JP2520833B2 - Immersion type liquid treatment device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The disclosed technology relates to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly to an immersion type liquid processing apparatus suitable for application to a photoresist film coating apparatus and a developing apparatus.

[0002]

As is well known to those skilled in the art, generally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, a film is uniformly deposited on the entire surface of a substrate to be processed such as a wafer, for example, a photoresist film is deposited. In the developing process, the so-called single-wafer type spin developing apparatus is used for liquid-processing one substrate to be processed from the standpoint of unmanning for high efficiency of the process and promoting continuous processing. .

In the seed sheet type spin developing apparatus,
Normally, the developing solution is discharged onto the substrate to be processed by a discharge nozzle or a spray and the liquid is piled up by the action of the surface tension of the developing solution. There is a limit to the amount of liquid that can be puddle on the substrate, and when the developing solution is discharged by a discharge nozzle or a spray, the entire surface does not become a uniform puddle state, so It is impossible to prevent adverse effects such as generation of undesired liquid unevenness on the substrate and collision of the discharged developer with the substrate.

Further, as a developing solution which has been recently used, a developing solution to which a surfactant is added in order to improve resolution or a developing solution having a low surface tension tends to be used. Since it has become difficult to puddle the required amount of the developing solution only due to the effect of the surface tension, an immersion type developing device has been desired instead of the spin developing device.

As a device considering such a point, for example,
As shown in FIG. 5, there is an immersion type developing device such as the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 60-52622.

That is, in the mode of the immersion type developing apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the wafer 5 as the substrate to be processed is attached to the wafer chuck 2 on the step portion 4 provided inside the wafer holder 3 provided in the container 1. The wafer 6 is stored and set through the above, and is immersed in the developing solution 6 to bring the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the wafer 5 and the step portion 4 inside the wafer holder 3 into contact with each other.
Is formed into a liquid puddle so that the wafer 5 is subjected to the developing treatment while being immersed in the developing solution 6.

[0007]

However, as described above, in the immersion type processing apparatus known so far, it is provided inside the wafer holder 3 for axially mounting the wafer chuck 2 provided in the container 1. Similarly to the upper surface of the wafer 5 placed via the stepped portion 4, the developer 6
Therefore, after development, the wafer 5 is rotated at a high speed through the wafer chuck 2, and a rinse liquid or the like (not shown) is sprayed on the upper surface of the wafer 5 to clean the wafer 5. The rinse solution scattered by the centrifugal action adheres to the step portion 4 and mixes with the developer 6 remaining on the step portion 4,
As a result, there is a drawback that undesired development unevenness easily occurs.

Further, as a drainage processing mechanism for the developer 6 after the development, the wafer 5 is levitated from the stepped portion 4 of the wafer holder 3 so that the developer 6 flows down to the inner peripheral portion of the wafer holder 3 and its inner bottom portion. Since the liquid is drained from the drain hole 7 formed in the above, the developer 6 easily adheres and remains on the back surface of the peripheral portion of the wafer 5, and the developer 6 from the lower portion of the wafer chuck 2 There is an unavoidable difficulty that there is a concern that the motor 9 may enter the inner shaft mounting portion and pass through the tubular portion 8.

Further, since the drainage hole 7 is provided in the inner bottom portion of the wafer holder 3, there is a mechanical limitation in design, and the drainage hole 7 cannot have a large cross-sectional area.
There is a problem that the drainage speed becomes slow.

Further, the developing solution 6 is greatly affected by the temperature, and therefore, there is a minus point in which uneven development is likely to occur due to the temperature change.

[0011] These are similar problems even in a liquid processing apparatus such as a resist coating apparatus.

