JP2008211038A - Substrate-treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate-treating device capable of supplying dried gas to a substrate while keeping a liquid level in a treatment liquid at constant height when pulling up the substrate from the treatment liquid. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate-treating device has: a treatment tank 1 storing the treatment liquid; a lifter mechanism 3 raising and lowering the substrate W between a treatment position in the treatment tank 1 and an upper position in the treatment tank 1 while holding the substrate W; an air supply section 5 for supplying dried air in a direction along the upper end face of the treatment tank 1; and a jet pipe 11 supplying the treatment liquid to the treatment tank 1. When the substrate W is raised to the upper position from the treatment one, a control section supplies dry gas from the air supply section 5, supplies demineralized water from the jet pipe 11, and keeps the liquid level in the treatment liquid constant at the height of the upper end of the treatment tank 1, thus keeping a position, where the substrate W starts to be exposed from the treatment liquid, at the same height, and hence uniformizing a dry state over the entire surface of the substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, etc. (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate”). The present invention relates to a technique for performing a drying process by supplying a drying gas to a substrate while pulling up the substrate from a processing liquid.

  Conventionally, as this type of apparatus, a processing tank for storing a processing liquid, a lifter mechanism that moves the substrate up and down between a processing position in the processing tank and an upper position of the processing tank while holding the substrate, and an upper end surface of the processing tank There is one provided with an air supply unit that supplies dry air in a direction along the direction (for example, see Patent Document 1).

In the apparatus configured as described above, first, the substrate is immersed in a processing solution at a processing position to perform processing such as cleaning. At this time, the processing liquid may be supplied from the lower part of the processing tank so that the processing liquid always overflows (overflow) from the upper part of the processing tank. When the processing such as cleaning is completed, the substrate is lifted from the processing position to the upper position with the supply of the processing liquid to the processing tank stopped, and the air supply unit supplies dry air to the substrate exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid. Supply. Since the processing liquid is overflowed, the liquid level of the processing liquid is in a state where roughness and disturbance are suppressed, and even if dry air is supplied along the upper end surface of the processing tank, particles adhere to the substrate or a watermark is formed. It can be prevented from occurring.
JP 11-354488 A

However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problems.
That is, in the conventional apparatus, as the substrate and the lifter mechanism are pulled up from the processing liquid, the height of the liquid level of the processing liquid gradually decreases. However, the flow path (air path) of the supplied dry gas is constant. For this reason, as the substrate is raised, the position at which the substrate begins to be exposed from the liquid surface deviates from the dry gas flow path.

  This is illustrated in FIG. FIG. 6A shows a state when the substrate is at the processing position, and FIGS. 6B to 6D show the state where the substrate is raised to each position from the state of FIG. 6A. It shows a state. In addition, in each figure of FIG. 6, the code | symbol 61 shows a processing tank, the code | symbol 63 shows a lifter mechanism, and the code | symbol 65 shows an air supply part.

  As shown in the figure, since the liquid level of the processing liquid decreases as the substrate W is pulled up, the positional relationship between the position where the substrate W begins to be exposed and the flow path A of the dry air changes, and the substrate W mainly extends in the vertical direction of the substrate surface. There is an inconvenience that the dry state of the product varies.

  Further, the position where the substrate starts to be exposed is a position in contact with the gas-liquid interface between the surrounding atmosphere (gas) and the processing liquid (liquid), and it is good by applying dry air to the position of the substrate W in contact with the gas-liquid interface. Drying process can be performed. However, in the case of the conventional example, as described above, the dry air cannot flow through the gas-liquid interface as the substrate is pulled up.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances. When the substrate is pulled up from the processing liquid, the dry gas is supplied to the substrate while keeping the liquid level of the processing liquid constant. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of performing the above.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the substrate processing apparatus for drying the substrate while lifting the substrate from the processing liquid, the processing tank for storing the processing liquid, and the processing position in the processing tank while holding the substrate. Elevating means for elevating and lowering over the upper position of the treatment tank, gas supply means for supplying dry gas in a direction along the upper end surface of the treatment tank, replenishment means for replenishing the treatment liquid to the treatment tank, and elevating and lowering When operating the means to raise the substrate from the processing position to the upper position, when supplying the dry gas from the gas supply means and operating the replenishing means, at least when the substrate is pulled up from the processing liquid And a control means for maintaining the liquid level of the processing liquid at a predetermined height.

