JP2009021268A - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control sticking of generated mist while enhancing the throughput by using gas having a kinematic viscosity higher than that of air efficiently thereby enhancing uniformity in thickness of coating film. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate processing equipment for forming a coating film on the surface of a wafer by evaporating solvent in coating liquid in the atmosphere of gas having a kinematic viscosity higher than that of air includes a spin chuck 1 for holding the wafer W rotatably while directing the surface downward, an opening/closing processing container 10 for containing the wafer held by a spin chuck, a resist nozzle 41 for discharging resist liquid toward the surface of the wafer held by a spin chuck, a thinner nozzle 42 for discharging the solvent of the resist liquid, i.e. thinner, and an He gas supply nozzle 40. Consequently, resist coating processing can be performed while maintaining high He gas concentration by supplying He gas discharged from the gas supply nozzle efficiently to the surface layer of the wafer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for applying a coating liquid to a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD glass substrate.

  In general, in a photolithography technique in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a resist solution, which is a coating solution, is applied to the surface of a substrate, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as a wafer), and the resist film formed thereby is applied to a predetermined circuit pattern. The exposure is performed, and the exposure pattern is developed to form a desired circuit pattern on the resist film.

  In the resist coating process described above, the wafer is rotatably held by a spin chuck that is a holding means, a resist solution is supplied to the center of the surface of the rotating wafer, and the resist solution on the wafer is diffused by a centrifugal force caused by the rotation. A uniform resist film is formed on the wafer surface.

  However, especially in a large wafer (for example, a wafer having a size larger than 300 mm), increasing the number of rotations increases the peripheral speed of the outer peripheral portion and also accelerates the drying of the resist solution due to the evaporation of the solvent. There is a problem that the film thickness of the outer peripheral part becomes thick and the film thickness becomes non-uniform.

As a means for solving this problem, a gas having a higher kinematic viscosity coefficient than air, for example, helium (He) gas, is supplied to a processing space for supplying a resist solution to a rotating wafer, thereby reducing disturbance in film thickness uniformity on the outer periphery of the wafer. A coating technique is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-3-245870 (Claims)

  However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is a method in which He gas is supplied vertically downward from the upper side of the wafer, and when creating a He gas atmosphere on the wafer surface, the specific gravity of He is about 1/10 that of air. Therefore, there is a problem that the He gas moves upward by buoyancy and it is difficult to keep the He gas on the wafer surface.

  In particular, in the case of a large wafer, in order to cover the entire wafer surface with He gas having an optimum concentration (60% or more), it is necessary to increase the He gas purge flow rate or make the He gas purge nozzle large. However, when the He gas purge flow rate is increased, the momentum of the flow rate is too strong, so that the airflow on the wafer surface is greatly disturbed, resulting in non-uniform film drying, and non-uniform film thickness. Further, when the He gas purge nozzle is enlarged, the apparatus is increased in size, and there is a problem that the cost is increased due to the increase in the size of the member and the resist is attached to the nozzle.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to improve the uniformity of the coating film thickness by efficiently using a gas having a higher kinematic viscosity coefficient than air, and to prevent the generated mist from adhering. An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of suppressing the throughput and improving the throughput.

  In order to solve the above problems, a substrate processing apparatus of the present invention discharges a coating liquid onto a rotating substrate to be processed in a gas atmosphere having a higher kinematic viscosity coefficient than air, and evaporates the solvent in the coating liquid. A substrate processing apparatus for forming a coating film on a surface of a substrate to be processed, the holding means for rotatably holding the surface of the substrate to be processed downward, and opening / closing for accommodating the substrate to be processed held by the holding means A possible processing container, a coating liquid supply nozzle that discharges the coating liquid toward the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means, and a coating liquid supply toward the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means. A solvent supply nozzle that discharges the solvent and a gas supply unit that supplies the gas toward the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding unit are provided. In this case, the gas is preferably helium (He) gas having a specific gravity smaller than that of air (claim 2).

  With this configuration, an atmosphere of a gas (He gas) having a higher kinematic viscosity coefficient than air can be efficiently formed on the surface layer of the substrate to be processed that is housed in the processing container.

  In the present invention, the processing container includes a lower container body having an open upper portion surrounding the outside and lower side of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means, and the lower container is attached to the holding means in a gas-tight manner. It is preferable to include a lid that closes the opening of the body in an air-watertight manner, and to include a moving mechanism that moves the lower container body and the lid relative to and away from each other.