[0012]

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the liquid processing such as development based on the above-mentioned prior art.
It is clean and has less unevenness in processing on substrates to be processed such as wafers, has high reliability and throughput, and is suitable for single-wafer type liquid processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide an immersion type liquid processing device.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the structure of the present invention, which is based on the above-mentioned object and has the above-mentioned object, is brought into contact with the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the substrate to be processed, and A first container on the lower side forming a bottom surface portion, and an inner wall having an inner diameter larger than that of the substrate to be processed and an inner inclined surface facing downward, and contacting the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the first container, An upper second container forming a side wall portion, a processing liquid supply mechanism for non-impactingly supplying the processing liquid into a storage container composed of the first container and the second container, and a temperature adjusting mechanism for the processing liquid. And a rotation mechanism that is provided in the second container, is provided in the lower central portion of the first container, holds the substrate to be processed by vacuum suction and rotates to scatter the processing liquid and the like by centrifugal force, and a storage container. The first container and the second container on the outside of the An elevating drive mechanism for delivering the substrate to be processed to the structure and an exhaust means for exhausting gas downward between the first container and the second container separated from each other are provided, and the substrate to be processed is rotated by the rotating mechanism. When shaking off the liquid on the substrate to be processed,
The liquid that was shaken off hits the downward inward inclined surface of the second container, and the scattered mist generated before and after this hits the technical means such that it is exhausted by the exhaust means. is there.

[0014]

With respect to the lower first container which constitutes the storage container and the second container which has a larger inner diameter than the first container and is concentrically arranged on the upper and outer sides, The substrates to be processed are brought into contact with each other to be housed and set, and a sufficient amount of the processing liquid for dipping the substrates to be processed is supplied from the liquid discharge port of the processing liquid supply mechanism of the second container to a temperature adjusting mechanism. With this method, the liquid is discharged inward at a constant temperature, and at the same time, as much as possible without impact, the entire surface of the substrate to be processed is uniformly filled with liquid, so that there is no processing unevenness or impact on the substrate to be processed during liquid discharge. After the liquid processing, both containers and the substrate to be processed are separated from each other via the elevating drive mechanism.
The processing liquid overflows from the substrate to be processed, drops the processing liquid from between both containers, and the substrate to be processed set in the first container is rotated by a vacuum adsorption type rotating mechanism to centrifugally displace the processing liquid. The shaken-off, the shaken-off process liquid hits the downwardly inclined inner surface 23 of the first container and is discharged from the liquid discharge hole, while the cleaning liquid is discharged and the generated mist and dry gas are exhausted downward. It was done like this.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following will describe one embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

The same parts as in FIG. 5 will be described using the same reference numerals.

The illustrated embodiment is a mode applied to a developing device of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Reference numeral 37 denotes a donut-shaped storage container, which is also composed of a doughnut-shaped concentric lower first container 14 and a second container 15 having an upper and outer diameter larger than this. At the center of the container 37, there is provided a wafer chuck 12 that serves as a rotation mechanism for adsorbing and holding the wafer 5 as a substrate to be processed from below by a vacuum chuck or the like. It is made rotatable by a motor 30 mounted and fixed to the fixed portion 31 on the side.

An elevating drive section 39 for elevating and lowering the accommodating container 37 is provided on one outer side of the accommodating container 37, and the elevating and lowering driving section 39 is fixedly attached to a lower fixing section 31 and accommodated. There is a main air cylinder 32 that raises and lowers the container 37 and delivers the substrate 5 to the wafer chuck 12, and the tip of the rod 33 of the main air cylinder 32 is connected to the second container 15 of the storage container 37. An elevating metal fitting 34 for raising and lowering this is extended and fixed in an underhang shape, and an expanding and contracting sub air cylinder 35 is fixed upward at the tip of the elevating metal fitting 34, and a rod 36 thereof is attached to the bottom of the first container 14. It is fixedly connected.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, a cleaning nozzle 2 for cleaning the back surface of the wafer 5 is provided on the upper inside of the first container 14.
6 is provided between the second container 15 and the cleaning liquid for cleaning the back surface of the wafer 5, and is directed so as to flow in the outer peripheral direction of the wafer 5. Is in communication with.

