JP2013074243A - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method which adjust the amount of a liquid which comes around a given region on a rear surface of a substrate thereby not only supplying the liquid onto a surface of the substrate to perform the processing but also supplying the liquid to the given region on the rear surface of the substrate to perform the processing.SOLUTION: A substrate processing apparatus includes: a substrate holding part 11 rotatably holding a substrate W; a control part 100; a liquid supply part 18 supplying a liquid for the processing onto a surface S of the substrate W according to an instruction of the control part 100; a discharge gas supply system 15 discharging an inactive gas to a rear surface space region 32 formed between the substrate holding part 11 and a rear surface B of the substrate W according to an instruction of the control part 100; and an air suction system 16 which controls the space pressure in the rear surface space region 32 according to an instruction of the control part 100.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for processing a processing target surface of a substrate.

  When the substrate processing apparatus performs processing by supplying a liquid to the surface of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal substrate, it is performed while rotating the substrate. In this type of substrate processing apparatus, when performing substrate processing, the surface of the substrate is processed using a liquid so that the liquid does not enter the back surface of the substrate (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-48814 A

  By the way, when supplying a liquid such as an etchant to the substrate to perform an etching process, the surface of the substrate is supplied with an etchant and processed, and the periphery of an arbitrary part of the back surface of the substrate It has been demanded to supply an etching solution to the partial region for processing.

  However, in the conventional substrate processing apparatus as described above, the supply amount of the wraparound amount of the etching solution cannot be adjusted and supplied to an arbitrary partial peripheral region on the back surface of the substrate. Only a part of the peripheral region on the back surface cannot be etched.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is not only to supply and process liquid on the surface of the substrate, but also to an arbitrary region on the back surface of the substrate by adjusting the amount of liquid flowing into the arbitrary area on the back surface of the substrate. Also, it is to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method capable of supplying and processing a liquid.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate rotating in a processing tank, wherein the substrate holding unit rotatably holds the substrate; The control unit includes a control unit, a liquid supply unit that supplies the processing liquid to the front surface of the substrate according to a command from the control unit, and a back space area formed between the substrate holding unit and the back surface of the substrate. A discharge gas supply system that discharges an inert gas in response to a command from the unit; and an air suction system that controls a space pressure in the back surface space region in accordance with a command from the control unit.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing method for processing a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate rotating in a processing tank, wherein the substrate is held by a substrate holder. The liquid supply unit supplies the processing liquid to the surface of the substrate according to a command from the control unit, and the discharge gas supply system receives a command from the control unit. An inert gas is discharged to a back space area formed between the substrate holding portion and the back surface of the substrate, and an air suction system controls a space pressure in the back space area according to a command from the control section. To do.

  According to the present invention, by adjusting the amount of liquid flowing into an arbitrary area on the back surface of the substrate, not only the liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate for processing but also the liquid is supplied to an arbitrary area on the back surface of the substrate. Thus, it is possible to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method that can be processed.

It is a top view which shows the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the preferable structural example of the process unit of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is the top view which looked at the chuck pin member of the processing unit of a substrate processing apparatus from the top. It is a figure which shows the example of the range of the etching process in the surface and back surface of a board | substrate. It is a figure which shows the example of control of the electropneumatic regulator of the massflow control valve shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the correlation example of the space pressure in a back surface space area | region, the air flow rate of an aspirator, and the amount of wraparound etching to the back surface of a wafer. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a nitrogen gas flow rate and a space pressure in a back surface space region of a substrate W. FIG.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a substrate processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cassette station 2, a robot 3, and a plurality of processing units 4, for example.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 is an apparatus that performs single wafer processing. The cassette station 2 has a plurality of cassettes 5, and each cassette 5 accommodates a plurality of substrates W. The substrate W is a semiconductor wafer substrate such as a silicon wafer. The type of the substrate W is not particularly limited to this.

  The robot 3 shown in FIG. 1 is disposed between the cassette station 2 and the plurality of processing units 4. The robot 3 transports the substrate W accommodated in each cassette 5 to another cassette 5. Further, the robot 3 carries the processed substrate W back to another cassette 5 on the processing unit 4 side. Each processing unit 4 holds, for example, the substrate W and continuously rotates it to perform various processing, preferably not only on the front surface of the substrate W but also on any part of the peripheral area on the back surface of the substrate W, preferably For example, it is used for etching.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred configuration example of the processing unit 4 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
A single wafer processing unit 4 shown in FIG. 2 includes a processing tank 10, a substrate holding unit 11, a moving operation unit 12, a fan with a filter for downflow (for example, ULPA) 13, a cup 14, and a discharge gas. A supply system 15, an air suction system 16, a pure water (DIW) supply system 17, a liquid supply unit 18, and a control unit 100 are included.

