JP2011086676A - Heat treatment apparatus, heat treatment method, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat treatment apparatus and method, applying a heat treatment to a substrate with high in-plane uniformity. <P>SOLUTION: A wafer W is placed on a spin chuck 21, and while it is rotated, a heating liquid is applied from a heating liquid supply nozzle 5 to the central part of the wafer W. After the heating liquid is uniformly spread over the surface of the wafer W, the rotation is stopped to perform heating treatment with the wafer W. After the heating treatment, a cooling liquid is supplied from a cooling liquid supply nozzle 6 to the central part of the wafer W while the wafer W is rotated. After the cooling liquid is uniformly spread on the surface of the wafer W, the rotation is stopped to perform cooling treatment with the wafer W. Then, the wafer W is rotated to sputter the cooling liquid. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus, a heat treatment method, and a storage medium that heat-treat a coating film on a substrate.

  In a semiconductor manufacturing process, a coating film formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer may be subjected to heat treatment for modification. For example, after a resist solution is formed on the substrate to form a resist film, the solvent in the resist film is scattered, and heat treatment is performed, for example, at about 100 ° C. in order to remove the solvent in the film almost completely. . In addition, the resist film on the substrate after exposure is heated to diffuse the acid generated during the exposure into the film. As another example, a chemical solution in which a precursor of silicon oxide is dissolved is applied onto a substrate, and heat treatment is also performed in order to cause the molecules in the coating film to react and reform into silicon oxide.

  This type of heat treatment is performed, for example, by placing the wafer W on a heating plate 10 in which a heater 14 is embedded as shown in FIG. 11, and the heating plate 10 prevents the back surface of the wafer W from being contaminated with particles. For this purpose, proximity pins 10a are provided, and the wafer W is configured to be in a state of being lifted from the heating plate 10 by, for example, about 0.1 to 0.5 mm. The heat-treated wafer W is then cooled on the cooling plate 11, but proximity pins (not shown) are also provided on the surface of the cooling plate 11. In addition, 12 and 13 in a figure are raising / lowering pins. Since the processing using the plates 10 and 11 is performed by heat conduction, in order to ensure temperature uniformity over the entire surface of the wafer W, the wafer is controlled together with the temperature control of the heating plate 10 and the cooling plate 11. It is important to adjust the height of the atmosphere on W, the width of the top plate, or the proximity pin 10a.

  By the way, when a film such as silicon nitride (SiN) or carbon nitride (SiC) is formed on the surface of the wafer W, the wafer W is warped and placed on the heating plate 10. 12, the gap with the heating plate 10 is different in the plane of the wafer W, and it is difficult to ensure high in-plane temperature uniformity. Further, due to the temperature change of the wafer W during the heat treatment or the cooling treatment, the degree of warpage of the wafer W is increased, and there is a concern that the wafer 10 may come into contact with the plates 10 and 11 and the temperature uniformity is further deteriorated.

On the other hand, since pattern miniaturization will continue to progress in the future, it is expected that the in-plane uniformity of the substrate temperature during heat treatment will have a greater effect on yield, which improves the in-plane temperature uniformity. It becomes necessary to do.
On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, a cleaning liquid and a processing liquid for etching are supplied to a rotating substrate, and a liquid recovery unit is provided along the circumferential direction of the peripheral edge of the substrate to recover the liquid. Although an apparatus is listed, it does not describe a heat treatment method for solving the above-described problems. Patent Document 2 discloses a developing device that holds a substrate on a developing chuck and supplies a high-temperature developing solution from the developing solution nozzle to the substrate. However, this is not a motivation for the present invention.

JP 2009-94516 A JP 2007-234849 A

  The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a heat treatment apparatus and a heat treatment method capable of performing heat treatment with high in-plane uniformity on a substrate. is there.

The heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
In a heat treatment apparatus for heating a coating film formed on the surface of a substrate,
A substrate holder for holding the substrate horizontally;
A rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate holder around a vertical axis;
A cup surrounding the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
A heating nozzle for supplying a heated liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film to the surface of the substrate;
A control unit that outputs a control signal so as to rotate the substrate and shake the liquid after the liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate and the coating film is heated. To do.

