JP2019106560A - Substrate processing device and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a substrate processing device and a substrate processing method, which can appropriately disperse rinse liquid to a position to be cleaned, prevent the device from being enlarged and execute cup cleaning in the middle of lot processing.SOLUTION: A special mode RM has a second rinse process in which under an operation condition different from a condition in a first rinse process in a normal mode NM, rinse liquid is supplied to a substrate W while holding and rotating the substrate W in a spin chuck 20 so that a processing cup 40 is cleaned with the rinse liquid dispersed from the rotated substrate W. In the special mode RM, as the substrate W is held in the spin chuck 20, the rinse liquid dispersed from the substrate W hardly collides with a chuck member 26, and in the special mode RM an exclusive mechanism for cup cleaning needs not to be provided. Further, the special mode RM can be executed when the substrate W is just placed in a chamber 10, which can be executed even in the middle of lot processing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a substrate processing apparatus has been used which performs a drying process after performing substrate surface processing such as chemical solution processing using a chemical solution and rinsing processing using a rinse solution such as pure water in a substrate manufacturing process. As such a substrate processing apparatus, a single-wafer-type apparatus for processing a substrate one by one and a batch-type apparatus for collectively processing a plurality of substrates are used.

  A single wafer processing type substrate processing apparatus usually performs chemical solution processing by supplying a chemical solution to the surface of a rotating substrate and rinse processing by supplying pure water, and then performs high-speed rotation of the substrate to perform swing-off and drying. . At this time, most of the scattered processing liquid is deposited on the inner wall of the cup surrounding the spin chuck, flows down and drains, but a part of the processing liquid may not be recovered while adhering to the inner wall of the cup. The processing liquid adhering to the inside of the cup becomes particles when it is dried, which causes the substrate to be contaminated. For this reason, a cup cleaning process for cleaning the cup is usually performed each time a predetermined number of substrates (typically, a predetermined lot) of substrates are processed. Such a single wafer type substrate processing apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1.

  The substrate processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a spin chuck that holds and rotates a substrate in a substantially horizontal posture, a nozzle that supplies a processing liquid to the upper surface of the substrate held by the spin chuck, and a periphery of the spin chuck. And a cup for receiving the processing liquid scattered from the substrate.

JP 2012-231049 A

  In the substrate processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a rinse liquid (typically pure water) is supplied to a spin base portion (a circular plate-like portion) of a spin chuck rotating without holding a substrate. The rinse liquid is scattered from the spin base by the centrifugal force of rotation. The rinse liquid splashes around the cup and its periphery, and cleans these splash points.

  However, in the embodiment in which the rinse liquid is supplied to the rotating spin base to disperse the rinse liquid as in Patent Document 1, a chuck mechanism (typically, a protrusion shape) for gripping a substrate in the spin chuck is used. The rinse liquid collides, and it is difficult to disperse the rinse liquid appropriately on the portion to be cleaned to which the chemical solution adheres.

  On the other hand, in a mode in which the substrate processing apparatus is equipped with a jig dedicated to cup cleaning processing and the rinse liquid is supplied to the cleaning jig held and rotated by the spin chuck to scatter the rinse liquid, the rinse liquid collides with the chuck mechanism. Although the above-described problem can be avoided, each time the cup cleaning process is performed, it is necessary to attach and detach the cleaning jig, resulting in a new problem that the throughput is lowered. Further, when the configuration dedicated to the cup cleaning processing is provided separately from the configuration necessary for the substrate processing as in this aspect, there is also a problem that the substrate processing apparatus becomes large.

  In addition, in this type of substrate processing apparatus, the cup cleaning process is performed during the period from the end of the substrate processing of the preceding lot (the group of the predetermined number of substrates subjected to the same processing) to the start of the substrate processing of the following lot. It is common to be done. Therefore, it is difficult to start the cup cleaning process without waiting for the completion of the lot process in progress when a request to perform the cup cleaning process is generated during the lot process.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to properly disperse the rinse liquid to the portion to be cleaned, and while waiting for the enlargement of the apparatus, and waiting for the completion of the lot processing under execution. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method capable of starting a cup cleaning process without performing the above process.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned subject, invention of Claim 1 is a substrate processing device which processes a plurality of substrates one by one, and the substrate holding means which holds the substrate, and the rotation which rotates the substrate holding means A processing apparatus main body comprising driving means and a plurality of cups surrounding the periphery of the substrate holding means, and a plurality of substrate processing modes are set in advance, and the processing apparatus main body is controlled to control the plurality of modes per substrate. Control means for selecting and executing one of the plurality of cups, wherein the plurality of cups draw a circular arc from a first cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the substrate holding means, and an upper end of the first cylindrical portion A first cup having a first guide portion extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means, a second cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the first cup, and the second cup located above the first guide portion Circle A second cup having a second guide portion extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the portion; and further comprising an elevation mechanism for raising and lowering the plurality of cups independently of each other The plurality of modes are (A) a mode in which the first substrate of the plurality of substrates is executed, and the first substrate is held by the substrate holding means and rotated while being rotated. A first chemical process for supplying a chemical solution and treating the first substrate with chemical solution, and supplying a rinse liquid to the first substrate while holding and rotating the first substrate by the substrate holding means, the first process A normal mode having a first rinse process for washing out the chemical solution from the substrate; and (B) a mode to be executed for a second substrate to be processed after the normal mode is executed among a plurality of the substrates The The second chemical solution process for supplying the chemical solution to the second substrate while holding and rotating the second substrate by the substrate holding means, and the second chemical process for treating the second substrate are different from the first rinse process Depending on the operating conditions, while the second substrate is held and rotated by the substrate holding means, a rinse liquid is supplied to the second substrate, and the chemical solution is washed away from the second substrate while rotating from the second substrate. And, a special mode having a second rinse process for washing the plurality of cups by the scattered rinse solution, wherein the second rinse process is performed in order of the second cup to the first cup. It features.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the substrate processing apparatus according to the invention according to claim 1, wherein the special mode is selected based on a predetermined scale, and the first chemical process and the second chemical process are the same. It is characterized in that it is a process.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the substrate processing apparatus according to the invention according to claim 2, wherein the special mode is the second substrate, and the normal mode is executed by the predetermined scale. It is characterized in that it is a mode executed for the second substrate to be processed.

  The invention of claim 4 is the substrate processing apparatus according to the invention of claim 3, wherein the scale is time, and the special mode is processed after the normal mode is executed for a predetermined time. It is characterized in that it is a mode executed for the target second substrate.

  The invention of claim 5 is the substrate processing apparatus according to the invention of claim 3, wherein the scale is the number of processed substrates, and in the special mode, a predetermined number of substrates are processed in the normal mode. And a mode to be executed for the second substrate to be processed after being processed.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the substrate processing apparatus according to the first aspect, further comprising: a sensor for detecting occurrence of a cause of trouble during the substrate processing, wherein the normal mode is the trouble cause by the sensor. The special mode is performed when occurrence is not detected, and the special mode is performed when occurrence of the failure cause is detected by the sensor.