  The processing unit 4 shown in FIG. 2 is provided for the entire front surface S (one surface) of a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer and an arbitrary partial peripheral region 40 on the back surface B (the other surface) of the substrate W. Thus, a process using a liquid (also referred to as a chemical solution), for example, an etching process using an etchant as a liquid can be performed. However, the processing unit 4 adopts a structure described later, so that the liquid is not applied to the portion of the back surface B of the substrate W excluding any peripheral region 40 on the back surface B of the substrate W. It has a structure that can be controlled (suppressed) so as not to wrap around, so that this etching process is not performed on a portion of the back surface B of the substrate W except for an arbitrary peripheral region 40.

  The processing tank 10 shown in FIG. 2 accommodates the substrate holding part 11, the movement operation part 12, the liquid supply part 18, and the cup 14 inside. A fan 13 with a filter is disposed in the upper part of the processing tank 10, and the fan 13 with a filter is rotated by a command from the control unit 100 to send clean air into the processing tank 10. The filter-equipped fan 13 is controlled by, for example, inverter control. The processing tank 10 includes a processing tank pressure gauge 10 </ b> M. The processing tank pressure gauge 10 </ b> M detects a spatial pressure in the processing tank 10 and sends a detection signal to the control unit 100. The internal pressure gauge 10M controls the space pressure, that is, the internal pressure of the processing tank 10 to be constant, and the internal pressure of the processing tank 10 here is lower than the pressure outside the processing tank 10 (atmospheric pressure). Control to become pressure.

  The substrate holding unit 11 shown in FIG. 2 can detachably hold the disk-shaped substrate W, and the control unit 100 drives and controls the motor M, so that the substrate holding unit 11 moves in the R direction together with the held substrate W. Can rotate continuously at any number of revolutions.

  The substrate holder 11 shown in FIG. 2 has a disk-shaped spin table 20. A cup 14 is disposed around the spin table 20, and a nozzle member 30 is fixed to an opening at the center position of the spin table 20. The nozzle member 30 is also referred to as a back surface drain nozzle portion. This cup 14 separates and collects the etching solution and pure water (drainage) after processing the substrate W.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the spin table 20 is a substantially disk-shaped member. The spin table 20 includes a chuck pin member 22 and a disk-shaped decoration cup 23. When the motor M is driven, the substrate holder 11 continuously rotates around the nozzle member 30 around the fixed nozzle member 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the decoration cup 23 has a main body 23M and a peripheral edge 21 formed around the main body 23M. The chuck pin member 22 is fixed by being fitted into a fitting groove portion between the main body portion 23 </ b> M and the peripheral edge portion 21 of the decoration cup 23. Further, the chuck pin member 22 has a structure that can be removed from between the main body portion 23M and the peripheral edge portion 21 for replacement during maintenance.

  The chuck pin member 22 and the decoration cup 23 shown in FIG. 2 are preferably made of a water repellent material. As this water-repellent material, for example, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), PCTFE (polychlorotrifluoroethylene) or the like can be employed. The water repellent material desirably has a contact angle with respect to the etching solution of 30 degrees or more. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the pure water and the etching liquid from adhering to the chuck pin member 22 and the decoration cup 23, and to reliably discharge the etching liquid and the pure water to the cup 14 side. This increases the recovery efficiency of the discharged etching solution and pure water.

  The chuck pin member 22 shown in FIG. 2 has a structure as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the chuck pin member 22 as viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of support pins are used to hold a plurality of positions in the peripheral region 40 of the substrate W shown in FIG. 22P. For example, six support pins 22P are formed inward with respect to the center of the chuck pin member 22 at the same angle. Thereby, the chuck pin member 22 can hold the peripheral region 40 of the substrate W at a plurality of points. However, the number of support pins 22P is not limited to six and may be six or more.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the main body portion 23 </ b> M of the decoration cup 23 has an inclined surface 31 that is inclined so as to descend from the chuck pin member 22 side toward the nozzle member 30 side. By forming the inclined surface 31, the used etching solution or pure water used for the processing is guided to the nozzle member 30 side. The nozzle member 30 has a role of a discharge pipe, and a gas-liquid separation tank (not shown) for collecting the processing liquid is connected to the end of the piping of the nozzle member 30. The inclined surface 31 faces the back surface B of the mounted substrate W. Thereby, the chuck pin member 22, the inclined surface 31 of the decoration cup 23, the upper surface of the nozzle member 30, and the back surface B of the substrate W form a back space region 32.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid supply unit 18 is disposed on the upper portion of the substrate W. The liquid supply unit 18 is connected to the movement operation unit 12, and the control unit 100 drives and controls the movement operation unit 12, so that the liquid supply unit 18 moves in the Z direction (vertical direction) and the X direction (on the substrate W). (Radial direction). Thus, the liquid supply unit 18 can supply the etching liquid or pure water, which is a processing liquid, to the surface S of the substrate W.