  [Operation / Effect] According to the invention described in claim 1, when the control means operates the elevating means to raise the substrate from the processing position to the upper position, the control means operates the replenishing means to apply the processing liquid to the processing tank. Supply. Therefore, the substrate and the lifting / lowering means are pulled up from the processing liquid while the liquid level of the processing liquid is kept constant at a predetermined position. That is, when the substrate is exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid, the position at which the substrate starts to be exposed from the processing liquid can be kept at the same height. For this reason, the position where the substrate starts to be exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid does not change with respect to the flow path (air path) of the dry gas. As a result, the dry state can be made uniform over the entire substrate surface.

  In this invention, it is preferable that the predetermined height is the same height as the upper end of the processing tank (claim 2). The dry gas can always be supplied to the position where the substrate starts to be exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid. In other words, dry air can be applied to the position where the substrate surface is in contact with the gas-liquid interface. As a result, the substrate can be suitably dried without causing poor drying.

  In this invention, the replenishing means includes a liquid supply means for supplying a processing liquid to the processing tank, and a supply adjusting means for adjusting a supply flow rate of the processing liquid by the liquid supply means, and the control means It is preferable to operate the supply adjusting means to control the liquid surface height of the processing liquid at least when the substrate is pulled up from the processing liquid. The liquid level of the processing liquid can be suitably maintained at a predetermined height.

  Moreover, in this invention, it is preferable that the said liquid supply means supplies a processing liquid from the inside of the said processing tank (Claim 4). The treatment liquid can be supplied to the treatment tank while suppressing the disturbance and roughness of the liquid surface.

  In this invention, the replenishing means includes a liquid supply means for supplying a treatment liquid to the treatment tank, a supply adjusting means for adjusting a supply flow rate of the treatment liquid by the liquid supply means, and a treatment liquid from the treatment tank. A liquid discharging means for discharging, and a discharge adjusting means for adjusting the discharge flow rate of the processing liquid by the liquid discharging means, and the control means operates the supply adjusting means and the discharge adjusting means from the supply flow rate. It is preferable to control the liquid level height of the processing liquid at least when the substrate is pulled up from the processing liquid by adjusting the net supply flow rate obtained by subtracting the discharge flow rate. The liquid level of the processing liquid can be suitably maintained at a predetermined height. Further, since the processing liquid is discharged from the processing tank, it is possible to prevent particles from staying in the processing liquid when the substrate and the lifting / lowering means are pulled up from the processing liquid.

  Moreover, in this invention, it is preferable that the said liquid supply means supplies a processing liquid from the upper part of the said processing tank, and the said liquid discharge means discharges | emits a processing liquid from the lower part of the said processing tank (Claim 6). Since a wide range of treatment liquid flows is formed in the treatment tank, it is possible to effectively prevent particles from staying in the treatment liquid.

  The present invention further includes a sheet number detecting means for obtaining the number of substrates held by the elevating means, and the control means takes into account the detection result obtained from the number detecting means. It is preferable to operate the replenishing means (claim 7). Even when the lifting means holds an arbitrary number of substrates, the liquid level of the processing liquid can be suitably maintained at a predetermined height.

  The present specification also discloses an invention relating to the following substrate processing apparatus.

  (1) In the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the control means is based on operation information relating to the operation of the replenishing means that is preset and synchronized with the operation of the elevating means. And a substrate processing apparatus for operating the replenishing means.

  According to the invention as described in said (1), the height of a liquid level can be controlled suitably.

  (2) The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising liquid level detecting means for detecting a liquid level height of the processing liquid in the processing tank, wherein the control The means operates the replenishing means based on the detection result of the liquid level detecting means.

  According to the invention as described in said (2), the height of a liquid level can be controlled suitably.

  (3) In the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, the control means sets the supply flow rate to the volume of the substrate exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid per unit time and the processing liquid per unit time. The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that the flow rate corresponds to the sum of the volume of the elevating means exposed from the liquid surface.

  According to the invention as described in said (3), a process liquid can be replenished exactly.

  (4) In the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, the control means sets the net supply flow rate to the volume of the substrate exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid per unit time and the processing liquid per unit time. The substrate processing apparatus is characterized in that the flow rate corresponds to the sum of the volume of the elevating means exposed from the liquid surface.

  According to the invention as described in said (4), a process liquid can be replenished exactly.