  The invention of claim 7 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any of the inventions of claims 1 to 6, wherein the second rinse process moves the cup up and down to move the second substrate from the second substrate. It has a point adjustment sub-process which adjusts the place where the said rinse solution which splashed hits the said cup, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The invention according to claim 8 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the second rinse process variably adjusts the rotational speed at which the second substrate is rotated. Speed control sub-process.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the amount of the rinse liquid supplied to the second substrate by the second rinse process is To adjust the variable amount of.

  The invention according to claim 10 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are provided with a predetermined number of the same chemical process. It is characterized by being a substrate included in the group of substrates.

  The invention according to claim 11 is the substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the plurality of cups are a third cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the second cup, and A third cup having a third guide portion positioned above the second guide portion and extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the third cylindrical portion; Do.

  The invention of claim 12 is the substrate processing apparatus according to the invention of claim 11, wherein the second rinse process is executed in the order of the third cup, the second cup, and the first cup. It is characterized by

  The invention according to claim 13 is a processing apparatus main body comprising: a substrate holding means for holding a substrate; a rotational drive means for rotating the substrate holding means; and a plurality of cups surrounding the periphery of the substrate holding means; A substrate processing method for sequentially processing a plurality of substrates using control means for controlling the processing apparatus main body, wherein the plurality of cups are a first cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the substrate holding means And a first cup having a first guide portion extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the first cylindrical portion, and a second cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the first cup, And a second cup located above the first guiding portion and having a second guiding portion extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the second cylindrical portion, Several Are moved up and down independently of each other, and a setting step of setting a plurality of modes in the control means in advance, and one of the plurality of modes in the control means is selected and executed for each of the plurality of substrates And the plurality of modes are (A) modes to be executed for the first substrate among the plurality of substrates, wherein the first substrate is held by the substrate holding means. Supplying a chemical solution to the first substrate while rotating the substrate, and performing a chemical solution process on the first substrate; and holding the first substrate by the substrate holding means and rotating the first substrate. A first rinse process for supplying a rinse liquid and washing out the chemical solution from the first substrate; and (B) a plurality of the plurality of the substrates to be processed after the normal mode is executed. 2 A second chemical liquid process in which the chemical liquid is supplied to the second substrate while the second substrate is held and rotated by the substrate holding means in a mode to be executed on a plate, and the second substrate is subjected to chemical liquid processing And a rinse solution is supplied to the second substrate while rotating the second substrate while holding and rotating the second substrate under the operation condition different from the first rinse process, and the chemical solution is supplied from the second substrate. And D. a special mode having a second rinse process for washing the plurality of cups by the rinse liquid splashed from the rotating second substrate while washing away, and the second rinse process is performed from the second cup. It is characterized in that it is carried out in the order of the first cup.

  According to the invention of claims 1 to 13, a plurality of modes for operating the substrate processing apparatus are set in the control means. In the special mode, while the substrate is held by the substrate holding means and rotated by the rotation driving means under the operating conditions different from the first rinse process in the normal mode, the rinse liquid is supplied to the substrate to wash away the chemical solution from the substrate. It has the 2nd rinse process which wash | cleans a cup by the rinse solution splashed from the rotating board | substrate.

  In the special mode, since the substrate is held by the substrate holding means, the rinse liquid scattered from the substrate is unlikely to collide with the holding mechanism (for example, the chuck mechanism) of the substrate holding means. For this reason, the rinse liquid can be properly scattered to the cleaning target portion of the cup. Further, in the special mode, there is no need to provide a dedicated cleaning mechanism such as, for example, a cleaning jig, and the enlargement of the apparatus can be suppressed. Also, the special mode is an executable mode as long as there is a substrate in the chamber of the apparatus, and can also be performed during lot processing.

  According to the invention of claims 1 to 13, the special mode further includes a second chemical process corresponding to the first chemical process in the normal mode. For this reason, the substrate on which the special mode is executed can be used as a final product as in the substrate on which the normal mode is executed.

It is a top view of substrate processing device 1 concerning an embodiment. It is a longitudinal section of substrate processing device 1 concerning an embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the normal mode NM which concerns on embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which shows a mode that a chemical | medical solution disperses toward the outer cup 43 from the board | substrate W in the normal mode NM which concerns on embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which shows a mode that a pure water disperses toward the inner cup 41 from the board | substrate W in the normal mode NM which concerns on embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which shows a mode that a pure water disperses toward the inside cup 42 from the board | substrate W in the normal mode NM which concerns on embodiment. It is a flow chart which shows special mode RM concerning an embodiment. It is a time chart of a cup washing process concerning an embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which shows a mode that a chemical | medical solution disperses toward the outer cup 43 from the board | substrate W in special mode RM which concerns on embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which shows a mode that a chemical | medical solution disperses toward the inside cup 42 from the board | substrate W in special mode RM which concerns on embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which shows a mode that a chemical | medical solution disperses toward the inner cup 41 from the board | substrate W in special mode RM which concerns on embodiment. It is a time chart of a cup washing process concerning a modification. It is a time chart of a cup washing process concerning a modification. It is a flow chart which shows special mode RM concerning a modification. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 which shows a mode that a chemical | medical solution disperses toward the inner cup 41 from the board | substrate W in special mode RM which concerns on a modification.

  Each embodiment will be described in detail below.

<1 embodiment>
<1.1 Configuration of Substrate Processing Apparatus 1>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a top view of the substrate processing apparatus 1. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1. The substrate processing apparatus 1 is a sheet-fed processing apparatus for processing semiconductor substrates W one by one, and performs chemical processing on a circular silicon substrate W (cleaning liquid such as SC1 liquid, DHF liquid, SC2 liquid as a chemical liquid) And rinse treatment (supply of pure water to remove chemical solution) and then drying treatment. 1 shows a state in which the substrate W is not held by the spin chuck 20, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the substrate W is held by the spin chuck 20.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 processes the spin chuck 20 which holds the substrate W as a main element in a horizontal posture (a posture in which the normal line is in the vertical direction) in the chamber 10 and the upper surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. An upper processing solution nozzle 30 for supplying a solution and a processing cup 40 surrounding the spin chuck 20 are provided. Further, around the processing cup 40 in the chamber 10, a partition plate 15 is provided which divides the inner space of the chamber 10 up and down. In the present specification, the treatment liquid is a generic term including both a chemical solution and a rinse liquid (pure water).

  The chamber 10 includes a side wall 11 along the vertical direction, a ceiling wall 12 closing an upper side of a space surrounded by the side wall 11, and a floor wall 13 closing a lower side. A space surrounded by the side wall 11, the ceiling wall 12 and the floor wall 13 is a processing space of the substrate W. Further, an unloading port for loading and unloading the substrate W into and from the chamber 10 and a shutter for opening and closing the unloading port are provided in part of the side wall 11 of the chamber 10 (both not shown).