The heat treatment apparatus may take the following configuration.
1. The control unit supplies the heated liquid by the heating nozzle to a central portion of the substrate and outputs a control signal so as to rotate the substrate and spread the liquid over the entire surface of the substrate.
2. After the heat treatment of the coating film with the liquid, a cooling nozzle is provided for supplying a cooling liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film to the surface of the substrate,
The control unit outputs a control signal so as to supply a cooling liquid from a cooling nozzle to a central portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate after the coating film is heated. To do.
3. Means are provided for recovering the liquid shaken off from the rotating substrate and reusing the recovered liquid as a heating liquid or a cooling liquid.

4). A coating liquid nozzle for supplying a coating liquid for forming the coating film to the substrate;
The means for reusing includes a liquid recovery unit provided in an annular shape so as to surround the substrate held by the substrate holding unit,
The liquid recovery unit is set at a first position surrounding the substrate in order to recover these liquids when the heating process with the heating liquid or the cooling process with the cooling liquid is performed, and the coating liquid is shaken off from the substrate. Is configured to be retracted to a second position different in height from the first position so as not to suck the coating liquid,
A heat treatment is performed after a coating film is formed on the substrate using the coating solution.
5). The coating film is a resist film, and further includes a developing solution nozzle for supplying a developing solution for developing the resist film to the substrate,
The means for reusing includes a liquid recovery unit provided in an annular shape so as to surround the substrate held by the substrate holding unit,
The liquid recovery unit is set at a first position surrounding the substrate to recover these liquids when the heating process using the heating liquid or the cooling process using the cooling liquid is performed, and the developer is shaken off from the substrate. Is configured to be retracted to a second position having a height different from the first position so as not to suck in the developer.
After the heat treatment is performed on the substrate, the development treatment is performed using a developer.
6). The coating film is a resist film, and the liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film is hydrofluor ether.

Moreover, the heat treatment method according to the present invention includes:
A step of horizontally holding a substrate having a coating film formed on the surface thereof on a substrate holding portion;
Supplying a heated liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film from the heating nozzle to the surface of the substrate, and heat-treating the coating film with the heat of the liquid;
Then, a step of rotating the substrate and shaking off the liquid is included.

  According to the present invention, since the coating film on the surface of the substrate is heated by supplying the heated liquid to the surface of the substrate, even if the substrate is warped, Therefore, the coating film can be heat-treated with high in-plane uniformity.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the heat processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows a temperature control liquid supply system. It is a perspective view which shows the temperature control liquid collection | recovery part which comprises a part of said heat processing apparatus. It is the figure which showed an example of the sequence of the heat processing of the wafer performed with the said heat processing apparatus. It is explanatory drawing explaining the process of the coating process performed with the said heat processing apparatus. It is explanatory drawing explaining the process of the heat processing of the wafer performed with the said heat processing apparatus. It is the schematic diagram which showed typically the mode of the surface of the wafer W when heat processing are performed. It is explanatory drawing explaining the process of the heat processing of the wafer performed with the said heat processing apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the heat processing apparatus which concerns on other embodiment. It is the figure which showed the pattern of the wafer heated by the conventional heat processing method, and the pattern of the wafer heated by the heat processing method which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the conventional heat processing apparatus. It is the schematic diagram which showed typically a mode that a wafer was heated with the conventional heat processing apparatus.

  The structure of the heat processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In this embodiment, a heat treatment apparatus is incorporated in a resist coating apparatus that coats a resist on a wafer. The heat treatment apparatus (resist coating apparatus) includes a spin chuck 21 that holds the wafer W horizontally by vacuum suction as shown in FIG. The spin chuck 21 is configured to be rotatable about a vertical axis and movable up and down by a rotation driving unit 22 that combines a rotation mechanism and a lifting mechanism. A cup 23 is provided so as to surround the spin chuck 21, and the cup 23 includes an inner cup 30 and an outer cup 40. The cup 23 is provided in a housing 24, and a loading / unloading port 25 for loading / unloading the wafer W is formed on a side surface of the housing 24. The loading / unloading port 25 is closed by the shutter 25a except when the wafer W is loaded / unloaded.

