JP2012174974A - Development method and development device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent resist pattern collapse due to a surface tension during drying rinse liquid in a step for developing a photomask substrate.SOLUTION: A substrate holding part 2 for parallely holding a substrate 1 inside a cap 3 is made rotatable. A liquid-absorbing sheet 6 made of a porous material is held in parallel to the substrate 1 by a holding plate 7 moved upward and downward by a lifting mechanism 7c together with a chamber member 7a. After a liquid developer paddle 5e on the substrate 1 is substituted with cleaning liquid, the holding plate 7 is moved downward by the lifting mechanism 7c, so as to bring a surface of the liquid-absorbing sheet 6 into contact with a surface of the cleaning liquid. A back face side of the liquid-absorbing sheet 6 communicated with a pressure-reduction line 7b is made into a negative pressure, so as to absorb the cleaning liquid with the liquid-absorbing sheet 6. After absorbing the liquid, the holding plate 7 is moved upward by the lifting mechanism 7c, so as to separate the liquid-absorbing sheet 6 from the cleaning liquid.

Description

  The present invention is applied to a lithography process in manufacturing an integrated circuit device, a reticle, and the like. A resist is applied on a photomask substrate, and a developer is applied to the surface of the substrate subjected to electron beam drawing processing. The present invention relates to a developing method and a developing device for supplying and developing.

  In general, along with the miniaturization and high integration of semiconductor devices, the manufacturing process requires miniaturization of resist patterns and suppression of pattern collapse, and the lithography process is one of the processes that greatly affects the quality. The development process in this area is regarded as a problem. At present, development of a developing device and a developing method for performing high-precision development processing is in progress.

  In the development process, a developer is supplied to the substrate on which the resist film is formed to form a developer paddle on the surface of the substrate. After a predetermined time of the development process, the developer is shaken off, and then rinsed as a cleaning liquid. The developer (pure water) is supplied to wash away the developer remaining on the substrate, and then the substrate is rotated at a high speed to shake off the developer and cleaning solution remaining on the substrate, thereby drying the substrate.

  By the way, semiconductor devices have been further miniaturized due to advances in exposure technology, etc., leading to the appearance of fine and high aspect ratio resist patterns, and in the final shake-off drying in the development process as described above, When coming out from between the patterns, there is a problem that so-called “pattern collapse” occurs in which the resist pattern is pulled and falls due to the surface tension of the rinsing liquid.

Thus, as a measure for preventing the resist pattern from collapsing, many proposals have been made to reduce the surface tension of the developer and the rinse solution.
However, when a surfactant is used in the rinsing liquid, unlike the conventional pure water, the surfactant becomes particles and contaminates the substrate, that is, there is a problem that a precipitation defect occurs and the quality is lowered. Has occurred. In addition, there is a problem that the surfactant dissolves the resist pattern or changes the CD (Critical Dimension).

An optimum process considering these problems is proposed in Patent Document 1.
According to the invention proposed in Patent Document 1, the concentration of the surfactant in the rinsing liquid that can suppress the occurrence of precipitation defects such as particles and CD fluctuations is found to prevent pattern collapse. Considering this viewpoint, the concentration of the surfactant in the rinsing liquid is such that micelles (aggregates of surfactant molecules generated at a certain concentration or higher when the surfactant is dissolved in pure water) are in the aqueous solution. The vicinity of the concentration that does not occur is suitable. In the example of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, as a result of selecting a surfactant type that reduces the occurrence of precipitation defects and CD fluctuations, the concentration of the rinse liquid is preferably 50 ppm or around that.

JP 2009-122691 A

  However, in the invention proposed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to examine the compatibility with each material of the surfactant used in the rinsing liquid for each resist type and to optimize the concentration of the surfactant. There is a problem that the appropriate range of the surfactant concentration of the liquid is narrow. Moreover, in order to carry out the invention proposed in Patent Document 1, there is a heavy load in managing the apparatus such as securing a chemical line of the developing device and managing the concentration. Therefore, a method for reducing the surface tension by means independent of the concentration of the surfactant and the composition of the rinse solution is required.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, in order to dry the rinsing liquid accumulated between the resist patterns, the liquid absorbing sheet is formed on the resist pattern surface of the substrate surface immediately before the rinsing liquid in the development process is dried. A developing method and a developing apparatus are provided, which are in contact with each other and absorb the rinse liquid accumulated between resist patterns.