  According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the control unit operates the replenishing unit to supply the processing liquid to the processing tank when operating the elevating unit to raise the substrate from the processing position to the upper position. Therefore, the substrate and the lifting / lowering means are pulled up from the processing liquid while the liquid level of the processing liquid is kept constant at a predetermined position. That is, when the substrate is exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid, the position at which the substrate starts to be exposed from the processing liquid can be kept at the same height. For this reason, the position where the substrate starts to be exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid does not change with respect to the flow path (air path) of the dry gas. As a result, the dry state can be made uniform over the entire substrate surface.

  Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

  The substrate processing apparatus according to this embodiment performs a chemical solution process, a cleaning process, and a drying process on a group of substrates (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrates”) W.

  The substrate processing apparatus includes a processing tank 1 that stores processing liquid, a lifter mechanism 3 that holds a plurality of substrates W in an upright posture and is aligned in one direction (paper surface direction in FIG. 1), The air supply part 5 which supplies dry air along an upper end surface, and the air discharge part 7 which opposes the air supply part 5 on both sides of the processing tank 1, and attracts dry air are provided. The processing tank 1, the lifter mechanism 3, the air supply unit 5, the air discharge unit 7 and the like are accommodated in a chamber 9. Note that the air discharge unit 7 is configured to discharge the sucked dry air to the outside of the chamber 9.

Two jet pipes 11 extending in parallel with the direction in which the substrates W are aligned are provided at the bottom of the processing tank 1. One end side of the supply pipe 13 is connected to each ejection pipe 11, and the other end side of the supply pipe 13 is branched into branch pipes 13a and 13b. Each branch pipe 13a, 13b is connected in communication with a pure water supply source 15 and a chemical solution supply source 17, respectively. The branch pipes 13a and 13b are provided with flow control valves 19a and 19b, respectively. Examples of the chemical solution supplied from the chemical solution supply source 17 include hydrofluoric acid (HF) and a mixed solution of sulfuric acid (H ₂ SO ₄ ) and hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ). In the present specification, various chemical solutions and pure water are collectively referred to as treatment solutions. The ejection pipe 11 corresponds to the liquid supply means in this invention. The flow rate adjusting valve 19a in the first embodiment corresponds to the supply adjusting means in the present invention.

  A discharge port 21 is formed at the bottom of the treatment tank 1. One end of a pipe 23 is connected to the discharge port 21 in communication. An opening / closing valve 25 is provided at the other end of the pipe 23, and when the opening / closing valve 25 is opened, the processing liquid in the processing tank 1 is once discharged to the bottom of the chamber 9. A drain valve 27 is attached to the bottom of the chamber 9. When the drain valve 27 is opened, the processing liquid discharged into the chamber 9 is discharged to the outside.

  The lifter mechanism 3 is connected to the plate-like back plate 31, the three support members 33 that are connected to the back plate 31 and collectively abut and support the lower edges of the plurality of substrates W, and drives the back plate 31 up and down. And a drive unit (not shown). Then, a processing position in the processing tank 1 (for example, a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1), an upper position of the processing tank 1 (for example, a position indicated by a dotted line), and a standby position above the chamber 9 (for example, The substrate W is moved up and down over the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. Here, when the substrate W is lowered to the processing position, the back plate 31 and the support member 33 also enter the processing tank 1. The lifter mechanism 3 corresponds to the lifting means in this invention.

  The chamber 9 includes an upper cover 35 that is rotatably supported on the upper portion, and the upper portion of the chamber 9 is configured to be openable. When the upper portion of the chamber 9 is opened, the substrate W is allowed to rise to the standby position.

  A number detector 37 for counting the number of substrates W at the standby position is further arranged outside the chamber 9. As the number detector 37, various sensors can be applied as long as a detection result capable of determining the number of substrates W can be obtained. For example, the presence / absence of the substrate W may be detected by a sensor in which a light emitting diode and a photoelectric element are arranged to face each other with the substrate W interposed therebetween, or an optical sensor such as a CCD camera that images the substrate W. Alternatively, the number of substrates W may be detected by measuring the load on the back plate 31 applied to the drive unit of the lifter mechanism 3.