  The inner cup 30 is below the wafer held by the spin chuck 21 and has an annular inclined wall 31 that is inclined outward and downward from a position facing the peripheral edge on the back surface side of the wafer W and facing downward. An annular vertical wall 32 extending vertically, and the inclined wall 31 and the vertical wall 32 guide a temperature adjusting liquid, which will be described later, spilled from the wafer W downward and prevent it from going around to the back side of the wafer W. Has the role of Further, a horizontal disc portion 33 is provided inside the inner cup 30, and the spin chuck 21 penetrates the central portion of the disc portion 33. For example, the non-contact type temperature detection unit 26 that detects the temperature of the wafer W is provided in the disk unit 33, for example.

  The outer cup 40 includes a cylindrical portion 41 that surrounds the inner cup 30 via a gap, and an inclined wall 42 that extends inward and upward from the upper end of the cylindrical portion 41. A discharge passage 43 for draining and exhausting the exhaust is connected to the bottom of the outer cup 40, and a gas-liquid separation portion 43 a is provided on the downstream side of the discharge passage 43. The exhaust passage branched by the gas-liquid separation unit 43a communicates with the factory exhaust.

  In the figure, reference numerals 101 and 102 denote a resist nozzle and a solvent nozzle, respectively, which are configured to be movable between a predetermined position above the wafer W and a standby position on the side of the cup 23 by a moving mechanism (not shown). The resist nozzle 101 is connected to a resist solution supply system 111 including a valve, a pump, and a resist solution supply source, and the solvent nozzle 102 is connected to a solvent solution supply system 112 including a valve, a pump, and a solvent supply source. Yes.

  Next, a liquid supply system that supplies a temperature adjustment liquid for heat-treating the wafer W will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 denotes a heating liquid supply nozzle, which is configured to be movable between a predetermined position above the wafer W and a standby position on the side of the cup 23 by a moving mechanism (not shown). The heating liquid supply nozzle 5 has a role of supplying the wafer W with the temperature adjustment liquid heated by the temperature adjustment liquid heating unit described later. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 6 denotes a coolant supply nozzle, which is configured to be moved between a predetermined position above the wafer W and a standby position on the side of the cup 23 by a moving mechanism (not shown). The cooling liquid supply nozzle 6 has a role of supplying the wafer W with the temperature adjustment liquid cooled by the temperature adjustment liquid cooling unit described later. The nozzles 5 and 6 may be integrated, for example, and may be moved by a common moving mechanism.

  As the temperature adjusting liquid, for example, a temperature adjusting liquid such as inert hydrofuryl ether is used. More specifically, a fluorine-based inert liquid such as product name FC-3283 or a fluorine-based heat medium such as product name Galden HT200 is used. These temperature control liquids are heated or cooled and then supplied to the surface of the wafer W, but do not adversely affect the coating film formed on the surface of the wafer W, for example, a coating film such as a resist film. This is a liquid that does not alter the resist film. The fact that the resist film is not altered means that it does not affect the pattern formation after the wafer W is exposed and developed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a liquid supply path 71 is connected to the heating liquid supply nozzle 5 and the cooling liquid supply nozzle 6, and a temperature adjusting liquid storage tank 70 is provided at the upstream end of the liquid supply path 71. A filter 72 for removing particles and bubbles, a pump 73 for adjusting the flow rate of the temperature adjustment liquid, and a switching valve 74 are provided on the downstream side of the temperature adjustment liquid storage tank 70 in the liquid supply path 71. The switching valve 74 is for switching the flow path between the liquid supply path 71 a for sending the temperature adjusting liquid to the heating liquid supply nozzle 5 and the liquid supply path 71 b for sending the liquid to the cooling liquid supply nozzle 6. The liquid supply passages 71 a and 71 b are provided with a temperature adjusting liquid heating unit 50 and a temperature adjusting liquid cooling unit 60, respectively. The temperature adjusting liquid heating unit 50 and the temperature adjusting liquid cooling unit 60 are provided in the cup 23 in the housing 24. Or in the vicinity of the inside of the casing 24 outside the casing 24. The temperature adjustment liquid heating unit 50, for example, wraps a dielectric coil around the outer periphery of a cylindrical container that is a temperature adjustment liquid container, adjusts the high-frequency power supplied to the coil, and heats the temperature adjustment liquid in the cylindrical container Control the temperature. For the temperature adjusting liquid cooling unit 60, for example, a chiller or the like is used.

