present invention, (a) is a side view of the whole, and (b) is a partially enlarged plan view.

  In the resist coating apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1A, a substrate mounting portion 20 for mounting a substrate 21 is disposed at the lower part of the apparatus. The nozzle dropping unit 10 is disposed on the upper surface side of the substrate mounting unit 20 at a position facing the substrate surface in parallel. An apparatus control unit 30 for managing the entire apparatus including incidental facilities is disposed in the vicinity of the apparatus, and controls the function or operation of the resist coating apparatus and the order thereof. The nozzle dropping unit is constituted by an aggregate of a plurality of nozzles according to the above equation 1 (2n + 1) × (2n + 1). The nozzle assemblies are formed in the same number of rows and columns, and the number of rows consisting of odd numbers.

  In the resist coating apparatus of the present invention, first, the substrate 21 is received from the substrate supply unit outside the apparatus and placed on the substrate platform 20 in accordance with an instruction command from the apparatus controller 30. Next, the resist solution discharge port 3 is opened according to manufacturing conditions registered in advance, and a predetermined amount of resist solution is dropped onto the substrate. At the same time, the gas discharge ports 4 are opened in order from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion to generate a gas flow in the direction from the central portion to the outer peripheral portion, and the resist solution is transferred from the central portion of the substrate to the substrate by the gas flow. Spread to the periphery and disperse a uniform amount of resist solution on the substrate surface.

In the nozzle dropping unit 10 of the present invention shown in FIG. 1B, one nozzle at the center of the assembly is the resist dropping nozzle 1. The resist dropping nozzle 1 includes one or a plurality of resist solution discharge ports 3. The other nozzles are the gas blowing nozzles 2. Each of the gas blowing nozzles 2 is provided with one or a plurality of gas discharge ports 4. The aggregate is (2n + 1) × (2n + 1) where n is an integer of 3, ie 7 ×
7 = 49 cases. The nozzle is a group of 49 arranged in a 1 mm square section, that is, 49 nozzles are arranged in a 7 mm square, and the central nozzle has one resist solution discharge port 3. This is a resist dropping nozzle 1. The other 48 nozzles are gas blowing nozzles 2 having one gas discharge port 4. Each nozzle has a function of sequentially executing operations in accordance with commands such as opening / closing of the discharge port, discharge time, numerical indication of the internal pressure of the discharge port, and operation start / end.

  Next, FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged model diagram for explaining the state of the nozzle dropping portion of the present invention, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a side sectional view, and (c). Is an enlarged view of a part thereof. The state of the nozzle dropping part will be described below according to a specific embodiment.

  The state of the nozzle dropping part, that is, the state of applying the resist solution on the substrate will be described. In the nozzle dropping unit 10 of the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the resist dropping nozzle 1 is disposed at the center, and the gas blowing nozzle 2 is disposed outside thereof. The resist solution was discharged from the resist dropping nozzle 1 onto the substrate. Next, gas was injected from the gas blowing nozzle 2 of the n1 group to the substrate side. Next, gas was injected from the n2 group gas blowing nozzle 2 to the substrate side. Next, gas was injected from the gas blowing nozzle 2 of the n3 group to the substrate side. The gas injection start time is sequentially delayed from the n1 group to the n2 group to the n3 group, and the time difference is optimized to follow the flow of the resist solution on the substrate, that is, the expansion of the resist solution. .

  In the state where the resist solution of the example of FIG. 2B is applied on the substrate, the resist solution was discharged from the resist dropping nozzle 1 onto the substrate. Next, gas was injected from the gas blowing nozzle 2 of the n1 group to the substrate side. In the n1 group gas injection, the gas injection amount in the vicinity of the central portion rapidly increases, the gas group collides with the resist solution surface on the substrate surface, changes direction, and lowers the solution along the resist solution surface. A laminar gas flow is caused to flow to the surface and flowed at a higher speed to a lower solution surface, i.e. the periphery of the substrate. When the gas group collides with the surface of the resist solution, the collision force suppresses the surface of the resist solution to control the thickness of the resist solution. That is, when the collision force is strong, the thickness is reduced, and when the collision force is weak, the thickness is increased. The collision force is optimized to control the resist film thickness to an optimum value. Similarly, gas injection is sequentially performed with the n2 group to the n3 group, and the gas flow causes the gas to flow to the lower liquid surface side while being diffused to the lower liquid surface side of the resist solution. Form. Further, the exhaust port 31 serves to exhaust the injection gas to the outside of the apparatus, and in order to exhaust a predetermined exhaust amount, a gas pressure gradient is generated from the vicinity of the central part to the vicinity of the exhaust port, and the central part is more stable. A laminar flow of gas from the vicinity to the vicinity of the exhaust port is generated.