  The air supply unit 5 and the air discharge unit 7 are respectively provided on the side of the upper edge of the processing tank 1. The supply port 41 of the air supply unit 5 can supply dry air from a height position near the upper end of the processing tank 1 to each substrate W held by the lifter mechanism 3 in a horizontal direction parallel to the substrate surface. Is formed. Thereby, the flow path of the dry air supplied from the air supply part 5 is formed along the upper end surface of the processing tank 1. A dry air supply device 43 is connected to the air supply unit 5 via a pipe 45. The air supply unit 5 corresponds to the gas supply means in this invention. In addition, the air discharge part 7 functions as a gas discharge means.

  Further, the substrate processing apparatus includes a control unit 51 that operates each component of the substrate processing apparatus described above. Specifically, the control unit 51 obtains the number of substrates W based on the detection result obtained from the number detector 37, moves the lifter mechanism 3 up and down, opens the flow rate control valves 19a and 19b, and opens and closes the valve 25. The drain valve 27 is opened and closed, the dry air is supplied by the dry air supply device 43, the air discharge unit 7 is sucked, and the upper cover 35 is rotated. The control unit 51 includes a memory and a CPU (not shown), and performs processing for operating each component in accordance with a recipe stored in advance in the memory.

  In particular, the recipe stored in the memory includes operation information related to the operation of the flow rate adjustment valve 19a when the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the standby position. This operation information is synchronized with the operation of the lifter mechanism 3, and at each time point, the volume of the substrate W exposed from the liquid level of the processing liquid per unit time and the liquid level of the processing liquid exposed per unit time. This is information for supplying pure water at a flow rate equal to the sum of the volume of the lifter mechanism 3. In addition, the operation information is associated with the number of substrates W acquired from the detection result of the number detector 37 so that the supply flow rate corresponds to the number of substrates W held in the lifter mechanism 3. This operation information is based on the relationship between the lift distance of the lifter mechanism 3 based on the shapes of the substrate W, the lifter mechanism 3 and the treatment tank 1 and the replenishment amount of pure water to the treatment tank 1. Alternatively, it may be calculated by giving the number of substrates W held by the lifter mechanism 3. Alternatively, it may be obtained by conducting an experiment or the like in advance.

  Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. The operation of each component described below is based on the operation of the control unit 51 unless otherwise specified.

<Step S <b>1> Loading the Substrate The lifter mechanism 3 raised to the standby position receives the substrate W from the substrate transport mechanism (not shown) while the upper cover 35 is rotated and the upper portion of the chamber 9 is opened. Subsequently, the lifter mechanism 3 descends to carry the substrate W into the chamber 9 and close the upper portion of the chamber 9. When the lifter mechanism 3 receives the substrate W at the standby position, the number detector 37 performs a predetermined detection operation on the substrate W, and the control unit 51 is based on the detection result obtained from the number detector 37. The number of substrates W held by the lifter mechanism 3 is acquired.

<Step S2> Performing Chemical Solution Processing The flow rate adjusting valve 19b is operated to supply the chemical solution into the processing tank 1, and the lifter mechanism 3 processes the substrate W in a state where the chemical liquid overflows from the upper part of the processing tank 1. Lower to position. In this state, the substrate W is immersed in the chemical solution for a predetermined time to perform the chemical treatment on the substrate W.

<Step S <b>3> Rinsing is performed. The flow rate control valves 19 a and 19 b are operated to stop the supply of the chemical solution into the processing tank 1 and to start supplying pure water into the processing tank 1. Thereby, the chemical | medical solution in the processing tank 1 is substituted by the pure water, and it will be in the state which the pure water overflows from the upper part of the processing tank 1 gradually. In this state, the substrate W is rinsed (cleaned) until a predetermined time elapses.

<Step S4> Supplying Dry Air The flow rate adjusting valve 19a is operated to stop the supply of pure water. Accordingly, the pure water is stored up to the upper end position of the processing tank 1 without overflowing the pure water from the upper part of the processing tank 1, and the liquid surface roughness / disturbance gradually disappears. Further, the dry air supply device 43 is operated to supply dry air from the air supply unit 5 along the upper end surface of the processing tank 1, and the air discharge unit 7 is operated to suck and discharge dry air.

<Step S5> While pulling up the substrate, the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position by operating the lifter mechanism 3 while supplying dry air while supplying the processing liquid. At this time, the control unit 51 operates the flow rate adjustment valve 19a based on operation information related to the operation of the flow rate adjustment valve 19a, and supplies pure water from the ejection pipe 11 to the treatment tank 1. Here, an example of the operation of the lifter mechanism 3 is an upward movement at a constant speed (for example, 5 mm / sec).