  In such a liquid supply system, the temperature adjustment liquid is sent out from the temperature adjustment liquid storage tank 70 by operating the pump 73, and after particles and bubbles are removed by the filter 71, the flow path of the switching valve 74 is changed. For example, when switching to the flow path to the temperature adjustment liquid supply nozzle 5 by switching, the temperature adjustment liquid is heated by the temperature adjustment liquid heating unit 50 and then supplied from the heating liquid supply nozzle 5 to the wafer W. The Rukoto. When the flow path to the cooling liquid supply nozzle 6 is switched, the temperature adjustment liquid is cooled by the temperature adjustment liquid cooling unit 60 and then supplied from the cooling liquid supply nozzle 6 to the wafer W. . The term “temperature adjusting liquid” is used both before the liquid is heated (cooled) to a predetermined temperature and after it has been heated (cooled).

  Next, the site | part for collect | recovering temperature control liquid is demonstrated using FIG.1 and FIG.3. A ring member 80 is provided on the periphery of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 21 so as to surround the wafer W. A liquid recovery port 83 is provided along the circumferential direction on the surface of the ring member 80 facing the peripheral edge of the wafer W. The liquid recovery port 83 is formed from a position higher than the front surface of the wafer W to a position slightly lower than the rear surface of the wafer W, and has a width sufficient to recover the temperature control liquid shaken off from the rotating wafer W. have. Further, a flow path 84 communicating with the liquid recovery port 83 is formed in the ring member 80 in the horizontal direction up to the vicinity of the center of the ring member 80. That is, the ring member 80 is formed with a cavity that forms a ring-shaped flow path 84 having the liquid recovery port 83 as an opening. Two temperature control liquid recovery tubes 81, 81 are connected to the lower portion of the ring member 80 at positions corresponding to the diameter direction of the cup 23 with the spin chuck 21 interposed therebetween. These temperature control liquid recovery pipes 81 communicate with the flow path 84, and the liquid scattered in the liquid recovery port 83 flows through the temperature control liquid recovery pipe 81 downward. In addition, the downstream side of the temperature control liquid recovery pipe 81 is formed as a flexible tube 81a that can be expanded and contracted, and can be expanded and contracted corresponding to the lifting and lowering of the ring member 80 by the lifting mechanism 82 shown in FIG.

An elevating shaft 82a is connected to a lower portion of the ring member 80 at a position where it does not interfere with the temperature adjustment liquid recovery pipe 81, and the elevating mechanism 82 can elevate and lower the ring member 80 via the elevating shaft 82a. . The reason why the ring member 80 is moved up and down is to lower the ring member 80 except when recovering the temperature adjustment liquid so that the coating liquid (resist liquid or solvent) other than the temperature adjustment liquid is not recovered.
The flexible tube 81a is connected to the temperature adjustment liquid storage tank 70 via a pipe 75. The pipe 75 sends a temperature adjustment liquid to the temperature adjustment liquid storage tank 70, and particles and bubbles included in the temperature adjustment liquid. A filter 77 is provided to remove the. In this example, the part from the ring member 80 to the temperature adjustment liquid storage tank 70 constitutes the temperature adjustment liquid recovery unit 8.

  Furthermore, the heat treatment apparatus includes a rotation drive unit 22, a pump 73 that forms part of the liquid supply system, a switching valve 74, a temperature adjustment liquid heating unit 50, a temperature adjustment liquid cooling unit 60, and a part of the temperature adjustment liquid recovery system. The control part 9 which controls the pump 76 grade | etc., Comprised is provided. For example, the control unit 9 includes a computer including a CPU and a program (not shown), and the program is executed by a heat treatment apparatus. Heating / cooling operation of the temperature adjusting liquid performed by the temperature adjusting liquid heating unit 50 and the temperature adjusting liquid cooling unit 60 based on a sequence program for performing a series of operations described in the following description of the operation and the temperature detecting unit 26 A group of steps (commands) for control related to the above is incorporated. The program is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk, a compact disk, a magnetic optical disk, or a memory card, and is installed in a computer.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the heat treatment apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described. First, the wafer W is loaded into the heat treatment apparatus by an external transfer device (not shown), placed on the spin chuck 21 that has been raised and lowered to the delivery position of the wafer W in advance, and the wafer is lowered by the spin chuck 21 being lowered. W is accommodated in the cup 23 (see FIG. 5A). At this time, the temperature adjustment liquid recovery unit 8 is disposed at a second position which is a standby position below the wafer W.