  A fan filter unit (FFU) 14 is attached to the ceiling wall 12 of the chamber 10 to further clean the air in the clean room where the substrate processing apparatus 1 is installed and to supply the air to the processing space in the chamber 10. . The fan filter unit 14 includes a fan and a filter (for example, a HEPA filter) for taking in air in the clean room and sending it out into the chamber 10, and forms a downflow of clean air in the processing space in the chamber 10. In order to uniformly disperse the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 14, a punching plate provided with a large number of blowout holes may be provided immediately below the ceiling wall 12.

  The spin chuck 20 (substrate holding means) has a disc-shaped spin base 21 fixed in a horizontal posture at the upper end of a rotary shaft 24 extending along the vertical direction, and a rotary shaft 24 disposed below the spin base 21. A spin motor 22 to be rotated and a cylindrical cover member 23 surrounding the spin motor 22 are provided. The outer diameter of the disk-shaped spin base 21 is slightly larger than the diameter of the circular substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. Thus, the spin base 21 has a holding surface 21 a that faces the entire lower surface of the substrate W to be held.

  A plurality of (four in the present embodiment) chuck members 26 are erected on the peripheral edge portion of the holding surface 21 a of the spin base 21. The plurality of chuck members 26 are equally spaced along the circumference corresponding to the outer circumference of the circular substrate W (in the case of four chuck members 26 as in the present embodiment, at 90 ° intervals) ) Are arranged. The plurality of chuck members 26 are interlocked and driven by a link mechanism (not shown) housed in the spin base 21. The spin chuck 20 holds the substrate W while holding the substrate W by bringing each of the plurality of chuck members 26 into contact with the edge of the substrate W, thereby holding the substrate W above the spin base 21 while approaching the holding surface 21 a. While being able to hold | maintain in the horizontal attitude which opened predetermined spacing space from the surface 21a (refer FIG. 2), each of several chuck members 26 can be separated from the edge of the board | substrate W, and clamping can be cancelled | released .

  The lower end of the cover member 23 covering the spin motor 22 is fixed to the floor wall 13 of the chamber 10, and the upper end reaches just below the spin base 21. At the upper end portion of the cover member 23, there is provided a hook-like member 25 which protrudes substantially horizontally outward from the cover member 23, and is bent and extended downward. The spin motor 22 (rotational driving means) rotates the rotation shaft 24 in a state in which the spin chuck 20 holds the substrate W by holding by the plurality of chuck members 26, and the vertical direction passing through the center of the substrate W is obtained. The substrate W can be rotated around the axis CX. The drive of the spin motor 22 is controlled by the controller 9.

  The upper surface treatment liquid nozzle 30 is configured by attaching a discharge head 31 to the tip of a nozzle arm 32. The base end side of the nozzle arm 32 is fixedly connected to the nozzle base 33. The nozzle base 33 is rotatable around an axis along the vertical direction by a motor (not shown). By rotating the nozzle base 33, the discharge head 31 of the upper processing liquid nozzle 30 has an arc-like locus in the horizontal plane between the processing position above the spin chuck 20 and the standby position outside the processing cup 40. Move along. The upper surface treatment liquid nozzle 30 is configured to be supplied with a plurality of kinds of treatment liquid (including at least a rinse liquid (pure water)). The processing liquid discharged from the discharge head 31 of the upper surface processing liquid nozzle 30 at the processing position is deposited on the upper surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. Further, by the rotation of the nozzle base 33, the upper processing liquid nozzle 30 can be swung above the holding surface 21a of the spin base 21.

  On the other hand, the lower surface treatment liquid nozzle 28 is provided along the vertical direction so as to insert the inside of the rotary shaft 24. The upper end opening of the lower surface treatment liquid nozzle 28 is formed at a position facing the center of the lower surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. A plurality of types of processing solutions are also supplied to the lower surface processing solution nozzle 28. The processing liquid discharged from the lower surface processing liquid nozzle 28 contacts the lower surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20.

  Further, in the substrate processing apparatus 1, a two-fluid nozzle 60 is provided separately from the upper surface processing liquid nozzle 30. The two-fluid nozzle 60 is a cleaning nozzle that mixes a rinse liquid such as pure water with a pressurized gas to generate droplets, and jets a mixed fluid of the droplets and the gas onto the substrate W. The two-fluid nozzle 60 has a liquid head (not shown) attached to the tip of the nozzle arm 62, and a gas head 64 attached to a support member provided so as to branch from the nozzle arm 62. The base end side of the nozzle arm 62 is fixedly connected to the nozzle base 63. The nozzle base 63 is rotatable around an axis along the vertical direction by a motor (not shown). By rotating the nozzle base 63, the two-fluid nozzle 60 moves in a circular arc along the horizontal direction between the processing position above the spin chuck 20 and the standby position outside the processing cup 40. A rinse liquid such as pure water is supplied to the liquid head, and a pressurized inert gas (in the present embodiment, nitrogen gas (N 2)) is supplied to the gas head 64. The mixed fluid of the rinse liquid ejected from the two-fluid nozzle 60 at the processing position is sprayed on the upper surface of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20.

  The processing cup 40 surrounding the spin chuck 20 is provided with a plurality of cups capable of moving up and down independently, that is, an inner cup 41, a middle cup 42 and an outer cup 43. The inner cup 41 surrounds the spin chuck 20 and has a shape that is substantially rotationally symmetric with respect to an axial center CX passing through the center of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. The inner cup 41 has an annular bottom portion 44 in plan view, a cylindrical inner wall 45 extending upward from the inner peripheral edge of the bottom 44, a cylindrical outer wall 46 extending upward from the outer peripheral edge of the bottom 44, and an inner wall A first guide portion 47 which rises from between the portion 45 and the outer wall portion 46 and extends obliquely upward at the center side (a direction approaching the axial center CX of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20) while drawing a smooth arc at the upper end. And a cylindrical middle wall portion 48 rising upward from between the first guide portion 47 and the outer wall portion 46 in an integrated manner.

  The inner wall portion 45 is formed to have a length such that the inner cup 41 is housed with an appropriate gap between the cover member 23 and the bowl-like member 25 in a state where the inner cup 41 is lifted most (FIG. 5) . The inner wall portion 48 is housed with an appropriate gap between a second guide portion 52 (described later) of the middle cup 42 and the treatment liquid separation wall 53 with the inner cup 41 and the middle cup 42 closest to each other. It is formed to have such a length.

  The first guide portion 47 has an upper end portion 47 b extending obliquely upward at the center side (direction approaching the axial center CX of the substrate W) while drawing a smooth circular arc. Further, between the inner wall 45 and the first guide 47, a waste groove 49 is provided for collecting and disposing of the used treatment liquid. An annular inner recovery groove 50 is provided between the first guide portion 47 and the middle wall portion 48 for collecting and recovering the used processing liquid. Furthermore, between the inner wall portion 48 and the outer wall portion 46, an annular outer collection groove 51 for collecting and collecting a treatment liquid different in type from the inner collection groove 50 is formed.