  Please refer to FIG. 3 and FIG. FIG. 3 is a timing chart of the supply flow rate Q of pure water supplied to the processing tank 1 when raising the substrate W from the processing position to the upper position. In FIG. 3, time ts is the timing when the lifter mechanism 3 starts to raise the substrate W at the processing position, and time te is the timing when the lifter mechanism 3 finishes raising the substrate W to the standby position. Time t1 is a time when the upper edge of the substrate W begins to be exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid, and time t2 is a time when the entire substrate W is exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid. Further, FIG. 3 illustrates three timing charts for the case where the number n of substrates W held by the lifter mechanism 3 is 10, 30, and 50. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the substrate processing apparatus when the substrate W is raised to each position from the processing position to the upper position.

  As shown in the figure, pure water is not supplied at a time point before time ts (see FIG. 4A), and supply of pure water is started at the same timing as time ts. First, during the period from time ts to time t1, since the substrate W is completely immersed in pure water, the supply flow rate Q is equal to the volume at which the back plate 31 is exposed from the liquid surface per unit time (FIG. 4). (See (b)). In the period from the time t1 to the time t2, the supply flow rate Q is equal to the sum of the respective volumes of the substrate W, the back plate 31 and the support member 33 (lifter mechanism 3) exposed from the liquid surface per unit time (FIG. 4C). ) To FIG. 4 (e)). In the period from time t2 to time te, the supply flow rate Q is equal to the volume at which the lifter mechanism 3 is exposed from the liquid surface per unit time (see FIG. 4 (f)). Note that the supply flow rate Q is zero during the period in which the substrate W rises to the upper position after the substrate W and the lifter mechanism 3 are completely exposed.

  The supply flow rate Q in the period from time t1 to time t2 changes according to the number of substrates W acquired from the detection result of the number detector 37.

  When the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position as shown in FIG. 4 by operating the flow rate control valve 19a as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid level is kept constant at the upper end position of the processing tank 1. ing. For this reason, the position at which the substrate W starts to be exposed from the liquid surface is also constant at the upper end position of the processing tank 1, and the relative positional relationship between the position at which the substrate W starts to be exposed from the liquid surface and the flow path A for dry air also changes. Absent. Therefore, when the substrate W is pulled up from the liquid surface, the dry air is always supplied to the position where the substrate W starts to be exposed sequentially from the upper edge to the lower edge.

  When the lifter mechanism 3 raises the substrate W to the upper position, the lifter mechanism 3 is stopped for a predetermined drying time. As a result, the substrate W and the support member 33 are completely dried.

<Step S <b>6> Unloading the substrate W The upper portion of the chamber 9 is opened, the substrate W is raised to the standby position, and the substrate W is unloaded from the chamber 9.

  As described above, according to the substrate processing apparatus of the first embodiment, when the control unit 51 raises the substrate W from the processing position to the upper position, the liquid level of the pure water in the processing tank 1 is set to the upper end of the processing tank 1. Since the same height is maintained, the substrate W always begins to be exposed from the pure water surface at the same height position as the upper end of the processing tank 1. Therefore, the dry air always hits the position where the substrate W begins to be exposed, and it is possible to suitably prevent the substrate W from being poorly dried. In other words, since the dry gas always hits the portion where the substrate W is in contact with the gas-liquid interface between the atmosphere (gas) and the pure water (liquid) above the processing bath 1, the substrate W can be satisfactorily dried. it can.

  Further, since the positional relationship between the position where the substrate W begins to be exposed from the liquid surface and the flow path of the dry air is always the same from the upper edge to the lower edge of the substrate W, the dry state is made uniform over the surface of the substrate W. be able to.

  Moreover, since the ejection pipe 11 provided in the inside of the processing tank 1 is provided, when raising the substrate W from the processing position to the rising position, the pure water can be supplied without disturbing the level of the pure water in the processing tank 1. Can be replenished.

  Further, since the memory included in the control unit 51 stores in advance operation information related to the operation of the flow rate adjustment valve 19a when the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position, the pure water in the processing tank 1 is stored. The liquid level can be suitably controlled.

  Further, since the operation information related to the operation of the flow rate control valve 19a is associated with the number of substrates W acquired from the detection result of the number detector 37, the number of substrates W held in the lifter mechanism 3 is arbitrarily changed. Even so, the level of pure water in the treatment tank 1 can be suitably controlled.