  Thereafter, the solvent nozzle 102 is moved from the standby position upward to the center of the wafer W to supply the solvent to the center, and then the wafer W is rotated at, for example, 2000 rpm, so-called pre-wetting is performed (see FIG. 5B). ). Next, the solvent nozzle 102 is retracted to the standby position, the resist nozzle 101 is moved from the standby position to above the center of the wafer W, and the resist solution is supplied to the wafer W (see FIG. 5C). After the resist application is completed, the resist nozzle 101 is retracted to the standby position. In addition, the resist is dried by rotating the wafer W at a predetermined speed of, for example, 3000 rpm (see FIG. 6A). The coating liquid (solvent or resist liquid) is discharged from the discharge path 43 to the outside of the cup 23.

  Thereafter, the heating liquid supply nozzle 5 is moved from the standby position upward to the center of the wafer W, and the temperature adjustment liquid recovery unit 8 is moved up and down to a first position which is an upper position for recovering the temperature adjustment liquid scattered from the wafer W. Let The wafer W is rotated at a low speed of 100 rpm and the flow path of the switching valve 74 is switched to a flow path communicating with the heating liquid supply nozzle 5, and the temperature heated by the temperature adjusting liquid heating unit 50 as described above. The liquid preparation (heating liquid) is discharged from the heating liquid supply nozzle 5 to the center of the wafer W for 5 to 10 seconds, for example. As a result, the heating liquid uniformly spreads on the surface of the wafer W due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the wafer W, and a liquid film of the heating liquid is formed on the entire surface of the wafer W (see FIG. 6B).

  Thereafter, the rotation of the wafer W is stopped and the supply of the heating liquid from the heating liquid supply nozzle 5 to the wafer W is stopped, and the heat treatment is performed, for example, for 60 seconds (see FIG. 6C). The heated liquid splashed from the wafer W during the rotation of the wafer W is piped through a temperature control liquid recovery pipe 81 in which the internal atmosphere is sucked and exhausted in advance by the pump 76 from the liquid recovery port 83 of the temperature control liquid recovery unit 8. After the particles and bubbles are removed by the filter 77, the liquid is collected in the temperature adjusting liquid storage tank 70. Note that the momentum at which the heating liquid scatters from the wafer W is determined according to the number of rotations of the wafer W. However, depending on the number of rotations of the wafer W, the heating liquid is not collected from the temperature control liquid collection unit 8 and spills. It flows down along the surface of. The wafer W is heated and modified by the heat from the liquid film of the heating liquid. Although the temperature of the liquid film gradually decreases, the thermal energy supplied from the liquid film to the resist film on the wafer W becomes uniform in the plane. Thus, even if the temperature is lowered, the reforming process is determined by the supplied energy, so that there is no problem. Note that the heat treatment may be performed by rotating the wafer W while supplying the heating liquid without stopping the rotation of the wafer W. In addition, a part of the solvent in the resist film is taken in (dissolved) in the temperature adjusting solution and removed.

  The reason for performing the heat treatment of the wafer W in this way is that the liquid film of the heating liquid can be uniformly formed along the surface of the wafer W even when the wafer W is deformed such as warping as in the example of FIG. Because. That is, since the heating liquid directly contacts the surface of the wafer W and there is no gap, that is, there is no gap, heat conduction is performed uniformly in the plane of the wafer W, so that the temperature of the wafer W is uniform in the plane. Become. In addition, since the resist film formed on the wafer W by spin coating remains strained by the stress generated by the rotation, the stress can be relieved by performing the heat treatment. In addition, when an antireflection film is formed on the wafer W, the crosslinking reaction can be advanced by performing a heat treatment.

  While performing the above-described heat treatment, the coolant supply nozzle 6 is moved from the standby position to above the center of the wafer W. After the heat treatment of the wafer W, the wafer W is rotated at a rotation speed of 1000 rpm, and the switching valve 74 is switched to a flow path communicating with the coolant supply nozzle 6, and the temperature control cooled by the temperature control liquid cooling unit 60 described above. A liquid (cooling liquid) is supplied from the cooling liquid supply nozzle 6 to the wafer W (see FIG. 8A). Further, the pump 76 is operated, and the coolant is recovered from the temperature adjustment liquid recovery unit 8. The time for supplying the coolant to the wafer W is, for example, 10 seconds.