  With this configuration, the substrate to be processed can be easily accommodated in and removed from the processing container, and the coating process can be performed in a gas atmosphere in the sealed processing container. .

  Further, the gas supply means is preferably formed by a gas supply nozzle located immediately below the central portion of the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means, and the gas supply nozzle is formed on the concentric circle on the coating liquid. It is preferable to be provided on a swingable movable body provided with a supply nozzle and a solvent supply nozzle.

  With this configuration, the gas supply to the surface layer of the substrate to be processed in the processing container, the discharge of the coating liquid to the surface of the substrate to be processed, and the discharge of the solvent can be selectively performed by a switching operation. .

  Moreover, in this invention, you may make it further comprise the auxiliary gas supply means which supplies gas to the back surface side of the to-be-processed substrate hold | maintained by the holding means at the upper part of the said process container.

  With this configuration, in addition to supplying the gas supply means empty gas, it is possible to supply gas from the auxiliary gas supply means to the back side of the substrate to be processed.

  In addition, in the present invention, an exhaust mechanism in which an opening adjustment valve is provided in an exhaust pipe connected to the lower portion of the processing container, a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the processing container, and the inside of the processing container A gas concentration sensor for detecting the concentration of the gas, and detection signals from the pressure sensor and the gas concentration sensor are transmitted, and the exhaust mechanism is configured to adjust the pressure and gas concentration in the processing container based on the detection signals. And a control means for transmitting a control signal to the valve.

  With this configuration, the exhaust mechanism valve is controlled based on the pressure in the processing container detected by the pressure sensor and the gas concentration in the processing container detected by the gas concentration sensor. The pressure and gas concentration can be adjusted.

  As described above, since the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) According to the first and second aspects of the invention, an atmosphere of a gas (He gas) having a higher kinematic viscosity coefficient than air can be efficiently formed on the surface layer of the substrate to be processed. The coating film thickness in the plane of the substrate can be made uniform. In addition, since the surface layer of the substrate to be processed can be quickly replaced with a gas atmosphere with a small amount of gas, the throughput can be improved. Furthermore, the adhesion of the generated mist to the substrate to be processed can be reduced.

  (2) According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the above (1), the substrate to be processed is further easily accommodated in and removed from the processing container, and the processing container is sealed. The coating treatment can be performed in a gas atmosphere.

  (3) According to the invention described in claim 4, the gas supply to the surface layer of the substrate to be processed in the processing container and the discharge of the coating liquid and the solvent to the surface of the substrate to be processed are selectively performed by switching operation. In addition to the above (1) and (2), the apparatus can be further miniaturized, and gas supply, solvent discharge and coating liquid discharge can be performed uniformly and reliably. it can.

  (4) According to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the supply of the gas supply means empty gas, the gas can be supplied from the auxiliary gas supply means to the back side of the substrate to be processed. In addition to (3), the gas atmosphere can be replaced more quickly, and the throughput can be improved.

  (5) According to the invention described in claim 6, the valve of the exhaust mechanism is controlled based on the pressure in the processing container detected by the pressure sensor and the gas concentration in the processing container detected by the gas concentration sensor. Since the pressure and gas concentration in the processing container can be adjusted, in addition to the above (1) to (4), the gas atmosphere in the processing chamber can be maintained in an optimum state, and the processing efficiency can be improved. Improvements can be made.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the best embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, a case where the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a semiconductor wafer resist coating processing apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.

  A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a spin chuck 1 that is a holding unit that holds a semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter referred to as a wafer W), which is a substrate to be processed, facing downward, for example, by vacuum suction, and rotates the spin chuck 1. A motor 2 to be driven, an openable / closable processing container 10 for accommodating a wafer W held by the spin chuck 1, and a coating for discharging a resist solution as a coating liquid toward the surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1. A liquid supply nozzle 41 (hereinafter referred to as a resist nozzle 41) and a solvent supply nozzle 42 (hereinafter referred to as a thinner nozzle 42) that discharges a thinner that is a solvent of the resist liquid toward the surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1 And kinematic viscosity coefficient from the air toward the surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1 High and are provided with gas supply means 40 for supplying He gas as a small gas specific gravity than air, the.

  The processing container 10 includes a lower container body 11 having an upper opening that surrounds the outside and lower side of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1, and a lid body 13 that closes the opening 12 of the lower container body 11 in an air-watertight manner. The lid body 13 and the lower container body 11 are moved relative to each other by the moving mechanism 14 of the lower container body 11 and the moving mechanism 15 of the lid body 13.