  An exhaust liquid mechanism (not shown) for forcibly exhausting the inside of the waste groove 49 is connected to the waste groove 49 while discharging the treatment liquid collected in the waste groove 49. For example, four exhaust liquid mechanisms are provided at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the waste groove 49. Further, in the inner collection groove 50 and the outer collection groove 51, a collection mechanism for collecting the processing liquid collected respectively in the inner collection groove 50 and the outer collection groove 51 into a collection tank provided outside the substrate processing apparatus 1. (All are not shown) are connected. The bottoms of the inner collection groove 50 and the outer collection groove 51 are inclined by a small angle with respect to the horizontal direction, and the collection mechanism is connected to the lowest position. As a result, the processing liquid flowing into the inner collection groove 50 and the outer collection groove 51 is collected smoothly.

  The middle cup 42 surrounds the spin chuck 20 and has a shape that is substantially rotationally symmetric with respect to an axial center CX passing through the center of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. The middle cup 42 integrally includes a second guide portion 52 and a cylindrical processing liquid separation wall 53 connected to the second guide portion 52.

  The second guiding portion 52 draws a smooth circular arc from the upper end of the lower end portion 52a coaxial with the lower end portion of the first guiding portion 47 and the upper end of the lower end portion 52a outside the first guiding portion 47 of the inner cup 41 It has an upper end 52b extending obliquely upward at the center side (a direction approaching the axial center CX of the substrate W), and a folded portion 52c formed by folding back the tip of the upper end 52b. The lower end portion 52a is accommodated in the inner collection groove 50 with an appropriate gap between the first guide portion 47 and the middle wall portion 48 in a state where the inner cup 41 and the middle cup 42 are closest to each other. Further, the upper end 52 b is provided so as to vertically overlap the upper end 47 b of the first guiding portion 47 of the inner cup 41, and the first guiding portion 47 is in a state where the inner cup 41 and the middle cup 42 are closest to each other. The top end portion 47b of the is closely spaced at a very small distance. Furthermore, in the folded back portion 52c formed by folding back the tip of the upper end portion 52b, the folded back portion 52c is the tip of the upper end portion 47b of the first guiding portion 47 in a state where the inner cup 41 and the middle cup 42 are closest to each other. And have a length that overlaps horizontally.

  Further, the upper end 52b of the second guiding portion 52 is formed to be thicker as it extends downward, and the treatment liquid separation wall 53 is provided to extend downward from the lower end outer peripheral edge of the upper end 52b. It has a cylindrical shape. The treatment liquid separation wall 53 is accommodated in the outer collection groove 51 with an appropriate gap between the middle wall portion 48 and the outer cup 43 in a state where the inner cup 41 and the middle cup 42 are closest to each other.

  The outer cup 43 surrounds the spin chuck 20 at the outer side of the second guide portion 52 of the middle cup 42, and is substantially rotationally symmetric with respect to an axial center CX passing through the center of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. It has a shape. The outer cup 43 has a function as a third guiding portion. The outer cup 43 has a lower end 43a coaxial with the lower end 52a of the second guide 52, and a smooth circular arc drawn from the upper end of the lower end 43a at the center side (direction approaching the axial center CX of the substrate W) It has an upper end portion 43b extending obliquely upward, and a folded back portion 43c formed by folding back the tip end portion of the upper end portion 43b.

  The lower end portion 43a maintains an appropriate gap between the treatment liquid separation wall 53 of the middle cup 42 and the outer wall portion 46 of the inner cup 41 in the state where the inner cup 41 and the outer cup 43 are closest to each other. It is housed in 51. The upper end portion 43b is provided to overlap the second guide portion 52 of the middle cup 42 in the vertical direction, and the upper end portion 52b of the second guide portion 52 with the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 closest to each other. Close to each other with a very small gap. Furthermore, in the folded back portion 43c formed by folding back the tip end portion of the upper end portion 43b, the folded back portion 43c and the folded back portion 52c of the second guide portion 52 are in a state where the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 are closest to each other. It is formed to overlap in the horizontal direction.

  Further, the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 can be moved up and down independently of each other. That is, each of the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43 is individually provided with a lifting mechanism (not shown), whereby it is separately lifted and lowered independently. As such an elevating mechanism, for example, various mechanisms such as a ball screw mechanism and an air cylinder can be adopted.

  The partition plate 15 is provided to partition the inner space of the chamber 10 up and down around the processing cup 40. The partition plate 15 may be a single plate-like member surrounding the processing cup 40 or may be a plurality of plate-like members joined together. Further, the partition plate 15 may be formed with a through hole or a notch penetrating in the thickness direction, and in the present embodiment, the nozzle bases 33 and 63 of the upper surface treatment liquid nozzle 30 and the two fluid nozzle 60 are supported. A through hole is formed for passing a support shaft for the purpose.

  The outer peripheral end of the partition plate 15 is connected to the side wall 11 of the chamber 10. Further, the end edge portion surrounding the processing cup 40 of the partition plate 15 is formed in a circular shape having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the outer cup 43. Therefore, the partition plate 15 does not interfere with the lifting and lowering of the outer cup 43.

  Further, an exhaust duct 18 is provided in the vicinity of the floor wall 13 which is a part of the side wall 11 of the chamber 10. The exhaust duct 18 is connected in communication with an exhaust mechanism (not shown). Of the clean air supplied from the fan filter unit 14 and flowing down the inside of the chamber 10, the air that has passed between the processing cup 40 and the partition plate 15 is exhausted from the exhaust duct 18 to the outside of the apparatus.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 further includes a control unit 9 that controls the processing apparatus main body DB configured of the above-described components. The configuration of the control unit 9 as hardware is the same as that of a general computer. That is, the control unit 9 stores a CPU that performs various arithmetic processing, a ROM that is a read only memory that stores a basic program, a RAM that is a readable and writable memory that stores various information, control software, data, and the like. It is configured to have a magnetic disk etc.

  A plurality of substrate processing modes in the substrate processing apparatus 1 are set in advance in a storage unit (magnetic disk or the like) of the control unit 9 (setting step), and the CPU of the control unit 9 executes a predetermined processing program. Each operation mechanism of the substrate processing apparatus 1 is controlled by selecting and executing one of the plurality of modes (process execution step).

<1.2 Operation of Substrate Processing Apparatus 1>
Next, each operation mode (each mode) in the substrate processing apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described.