  Explaining how the cooling liquid is supplied, the cooling liquid is supplied to the surface of the heating liquid accumulated on the wafer W. Then, the heating liquid around the periphery of the wafer W is shaken off by the centrifugal force of the rotating wafer W, and then the heating liquid and the cooling liquid are shaken off. Is present only in the coolant, after which the coolant is shaken off. The heating liquid and the cooling liquid shaken off from the wafer W are recovered into the temperature adjustment liquid storage tank 70 via the temperature adjustment liquid recovery unit 8 as described above.

Next, simultaneously with stopping the rotation of the wafer W, the supply of the coolant from the coolant supply nozzle 6 to the wafer W is stopped. Moreover, the pump 76 is stopped and the recovery of the coolant is stopped. At this time, the surface of the wafer W is filled with a cooling liquid, and in this state, the wafer W is cooled for, for example, 20 to 60 seconds (see FIG. 8B). The cooling process of the wafer W is also performed while the coolant is being supplied from the coolant supply nozzle 6 to the wafer W.
In the cooling process of the wafer W, the cooling liquid is spread evenly on the surface of the wafer W even when the peripheral part of the wafer W is deformed, such as warping, as described with reference to FIG. Therefore, the heat of the wafer W is directly transmitted to the coolant. In addition, since there is no gap between the wafer W and the cooling liquid, heat is evenly taken away by the cooling liquid in the plane of the wafer W, so that the cooling process of the wafer W is performed uniformly in the plane.

After the cooling process of the wafer W, the rotational speed of the wafer W is increased to, for example, 3000 rpm which is a high speed rotation, and the pump 76 is operated, and the coolant is shaken off for a predetermined time, for example, 30 seconds (see FIG. 8C). At this time, since the wafer W is rotating at a high speed, the cooling liquid accumulated on the surface of the wafer W is instantaneously shaken off and collected in the temperature adjustment liquid storage tank 70 via the temperature adjustment liquid recovery unit 8.
After the cooling liquid is completely shaken off, the rotation of the wafer W and the pump 76 are stopped, and the temperature control liquid recovery unit 8 is retracted to the lower standby position. Then, the wafer W is unloaded from the cup 23 by a procedure reverse to the above-described procedure for loading the wafer W, and is transferred to an external transfer device to complete the heat treatment.

The embodiment described above has the following effects.
Since the coating film on the surface of the wafer W is heated by supplying a heated temperature adjusting liquid to the surface of the wafer W, even if the wafer W is warped, the surface of the wafer W is in-plane. Therefore, the coating film can be heat-treated with high in-plane uniformity.
Compared to the case where the wafer W is immersed in a liquid bath filled with the heated temperature adjustment liquid, the temperature adjustment liquid is supplied to the rotating wafer W and spread by the centrifugal force to perform the heat treatment. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the usage amount of the temperature adjusting liquid.
Moreover, since the temperature of the temperature adjusting liquid is adjusted by the temperature adjusting liquid heating unit 50, the heating temperature can be changed more quickly than in the case where the temperature of the heating plate is adjusted by a heater as in the prior art. For this reason, for example, the heating temperature can be quickly changed at the time of lot switching. Therefore, the lot switching time can be shortened and the throughput can be improved.

Further, by using the resist coating apparatus together with the heat treatment apparatus, the heat treatment can be performed on the wafer W as described above without moving the wafer W after the resist coating process on the wafer W is completed. . Therefore, since the heat treatment can be performed in the same processing unit without transferring the wafer W to another processing unit, the transfer time can be reduced and the manufacturing efficiency of the semiconductor wafer can be improved. In addition, the number of processing units can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be reduced.
In addition, since the heat treatment and the cooling treatment are used together, it is not necessary to move the wafer by the cooling plate, and the movement time can be reduced.
Furthermore, since the liquid moves so as to quickly eliminate the temperature difference in the liquid, the in-plane non-uniformity of the wafer W is automatically improved.