  In this case, the lower container body 11 has a concave portion 16 at the center, and a circular piece having an inclined piece 17 inclined downward on the outer peripheral edge and a bent piece 18 depending from the tip of the inclined piece 17. The plate part 19, the inner peripheral wall 20a located on the inner side of the inclined piece 17 of the disk part 19, the outer peripheral wall 20b positioned with a gap outside the bent piece 18, the inner peripheral wall 20a and the outer periphery Consists of a circumferential groove portion 20 comprising a bottom portion 20c having a downward slope connecting the lower ends of the walls 20b, and an opening edge portion 21 extending horizontally inward from the upper end of the outer peripheral wall 20b. Has been. On the upper surface of the opening edge portion 21, an O-ring 22 is fitted to maintain air-water tightness when the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 are closed.

  A drain port 23a is provided on the outer peripheral side of the bottom 20c of the peripheral groove 20 of the lower container body 11, and a drain tube 24 is connected to the drain port 23a. Further, through holes 23b are provided at a plurality of locations in the circumferential groove portion 20, and exhaust pipes 25 are fitted into these through holes 23b so that the opening ends are located slightly above, and each exhaust pipe 25 is It is connected to a main exhaust pipe 27 for exhausting outside the factory through a joint 26. The main exhaust pipe 27 is provided with an auto damper 28 which is a valve whose opening degree can be adjusted. An exhaust mechanism 30 is configured by the exhaust pipe 25, the main exhaust pipe 27, and the auto damper 28.

  The recess 16 provided in the central portion of the lower container body 11 has a bottom portion formed in a narrow taper shape, and a drain pipe 31 is connected to a through-hole 23c provided in the lowermost end thereof.

  A bracket 11a protrudes from one side of the lower portion of the lower container body 11 configured as described above, and a first moving mechanism is a first moving mechanism that is erected on the bracket 11a on the fixed side of the apparatus. The piston rod 14a of the cylinder 14 is connected. Therefore, the lower container body 11 moves up and down in the vertical direction by the expansion and contraction of the piston rod 14 a by driving the first cylinder 14.

  On the other hand, the lid 13 has a magnetic fluid seal member 3 interposed on the rotating shaft 1 a of the spin chuck 1, and a cylindrical slide seal member 4 interposed on the outer peripheral surface of the motor 2. It is attached to. In this case, the lid body 13 includes a slide cylinder portion 32 that surrounds the outer periphery of the motor 2 with the slide seal member 4 interposed therebetween, and a disc-like shape that extends outward from the lower end of the slide cylinder portion 32. A top plate portion 33 and a cylindrical hanging piece 34 are provided on the outer peripheral edge of the top plate portion 33. The top plate portion 33 of the lid 13 configured in this manner covers the upper surface of the opening edge portion 21 of the lower container body 11, and the cylindrical hanging piece 34 covers the outer periphery of the outer peripheral wall 20 b of the lower container body 11. It is supposed to be.

  Also, a bracket 32a projects from one end of the upper end of the sliding cylinder portion 32 of the lid 13, and a second moving mechanism which is a second moving mechanism fixed to the fixing portion 35 of the apparatus on the bracket 32a. The piston rod 15a of the cylinder 15 is connected. Therefore, the lid body 13 moves up and down in the vertical direction by the expansion and contraction of the piston rod 15a by driving the second cylinder 15.

  By driving the first cylinder 14 that moves up and down the lower container body 11 configured as described above and the second cylinder 15 that moves up and down the lid body 13, the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 are relatively moved. Moved toward and away.

  In the above description, the movement mechanism of the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 is formed by the cylinders 14 and 15. However, the movement mechanism relatively moves the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 apart from each other. For example, a ball screw mechanism or a timing belt mechanism may be used instead of the cylinder. Further, a moving mechanism that moves one of the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 toward and away from the other may be used.