  The liquid supply unit 18 includes, for example, a pure water supply nozzle 18D and an etching liquid supply nozzle 18E. The pure water supply nozzle 18D is connected to the pure water supply part 18H via a valve 18F, and the etching liquid supply nozzle 18E is connected to the etching liquid supply part 18K via a valve 18G. Thus, the control unit 100 controls the valves 18F and 18G to open and close, so that the pure water supply nozzle 18D can supply the pure water H in the pure water supply unit 18H to the substrate W, and the etching solution supply nozzle 18E The etching solution E in the etching solution supply unit 18K can be supplied to the substrate W.

  Next, a configuration example of the discharge gas supply system 15, the air suction system 16, and the pure water supply system 17 shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the discharge gas supply system 15 is provided to supply an inert gas into the back space region 32. The discharge gas supply system 15 includes a back surface discharge gas nozzle 41, a flow meter 42, a valve 43, and a discharge gas supply unit 44. The discharge front end portion of the back surface discharge gas nozzle 41 is disposed on the nozzle member 30 and faces upward with respect to the back surface B of the substrate W. The back surface discharge gas nozzle 41 is connected to the discharge gas supply unit 44 through the flow meter 42, the mass flow control valve 154, and the valve 43. The mass flow control valve 154 has an electropneumatic regulator 154M. The opening degree of the mass flow control valve 154 can be adjusted by the control unit 100 controlling the electropneumatic regulator 154M. Thus, the control unit 100 controls the opening of the mass flow control valve 154 and the opening of the valve 42 so that the inert gas such as nitrogen gas (N 2) in the discharge gas supply unit 44 is discharged from the back surface discharge gas nozzle 41. It can be supplied from the front end to the back space region 32.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the air suction system 16 is provided to control the space pressure in the back surface space region 32. The air suction system 16 includes an air exhaust nozzle 51, an aspirator 52 as a decompression tool, a flow meter 53, a mass flow control valve 54, a valve 55, and an air supply unit 56. The air exhaust nozzle 51 has an air supply tip 51B and an open end 51C. The air supply tip 51 </ b> B of the air exhaust nozzle 51 is disposed so as to face the central hole 30 </ b> H of the nozzle member 30.

  The air exhaust nozzle 51 is connected to an air supply unit 56 through an aspirator 52, a flow meter 53, a mass flow control valve 54 and a valve 55. The mass flow control valve 54 has an electropneumatic regulator 54M. The opening degree of the mass flow control valve 54 can be adjusted by the control unit 100 controlling the electropneumatic regulator 54M. The air supplied through the mass flow control valve 54 can suck the inert gas supplied from the air exhaust nozzle 51 to the back space region 32 by passing through the aspirator 52. This is due to the venturi effect, and creates a reduced pressure state on the side of the air exhaust nozzle 51 connected to the aspirator 52.

  Thereby, when the air of the air supply unit 56 is sent to the aspirator 52 through the valve 55, the mass flow control valve 54, and the flow meter 53, the aspirator 52 has the back space region 32 according to the air supply amount from the mass flow control valve 54. Is sucked and discharged from the open end (drain) 51C, so that the space pressure in the back surface space region 32 can be adjusted.

  As described above, the atmosphere in the back surface space region 32 of the substrate W is maintained by controlling the exhaust amount by the air suction system 16 and controlling the gas supply amount by the discharge gas supply system 15 on the supply side. Yes.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the pure water supply system 17 supplies pure water to the back surface B of the substrate W in the back space region 32. The pure water supply system 17 includes a pure water nozzle 61, a flow meter 62, a valve 63, a temperature adjustment unit 64, and a pure water supply unit 65. The temperature adjustment unit 64 can adjust the temperature of pure water in the pure water supply unit 65 to an arbitrary temperature according to a command from the control unit 100. The pure water discharge tip of the pure water nozzle 61 is disposed on the nozzle member 30 so as to face the back surface B of the substrate W. The pure water nozzle 61 is connected to a pure water supply unit 65 through a flow meter 62, a valve 63, and a temperature adjustment unit 64. Thereby, the control part 100 can adjust the pressure of pure water by adjusting the opening degree of the valve 63. Then, the pure water can be supplied from the pure water discharge tip of the pure water nozzle 61 to the back surface B of the substrate W in the back space region 32.