  Further, the ejection pipe 11 has both a function of supplying pure water to the processing tank 1 in the rinsing process and a function of replenishing the processing tank 1 with pure water when the substrate W is lifted from the processing position. The configuration can be simplified.

  Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the substrate processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. In addition, about the same structure as Example 1, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

  The substrate processing apparatus is provided with a nozzle 12 for supplying a processing liquid from above the processing tank 1. An ejection hole for ejecting the treatment liquid is formed at the tip of the nozzle 12, and the tip is lowered to a position lower than the upper end of the treatment tank 1. One end of a supply pipe 14 is connected to the rear end portion of the nozzle 12, and the other end of the supply pipe 14 is connected to a pure water supply source 16. The supply pipe 14 is provided with a flow rate adjustment valve 20. The nozzle 12 and the flow rate adjustment valve 20 correspond to the liquid supply means and the supply adjustment means in the present invention, respectively.

  Further, a liquid level gauge 55 that detects the liquid level of the processing liquid in the processing tank 1 is provided in the processing tank 1. The detection result of the liquid level gauge 55 is output to the control unit 52. The liquid level gauge 55 corresponds to the liquid level detecting means in the present invention.

  Furthermore, a flow rate adjusting valve 26 is provided in the pipe 23 connected to the discharge port 21 of the processing tank 1. The discharge port 21 and the flow rate adjustment valve 26 correspond to the liquid discharge means and the discharge adjustment means in the present invention, respectively.

  The control unit 52 acquires the liquid level height of the processing liquid in the processing tank 1 from the detection result obtained from the liquid level gauge 55 and operates the flow rate control valves 20 and 26 based on the acquired liquid level height. Then, the liquid level in the processing tank 1 is controlled to be kept at the same predetermined height as the upper end of the processing tank 1. The control unit 52 also operates the lifter mechanism 3, the flow control valves 19 a and 19 b, the drain valve 27, the dry air supply device 43, the air discharge unit 7, and the upper cover 35.

  Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The operation of each configuration described below is based on the operation of the control unit 52 unless otherwise specified. The operation similar to that of the first embodiment will be described briefly.

<Step S <b> 1 to Step S <b>3> Carrying in the substrate to performing the rinsing process The substrate W is carried into the chamber 9, and the substrate W is lowered to the processing position in a state where the chemical liquid overflows from the upper part of the processing tank 1. When predetermined chemical processing is performed with the substrate W immersed in the chemical, the flow rate control valves 19a and 19b are operated to switch the processing liquid supplied to the processing tank 1 from the chemical to pure water. As a result, the substrate W is rinsed.

<Step S4> Supplying Dry Air When the rinsing process is completed, the flow rate adjusting valve 19a is operated to stop the supply of pure water. Thereby, it will be in the state by which the pure water was stored to the upper end position of the processing tank 1. FIG. And the dry air supply apparatus 43 and the air discharge part 7 are operated, and dry air is supplied along the upper end surface of the processing tank 1. FIG.

<Step S5> While pulling up the substrate, the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position while replenishing the processing liquid. At this time, the control unit 52 operates the flow rate adjustment valves 20 and 26 based on the detection result of the liquid level gauge 55 to supply pure water from the nozzle 12 to the treatment tank 1 and pure water from the discharge port 21. While performing water discharge in parallel, the net supply flow rate corresponding to the difference between the supply flow rate to the treatment tank 1 and the discharge flow rate from the treatment tank 1 is adjusted, and the liquid level of the treatment liquid is the same as the upper end of the treatment tank 1 Control to be constant at height.

  Specifically, when the liquid level of pure water in the treatment tank 1 rises, the net supply flow rate is immediately reduced, and when the liquid level falls, the net supply flow rate is immediately increased. Here, when changing the net supply flow rate, only one of the flow rate control valve 20 and the flow rate control valve 26 may be operated, or both may be operated.

  By operating the flow rate control valves 20 and 26, the liquid level is kept constant at the upper end position of the processing tank 1 when the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position. For this reason, the position where the substrate W starts to be exposed from the liquid surface is also constant at the upper end position of the processing tank 1. Therefore, dry air is always supplied to a position where exposure starts sequentially from the upper edge to the lower edge of the substrate W.