  Further, the gas supply means 40 is formed by a gas supply nozzle located immediately below the center of the surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1. The gas supply means, that is, the gas supply nozzle 40 is provided on a swingable movable body 43 provided with a resist nozzle 41 and a thinner nozzle 42 on concentric circles, and is accommodated in the recess 16 of the lower container body 11. . In this case, the gas supply nozzle 40, the resist nozzle 41, and the thinner nozzle 42 protrude from the outer peripheral portion of the oscillating body 43 at equal intervals, that is, at an interval of 120 °. Further, the oscillating body 43 is connected to, for example, a nozzle switching motor 44 that can rotate forward and backward, and the nozzle switching motor 44 oscillates, that is, switches in a range of 240 °, so that the gas supply nozzle 40, the resist nozzle 41, or Any one of the thinner nozzles 42 is located immediately below the center of the surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the gas supply nozzle 40 is connected to a He gas supply source 45 via a He gas supply pipe 45a provided with an on-off valve V1 capable of adjusting the flow rate. The resist nozzle 41 is connected to a resist supply source 46 via a resist supply pipe 46a provided with an on-off valve V2. The thinner nozzle 42 is connected to a thinner supply source 47 via a thinner supply pipe 47a provided with an on-off valve V3.

  In addition, an auxiliary gas supply nozzle 40 </ b> A that is an auxiliary gas supply unit that discharges (supplies) He gas toward the back surface side of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1 on the top plate portion 33 of the lid 13 of the processing container 10. Is provided. The auxiliary gas supply nozzle 40A is connected to a He gas supply source 45 through an auxiliary gas supply pipe 45b branched from the gas supply pipe 45a.

  The top plate 33 of the lid 13 of the processing container 10 is provided with a pressure sensor 50 that detects the pressure in the processing container 10 and a gas concentration sensor 51 that detects the concentration of He gas in the processing container 10. ing. The pressure sensor 50 and the gas concentration sensor 51 are electrically connected to the control unit 60, and the pressure detection signal in the processing container 10 detected by the pressure sensor 50 and the He gas concentration detection detected by the gas concentration sensor 51. The signal is transmitted to the control unit 60, and the control unit 60 performs a comparison calculation process with data stored in advance. That is, the gas concentration sensor 51 calculates the ratio of air and He gas and converts it to the He gas concentration. A control signal from the control unit 60 is transmitted to the on-off valve V1 capable of adjusting the flow rate and the auto damper 28 capable of adjusting the opening degree. As a result, it is possible to prevent the inside of the processing container 10 from being in an excessive positive pressure state, and the He gas concentration of the surface layer of the wafer W in the processing container 10 can be set to an optimum concentration, for example, 60% or more. it can. The amount of He gas purged (supplied) from the He gas supply source 45 is equal to or greater than the exhaust amount of the exhaust mechanism 30. At this time, the detected pressure value detected by the pressure sensor 50 and the purge flow rate of the He gas can be linked to prevent the inside of the processing vessel 10 from being in an excessive positive pressure state. Further, by continuing the He gas purge, it is possible to prevent mist from entering the back surface of the wafer W.

  When the controller 60 recognizes that the pressure in the processing container 10 is other than the predetermined pressure, or when it recognizes that the He gas concentration in the processing container 10 is other than the predetermined concentration, A signal from the control unit 60 is transmitted to the alarm display unit 70.

  The controller 60 is electrically connected to the drive motor 2 of the spin chuck 1, the first and second cylinders 14 and 15, the nozzle switching motor 44, and the on-off valves V1, V2, and V3. Accordingly, the motor 2 is driven to rotate at a predetermined number of rotations based on a control signal from the control unit 60, and the first and second cylinders 14 and 15 are driven to cause the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 to be driven. , And one of the gas supply nozzle 40, the resist nozzle 41 and the thinner nozzle 42 can be switched to a position directly below the surface of the wafer W by the switching drive of the nozzle switching motor 44. V2 and V3 are opened and closed, and He gas, resist solution, and thinner are discharged (supplied) toward the wafer W.

  An N 2 gas purge nozzle 81 for purging an inert gas such as nitrogen (N 2) gas is provided in the processing container 10 at a position near the recess 16 in the disk portion 19 of the lower container body 11, and the lower container body An edge rinse nozzle 82 that discharges rinse liquid (thinner) to the peripheral edge of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the eleven disc portion 19. Further, a back rinse nozzle 83 that discharges a rinse liquid (thinner) toward the back surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 1 is provided in the vicinity of the sliding cylinder portion 32 in the top plate portion 33 of the lid 13. It has been.