  In FIG. 2, the flow meters 42, 53, and 62 do not show the electrical wiring to the control unit 100 for the sake of simplification of the drawing, but notify the control unit 100 of the measured flow rate values. ing. Control of the opening degree of the valves 43, 55, and 63 is performed according to a command from the control unit 100.

  The spatial pressure in the back surface space region 32 can be measured by the pressure gauge 70 provided in the nozzle member 30 and notified to the control unit 100.

  Next, referring to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 shows an example of the etching process range on the front surface S and the back surface B of the substrate W.

  FIG. 4 shows the substrate W from which the central portion is omitted, and an etching solution is applied to the entire surface SA of the front surface S of the substrate W and an arbitrary partial peripheral region 40 of the back surface B of the substrate W. Then, the etching process is performed to control (suppress) the etchant so as not to enter the portion CA except the peripheral region 40 of any part of the back surface B of the substrate W. This etching process is not performed on the portion CA except for an arbitrary part of the peripheral region 40. The radial width of an arbitrary part of the peripheral region 40 on the back surface B of the substrate W is, for example, in the range of 0.5 mm along the radial direction from the outer peripheral portion 39 of the substrate W, but is not particularly limited.

  FIG. 5 shows a control example of the electropneumatic regulator 54M of the mass flow control valve 54 shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows the air exhaust nozzle 51, the aspirator 52, the flow meter 53, the mass flow control valve 54, the valve 55, the air supply unit 56, and the computer 101 of the air suction system 16 already described according to FIG. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when predetermined process processing data DT is given to the computer 101 of the control unit 100 shown in FIG. 2, the computer 101 performs electropneumatic regulator 54M in accordance with the process processing data DT described later. , The opening control of the mass flow control valve 54 can be performed, and the opening control of the mass flow control valve 154 can be performed by controlling the driving of the electropneumatic regulator 154M.

  That is, the electropneumatic regulator 54M increases the air supply amount to the aspirator 52 by adjusting the opening of the mass flow control valve 54 in accordance with the increase in the voltage of the electric signal sent from the control unit 100. 2 is sent to the aspirator 52 through the valve 55, the mass flow control valve 54, and the flow meter 53. The aspirator 52 sucks the inside of the back space region 32 and discharges it from the open end (drain) 51C. In addition, the electropneumatic regulator 154M adjusts the opening of the mass flow control valve 154 to increase in accordance with the increase in the voltage of the electrical signal sent from the control unit 100, so that the discharge gas supply unit 44 can adjust the inside of the back space region 32. Increase the supply amount of the discharge gas to. Thereby, the discharge gas from the discharge gas supply unit 44 shown in FIG. 2 is sent from the discharge end 41T into the back surface space region 32 through the valve 43, the mass flow control valve 154, and the flow meter 42.

  As described above, the computer 101 controls the opening of the mass flow control valve 54 by controlling the opening of the mass flow control valve 154 by controlling the opening of the mass flow control valve 154 by driving the electro pneumatic regulator 54M. The pressure in the back space region 32 can be adjusted.

  Next, a processing example of the substrate W by the processing unit 4 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described.

  In the processing described below, an etching solution and pure water are used as the processing liquid, and, for example, nitrogen (N 2) is used as the discharge gas in an inert gas. A processing example in which the processing unit 4 performs an etching process on the entire surface SA of the front surface S of the substrate W and an arbitrary partial peripheral region 40 on the back surface B of the substrate W will be described.

  With reference to FIG. 5, an example of processing for etching the substrate W according to the process processing data DT will be described. Here, the range of the etching solution that wraps around the peripheral region 40 on the back surface B side of the substrate W is 0.5 mm.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, the substrate W is held at a plurality of points by the chuck pin member 22 of the spin table 20 with the surface S of the substrate W facing up.

  The controller 100 in FIG. 2 drives the motor M to continuously rotate the substrate W together with the substrate holder 11. The pure water supply nozzle 18D and the etchant supply nozzle 18E are lowered along the Z direction and maintained at a predetermined height, and are swung in the X direction at a predetermined speed by the operation of the moving operation unit 12. As a result, the etching solution E supplied to the front surface S side of the substrate W is supplied to the peripheral region 40 of any part of the back surface B of the substrate W and supplied to any one of the back surfaces B of the substrate W. The peripheral region 40 of the part can be etched.