In the state in which the resist solution of the embodiment of FIG. 2C is applied on the substrate, the resist solution starts gas injection sequentially to the gas blowing nozzles 2 of the n4 group, and the tip flow of the resist solution is in the n4 group. The gas pressure amount in this state, the gas pressure in the center, and P _c, the gas pressure of the gas injection zone section (N0-N4 group), and P _in, non-injection zone of (N5～n8 group) When the gas pressure is P _ou and the gas pressure at the exhaust port is P _g , the gas pressure is always optimized to the gas pressure in the relationship of P _c > P _in > P _ou > P _g if the gas pressure is high or low. It becomes important. In the adjustment of the gas pressure, the distance between the substrate surface and the surface of the nozzle dropping unit 10 can be adjusted to be close. Of course, the influence of the viscosity of the resist solution is also an important factor, and the viscosity can be raised and lowered to be adjusted.

Further, in order to make the exhaust amount at the outer peripheral portion of the substrate uniform, by rotating the exhaust port 31 and uniformly optimizing the exhaust amount at the boundary of the exhaust port, the gas flow direction on all substrate surfaces Becomes the radial direction from the center, the gas flow rate becomes the same amount, and the laminar flow becomes the same amount, and the resist film thickness becomes uniform in the surface. When the exhaust port 31 is rotated, there is a method in which the nozzle dropping unit 10 and the substrate mounting unit 20 are surrounded by one chamber, and the exhaust port 31 is disposed along the outer peripheral portion of the chamber. A jig having the same height as the mounted substrate surface is inserted into the outer periphery of the substrate, and the outer shape of the jig is circular, so that the laminar flow on the substrate surface in the outer periphery of the substrate is not disturbed by the jig. Devise. The chamber is shielded from the outside, and its room temperature and humidity or pressure are controlled to provide an optimum resist coating environment or resist drying environment.

  In this resist coating apparatus, after the resist solution is applied, the drying method includes a drying method specific to this apparatus. After drying by this method, pre-baking is performed by a known method, and the method of the present invention is applied. A mask blank was prepared.

  Of the procedures in which the apparatus control unit of the resist coating apparatus according to the present invention sequentially executes the operation from the operation of placing the substrate to be coated on the substrate mounting unit to the operation of applying the resist to one surface of the substrate, the resist dropping unit A flow chart of operation procedures executed sequentially for processing to a uniform film thickness will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation procedure of the resist coating apparatus of the present invention. First, (a) in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is a procedure for registering application conditions in advance. The coating conditions are classified for each grouped type, and for each classification, the resist name and its viscosity, the amount of resist solution to be dropped, the coating film thickness, the order of the nozzle start of the dropping nozzle and gas blowing nozzle, and its The time difference, the order of nozzle closing and the time difference are registered. Register the gas flow rate and gas pressure of the blowing nozzle. The application condition registration is a basic condition for each classification, and after registration, it is converted into a code number and is extracted from the database and used. Next, the process moves to (b) of the flowchart of FIG. If there is no additional application condition, the process moves to the flowchart (e) and is executed. If additional application conditions are required, the process moves to (c) of the flowchart of FIG.

  In (c) of the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, the nozzle arrangement area is set. Within the area, the application conditions are the same and one condition. Next, in (c1) of the flowchart in FIG. 3, the opening / closing time and a predetermined time for each nozzle are registered. The predetermined time calculated from the database for each classification is compared with the registered predetermined time, and the increase / decrease time is added to obtain a new application condition.

  Next, in (c2) of the flow chart of FIG. 3, the gas flow rate (unit: cc / sec) is registered. The gas flow rate per unit calculated from the database for each classification is compared with the registered gas flow rate per unit, and the increased or decreased gas flow rate is added to obtain a new application condition. Next, in (c3) of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the gas pressure (unit Pa) is registered. The gas pressure calculated from the database for each classification is compared with the registered gas pressure, and the increased or decreased gas pressure is added to obtain a new application condition. Next, in (c4) of the flow chart of FIG. 3, a method of repeating the predetermined time between opening / closing of the gas blowing nozzle in the database n times without changing the predetermined time between opening / closing of the gas blowing nozzle is registered. To do. Therefore, when n = 1, the registration value of the database is used. For example, when n = 2 is registered, the time is twice the predetermined time.

  Next, in (d) of the flowchart of FIG. 3, it is the presence or absence of the remaining area of the nozzle. If there is an addition, the flow returns to (c) of the flowchart. If there is no addition, the process moves to (e) in the flowchart of FIG. At this stage, all the application conditions are set for both the basic mold and the additional modification mold.

In FIG. 3 (e), a resist solution is dropped from the resist dropping nozzle onto the center of the substrate surface. The amount of resist solution to be dropped was set to the minimum necessary amount, and the coating loss was minimized. Subsequently, in (f) of the flowchart of FIG. 3, gas is ejected from the gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the dropping nozzle to a predetermined time. Next, in (g) of the flow chart of FIG. 3, immediately after the gas ejection, gas is ejected from the next gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the gas blowing nozzle for a predetermined time. Next, in (h) of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the procedure of (f) is sequentially repeated, and gas is ejected from the outermost gas blowing nozzle for a predetermined time.