  When the lifter mechanism 3 raises the substrate W to the upper position, the lifter mechanism 3 is stopped for a predetermined drying time.

<Step S <b>6> Unloading the substrate W The substrate W is unloaded from the chamber 9.

  As described above, according to the substrate processing apparatus according to the second embodiment, when the control unit 52 raises the substrate W from the processing position to the upper position, the control unit 52 operates the flow rate control valves 20 and 26 to remove the pure water in the processing tank 1. Therefore, the substrate W always starts to be exposed from the pure water at the same height position as the upper end of the processing tank 1. Accordingly, since the dry air always hits the position where the substrate W starts to be exposed, it is possible to suitably prevent the substrate W from being poorly dried.

  Further, since the positional relationship between the position where the substrate W begins to be exposed from the liquid surface and the flow path of the dry air is always the same from the upper edge to the lower edge of the substrate W, the dry state is made uniform over the surface of the substrate W. be able to.

  Moreover, since the liquid level meter 55 which measures the liquid level of the pure water in the processing tank 1 is provided and the height of the liquid level is controlled based on the detection result, the shapes of the processing tank 1, the lifter mechanism 3 and the substrate W are provided. In addition, even if conditions such as the speed at which the substrate W is raised are changed, it is possible to respond appropriately.

  In addition, since the tip of the nozzle 12 in which the ejection hole is formed is lowered to a position lower than the upper end of the processing tank 1, the pure water can be supplied without disturbing the level of the pure water in the processing tank 1. Can be supplied.

  Further, since the control unit 52 supplies and discharges pure water to the processing tank 1 when pulling up the substrate W, the particles are discharged to the outside of the processing tank 1 even if the particles float in the pure water. can do. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the purity of the pure water in the treatment tank 1 from deteriorating and the particles from reattaching to the substrate W.

  Moreover, since the ejection hole of the nozzle 12 is arrange | positioned at the upper part of the processing tank 1, and the discharge port 21 is arrange | positioned at the bottom part of the processing tank 1, the flow of the pure water in a wide range can be formed in the processing tank 1. . For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent particles and the like from staying in the treatment tank 1.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as follows.

  (1) In each of the above-described embodiments, the liquid level of the processing tank 1 is controlled to be kept constant while the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position (period from time ts to time te). Not limited to. At least when the substrate W is pulled up from the processing liquid, in other words, when the substrate W is exposed from the liquid level of the processing liquid (period from time t1 to time t2), the liquid level of the processing tank 1 is kept constant. It may be changed. Even if it changes in this way, a drying process can be favorably performed with respect to the board | substrate W, without causing defective drying.

  (2) In each of the embodiments described above, when the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position, the liquid level of the processing liquid is controlled so as to be kept at the same height as the upper end of the processing tank 1. Absent. That is, as the height to be kept constant, the liquid level of the processing liquid can be appropriately selected such as a height slightly lower than the upper end of the processing tank 1 or a height near the upper end, and each is maintained at a predetermined height. You may comprise so that it may control. Even if comprised in this way, a dry state can be made uniform over the surface of the board | substrate W. FIG.

  (3) In the above-described first embodiment, when the processing liquid is replenished while pulling up the substrate W (step S5), it has been described that pure water is supplied from the ejection pipe 11 to the processing tank 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Absent. A supply pipe that supplies the treatment liquid to the treatment tank 1 may be newly provided separately from the ejection pipe 11 and may be changed so as to supply pure water from the supply pipe.

  (4) In the above-described second embodiment, the pure water is supplied from the nozzle 12 to the treatment tank 1, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when replenishing the processing liquid while pulling up the substrate W (step S5), it may be changed to supply pure water from the ejection pipe 11 to the processing tank 1. Thereby, the nozzle 12 can be omitted and the apparatus configuration can be simplified.

  Further, instead of the nozzle 12, a supply pipe that has the same shape as the ejection pipe 11 and supplies a processing liquid may be provided in the processing tank 1. Thereby, the flow of the processing liquid in the processing tank 1 can be formed in a wider range.

  (5) In the first embodiment described above, the operation information related to the operation of the flow rate control valve 19a is associated with the number of substrates W acquired from the number detector 37, but is not limited thereto. When the number of substrates W held by the lifter mechanism 3 is a fixed number, the operation information related to the operation of the flow rate control valve 19a may be set without being associated with the number of substrates W. In this case, the number detector 37 can be omitted.