  Next, the operation mode of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the first and second cylinders 14 and 15 are driven to move the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 in a relatively separated direction, and the lower container body is moved by a transport arm (not shown). The wafer W transported between 11 and the lid 13 is sucked and held by the spin chuck 1. At this time, the auto damper 28 is open, and the air in the lower container body 11 is exhausted.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the first and second cylinders 14 and 15 are driven to move in a direction in which the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 are relatively in contact with each other, and the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 are moved. Close. Thereafter, the on-off valve V1 is immediately opened, and He gas discharged (supplied) from the He gas supply source 45 is supplied into the processing container 10 from the gas supply nozzle 40 and the auxiliary gas supply nozzle 40A. Replace (purge) with He gas. At this time, the auto damper 28 is closed. Further, since the He gas supplied into the processing container 10 has a specific gravity of about 1/10 of that of air, the surface layer of the wafer W that is sequentially replaced from the upper part in the processing container 10 and held by the spin chuck 1. The vicinity is promptly replaced to increase the He gas concentration. At this time, the lid 13 of the processing container 10 is sealed to the rotating shaft 1a of the spin chuck 1 via the magnetic fluid seal member 3, and is sealed to the motor 2 via the slide seal member 4. There is no risk of gas leaking outside.

  While the He gas is being supplied, the He gas concentration in the upper portion of the processing container 10 is detected by the gas concentration sensor 51, and a predetermined detection value {specifically, the final target He gas concentration is detected by the gas concentration sensor 51. When a value slightly lower than (60% or more) is detected, the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 60, and the on-off valve V1 is closed by the control signal from the control unit 60. At this time, the pressure in the processing container 10 is detected by the pressure sensor 50, the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit 60, and the on-off valve V1 is controlled based on the control signal from the control unit 60. Thereby, it can avoid that the inside of the processing container 10 becomes an excessive positive pressure state.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle switching motor 44 is driven to place the thinner nozzle 42 directly below the surface of the wafer W instead of the gas supply nozzle 40, and the motor 2 is driven to move the wafer W at a low speed. Rotate (eg 1000 rpm). Then, thinner is discharged from the thinner nozzle 42 toward the surface of the rotating wafer W, and the entire surface of the wafer W is covered with a thinner thin film.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the nozzle switching motor 44 is driven so that the resist nozzle 41 is positioned immediately below the surface of the wafer W instead of the thinner nozzle 42, and the resist is directed toward the surface of the rotating wafer W. A resist solution is discharged from the nozzle 41 to cover the entire surface of the wafer W with a resist film. At this time, due to the rotation of the wafer W, an air flow is generated from the center of the wafer W toward the outer periphery, and an amount of He gas corresponding to the air flow is discharged (supplied) from the gas supply nozzle 40, and the wafer center from the wafer center. A He gas flow is formed toward the outer periphery. Thereby, the high He gas concentration (60% or more) which is the final target can be stably maintained.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the nozzle switching motor 44 is driven so that the gas supply nozzle 40 is positioned immediately below the surface of the wafer W instead of the resist nozzle 41 and is directed toward the surface of the rotating wafer W. He gas is discharged from the gas supply nozzle 40 to replace the inside of the processing vessel 10 with He gas. Then, the rotational speed of the wafer W for obtaining a target resist film thickness is increased (for example, 1800 rpm), the solvent component in the resist is evaporated, and the resist film thickness is uniformly dried over the entire wafer surface. At this time, by adjusting the aperture of the auto damper 28, the resist film thickness on the outer periphery of the wafer can be controlled, and the uniformity of the resist film thickness on the entire wafer surface can be improved. Note that the pressure in the processing container 10 is increased by reducing the exhaust flow rate by adjusting the throttle of the auto damper 28. However, if the amount of He gas purge is reduced accordingly, the inside of the processing container 10 becomes excessive. A positive pressure can be avoided. This also contributes to reducing the amount of He gas used.

  Next, after the solvent component in the resist is evaporated and the resist film thickness reaches the target value, as shown in FIG. 8, a rinse liquid (thinner) is discharged from the edge rinse nozzle 82 to the peripheral portion of the wafer W, and A rinse liquid (thinner) is discharged from the back rinse nozzle 83 toward the back surface of the wafer W. At this stage, since the drying is completed, no “wind mark” is generated, and therefore, the He gas purge is not necessary. Note that the purge of He gas can be narrowed, and in some cases, the purge may be switched to a purge of other gas (air or nitrogen). For exhaust, the auto damper 28 is returned to the original exhaust amount so that the generated mist is recovered.

  After performing the side rinse process and the back rinse process, when the side rinse thinner is dried by rotational drying of the wafer W, the coating process of the wafer W is finished.