  The example of the process processing data DT shown in FIG. 5 includes processing steps S1 to S3.

<Step S1>
In process step S1 of FIG. 5, the etching liquid E is supplied with respect to the surface S of the board | substrate W shown in FIG. The etching solution E supplied to the front surface S of the substrate W supplies nitrogen gas to the back surface B of the substrate W, and wraps around an arbitrary part of the peripheral region 40 on the back surface B of the substrate W. An arbitrary part of the peripheral region 40 on the back surface B is etched. That is, the etchant supply nozzle 18E shown in FIG. 2 supplies the etchant E in the etchant supply unit 18K to the surface S of the substrate W. In addition, the computer 101 of the control unit 100 in FIG. 2 controls the opening of the mass flow control valve 154 by driving and controlling the electropneumatic regulator 154M. Therefore, for example, nitrogen gas (N2), which is an inert gas in the discharge gas supply unit 44 of FIG. 2, is supplied to the back space region 32 from the discharge tip 41T of the back discharge gas nozzle 41.

  While supplying the nitrogen gas, the computer 101 of the control unit 100 in FIG. 2 controls the opening of the mass flow control valve 54 by driving and controlling the electropneumatic regulator 54M in accordance with the process processing data DT in FIG. Therefore, the air from the air supply unit 56 shown in FIG. 2 is sent to the aspirator 52 through the valve 55, the mass flow control valve 54 and the flow meter 53. The aspirator 52 sucks the back space area 32 and discharges nitrogen gas and air from the back space area 32 through an open end (drain) 51C.

  In this way, by adjusting the air supply amount from the mass flow control valve 54 to the aspirator 52 while controlling and supplying the nitrogen gas supply amount to the back space region 32 according to the command of the control unit 100, The space between the back surface B and the decoration cup 23, that is, the space pressure in the back surface space region 32 can be controlled.

  In step S1, an etching solution is supplied to the front surface S of the substrate W, nitrogen gas is supplied to the back surface B of the substrate W, and the space pressure in the back surface space region 32 is controlled (details will be described later). Thus, the amount of the etching solution flowing into the back surface B of the substrate W can be set to 0.5 mm. That is, the amount of the etching solution that flows along the radial direction of the peripheral portion 40 of the substrate W shown in FIG. 4 can be set to 0.5 mm.

<Step S2>
Next, in processing step S2 shown in FIG. 5, pure water (DIW) is supplied to the front surface S of the substrate W shown in FIG. To do. That is, the control unit 100 shown in FIG. 2 controls the opening and closing of the valve 18F so that the pure water supply nozzle 18D shown in FIG. 2 supplies the pure water liquid H in the pure water supply unit 18H to the surface S of the substrate W. To do. Similarly, the control unit 100 supplies pure water from the pure water supply unit 65 into the back surface space region 32 by controlling the opening and closing of the valve 63. As described above, the front surface S and the back surface B of the substrate W are cleaned by supplying pure water to the front surface S of the substrate W and the back surface space region 32 on the back surface B side of the substrate W, respectively, according to a command from the control unit 100.

<Step S3>
Subsequently, in the drying process of step S <b> 3 shown in FIG. 5, the etching gas and pure water are not supplied to the front surface S of the substrate W, but nitrogen gas is supplied to the back surface B of the substrate W. That is, the control unit 100 shown in FIG. 2 controls the opening degree of the valve 43 so that the nitrogen gas in the discharge gas supply unit 44 is supplied from the discharge front end portion of the back discharge gas nozzle 41 to the back space region 32. The In this drying step, the supply of the processing liquid and gas is stopped, the number of rotations of the substrate is increased, and the pure water remaining on the surface S of the substrate W is shaken off and dried. Similarly, the back surface of the substrate is also sprinkled with pure water by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the substrate W, and dried with nitrogen gas supplied to the back space region 32.

  By the way, the chuck pin member 22 and the decoration cup 23 constituting the substrate holding part 11 shown in FIG. 2 are preferably made of a water-repellent material as already described, and the chuck pin member 22 and the decoration cup 23 are The contact angle with respect to the etching solution is controlled to 30 degrees or more. As a result, the amount of the etching solution flowing into the back surface B of the substrate W can be controlled (suppressed), and the etching solution can be turned to an arbitrary part of the peripheral region 40 on the back surface B of the substrate W to be etched. . Thus, by managing the contact angle of the chuck pin member 22 and the decoration cup 23 with respect to the etching liquid, the etching liquid on the back surface B of the substrate W adheres to the chuck pin member 22 and the decoration cup 23 in vain. Can be prevented. For this reason, the used etching liquid and pure water can be efficiently discharged from the chuck pin member 22 and the decoration cup 23.