  Further, the example shown in FIG. 9 is an apparatus in which the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is used in combination with a developing apparatus. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 201 denotes a developer nozzle, and this developer nozzle 201 is connected to a developer supply system 211 including a valve, a pump, and a developer supply source. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 202 denotes a cleaning liquid nozzle, and the cleaning liquid nozzle 202 is connected to a cleaning liquid supply system 212 including a valve, a pump, and a cleaning liquid supply source. Further, the developing solution nozzle 201 and the cleaning solution nozzle 202 are configured to be movable between a predetermined position above the wafer W and a standby position on the side of the cup 23 by a moving mechanism (not shown).

  In this embodiment, a resist film is formed, and the exposed wafer W is carried into the spin chuck 21. First, the temperature control liquid recovery unit 8 is positioned at a height that surrounds the wafer W, which is the first position, and the heating liquid is supplied from the heating liquid supply nozzle 5, and then, as described in the first embodiment. Then, the cooling liquid is supplied to finish the heat treatment. For example, when a chemically amplified resist is used, this heat treatment is a treatment for diffusing the acid in the exposed portion of the resist film. After the heat treatment, the temperature adjustment liquid recovery unit 8 is lowered to the second position, the developing solution is supplied from the developing solution nozzle 201 to the surface of the wafer W, and is left for a predetermined time to perform still development. Thereafter, the wafer W is rotated while supplying the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid nozzle 202 to the center of the wafer W, and the developer and the cleaning liquid are shaken off. At this time, since the temperature control liquid recovery unit 8 is set at the second position, these liquids do not enter the temperature control liquid recovery unit 8 but flow into the cup 23 and are discharged from the discharge path 43.

  Thus, by using a developing device in combination with the above-described heat treatment apparatus, a heat treatment (PEB: Post Exposure Bake) performed after the exposure of the wafer W and before the development process can be performed in the same development apparatus. Since the heat treatment can be performed in the same processing unit without transporting W to another processing unit, the transport time can be reduced and the semiconductor wafer manufacturing efficiency can be improved. In addition, the number of processing units can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be reduced.

  In the above, the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention is not limited to being combined with a resist coating apparatus or a developing apparatus, and may be an apparatus that performs only a heating / cooling process. It becomes unnecessary. Further, the cooling of the wafer W may be separately cooled by a cooling unit without providing the cooling nozzle. In the above-described example, the liquid is supplied to the central portion of the wafer W and spread outward by low-speed rotation. For example, the discharge port extends over a length equal to or wider than the diameter of the wafer W. Using the long heating liquid supply nozzle and the cooling liquid supply nozzle formed with the nozzles, the nozzle W is moved from one end side to the other end side of the wafer W while discharging the temperature adjusting liquid to the wafer W. A method of supplying the temperature adjustment liquid onto the wafer W and heating it may be used.

  Further, instead of collecting the heating liquid and the cooling liquid in a common tank, a heating liquid tank for collecting the heating liquid and a cooling liquid tank for collecting the cooling liquid may be provided independently. . In this case, when the heating liquid is shaken off from the wafer W, the recovery flow path is switched to the heating liquid tank side, and when the cooling liquid is shaken off from the wafer W, the recovery flow path is switched to the cooling liquid tank. The supply path is switched so that the temperature adjustment liquid in the tank is supplied to the heating unit 50 and the temperature adjustment liquid in the cooling liquid tank is supplied to the cooling unit 50.

  Next, an experiment was performed to confirm that the heat treatment according to the embodiment of the present invention does not affect the coating film formed on the surface of the wafer.

Example 1
Experimental Method A wafer on which a resist film and an antireflection film compatible with KrF laser exposure were prepared, and the heat treatment according to the embodiment of the present invention was performed. The trademark was Galden HT200 (manufactured by SOLVAY SOLEXIS) as the temperature control solution, and the wafer was heated to 120 ° C. and 205 ° C.
Results and Discussion It was found that the resist film and the antireflection film when heated to 120 ° C. and 205 ° C. were heat-treated without being dissolved by Galden HT200.
In addition, an experiment was performed to compare the influence on the pattern between the conventional heat treatment method and the heat treatment method according to the above-described embodiment.