  The substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a normal mode NM (FIG. 3) set as a default mode among a plurality of modes, and a special selected exceptionally or temporarily when a predetermined condition is satisfied. Mode RM (FIG. 8, FIG. 9). The substrate processing apparatus 1 selects and executes one of the normal mode NM and the special mode RM on the substrate W sequentially transported to the apparatus. A mode different from the above two modes may be additionally set in the control unit 9 of the substrate processing apparatus 1 and the additional mode may be selectable, but in the present embodiment, the above two modes are particularly selected. The case where only the mode is set will be described.

<1.2.1 Normal mode NM>
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the normal mode NM in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. The normal mode NM will be described below with reference to FIG.

  First, a substrate W to be processed is carried into the chamber 10 by the transfer robot (not shown) (step ST1). The four chuck members 26 are driven, and the substrate W is held by the spin chuck 20 (step ST2). The spin motor 22 rotates the rotation shaft 24 to rotate the substrate W around an axis CX along the vertical direction passing through the center of the substrate W (step ST3).

  Next, the nozzle arm 32 of the upper processing liquid nozzle 30 is rotated to move the discharge head 31 above the spin base 21 (for example, above the axis CX), and the substrate W rotated by the spin chuck 20 A chemical solution is supplied to the upper surface from the upper surface treatment liquid nozzle 30. The chemical solution supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W spreads over the entire upper surface of the rotating substrate W by centrifugal force. Thereby, the chemical processing of the substrate W proceeds (step ST4). Then, the chemical solution is scattered around the edge of the rotating substrate W.

  In step ST4, for example, only the outer cup 43 ascends, and spin is performed between the upper end 43b of the outer cup 43 and the upper end 52b of the second guiding portion 52 of the middle cup 42 in order to recover the scattered chemical solution. An opening OPa surrounding the periphery of the substrate W held by the chuck 20 is formed (FIG. 4). As a result, the chemical solution (indicated by a dotted arrow in FIG. 4) scattered from the edge of the rotating substrate W is received by the upper end 43b of the outer cup 43, and flows down along the inner surface of the outer cup 43, thereby collecting the outer collection groove. It is collected at 51. After a predetermined time has elapsed (or after the supply of a predetermined amount of chemical solution), the supply of the chemical solution is stopped.

  Next, pure water (rinsing liquid) is supplied from the upper surface processing liquid nozzle 30 to the upper surface of the substrate W rotated by the spin chuck 20. The pure water supplied to the upper surface of the substrate W spreads over the entire upper surface of the rotating substrate W by centrifugal force. Thus, the water washing process in which the chemical solution remaining on the upper surface of the substrate W flows is advanced (step ST5). Then, the pure water is scattered around the edge of the rotating substrate W.

  In step ST5, for example, all of the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43 are lifted, and the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20 is surrounded by the first guide portion 47 of the inner cup 41 (see FIG. 5). As a result, pure water (shown by a dotted arrow in FIG. 5) scattered from the edge of the rotating substrate W is received by the inner cup 41 and flows down along the inner wall of the first guide portion 47, from the waste groove 49. Exhausted. In the case where pure water is recovered by a route separate from the chemical solution, the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 are raised, and the upper end 52 b of the second guiding portion 52 of the middle cup 42 and the first guide of the inner cup 41 An opening OPb may be formed between the upper end 47b of the portion 47 and the periphery of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20 (FIG. 6). After a predetermined time has elapsed (or after supplying a predetermined amount of pure water), the supply of pure water is stopped.

  Then, step ST4 (unit first chemical process) and step ST5 (unit first rinse process) are alternately repeated until all chemical processing determined in the substrate processing recipe is performed (step ST6). In the present specification, step ST4 executed a plurality of times for one substrate W in the normal mode NM is referred to as "unit first chemical process", and a collective concept of a plurality of unit first chemical processes is referred to as "first It is called "chemical process". Similarly, in the normal mode NM, step ST5 executed a plurality of times for one substrate W is called "unit first rinse process", and a collective concept of a plurality of unit first rinse processes is "first rinse process". Call it

  When the first chemical solution process and the first rinse process are completed, a drying process of the substrate W is performed (step ST7). When the drying process is performed, all the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43 are lowered, and the upper end 47b of the first guiding portion 47 of the inner cup 41 and the upper end 52b of the second guiding portion 52 of the middle cup 42 The upper end 43 b of the outer cup 43 is located below the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20. In this state, the substrate W is rotated at high speed together with the spin chuck 20, and the droplets (droplets of chemical solution or water droplets) adhering to the substrate W are shaken off by centrifugal force and the drying process is performed.

  After that, the rotation of the substrate W is stopped (step ST8), the four chuck members 26 are driven, and the substrate W is released from the spin chuck 20 (step ST9). It is carried out (step ST10).

  As described above, in the normal mode NM, the surface treatment is performed by supplying the processing liquid (chemical solution and rinse liquid (pure water)) to the substrate W. Although most of the processing liquid scattered from the rotating substrate W is recovered and drained by the processing cup 40, the processing liquid scattered to the processing cup 40 may adhere without being drained and may remain.

  As described above, when the processing liquid adhering to the inside of the cup is dried, particles and the like may be generated, which may become a contamination source for the processing target substrate W. Therefore, in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the inside of the processing cup 40 is cleaned by performing a special mode RM (FIGS. 8 and 9) described later.

<1.2.2 Special mode RM>
The special mode RM is a mode in which not only the substrate processing is performed on the substrate W as in the normal mode NM, but also the internal cleaning of the processing cup 40 is performed. Special mode RM is
(1) When a predetermined number of substrates are processed in the "number of sheets", that is, in the normal mode NM,
(2) When the substrate processing apparatus 1 is operated for a predetermined time in the “time basis”, that is, in the normal mode NM,
(3) “criteria of occurrence of trouble cause”, for example, when an attached substance is detected inside the processing cup 40 by a sensor (not shown) or when the atmosphere contamination of the processing space in the chamber 10 is detected, When detecting that a problem has occurred in maintaining high-precision substrate processing,
An exceptionally or temporarily selected mode which is applied to a substrate to be processed immediately after the predetermined condition is satisfied, if the predetermined condition is satisfied. The control unit 9 is set in advance.

  Among them, the special mode RM is periodically executed based on the number of substrates subjected to chemical solution processing (substrate cleaning) in the “number basis”, and the special mode RM is periodically performed as the time basis in the “time basis”. Is performed, the special mode RM is periodically executed when viewed on the scale (number and time) of those.

  On the other hand, in the "problem cause occurrence criteria", the special mode RM is often executed aperiodically because such a cause does not necessarily occur periodically. However, whether cyclic or aperiodic, the number of substrates cleaned in the special mode RM is considerably smaller than the number of substrates cleaned in the normal mode NM.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the special mode RM in the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the steps ST1 to ST3 and ST6 to ST10 are the same as the normal mode NM described above, so that the steps ST4A and ST5A, which are steps unique to the special mode RM, are detailed below. Describe.