  In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the control unit 100 shown in FIG. 2 has a space in the back surface space region 32 formed by the chuck pin member 22, the inclined surface 31 of the decoration cup 23, and the upper surface of the nozzle member 30. The pressure is controlled by controlling the flow rate of nitrogen, which is a discharge gas discharged to the back surface space region 32 on the back surface B side, and the air supply amount supplied to the aspirator 52, and is formed on the back surface B side of the substrate W. The amount of wraparound etching can be controlled.

  As already described, the wraparound etching amount formed on the back surface B side of the substrate W can be set by transferring the process processing data DT shown in FIG. 5 to the computer 101 as an etching processing recipe. Thereby, the computer 101 of the control part 100 can control the pressure in the back surface space area 32 by adjusting the amount of air supplied to the aspirator 52 in accordance with the process processing data DT.

  The pressure in the processing tank 10 shown in FIG. 2 can be constantly monitored by the pressure gauge 10M in the processing tank, and the control unit 100 controls the fan 13 with a filter based on the pressure value in the processing tank 10. The pressure in the processing tank 10 can be kept constant. The reason for controlling the pressure in the processing tank 10 is that the nitrogen gas supplied to the back surface space region 32 is blown out from the outer peripheral portion of the substrate W, so that the pressure in the processing tank 10 is changed, so that a filter is attached. Control is performed to reduce the rotational speed of the fan (HEPA) 13 side. The atmospheric pressure in the processing tank 10 is controlled to be lower than the pressure outside the processing tank 10 (atmospheric pressure). At the tip of the cup 14 in FIG. 2, there is a processing liquid discharge pipe, and a tank for gas-liquid separation and recovery and a suction pump for exhaust are arranged. Thereby, the pressure in the processing tank 10 is maintained by controlling the rotation speed of the fan on the HEPA side (control of the downflow supply amount) and controlling the exhaust amount of the suction pump. This is because the change in the pressure in the processing tank 10 causes the mist of the processing liquid, the particles in the processing tank 10 and the like to dance, and the substrate processing surface is affected. is there.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flow rate and temperature of the pure water supply system 17 can be controlled by the control unit 100, and pure water set to an optimum temperature is discharged to the back surface B of the substrate W at an arbitrarily set flow rate. it can.
FIG. 6 shows an example of the correlation between the space pressure in the back surface space region 32, the air flow rate of the aspirator 52, and the amount of etching that wraps around the back surface B of the substrate (wafer) W.

  In FIG. 6, when the air supply amount from the mass flow control valve 54 shown in FIG. 2 to the aspirator 52 increases, the intake pressure from the back surface space region 32 increases and the space pressure in the back surface space region 32 decreases, and the back surface of the substrate W It can be seen that the amount of etching solution that wraps around the periphery of B increases. Therefore, in the processing unit 4, by appropriately adjusting the air supply amount from the mass flow control valve 54 to the aspirator 52, the entire surface area of the surface S of the substrate W is etched with the etchant, and the control unit 100 By controlling the spatial pressure in the back surface space region 32 of the substrate W according to the command, the amount of etching solution is adjusted so that it can wrap around any part of the peripheral region 40 on the back surface B of the substrate W. it can. Referring to FIG. 7, when the flow rate of the nitrogen gas supplied into the back space area of the substrate W increases, the spatial pressure in the back space area 32 of the substrate W can be increased linearly, and the atmosphere of the back space area of the substrate Can be controlled.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the relationship between the nitrogen gas flow rate and the space pressure in the back surface space region of the substrate W. Referring to FIG. 7, when the flow rate of the nitrogen gas supplied into the back space area of the substrate W increases, the spatial pressure in the back space area 32 of the substrate W can be increased linearly, and the atmosphere of the back space area of the substrate Can be controlled.

  Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, in the embodiment of the present invention, as described above, the amount of the etching solution flowing into the back surface B of the substrate W is set to 0.5 mm. It can be seen that the pressure is 50 Pa. From this, when the space pressure is 50 Pa, as shown in FIG. 7, the flow rate of N2 supplied to the back surface space region is 100 L / Min, and as shown in FIG. 6, the aspirator of FIG. A recipe for supplying an air flow rate of 20 L / Min to 52 is set on the control device side. The control unit 100 controls the electropneumatic regulator 54M and the electropneumatic regulator 154M in FIG.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, not only the etching process of the substrate W but also various process processes such as a cleaning process can be performed by changing the processing liquid from the etching liquid to the cleaning liquid, for example. Various processing of the substrate W can be performed without recombination of the components of the processing unit, the productivity of the substrate W is improved, and the yield during the production of the substrate W is improved.

  A substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate holding unit that rotatably holds a substrate, a control unit, a liquid supply unit that supplies a processing liquid to the surface of the substrate according to a command from the control unit, and a substrate holding unit A discharge gas supply system that discharges an inert gas in response to a command from the control unit, and an air suction system that controls the spatial pressure in the back surface space by a command from the control unit. And comprising. As a result, the amount of liquid flowing into an arbitrary area on the back surface of the substrate can be adjusted by discharging the inert gas to the back surface space area and controlling the spatial pressure in the back surface space area. In addition to supplying and processing the liquid, it is possible to supply and process the liquid to any part of the peripheral region on the back surface of the substrate.

  The air suction system is an example of a valve whose opening degree is adjusted by a command from the control unit, and a decompressor that controls the pressure in the back space area by reducing the pressure in the back space area when air passing through the valve is supplied. As an aspirator. Thereby, the decompression tool can easily control the pressure in the back space area by reducing the pressure in the back space area only by supplying air.

  The processing tank includes a fan disposed in the processing tank and a pressure gauge in the processing tank that detects a differential pressure in the processing tank and supplies a signal to the control unit. Thereby, even if the spatial pressure in the back surface space region is controlled, the control unit can keep the pressure in the processing tank constant with respect to the pressure in the back surface space region.

  A pure water supply system for supplying pure water whose flow rate and temperature are controlled is provided in a back space region formed between the substrate holding portion and the back surface of the substrate. Thereby, pure water whose temperature and supply amount are adjusted can be supplied to the back surface of the substrate, and the back surface of the substrate can be cleaned.

  The processing liquid is an etching solution, and the substrate holder has a chuck pin member that holds the substrate and a decoration cup that holds the chuck pin member. The chuck pin member and the decoration cup are made of a water-repellent material. ing. As a result, the chuck pin member and the decoration cup of the substrate holding unit can efficiently discharge the processing liquid and pure water to the outside of the substrate holding unit while preventing adhesion of the processing liquid and pure water.

  In the substrate processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the substrate is held by the substrate holding unit and rotated to perform processing with the processing liquid, the liquid supply unit performs processing on the surface of the substrate according to a command from the control unit. The liquid is supplied, the discharge gas supply system discharges the inert gas to the back space area formed between the substrate holding part and the back surface of the substrate by the command of the control unit, and the air suction system has the back space area by the command of the control unit Control the space pressure inside. As a result, the inert gas is discharged to the back surface space region, the air suction system sucks air in the back surface space region, and controls the spatial pressure in the back surface space region, so that liquid can be applied to any region on the back surface of the substrate. By adjusting the amount of wraparound, not only supplying and processing the processing liquid to the front surface of the substrate, but also supplying and processing the processing liquid to any part of the peripheral area of the back surface of the substrate Can do.

  In the conventional substrate processing apparatus, the substrate is processed in a state where the number of rotations of the substrate is low. Since it takes time for the processing solution (peeling solution) to react with the resist on the substrate, if processing is performed at several hundreds of rotations of the substrate, the processing solution is discharged from the substrate before reacting with the resist. turn into. For this reason, the substrate is rotated at a low speed such that the substrate is rotated 50 times per minute. That is, since the rotation of the substrate is low, the action of discharging the processing liquid due to the centrifugal force is small, so that the liquid that has entered the outer periphery of the back surface of the substrate is difficult to be discharged.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, maintaining the pressure in the back surface space region applies pressure in the back surface outer peripheral direction of the substrate. The resist is reacted with the processing solution.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the decoration cup is made of a hydrophobic material so that the treatment liquid does not stay on the outer peripheral surface of the back surface of the substrate and is smoothly discharged. In other words, the processing liquid that has reacted with the resist does not stay on the outer periphery indefinitely, and the newly supplied processing liquid can be supplied to the outer peripheral portion of the back surface of the substrate.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the atmosphere in the back surface space region is controlled by controlling the suction amount of the atmosphere in the back surface space region of the substrate and controlling the gas supply amount to the back surface space region of the substrate. However, the atmosphere in the back surface space region can be kept constant, for example, by making the supply side a constant supply amount and controlling only the suction side.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