That is, as a means for solving the above-mentioned problem, the developing method according to claim 1 is a photomask substrate developing method, and is arranged above the horizontally arranged substrate in parallel with the substrate. Contacting the surface of the liquid-absorbent sheet with the surface of the liquid-absorbent sheet that is replaced with a developer and covering the resist pattern on the substrate by bringing the liquid-absorbent sheet close to the substrate; A liquid-absorbing step for absorbing the cleaning liquid on the substrate adhered to the resist pattern by the liquid-absorbing sheet in contact with the surface thereof, and moving the liquid-absorbing sheet having absorbed the cleaning liquid upward relative to the substrate And a separation step of separating the liquid-absorbent sheet from the resist pattern.
The developing device according to claim 5 is a developing device that replaces the developing solution on the substrate with the cleaning solution supplied onto the substrate while rotating the photomask substrate held horizontally by the substrate holding unit, A holding plate that holds the liquid-absorbent sheet and is disposed above the substrate in parallel with the substrate; elevating means for elevating and lowering the holding plate relative to the substrate; and control means for controlling the elevating means The control means lowers the holding plate with respect to the substrate by the elevating means, and brings the surface of the liquid-absorbent sheet into contact with the surface of the cleaning liquid covering the resist pattern on the substrate. 1, and after the cleaning liquid on the substrate adhering to the resist pattern is absorbed by the liquid absorbent sheet whose surface is in contact with the surface of the cleaning liquid, the holding plate is moved to the substrate Is raised against, and performing a second control of separating said liquid-absorbent sheet having liquid absorbing said cleaning liquid from the resist pattern.

The developing method according to claim 2, wherein the liquid absorbing step includes a negative pressure applying step of applying a negative pressure to the liquid absorbing sheet to absorb the cleaning liquid by the liquid absorbing sheet. It is characterized by.
The developing device according to claim 6 further includes a negative pressure applying unit that applies a negative pressure to the liquid absorbing sheet, and the liquid absorbing sheet is generated by the negative pressure applied by the negative pressure applying unit. Absorbs the cleaning liquid.

The developing method according to a third aspect is characterized in that the liquid absorption step includes a nipping step of nipping the resist pattern between the substrate and the liquid absorbent sheet.
Note that, as in the developing method according to claim 4, the liquid absorbing step includes a rotating step of rotating the liquid absorbing sheet sandwiching the resist pattern together with the substrate together with the substrate. It can also be a feature.
In the developing device according to claim 7, in the first control, the control unit causes the surface of the liquid-absorbing sheet to contact the resist pattern, and the liquid-absorbing sheet and the substrate are used to contact the resist pattern. A resist pattern is sandwiched.
The developing device according to claim 8, further comprising: a rotation support unit that rotatably supports the holding plate and the elevating unit around a rotation axis of the substrate, and the control unit includes the control unit, The holding plate and the elevating means may be rotated together with the substrate and the liquid absorbent sheet in a state where the resist pattern is sandwiched between the liquid absorbent sheet and the substrate.

As described above, the present invention is a cleaning liquid in which a liquid-absorbent sheet covers a resist pattern surface or a resist pattern on a substrate immediately before drying a cleaning liquid such as a rinsing liquid or pure water in a photomask substrate development process. A developing device and a developing method are characterized in that a rinsing liquid accumulated between resist patterns is absorbed without contacting a surface and inhibiting formation of the resist pattern.
This has the effect of preventing the resist pattern from falling down due to surface tension in the development process. Unlike the conventionally proposed means of adding a surfactant or forming a surface coating film, the compatibility between the resist and each material and the necessity of optimizing the concentration of the surfactant are eliminated.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which used the liquid absorbing sheet in the rinse liquid drying process by the image development apparatus of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state just before the liquid absorbing sheet of FIG. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating interaction with a resist pattern and a liquid. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of the state which the liquid absorbing sheet contacted the resist pattern surface and absorbed. It is sectional drawing of the resist pattern which shows an example in the state in which the liquid absorption effect | action worked enough.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, a photomask substrate coated with a resist is used as an example. A resist film is formed on the substrate, and a pattern is formed by subjecting the resist film to a predetermined drawing process and a development process.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a developing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The developing device of the present embodiment is a device that develops the substrate 1 on which a resist film is formed. The developing device includes a substrate holding unit 2, a cup 3, and a developer supply nozzle 5.
The substrate 1 is horizontally placed and held on the substrate holding unit 2. The substrate holding part 2 has a shaft 2a having a tip connected to the rotation center of the substrate holding part 2 and the shaft 2a so that the substrate holding part 2 can be rotated and driven in the vertical direction while holding the substrate 1 in a horizontal state. And a driving source 2b connected to the developing device. The drive source 2b includes a motor (not shown) that rotationally drives the shaft 2a, and a lift device (not shown) that moves the shaft 2a up and down together with the motor. The drive source 2b is controlled by a control unit A (corresponding to control means in claims).
Further, the cup 3 is provided around the substrate holding unit 2 and prevents the developer from being scattered in the course of the supply of the developer or the development process. Note that the position of the cup 3 remains fixed even when the substrate holding part 2 is rotated and raised and lowered.