  In the resist coating apparatus of the present invention according to claim 3, in the operation procedure that the apparatus control unit sequentially executes in order to process the resist from dropping to a uniform film thickness, the resist film thickness of the area is set to the other area. An operation procedure flowchart for sequentially executing processing to make the resist film thickness thinner than that will be described. The coating method is an additional change type of coating conditions. In the coating method (a), the area setting in (c) of the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the number of ejections in (c4) of the flowchart of FIG. After setting as described above, the resist coating is performed by sequentially repeating the steps (e) to (h) in the flowchart of FIG. Further, in the coating method (b), after setting and changing the area setting in (c) of the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the predetermined time of (c1) in the flowchart of FIG. 3, ((1) in the flowchart of FIG. 3) This is a method of applying a resist by repeating the steps e) to (h) sequentially.

  In the resist coating apparatus according to the present invention according to claim 4, the operation control unit sequentially performs the processing from the resist dropping to the uniform film thickness so as to change the resist film thickness of the region to the other region. An operation procedure flowchart for sequentially executing processing to make the resist film thickness thinner than that will be described. In the application methods (a) to (c), the setting of the area shown in (c) of the flowchart of FIG. 3, the change of the gas flow rate of (c2) of the flowchart of FIG. 3, and the gas pressure of (c3) are changed and set. Then, the procedure of (e) to (h) in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is sequentially repeated to apply a resist.

  The gas blown out from the gas nozzle is optimally nitrogen gas, and may be other inert gas.

It is the elements on larger scale explaining the resist coating apparatus of this invention, (a) is a whole side view, (b) is a top view. It is a model figure of the partial expansion explaining the state of the nozzle dripping part of the present invention, (a) is a top view, (b) is a sectional side view, (c) is the partial enlarged view. is there. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement procedure of the resist coating apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Dripping nozzle 2 ... Gas blowing nozzle 3 ... Resist solution discharge port 4 ... Gas discharge port 10 ... Nozzle dropping part 20 ... Substrate mounting part 21 ... Substrate 30 ... Apparatus control part 31 ... Exhaust port

Claims (6)

In the resist coating apparatus, the entire apparatus including a substrate mounting portion for mounting a substrate, a nozzle dropping portion at a position facing the substrate surface in parallel with the upper surface side of the substrate mounting portion, and incidental equipment at a position near the device Is a resist coating apparatus comprising a device control unit that manages the nozzle dropping unit, and the nozzle dropping unit is represented by the following equation (1): K = (2n + 1) × (2n + 1)
K is the total number of nozzles in the nozzle dropping section.
n is an aggregate composed of a plurality of integers of 1 or more,
The central nozzle is
A resist dripping nozzle,
The other nozzles are
A resist coating apparatus, which is a gas blowing nozzle. The apparatus control unit includes at least the following procedure among the procedures for sequentially performing the operation from the operation of placing the substrate to be coated on the substrate mounting unit to the operation of applying the resist to one surface of the substrate. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1.
(A) A procedure of dropping a resist solution near the center of the surface of the substrate from a resist dropping nozzle. (B) A procedure in which gas is blown out from a gas blowing nozzle in the immediate vicinity of the resist dropping nozzle, and the blowing of gas is maintained until a predetermined time.
(C) A procedure in which gas is blown out from the next gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the gas blowing nozzle immediately after the gas is blown out, and the gas blowing is maintained until a predetermined time.
(D) A procedure in which the procedure of (c) is repeated, gas is blown out from the outermost gas blowing nozzle, and the gas blowing is maintained until a predetermined time. In the apparatus control unit, the resist film thickness of the region is selected from the sequence of operations from the operation of placing the substrate to be coated on the substrate platform to the operation of applying the resist to one surface of the substrate. 3. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resist coating apparatus includes at least the following procedure in order to make it thinner than a resist film thickness in other regions.
(A) In a procedure for blowing out gas from a gas blowing nozzle located in the immediate vicinity of a specific region and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, a procedure for executing the procedure again or extending the predetermined time.
(B) Immediately after blowing out the gas, in the procedure of blowing out gas from the next gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the gas blowing nozzle and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, the step (b) is executed again. Or a procedure for extending the predetermined time.
(C) The above procedure is repeated, and in the procedure of blowing out gas from the outermost gas blowing nozzle in the specific region and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, the procedure (c) is executed again, or the predetermined time is increased. Procedure to extend. In the apparatus control unit, the resist film thickness of the region is selected from the sequence of operations from the operation of placing the substrate to be coated on the substrate platform to the operation of applying the resist to one surface of the substrate. 4. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the resist coating apparatus includes at least the following procedure in order to make it thinner than the resist film thickness in other regions. 5.
(A) A procedure of increasing the gas flow rate and / or the gas pressure in a procedure of blowing out gas from a gas blowing nozzle in the immediate vicinity of the specific region and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time.
(B) Immediately after blowing out the gas, in the procedure of blowing out gas from the gas blowing nozzle immediately adjacent to the gas blowing nozzle and maintaining the blowing of gas until a predetermined time, the gas flow rate and / or the gas pressure is further increased. Steps to enlarge.
(C) The above procedure is repeated, and in the procedure in which gas is blown out from the outermost gas blowing nozzle in the specific region and the gas blowing is maintained until a predetermined time, the gas flow rate and / or the gas pressure is increased. .   The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas is nitrogen gas.   A resist coating method for coating a resist on a surface on one side of a substrate, wherein the resist coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is used.

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