  In addition, also in the special mode RM, step ST4A executed a plurality of times for one substrate W is referred to as "unit second chemical process", and a collective concept of a plurality of unit second chemical processes is "second chemical process". Call it In addition, step ST5A executed a plurality of times for one substrate W is referred to as a "unit second rinse process", and a collective concept of a plurality of unit second rinse processes is referred to as a "second rinse process".

  The second chemical process in the special mode RM is a process corresponding to the first chemical process in the normal mode NM, and supplies a chemical to the substrate W held and rotated by the spin chuck 20 to process the substrate W with a plurality of units. It has a second chemical process.

  The second rinse process in the special mode RM includes a plurality of unit second rinse processes in which a rinse solution (pure water) is supplied to the substrate W held and rotated by the spin chuck 20 to perform a rinse process on the substrate W. Common to the first rinse process of the normal mode NM. On the other hand, at least one unit first rinse process among the plurality of unit first rinse processes has at least one unit second rinse process (this process is hereinafter referred to as a cup cleaning process) having different operating conditions. The second rinse process is different from the first rinse process described above.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a time chart of the cup cleaning process. The cup cleaning process is a process mainly directed to the substrate rinsing process and the inner cleaning process of the processing cup 40, unlike the other unit second rinsing process mainly directed to the substrate rinsing process. In the following description, t0 to t9 indicate elapsed times in the cup cleaning process.

  In the early stage (time t0 to time t3 shown in FIG. 8) of the cup cleaning process, the inner cup 41 and the middle cup 42 are lowered, the outer cup 43 is raised, and the upper end of the outer cup 43 A ring-shaped opening OPa surrounding the periphery of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20 is formed between 43b and the upper end 52b of the second guide 52 of the middle cup 42 (FIG. 9).

  During the period from time t0 to time t1, the substrate is rotated by the spin chuck 20 at a high speed (for example, 2400 rpm). For this reason, the pure water supplied onto the substrate W from the upper surface treatment liquid nozzle 30 scatters upward from the edge portion of the substrate W along the trajectory of the dotted arrow AR1 in FIG. 9 through the opening OPa. The pure water deposited on the inner wall of the upper end portion 43b of the outer cup 43 (in particular, a position close to the axial center CX) flows down along the inner wall and is discharged from the outer collection groove 51 (FIG. 2). As a result, contaminants such as particles adhering to the inner wall of the outer cup 43 (in particular, a position close to the axial center CX) are washed away by the pure water.

  During the period from time t1 to time t2, the substrate is rotated by the spin chuck 20 at a medium speed (for example, 1200 rpm). Therefore, the pure water supplied onto the substrate W from the upper processing liquid nozzle 30 passes through the opening OPa between the outer cup 43 and the middle cup 42, and the end of the substrate W follows the trajectory of the dotted arrow AR2 in FIG. Scatters from the edge in a substantially horizontal direction. The pure water deposited on the inner wall of the upper end portion 43b of the outer cup 43 (in particular, at a position far from the axial center CX) flows down along the inner wall and is discharged from the outer collection groove 51 (FIG. 2). As a result, contaminants such as particles adhering to the inner wall of the outer cup 43 (in particular, the position far from the axial center CX) are washed away by the pure water. In the inner wall of the outer cup 43, particularly, the position far from the axial center CX is a point where pure water has already flowed down also during the period from time t0 to time t1, as shown in FIG. Even if the period is shorter than the period from time t0 to time t1, a sufficient cup cleaning effect can be obtained.

  In the period from time t2 to time t3, the rotation of the substrate by the spin chuck 20 is performed at a low speed (for example, 500 rpm). For this reason, the pure water supplied onto the substrate W from the upper processing liquid nozzle 30 scatters downward from the edge of the substrate W along the trajectory of the dotted arrow AR3 in FIG. 9 through the opening OPa. The pure water deposited on the upper end portion 52b of the second guide portion 52 of the middle cup 42 flows down along the upper surface thereof and is discharged from the outer collection groove 51 (FIG. 2). As a result, contaminants such as particles adhering to the upper end 52b of the second guiding portion 52 of the middle cup 42 are washed away by the pure water.

  Thus, the cup cleaning process has a speed adjustment sub-process that variably adjusts the rotation speed of rotating the substrate W. Then, by executing the speed adjustment sub-process, it is possible to scatter pure water through the opening OPa in a desired part of the section sandwiched by the outer cup 43 and the middle cup 42.

  In the middle of the cup washing process (time t3 to time t6), the inner cup 41 is in the lowered state, and the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 are in the raised state, and the second guide portion 52 of the middle cup 42 An opening OPb surrounding the periphery of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 20 is formed between the upper end 52b of the first cup and the upper end 47b of the first guide 47 of the inner cup 41 (FIG. 10).

  Also in the period from time t3 to time t6, the speed adjustment sub-process is executed as in the period from time t0 to time t3. As a result, according to the high speed to low speed of the rotational speed of the substrate W, the trajectories of pure water through the opening OPb between the middle cup 42 and the inner cup 41 become arrows AR4 to AR6 (FIG. 10). Contaminations such as particles adhering to the inner wall of the second guide portion 52 and the upper surface of the first guide portion 47 of the inner cup 41 are washed away by the pure water.

  Further, in the final stage of the cup cleaning process (period of time t6 to time t8), the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42 and the outer cup 43 are all raised, and the first guide portion 47 of the inner cup 41 is a spin The substrate W held by the chuck 20 is in a state of being surrounded (FIG. 11).

  Also in the period from time t6 to time t8, the speed adjustment sub-process is executed similarly to the period from time t0 to time t2 and the period from time t3 to time t5. As a result, according to the rotational speed of the substrate W from high speed to medium speed, the trajectory of pure water through the inner opening OPc of the inner cup 41 becomes arrows AR7 to AR8 (FIG. 11), and the first guide portion of the inner cup 41 Contaminants such as particles adhering to the inner wall of 47 are washed away by the pure water. The low speed rotation of the substrate W is not performed at the end of the cup cleaning process because the cleaning object cup (inner cup 42 in the first stage of the cup cleaning process, inner cup 41 in the middle) which is positioned inside the inner cup 41 Cup) does not exist.

  As described above, in the cup cleaning process, the speed adjustment subprocess which variably adjusts the rotation speed of rotating the substrate W, and the position where the pure water scattered from the substrate W hits the processing cup 40 by moving the processing cup 40 up and down. Control subprocess; and Then, by appropriately combining these sub-processes, each part of the processing cup 40 can be cleaned with high accuracy (dispersion of pure water into each part).

  Referring back to FIG. 7, a series of flows of the special mode RM will be described. When the substrate W to be processed is carried into the chamber 10 (step ST1), the substrate W is held by the spin chuck 20 (step ST2), and the substrate W is rotated around the axis CX by the spin motor 22. (Step ST3).

  Then, the unit second chemical liquid process (step ST4A) and the unit second rinse process (step ST5A) are alternately performed a predetermined number of times according to the recipe. At this time, at least one of the unit second rinse processes (step ST5A), the above-described cup cleaning process having different operating conditions from the unit first rinse process (step ST5) is performed.