Examples of the developing method of the substrate 1 performed in the developing device of the present embodiment include paddle development and spray development. However, the present invention is not limited to this method, and any method can be used as long as it develops a resist. Good.
In the present embodiment, the supply of the developer to the resist film 4 and the development process are sequentially performed using the developer supply nozzle 5 for paddle formation.
The developer supply nozzle 5 has a long shape extending in the longitudinal direction in the front and back direction of the paper surface of FIG. 1, and a plurality of discharge ports 5a provided on the lower surface thereof (only the frontmost one is shown in FIG. 1). Are arranged horizontally along the longitudinal direction. From the developer supply nozzle 5, the developer is discharged in a strip shape as a whole.
The developer supply nozzle 5 is movably supported by two or more guide shafts 5b (only one in the foreground shown in FIG. 1) disposed horizontally and parallel above the substrate holding unit 2. ing.
One of the guide shafts 5b is constituted by a screw shaft that is rotationally driven by a motor 5c, and the developer supply nozzle 5 is supported by being suspended by a feed member 5d that is screw-engaged with the screw shaft. Therefore, the developer supply nozzle 5 is configured to be movable along the guide shaft 5b by the rotational drive of the motor 5c.
With this configuration, the developer supply nozzle 5 can advance to a predetermined position above the substrate 1 placed on the substrate holder 2 when supplying the developer, and otherwise. In this case, the substrate 1 can be retracted from above.
The movement of the developer supply nozzle 5 by the rotation of the motor 5c is controlled by the control unit A. For example, the control unit A can be configured by a microcomputer in which the CPU uses the work area of the RAM to execute processing in accordance with a program stored in the ROM.

Further, the developing device of the present embodiment includes the liquid absorbent sheet 6 and the holding plate 7 shown in FIG. In the developing device of the present embodiment, the liquid-absorbent sheet 6 whose outer peripheral portion and back surface are held by the holding plate 7 is disposed above the substrate 1 on the substrate holding portion 2. The surface of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is held horizontally with respect to the surface of the substrate 1.
The liquid absorbent sheet 6 is made of a porous material as will be described later, and the back surface of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is attached to a through hole (not shown) in the holding plate 7 and behind the holding plate 7. It is connected to a pressure reducing line 7b (corresponding to a negative pressure applying means in claims) through a sealed internal space of the chamber member 7a.
As a result, the rinsing liquid sucked into the liquid absorbent sheet 6 from the surface of the substrate 1 is sucked up to the decompression line 7b side through the through hole of the holding plate 7 using the negative pressure in the internal space of the chamber member 7a. The drying of the surface of the substrate 1 can be promoted.
Further, the developing device of the present embodiment includes an elevating mechanism 7c (corresponding to elevating means in claims) having a drive source for elevating the holding plate 7 and the chamber member 7a up and down. The raising / lowering of the holding plate 7 and the chamber member 7a by the raising / lowering mechanism 7c is controlled by the control unit A. The elevating mechanism 7c and the chamber member 7a are connected via a rotary joint 7d (corresponding to the rotation support means in the claims) at a position closer to the holding plate 7 than the decompression line 7b. The rotary joint 7d has a passage (not shown) that communicates the internal space of the chamber member 7a with the decompression line 7b.
The chamber member 7a is supported by the rotary joint 7d so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis of the substrate holding unit 2 with respect to the lifting mechanism 7c. Therefore, the substrate holding unit 7b is driven by the drive source 2b in a state where the chamber member 7a and the holding plate 7 are lowered to the substrate holding unit 2 side by the lifting mechanism 7c and the surface of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is brought into contact with the surface of the substrate 1. When 2 is rotated, the liquid-absorbent sheet 6, the holding plate 7 and the chamber member 7 a can also rotate together with the substrate 1 and the substrate holding part 2.
The developer supply nozzle 5, the guide shaft 5b, and the motor 5c, the liquid absorbent sheet 6, the holding plate 7, the chamber member 7a, the decompression line 7b, and the lifting mechanism 7c are arranged so as not to interfere with each other. ing.