Further, the wafer 5 is placed on the upper surface of the first container 14.
A liquid-tight seal is made by vacuum suction to the peripheral portion of the lower surface of the above, for example, a lip-shaped annular lower seal 13 made of silicon rubber is fixed upward by a lower backup ring portion 16.

The lower seal 13 and the lower backup ring portion 16 are provided with a lower opening suction port for vacuum suction, and communicate with the vacuum suction connection port 17 together with the vacuum suction port 20 of the first container 14. , Vacuum suction is possible.

Thus, inside the lower surface of the first container 14,
In order to prevent the drainage of the developing solution 6 from flowing into the inside of the lower surface of the first container 14 and impinging on the motor 30, there is provided an inclined surface 23 of the side wall inclined outward and an outer partition plate 29 on the outer side thereof. A drain pipe 28 for draining the developer 6 is provided so as to extend downwardly on the outer side of the lower surface of the first container 14.

Further, an exhaust port 24 as an exhaust means for exhausting gas is sharedly formed in the drain pipe 28 and connected to an exhaust device (not shown).

On the other hand, on the upper outer side of the first container 14, a second container 15 having a larger diameter and a larger heat capacity is arranged so as to concentrically surround the first container 14 and the inner side thereof. 2, as shown in detail in FIG. 2, a discharge port 2 serving as a predetermined number of plural processing liquid supply mechanisms for supplying the developing liquid 6.
1, 21 ... Are opened on the upper part of the inner wall surface, and a predetermined number of suction / drainage ports 27, 27 ... A temperature control water flow path 22 is provided as an annular temperature control mechanism for supplying and circulating hot water or the like for keeping the liquid 6 at a constant temperature and preventing uneven development, and a lower side thereof is provided with a temperature control water flow path 22. An outward inclined surface 23 is formed.

Further, a lip-shaped upper seal 18 made of silicone rubber, which is liquid-tightly sealed with respect to the vacuum suction port 20 of the first container 14, is annularly provided in the lower inner portion of the second container 15. The upper seal 18 is fixed to the second container 15 by the upper backup ring portion 19.

Further, a predetermined number of drying nozzles 38, 38 ... Are provided under the wafer chuck 12 in order to quickly dry the first container 14 to which the cleaning liquid or the like is attached. , 38 ... shows the dry gas blown from FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper surface of the first container 14 is sprayed.

In the above-mentioned structure, first, as shown in FIG. 3, the wafer 5 is placed on the wafer chuck 12 by suction and held by a transfer device (not shown).

At this time, the first container 14 and the second container 15
Both are in the lowest position as shown in FIG. 3 and are normally in this state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the main air cylinder 3
2 operates to extend the rod 33,
At the same time when the second container 15 is raised to the top dead center via the lifting metal fitting 34 attached to the tip of the first container 1,
The lower seal 13 of the first container 14 is lifted up to a setting position slightly lower than the back surface of the wafer 5 through the sub air cylinder 35 that is not fixed and is fixed to the lifting metal fitting 34.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, when the sub air cylinder 35 is extended from that state, the rod 36 is also extended and the first container 14 is further raised.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the first container 1
4, the lower seal 13 comes into contact with the back surface of the wafer 5 from below, and the wafer 5 is vacuum-sucked by the vacuum suction connection port 17 to liquid-tightly seal the wafer 5 and the first container 14. To do.

When the first container 14 is further raised, the peripheral portion of the vacuum suction port 20 of the first container 14 and the upper seal 18 come into contact with each other, and the vacuum suction through the vacuum suction connection port 17 is performed. Thus, the second container 15 and the vacuum suction port 20 of the first container 14 are liquid-tightly sealed.

Therefore, as described above, the wafer 5 and the first container 14 and the first container 14 and the second container 15 are kept liquid-tightly sealed, and the discharge port of the second container 15 is maintained. 21
The developer 6 kept warm with hot water or the like from the second container 15
A predetermined amount is evenly discharged into the first container 14 from the entire inner circumference of the wafer 5 to make the wafer 5 uniformly puddle, and the wafer 5 is immersed in the developer 6 as shown in FIG. To start development.