  After the coating process is completed, as shown in FIG. 9, the first and second cylinders 14 and 15 are driven to move the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 in a direction in which they are relatively separated from each other. In this state, a transfer arm (not shown) enters between the lower container body 11 and the lid body 13 to receive the wafer W from the spin chuck 1 and carry the wafer W out of the processing container 10. At this time, the auto damper 28 is open, and the air in the lower container body 11 is exhausted.

  As described above, after the coated wafer W is unloaded, the process waits for the next coating process. During this standby, as shown in FIG. 10, the resist nozzle 41 is switched directly below, and the resist solution adhering to the resist nozzle 41 is removed by dummy dispensing.

  Thereafter, the resist coating process on the wafer W can be continuously performed by repeating the same operation as described above.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the resist coating process of a semiconductor wafer has been described. However, the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention can also be applied to a resist coating process of an LCD glass substrate. It is.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows an example of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the gas supply nozzle in this invention, a resist nozzle, and a thinner nozzle. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state which received the wafer by the said substrate processing apparatus. It is the schematic sectional drawing (a) which shows the state which replaces the inside of the processing container of the said substrate processing apparatus with He gas, and the principal part expanded sectional view (b). It is the schematic sectional drawing (a) which shows the state which discharges thinner to a wafer with the said substrate processing apparatus, and the principal part expanded sectional view (b). It is the schematic sectional drawing (a) which shows the state which discharges a resist liquid to a wafer with the said substrate processing apparatus, and the principal part expanded sectional view (b). It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the shake-off dry state of the said substrate processing apparatus. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state of the side rinse process and back rinse process of the said substrate processing apparatus. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the state which delivers the wafer after the process of the said substrate processing apparatus. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the standby state after delivering the wafer of the said substrate processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

W Semiconductor wafer (substrate to be processed)
1 Spin chuck (holding means)
3 Magnetic fluid sealing member 4 Slide sealing member 10 Processing vessel 11 Lower vessel body 12 Opening portion 13 Lids 14 and 15 Cylinder (moving mechanism)
22 O-ring 25 Exhaust line 27 Main exhaust line 28 Auto damper (valve with adjustable opening)
30 Exhaust mechanism 40 Gas supply nozzle (gas supply means)
40A Auxiliary gas supply nozzle (Auxiliary gas supply means)
41 Resist nozzle (coating liquid supply nozzle)
42 Thinner nozzle (solvent supply nozzle)
43 Oscillator 44 Nozzle switching motor 50 Pressure sensor (pressure detection means)
51 Gas concentration sensor (gas concentration detection means)
60 Control unit V1 Flow rate adjustable on-off valve

Claims (6)

A substrate processing apparatus that forms a coating film on the surface of a substrate to be processed by discharging the coating solution onto a rotating substrate to be processed in a gas atmosphere having a higher kinematic viscosity coefficient than air and evaporating the solvent in the coating solution. And
Holding means for holding the surface of the substrate to be processed downward and rotatably,
An openable and closable processing container for accommodating a substrate to be processed held by the holding means;
A coating liquid supply nozzle that discharges the coating liquid toward the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means;
A solvent supply nozzle for discharging the solvent of the coating liquid toward the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means;
And a gas supply means for supplying the gas toward the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the gas is helium (He) gas having a specific gravity smaller than that of air. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The processing container includes a lower container body having an open upper portion surrounding the outside and lower side of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means, an air-tightly attached to the holding means, and an opening portion of the lower container body A substrate processing apparatus comprising: a lid body that closes and gas-tightly seals the lower container body and the lid body. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The gas supply means is formed by a gas supply nozzle located immediately below the central portion of the surface of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means. The gas supply nozzle includes a coating liquid supply nozzle and a solvent supply nozzle on concentric circles. A substrate processing apparatus, characterized in that the substrate processing apparatus is provided in a switching body that can be switched and moved. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A substrate processing apparatus, further comprising auxiliary gas supply means for supplying a gas to the back side of the substrate to be processed held by the holding means, above the processing container. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An exhaust mechanism having a valve whose opening degree can be adjusted in an exhaust pipe connected to the lower part of the processing container;
A pressure sensor for detecting the pressure in the processing container;
A gas concentration sensor for detecting the concentration of gas in the processing container;
Control means for transmitting detection signals from the pressure sensor and the gas concentration sensor and transmitting a control signal to the valve of the exhaust mechanism in order to adjust the pressure and gas concentration in the processing container based on the detection signals; A substrate processing apparatus comprising the substrate processing apparatus.

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