  A porous material is used for the liquid absorbent sheet 6. As the porous material, it is appropriate to use a material having a sponge-like structure. Specifically, a thin film of an organic polymer fiber such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyolefin, or polyethylene can be given as an example. These materials are composed of fine fibers, and the porosity (area of pores per unit area) is preferably as high as 70% or more, and the distance between the pores is also short.

The liquid-absorbent sheet 6 has extremely high hydrophilicity, and fine pores are three-dimensionally expanded to cause a capillary phenomenon. Furthermore, it is preferable that the liquid absorbent sheet 6 after liquid absorption has flexibility in a wet state. Further, the thickness of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is preferably 1 mm or more and 10 mm or less.
Here, as an example, the liquid absorbent sheet 6 having a thickness of 5 mm, an average pore size of about 90 μm, and a porosity of 90% is used.

  Hereinafter, the development processing method of the present embodiment will be described. When executing the following development processing method using the above-described developing device, the control unit A controls the driving of each part of the developing device so that each part of the developing device performs an operation suitable for the developing method to be executed. Is done.

  The developer supply nozzle 5 moves above the substrate 1 and discharges the developer in a strip shape and moves horizontally along the surface of the substrate 1, whereby the developer is applied to the entire surface of the substrate 1, and the resist film 4 A developer paddle 5e is formed thereon.

  After a predetermined time for advancing the development reaction, pure water as a rinsing liquid is discharged from a pure water supply nozzle (not shown) that has been advanced above the substrate 1 with the same configuration as the developer supply nozzle 5. The substrate 1 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed (for example, 500 to 2000 rpm). In addition to pure water, a rinse solution using a surfactant or a diluted developer may be used.

  After supplying pure water for a predetermined time and replacing the surface of the resist film with pure water, the substrate 1 is brought into a rotation stopped state while the pure water supply nozzle is retracted outside the cup 3 in the same manner as the developer supply nozzle 5. The substrate 1 is rotated at a low speed (for example, 50 rpm) to the extent that the substituted pure water (rinse solution) is not completely shaken off, so that the surface of the substrate 1 is not dried.

Next, with the rotation of the substrate 1 stopped, the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is lowered toward the surface of the substrate 1 while maintaining the level of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 (parallel to the substrate 1). FIG. 3 shows a state in which the liquid-absorbent sheet 6 approaches the resist pattern surface 8 of the substrate 1 drawn by developing the resist film 4.
The liquid level of the rinse liquid 10 that is a cleaning liquid replaced with the developer is preferably as high as the resist pattern surface 8, but the liquid level of the rinse liquid 10 is higher than the resist pattern surface 8. It doesn't matter. When the liquid absorbent sheet 6 comes into contact with the liquid surface of the rinsing liquid 10, the liquid absorbing action starts. At this time, the liquid-absorbent sheet 6 is slightly lowered from the level of the rinsing liquid 10 so as not to break the resist pattern 9 from above, and the height is maintained as it is in contact with the resist pattern surface 8. .
That is, a rinsing liquid 10 that covers the resist pattern 9 on the substrate 1 by placing the liquid-absorbent sheet 6 disposed in parallel with the substrate 1 above the horizontally disposed substrate 1 close to the substrate 1 and being replaced with the developer. A contact step of bringing the surface of the liquid-absorbent sheet 6 into contact with the liquid level of (cleaning liquid) is executed.