  (6) In the second embodiment described above, the control unit 52 operates the flow rate control valves 20 and 26 based on the liquid level height of the processing liquid obtained from the detection result of the liquid level gauge 55. I can't. For example, as described in the first embodiment, operation information related to the operation of the flow rate control valves 20 and 26 may be stored in advance, and operation processing may be performed based on this operation information. In this case, the net supply flow rate obtained by subtracting the discharge flow rate according to the flow rate control valve 26 from the supply flow rate according to the flow rate control valve 20 is the volume of the substrate W exposed from the liquid surface of the processing liquid per unit time, The operation information may be set so that the flow rate corresponds to the sum of the volume of the lifter mechanism 3 exposed from the liquid level of the processing liquid per unit time.

  (7) In each of the above-described embodiments, it has been described that when the substrate W is raised from the processing position to the upper position, the substrate W is temporarily stopped. However, if the substrate W and the support member 33 can be dried, the substrate W is not temporarily stopped. You may comprise so that it may raise continuously.

  (8) In each of the above-described embodiments, pure water is supplied to the processing tank 1 when the rinsing process is performed (step S3) and when the processing liquid is replenished while pulling up the substrate W (step S5). However, the pure water may be appropriately changed to other treatment liquid.

  (9) In each of the embodiments described above, dry air is exemplified as the dry gas, but it may be appropriately changed to dry nitrogen or the like.

  (10) The substrate processing apparatus may be configured by appropriately combining the configurations of the above-described embodiments and modifications.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a substrate processing apparatus. It is a timing chart of the supply flow rate of the pure water supplied to a processing tank when raising a board | substrate from a processing position to an upper position. It is principal part sectional drawing of a substrate processing apparatus when a board | substrate is raised to each position from a process position to an upper position. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the substrate processing apparatus showing a state when the substrate is in the processing position. FIGS. 6B to 6D are diagrams showing the state from the state of FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing of a substrate processing apparatus when raising a board | substrate to a position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Processing tank 3 ... Lifter mechanism 5 ... Air supply part 7 ... Air discharge part 11 ... Jet pipe 19a, 20, 26 ... Flow control valve 21 ... Discharge port 37 ... Sheet number detector 51, 52 ... Control part Q ... Supply flow rate W ... Substrate

Claims (7)

In a substrate processing apparatus that dries while pulling up a substrate from a processing solution,
A treatment tank for storing the treatment liquid;
Elevating means for raising and lowering the substrate over the processing position in the processing tank and the upper position of the processing tank while holding the substrate,
Gas supply means for supplying dry gas in a direction along the upper end surface of the treatment tank;
Replenishment means for replenishing the treatment tank with treatment liquid;
When operating the elevating means to raise the substrate from the processing position to the upper position, dry gas is supplied from the gas supply means, and at least the substrate is pulled up from the processing liquid by operating the replenishing means. When the control means to keep the liquid level of the processing liquid at a predetermined height,
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the predetermined height is the same height as an upper end of the processing tank. In the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The replenishing means is
A liquid supply means for supplying a treatment liquid to the treatment tank;
Supply adjustment means for adjusting the supply flow rate of the processing liquid by the liquid supply means;
With
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the control means operates the supply adjusting means to control the liquid level of the processing liquid at least when the substrate is pulled up from the processing liquid. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the liquid supply means supplies a processing liquid from the inside of the processing tank. In the substrate processing apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The replenishing means is
A liquid supply means for supplying a treatment liquid to the treatment tank;
Supply adjustment means for adjusting the supply flow rate of the processing liquid by the liquid supply means;
A liquid discharging means for discharging the processing liquid from the processing tank;
A discharge adjusting means for adjusting the discharge flow rate of the processing liquid by the liquid discharging means;
With
The control means operates the supply adjusting means and the discharge adjusting means to adjust a net supply flow rate obtained by subtracting the discharge flow rate from the supply flow rate, so that at least the substrate is processed from the processing liquid. A substrate processing apparatus for controlling a liquid level of a liquid. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 5,
The liquid supply means supplies a processing liquid from an upper part of the processing tank,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the liquid discharging means discharges a processing liquid from a lower part of the processing tank. In the substrate processing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-6,
A number detection means for obtaining the number of substrates held by the lifting means;
Further comprising
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the control means operates the replenishing means in consideration of a detection result obtained from the number detection means.

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