Example 2
Experimental Method Two exposed wafers are prepared and heated using the heat treatment method (conventional method) described in the section of the prior art and the heat treatment method of the above-described embodiment (the method according to the present invention). Processed. In the heat treatment method of the above-described embodiment, the trademark: FC3283 (manufactured by Sumitomo 3M Limited) was used as the temperature adjustment liquid.
Results and Discussion FIG. 10 (a) shows the pattern after heating by the conventional method, and FIG. 10 (b) shows the pattern after heating by the method according to the present invention. . When comparing FIGS. 10A and 10B, the patterns are almost the same. Therefore, it can be seen that the pattern is not adversely affected by heating using the method according to the present invention.

W Wafer 21 Spin chuck 22 Rotation drive unit 23 Cup 26 Temperature detection unit 30 Inner cup 40 Outer cup 43 Discharge path 5 Heating liquid supply nozzle 50 Temperature adjustment liquid heating part 6 Cooling liquid supply nozzle 60 Temperature adjustment liquid cooling part 70 Temperature adjustment liquid Storage tank 8 Temperature control liquid recovery unit 9 Control unit

Claims (12)

In a heat treatment apparatus for heating a coating film formed on the surface of a substrate,
A substrate holder for holding the substrate horizontally;
A rotation mechanism for rotating the substrate holder around a vertical axis;
A cup surrounding the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
A heating nozzle for supplying a heated liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film to the surface of the substrate;
A controller that outputs a control signal so as to rotate the substrate and shake off the liquid after the liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate and the coating film is heated. Heat treatment equipment.   The control unit supplies the heated liquid by a heating nozzle to a central part of the substrate and outputs a control signal so as to rotate the substrate and spread the liquid over the entire surface of the substrate. Item 2. The heat treatment apparatus according to Item 1. After the heat treatment of the coating film with the liquid, a cooling nozzle is provided for supplying a cooling liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film to the surface of the substrate,
The control unit outputs a control signal so as to supply a cooling liquid from a cooling nozzle to a central portion of the substrate while rotating the substrate after the coating film is heated. The heat processing apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2 to do   4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for recovering the liquid shaken off from the rotating substrate and reusing the recovered liquid as a heating liquid or a cooling liquid. The heat processing apparatus as described in. A coating liquid nozzle for supplying a coating liquid for forming the coating film to the substrate;
The means for reusing includes a liquid recovery unit provided in an annular shape so as to surround the substrate held by the substrate holding unit,
The liquid recovery unit is set at a first position surrounding the substrate in order to recover these liquids when the heating process with the heating liquid or the cooling process with the cooling liquid is performed, and the coating liquid is shaken off from the substrate. Is configured to be retracted to a second position different in height from the first position so as not to suck the coating liquid,
The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a heat treatment is performed after forming a coating film on the substrate using the coating liquid. The coating film is a resist film, and further includes a developer nozzle for supplying a developer for developing the resist film to the substrate,
The means for reusing includes a liquid recovery unit provided in an annular shape so as to surround the substrate held by the substrate holding unit,
The liquid recovery unit is set at a first position surrounding the substrate in order to recover these liquids when the heating process using the heating liquid or the cooling process using the cooling liquid is performed, and the developer is shaken off from the substrate. Is configured to be retracted to a second position having a height different from the first position so as not to suck in the developer.
The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein after the heat treatment is performed on the substrate, the development treatment is performed using a developer.   The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating film is a resist film, and the liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film is hydrofluor ether. A step of horizontally holding a substrate having a coating film formed on the surface thereof on a substrate holding portion;
Supplying a heated liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film from the heating nozzle to the surface of the substrate, and heat-treating the coating film with the heat of the liquid;
And then rotating the substrate to shake off the liquid.   The method of supplying the heated liquid to the surface of the substrate from the heating nozzle is performed by supplying the liquid to the central portion of the substrate and rotating the substrate to spread the liquid over the entire surface of the substrate. The heat treatment method according to claim 8.   9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising supplying a cooled liquid that does not adversely affect the coating film from the cooling nozzle to the center of the substrate while rotating the substrate after the substrate is heat-treated. Alternatively, the heat treatment method according to claim 9.   The heat treatment method according to claim 8, wherein the liquid shaken off from the rotating substrate is collected and reused. A storage medium for storing a computer program used in a heat treatment apparatus for heating a coating film formed on a surface of a substrate,
A storage medium, wherein the computer program includes a group of steps so as to implement the heat treatment method according to any one of claims 8 to 11.

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