The liquid absorbent sheet 6 has a sufficient porosity and volume so that the liquid between the rinsing liquid 10 on the resist pattern surface 8 of the drawing portion and the resist pattern 9 can be sufficiently absorbed. For example, the liquid absorbent sheet 6 has a porosity of 90% and a thickness of 5 mm. The size of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 may be the same size as the substrate 1 or a size that sufficiently covers the entire area of the resist pattern 9 formed by development.
Further, immediately before the drying rotation, the substrate 1 may be rotated at 300 rpm to less than 1000 rpm for 10 seconds to shake off the liquid, and the liquid absorbent sheet 6 may be brought into contact with the substrate 1. The contact time is preferably sufficient for the action of absorbing the rinsing liquid 10 to be, for example, 5 seconds or longer.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the influence of the surface tension of the rinsing liquid 10 on the occurrence of resist pattern collapse. A high aspect ratio resist pattern 9 formed by development is formed on the substrate 1. That is, two resist patterns 9 having a height larger than the width of the bottom face stand on the substrate 1. The upper portions of these resist patterns 9 are exposed from the liquid surface 11 of the rinsing liquid 10.
In such a state, when the resist pattern 9 has good wettability with respect to the liquid (rinsing liquid 10), the height of the liquid surface 11 of the liquid (rinsing liquid 10) between the two adjacent resist patterns is as follows. It rises by capillary action based on surface tension. The height of the raised liquid surface 11 tends to be lowered by gravity, but at that time, the surface tension of the liquid surface 11 acts to pull the side surface of the resist pattern 9 in the direction of the contact angle θ. Accordingly, a force F is applied so that the two resist patterns 9 can be brought close to each other.
In this case, if the wettability of the resist pattern 9 is high, the contact angle θ of the liquid (rinse liquid 10) with respect to the surface of the resist pattern 9 becomes small, and the liquid surface 11 between the resist patterns and the liquid surface 12 outside them. The difference in height h increases with increasing surface tension of the liquid.

  The action of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 has the effect of lowering the liquid level 11 between the resist patterns 9 and 9 so as to eliminate the liquid level difference h as much as possible.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a state in which the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is in contact with the resist pattern surface 8 to absorb the liquid. The liquid absorbent sheet so that the difference h between the height of the liquid surface 12 in contact with the outside of the two resist patterns 9 and 9 and the height of the liquid surface 11 accumulated between the resist patterns 9 and 9 is as small as possible. The liquid absorption of the rinsing liquid 10 by 6 only serves to lower the liquid surface 11 between the patterns, so that the pattern collapse is sufficiently prevented. The liquid absorbent sheet 6 completely absorbs the rinsing liquid 10 between the patterns. It does not have to be liquid.
In this state, the liquid absorbing step of absorbing the rinse liquid 10 (cleaning liquid) adhering to the resist pattern 9 by the liquid absorbent sheet 6 whose surface is in contact with the liquid surface 11 of the rinse liquid 10 (cleaning liquid) is executed. State.

Further, the liquid-absorbent sheet 6 has an action of supporting the resist pattern surface 8 on the side opposite to the bottom surface supported by the substrate 1 from above, and holds the resist pattern 9 from above and below in cooperation with the substrate 1. Thus, resist pattern collapse is prevented.
This state is a state in which a sandwiching step of sandwiching the resist pattern 9 between the substrate 1 and the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is executed.

Next, in order to accelerate the drying of the liquid, the substrate 1 and the liquid absorbent sheet 6 are rotated together by a motor (not shown) of the drive source 2b while maintaining the state where the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is in contact with the substrate 1. Let For example, the rotational drying of the substrate 1 is performed at 500 to 3000 rpm, for example, 1000 rpm, and the rotational drying process is performed for 30 seconds.
This state is a state in which a rotating step is performed in which the liquid absorbent sheet 6 whose surface is in contact with the liquid surface 11 of the rinsing liquid 10 (cleaning liquid) is rotated integrally with the substrate 1.
At this time, the back surface side of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 communicating with the pressure reducing line 7b is decompressed to diffuse the rinse liquid 10 absorbed by the liquid absorbent sheet 6 to the holding plate 7 or the internal space side of the chamber member 7a. . Thereby, while the action of the liquid absorption of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is promoted, there is an effect that the liquid is retained in the sheet so that the absorbed rinse liquid 10 is not dropped on the substrate 1. In addition, when the liquid absorbent sheet 6 comes into contact with the surface of the substrate 1, pressure reduction on the back side of the liquid absorbent sheet 6 may be started.
This state is a state in which a negative pressure application step of applying a negative pressure to the liquid absorbent sheet 6 for absorbing the rinse liquid 10 (cleaning liquid) by the liquid absorbent sheet 6 is executed.