  The back surface discharge gas nozzle 41 of the discharge gas supply system 15 shown in FIG. 2 can have the following characteristics. The back surface discharge gas nozzle 41 may be driven in the vertical direction (Z direction), for example, by operating an electric actuator. Thereby, the discharge front end portion 41T of the back surface discharge gas nozzle 41 is raised in the etching process of the substrate W and lowered in the drying process of the substrate W. Specifically, in the etching process, the discharge front end portion 41T of the back surface discharge nozzle 41 rises near the back surface of the substrate W. In this way, by bringing the discharge tip portion 41T closer to the back surface of the substrate W, the flow velocity of the discharged gas flows along the substrate W becomes faster, and the gas diffuses to the outer periphery, so that the etching control is easy. is there.

  Further, the discharge front end portion 41T of the back surface discharge gas nozzle 41 in the drying process is in a lowered state. By discharging nitrogen gas (inert gas) in a state where the discharge front end portion 41T is lowered, it is possible to discharge into the back space region 32 while diffusing nitrogen gas (inert gas). The entire region 32 can be dried. Further, since the discharge front end portion 41 </ b> T is out, the pure water supplied from the pure water nozzle 61 hits the back discharge gas nozzle 41 and is supplied. As a result, a liquid pool is generated in the vicinity of the back surface discharge gas nozzle 41, and a phenomenon in which the liquid pool fluctuates due to turbulent flow in the back surface space region 32 when the substrate W is rotated at a high speed in the drying process is suppressed. be able to.

  As another example of the structure of the back surface discharge gas nozzle 41, a mechanism in which the back surface discharge gas nozzle 41 itself can be contracted can be employed.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the air suction system 16 uses an aspirator 52 that generates a suction pressure and lowers the space pressure in the back surface space region 32 as a decompression tool that controls the space pressure in the back surface space region 32. doing. However, in the air suction system 16, instead of the aspirator 52, an electric pump can be used to suck the inside of the back space region 32 and control the pressure reduction of the space.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Substrate processing apparatus 4 Processing unit 10 Processing tank 11 Substrate holding | maintenance part 12 Movement operation part 13 Fan 14 with a filter for downflows Cup 15 Discharge gas supply system 16 Air suction system 17 Pure water (DIW) supply system 18 Liquid supply part 22 Chuck pin member 23 Decoration cup 32 Back space area 40 Arbitrary partial area 52 on the back surface of the substrate 52 Aspirator 54 Mass flow control valve (example of control valve)
100 Control unit H Pure water E Etching solution

Claims (7)

A substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate rotating in a processing tank,
A substrate holding unit for rotatably holding the substrate;
A control unit;
A liquid supply unit that supplies the processing liquid to the surface of the substrate according to a command from the control unit;
A discharge gas supply system that discharges an inert gas in response to a command from the control unit in a back space area formed between the substrate holding unit and the back surface of the substrate;
An air suction system for controlling the space pressure in the back surface space region according to the command of the control unit;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: The air suction system is
A valve whose opening is adjusted by a command from the control unit;
When the air passing through the valve is supplied, a decompression tool that depressurizes the back space area and controls the pressure in the back space area;
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The treatment tank is
A fan disposed in the treatment tank;
A pressure gauge in the processing tank that detects a pressure in the processing tank and supplies a signal to the control unit;
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The pure water supply system which supplies the pure water by which the flow volume and the temperature were controlled is provided in the back space area formed between the said board | substrate holding | maintenance part and the back surface of the said board | substrate. Substrate processing equipment.   The processing solution is an etching solution, and the substrate holding unit includes a chuck pin member that holds the substrate, and a decoration cup that holds the chuck pin member. The chuck pin member and the decoration cup include 5. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is made of a water repellent material.   The discharge gas supply system includes a back discharge gas nozzle that discharges the inert gas in the back space area of the substrate, and the back discharge gas nozzle can be driven up and down. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 5. A substrate processing method for processing a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate rotating in a processing tank,
When the substrate is held by the substrate holding unit and rotated to perform processing with the processing liquid, the liquid supply unit supplies the processing liquid to the surface of the substrate according to a command from the control unit,
The discharge gas supply system discharges an inert gas to a back space area formed between the substrate holding unit and the back surface of the substrate by a command from the control unit, and an air suction system performs the back space area by a command from the control unit. The substrate processing method characterized by controlling the space pressure inside.

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