  When the second chemical solution process and the second rinse process are completed, the drying process of the substrate W is performed (step ST7). Thereafter, the rotation of the substrate W is stopped (step ST8), the four chuck members 26 are driven, and the substrate W is released from the spin chuck 20 (step ST9). It is carried out (step ST10). As described above, in the special mode RM, the rinse liquid (pure water) used for the purpose of washing out the chemical solution on the substrate W is also used for cup cleaning.

<1.3 Effects of Substrate Processing Apparatus 1>
Hereinafter, the effects of the substrate processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described.

  In the special mode RM, a part of the normal mode NM is changed to execute the cup cleaning process, so that the cleaning process of the processing cup 40 can be performed in addition to the substrate processing. Thereby, the contamination source adhering to the inside of the cup can be effectively washed away, and the yield of the substrate processing apparatus 1 can be improved.

  Also, of the second rinse process, the cup cleaning process has a velocity adjustment subprocess and a site adjustment subprocess. Therefore, by appropriately combining and executing these sub-processes by the control unit 9, each part of the processing cup 40 can be cleaned with high accuracy (dispersion of pure water in each part).

  In addition, the rinse solution is applied to the processing target substrate W as the cup cleaning process in the special mode RM under different operating conditions (length of rinse solution supply time, length of rotation of substrate W, presence of cup up and down movement, etc.). Supplied. However, in the case where pure water is used as the rinse liquid as in this embodiment, or in the case where the chemical solution sufficiently diluted as the rinse liquid is used, the above-mentioned operating condition is different from the normal mode NM. An adverse effect on the substrate W can be prevented (a reduction in yield can be prevented).

  In addition, the special mode RM is a mode that can be executed at timing when the substrate W is disposed in the chamber 10. As described above, since the time restriction in the execution of the special mode RM is small, when there is a request for cleaning the processing cup 40 in the middle of lot processing (in-cup cleaning request according to the above-mentioned "inference cause occurrence criteria" For example, when the sensor detects a contamination source attached to the processing cup 40, the atmosphere contamination in the chamber 10 is detected, etc.), the special mode RM is performed without waiting for the completion of the ongoing lot processing. It becomes possible.

  Further, the special mode RM of the present embodiment is executed in a state where the substrate W is attached to the spin chuck 20. For this reason, unlike the mode in which the rinse liquid (pure water) is supplied to the rotating spin base to scatter the rinse liquid as in Patent Document 1, a chuck mechanism (typically, for gripping a substrate in the spin chuck) Is less likely to cause the rinse liquid to collide with the projection shape, and the rinse liquid can be appropriately scattered to the portion to be cleaned to which the chemical solution is attached.

  Further, each element in the chamber 10 such as the spin chuck 20, the processing cup 40, and the upper processing liquid nozzle 30 is originally used to perform the surface processing on the substrate W originally, and other than the substrate W It is not provided for the purpose of cleaning the In the present embodiment, the substrate processing apparatus 1 is enlarged because the rinse processing of the processing cup 40 is performed by the mode selection by the control unit 9 without providing a dedicated mechanism (cleaning jig or the like) for cleaning the processing cup 40. It can be deterred.

  In particular, the rotation speed of the substrate W can be variably adjusted, and as shown in FIG. 9 etc., the rinse liquid is discharged and scattered while changing the number of rotations during the cleaning period of the cup inner wall. It is possible to extensively wash the inner wall of the cup in such a manner as to scan in the vertical direction. Such rotational speed changes may be stepwise as in this embodiment, or may be continuously changed in time.

<2 variations>
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various modifications can be made to the present invention other than those described above without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, although the rinse liquid used in the first rinse process and the second rinse process is pure water, the present invention is not limited to this, and a solution obtained by diluting a chemical solution with pure water is used as the rinse liquid You may use it. The normal mode NM and the special mode RM described above are merely examples of the processing mode, and for example, a mode in which the processing liquid is supplied to the lower surface of the substrate W from the lower surface processing liquid nozzle 28 may be adopted.

  12 and 13 are time charts according to a modification of the cup cleaning process of the above embodiment.

  The cup cleaning process may include a supply amount adjustment sub-process that variably adjusts the supply amount of the rinse liquid (pure water) supplied to the substrate W. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, in the period (time t0 to time t1, time t3 to time t4, time t6 to time t7) in which the substrate is rotated at high speed for cleaning the portion near the substrate W of the processing cup 40 In the case where the supply amount of pure water is increased, it is possible to effectively wash out a contamination source (a contamination source having a high possibility of contamination on the substrate W) adhering to a position close to the substrate W in the processing cup 40.

  In addition, in the position adjustment sub-process in which the processing cup 40 is moved up and down, as shown in FIG. 13, the vertical movement of the processing cup 40 may be repeatedly performed in a certain upper and lower section. In the section where the repeated vertical movement is performed, the rinse liquid (pure water) is scattered all over the processing cup 40, and the contamination source can be effectively washed out over a wide area. When moving the processing cup 40 up and down, it is effective to change the speed of moving the processing cup according to the vertical position of the processing cup 40. For example, the cup cleaning process can be efficiently performed by raising and lowering the processing cup 40 quickly at a position where the contamination source adheres to the processing cup 40 and raising and lowering the processing cup 40 at a position where the contamination source adheres to the processing cup 40. be able to.

  In the above embodiment, the upper processing liquid nozzle 30 is used as the rinse liquid supply nozzle for supplying the rinse liquid to the upper surface of the substrate W, but instead, the two base fluid nozzle 60 rinses the spin base 21 with the rinse liquid. You may supply it.

  In the above embodiment, the processing cup 40 is provided with the inner cup 41, the middle cup 42, and the outer cup 43 which can be moved up and down independently of one another. However, three cups are integrally formed to move up and down. It is good. When three cups are integrally stacked in multiple stages along the height direction, the respective cups may be moved up and down so as to surround the holding surface 21 a of the spin base 21 sequentially. Furthermore, the processing cup 40 may comprise only a single-stage cup surrounding the spin base 21.

  The substrate to be processed by the substrate processing apparatus 1 is not limited to a semiconductor substrate, and may be various substrates such as a glass substrate used for flat panel displays such as liquid crystal display devices.

  In the above embodiment, in the normal mode NM, the first chemical process has a plurality of unit first chemical processes, and the first rinse process has a plurality of unit first rinse processes. It is not limited. That is, this is an embodiment in which the first chemical process has one unit first chemical process and the first rinse process has one unit first rinse process (an embodiment in which the chemical treatment and the rinse process are performed once). It does not matter. The same applies to the second chemical process and the second rinse process.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the aspect in which special mode RM has a 2nd chemical | medical solution process, it is not restricted to this. The special mode RM only needs to have at least the second rinse process, and may not have the second chemical process as shown in FIG. This mode is a mode in the case where the substrate W is not used as a final product, and since the second chemical process is not performed, the required time is short, and pure water can be supplied as strongly as the substrate W is damaged. From the viewpoint, there is an advantage that even a rinse solution that can not be used for the substrate W can be used if it is effective for cup cleaning. Therefore, it is particularly effective for the substrate W which can not be used as the final product in the first place due to the influence of scratches and the like in the previous process of being transported to the chamber 10.

  FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus 1 in the case of performing liquid tight cleaning in the cup cleaning process. As understood from comparison with FIG. 9, in FIG. 15, the vertical width of the opening OPa formed between the upper end 43b of the outer cup 43 and the upper end 52b of the second guide 52 of the middle cup 42 is small. . Thus, by narrowing the distance between the cups to be cleaned (in FIG. 15, between the outer cup 43 and the middle cup 42), the space between the cups is scattered from the substrate W and supplied with pure water (in the figure Can be filled efficiently and cup washing can be performed.

  As mentioned above, although the substrate processing apparatus 1 which concerns on embodiment and its modification was demonstrated, these are examples of preferable embodiment to this invention, Comprising: The scope of implementation of this invention is not limited. In the scope of the invention, the present invention allows free combination of each embodiment, or deformation of any component of each embodiment, or omission of any component in each embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 substrate processing apparatus 9 control part 10 chamber 20 spin chuck 21 spin base 22 spin motor 26 chuck member 30 upper processing liquid nozzle 40 processing cup 41 inner cup 42 middle cup 43 outer cup 47 1st guide part 52 2nd guide part CX axis Heart NM Normal Mode OPa, OPb, OPc Opening RM Special Mode

Claims (13)

A substrate processing apparatus for sequentially processing a plurality of substrates, the substrate processing apparatus comprising:
A processing apparatus main body comprising: substrate holding means for holding the substrate; rotation driving means for rotating the substrate holding means; and a plurality of cups surrounding the substrate holding means.
Control means for setting a plurality of substrate processing modes in advance and controlling the main body of the processing apparatus to select and execute one of the plurality of modes for each substrate;
Equipped with
The plurality of cups are
A first cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the substrate holding means, and a first cup having a first guide portion extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the first cylindrical portion;
A second cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the first cup, and a second cylindrical portion located above the first guiding portion and extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the second cylindrical portion A second cup having a guiding portion;
Including
The apparatus further comprises an elevation mechanism that raises and lowers the plurality of cups independently of each other,
The plurality of modes are
(A) A mode executed for a first substrate among a plurality of the substrates, wherein the first substrate is held by the substrate holding means and supplied with a chemical solution to the first substrate while being rotated; A first chemical process for performing a chemical process on the first substrate;
A first rinse process of supplying a rinse liquid to the first substrate while holding and rotating the first substrate by the substrate holding means, and washing out the chemical solution from the first substrate;
With normal mode, and
(B) a mode to be executed for a second substrate to be processed after the normal mode is executed among the plurality of substrates,
A second chemical process for supplying the chemical solution to the second substrate while holding and rotating the second substrate by the substrate holding means, and performing a chemical process on the second substrate;
The rinse solution is supplied to the second substrate while the second substrate is held and rotated by the substrate holding unit under the operation condition different from the first rinse process, and the chemical solution is washed away from the second substrate. A second rinse process for cleaning the plurality of cups by the rinse solution scattered from the rotating second substrate;
With a special mode,
Including
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the second rinse process is performed in order of the second cup to the first cup. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
The special mode is selected based on a predetermined scale,
A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the first chemical process and the second chemical process are the same process. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the special mode is the second substrate and is a mode to be executed on the second substrate to be processed after the normal mode is executed by a predetermined amount of the scale. . The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
The scale is time,
The special mode is a mode to be executed for the second substrate to be processed after the normal mode is executed for a predetermined time. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
The scale is the number of processed substrates,
The special mode is a mode to be executed for the second substrate to be processed after a predetermined number of substrates have been processed in the normal mode. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
It has a sensor that detects the occurrence of the cause of trouble during substrate processing,
The normal mode is executed when the occurrence of the failure cause is not detected by the sensor;
The special mode is executed when the occurrence of the trouble cause is detected by the sensor. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a position adjustment sub-process in which the second rinse process moves the cup up and down to adjust a position where the rinse liquid splashed from the second substrate hits the cup. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein
A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a speed adjustment sub-process in which the second rinse process variably adjusts a rotational speed at which the second substrate is rotated. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein
A substrate processing apparatus, wherein the second rinse process has a supply amount adjustment sub-process which variably adjusts the supply amount of the rinse liquid to be supplied to the second substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are substrates included in a group of a predetermined number of substrates subjected to the same chemical process. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein
The plurality of cups are
A third cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the second cup, and a third cylindrical portion located above the second guiding portion and extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the third cylindrical portion A substrate processing apparatus, further comprising a third cup having a guide portion. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the second rinse process is performed in order of the third cup, the second cup, and the first cup. A processing apparatus main body comprising a substrate holding means for holding a substrate, a rotational drive means for rotating the substrate holding means, and a plurality of cups surrounding the periphery of the substrate holding means, and a control means for controlling the processing apparatus main body ,
A substrate processing method for sequentially processing a plurality of substrates using
The plurality of cups are
A first cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the substrate holding means, and a first cup having a first guide portion extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the first cylindrical portion;
A second cylindrical portion surrounding the periphery of the first cup, and a second cylindrical portion located above the first guiding portion and extending obliquely upward on the center side of the substrate holding means while drawing an arc from the upper end of the second cylindrical portion A second cup having a guiding portion;
Including
The plurality of cups are raised and lowered independently of each other,
A setting step of setting a plurality of modes in advance in the control means;
A process execution step of selecting and executing one of the plurality of modes in the control means for each of the plurality of substrates;
Equipped with
The plurality of modes are
(A) A mode executed for a first substrate among a plurality of the substrates, wherein the first substrate is held by the substrate holding means and supplied with a chemical solution to the first substrate while being rotated; A first chemical process for performing a chemical process on the first substrate;
A first rinse process of supplying a rinse liquid to the first substrate while holding and rotating the first substrate by the substrate holding means, and washing out the chemical solution from the first substrate;
With normal mode, and
(B) a mode to be executed for a second substrate to be processed after the normal mode is executed among the plurality of substrates,
A second chemical process for supplying the chemical solution to the second substrate while holding and rotating the second substrate by the substrate holding means, and performing a chemical process on the second substrate;
The rinse solution is supplied to the second substrate while the second substrate is held and rotated by the substrate holding unit under the operation condition different from the first rinse process, and the chemical solution is washed away from the second substrate. A second rinse process for cleaning the plurality of cups by the rinse solution scattered from the rotating second substrate;
With a special mode,
Including
The second rinse process is performed in order of the second cup to the first cup.

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