Next, a separation step of separating the liquid absorbent sheet 6 from the resist pattern 9 by moving the liquid absorbent sheet 6 that has absorbed the rinse liquid 10 (cleaning liquid) upward relative to the substrate 1 is performed.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a resist pattern cross-sectional view in a state where the liquid absorbent sheet 6 has sufficiently absorbed the rinse liquid 10.
A slight amount of the rinsing liquid 10 remains at the interface of the substrate 1, and a process of completely drying them will be described below. When the absorbent sheet 6 slowly moves upward from the substrate 1 due to the rising of the holding plate 7 and the distance between the substrate 1 and the absorbent sheet 6 is 5 mm or more, the substrate 1 is at a high speed of 500 to 3000 rpm. Start spinning. As final drying here, for example, the substrate is rotated at 1000 rpm for 3 minutes.
As described above, the development process using the liquid absorbent sheet 6 and the drying step of the rinse liquid 10 are completed.

  The liquid absorbent sheet 6 is attached to the holding plate 7 in a replaceable state. It is preferable to replace the untreated liquid absorbent sheet 6 after one development process, thereby avoiding contamination by insoluble components remaining in the liquid absorbent sheet 6.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate 2 ... Substrate holding part 4 ... Resist film 6 ... Liquid absorbing sheet 7 ... Holding plate 7b ... Decompression line (negative pressure provision means)
7c ... Elevating mechanism (elevating means)
7d Rotary joint (rotation support means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Resist pattern 10 ... Rinse solution 11 ... Liquid surface collected between patterns 12 ... Liquid surface which touches pattern outer side A ... Control unit (control means)

Claims (8)

A method for developing a photomask substrate, comprising:
A liquid-absorbing sheet arranged in parallel with the substrate above the horizontally arranged substrate is brought close to the substrate, and the liquid-absorbing sheet is replaced with a developing solution to cover the resist pattern on the substrate. A contact step for contacting the surface of the liquid sheet;
A liquid-absorbing step of absorbing the cleaning liquid on the substrate attached to the resist pattern by the liquid-absorbent sheet whose surface is in contact with the liquid surface of the cleaning liquid;
A separation step of moving the liquid-absorbent sheet that has absorbed the cleaning liquid upward relative to the substrate to separate the liquid-absorbent sheet from the resist pattern;
A developing method comprising the steps of:   2. The development according to claim 1, wherein the liquid absorbing step includes a negative pressure applying step of applying a negative pressure to the liquid absorbing sheet for absorbing the cleaning liquid by the liquid absorbing sheet. Method.   3. The developing method according to claim 1, wherein the liquid absorption step includes a nipping step of nipping the resist pattern between the substrate and the liquid absorbent sheet.   4. The developing method according to claim 3, wherein the liquid absorbing step includes a rotating step of rotating the liquid absorbing sheet that sandwiches the resist pattern together with the substrate together with the substrate. A developing device that replaces the developer on the substrate with a cleaning solution supplied onto the substrate while rotating the photomask substrate held horizontally by the substrate holding unit,
A holding plate that holds the liquid-absorbent sheet and is arranged above the substrate in parallel with the substrate;
Elevating means for elevating the holding plate relative to the substrate;
Control means for controlling the lifting means,
The control means includes
A first control for lowering the holding plate with respect to the substrate by the elevating means to bring the surface of the absorbent sheet into contact with the surface of the cleaning liquid covering the resist pattern on the substrate;
After the cleaning liquid on the substrate adhering to the resist pattern is absorbed by the liquid-absorbent sheet whose surface is in contact with the surface of the cleaning liquid, the holding plate is raised relative to the substrate to absorb the cleaning liquid. A second control for separating the liquid-absorbing sheet from the resist pattern;
I do,
A developing device.   The liquid absorbing sheet further includes a negative pressure applying unit that applies a negative pressure to the liquid absorbing sheet, and the liquid absorbing sheet absorbs the cleaning liquid by the negative pressure applied by the negative pressure applying unit. The developing device according to claim 5.   2. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein, in the first control, the surface of the liquid-absorbent sheet is brought into contact with the resist pattern, and the resist pattern is sandwiched between the liquid-absorbent sheet and the substrate. The developing device according to 5 or 6.   Rotating support means for rotatably supporting the holding plate around the rotation axis of the substrate is further provided, and the control means holds the resist pattern between the liquid absorbent sheet and the substrate. The developing device according to claim 7, wherein the holding plate is rotated together with the substrate and the liquid absorbent sheet.

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