During this period, the sub air cylinder 35 is urged to the extended state to maintain the liquid-tight sealed state and continue the development.

After development in the immersion state for a predetermined time, when the operation of the sub air cylinder 35 is stopped to reduce the size, the rod 36 contracts and the first container 14 descends, as shown in FIG. Similarly, the second container 15 and the first container 14 which are liquid-tightly sealed by the upper seal 18 are dissociated, and the developer 6 is naturally dropped from the upper surface of the wafer 5 through the overflow, , Is drained toward the inner peripheral portion of the first container 14 through the inclined surface 23 of the first container 14 and is drained by the drain pipe 28.

In this case, since a sufficient opening area is formed between the second container 15 and the inclined surface 23 of the first container 14 for drainage, the drainage speed can be considerably increased, and Since the direction in which the liquid flows down is toward the outer peripheral portion of the first container 14 via the inclined surface 23, it does not flow to the motor 30 side, and there is no possibility that the motor 30 will be drained. .

Furthermore, the rod 36 contracts, and the first container 1
When the wafer 4 is suspended, the wafer 5 is placed close to the wafer chuck 12 as shown in FIG. 4, but the wafer 5 liquid-tightly sealed by the lower seal 13 is the first container. 14 is separated.

In this state, the motor 30 is operated and the wafer 5 is rotated at a high speed to shake off the developing solution 6 remaining on the wafer 5 by centrifugal force, and at the same time, the rinse solution is supplied from the rinse nozzle (not shown) to the wafer 5. It is discharged to the upper side, the developing action is stopped, and the surface of the wafer 5 is rinsed.

In this process, the flow-down portion of the developing solution 6 and the rinse solution are shaken off, collide with the inclined surface 23, and are reflected and dropped downward.

Then, the rinse liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid inlet 25, flows out from the cleaning nozzle 26 toward the outer peripheral portion of the wafer 5, and the developing liquid 6 and the like adhering to the back surface of the wafer 5 is also cleaned. Exhaust is performed from the exhaust port 24.

The developing solution 6 and the rinsing solution which are shaken off by the rotation of the wafer 5, the cleaning solution for the back surface of the wafer 5 and the like are inclined surfaces 2 provided inside the second container 15.
The second container 15 and the first container 14 are hit by the third container 15 and reflected and fall downward, and the gas is exhausted from the exhaust port 24.
As shown in FIG. 4, an exhaust flow 24a directed obliquely downward from above is formed in the opening portion between the inclined surfaces 23 and 23, so that the scattered mist of the rinse liquid or the like in the surface direction of the wafer 5. The wafer 5 can be prevented from facing.
To prevent redeposition.

After the rinse liquid and the backside cleaning of the wafer 5 are completed, the wafer 5 is rotated for a certain period of time to rotate the wafer 5.
To dry.

Then, the rinsing liquid and the like attached to the upper surface of the first container 14 and the like are naturally dried by utilizing the exhaust flow 24a.

After the completion of drying, the main air cylinder 32
Of the storage container 37 by stopping the operation of the
Is lowered to return to the initial position and orientation as shown in FIG.

Of course, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, the first container 1
In order to seal the liquid container 4 and the second container 15 in a liquid-tight manner, the upper seal 18 is provided on the second container 15 in the above-mentioned embodiment, but the upper seal 18 is provided on the first container 14 side, Container 1
Various modes such as the lower surface of 5 may be formed in a flat surface can be adopted.

However, in this mode, since the upper seal 18 is provided in the portion of the first container 14 through which the drainage flows down, it is inevitable that the drainage performance is deteriorated. It is desirable to provide it in the second container 15.

Further, the means for raising and lowering the storage container 37 is not limited to the use of the air cylinder as in the above-mentioned embodiment, and any other means can be used as long as it has a mechanism capable of raising and lowering. I don't mind.

The drainage method of the developing solution 6 is not limited to the above-described natural dropping method, but, for example, it is forcibly sucked in a negative pressure type after the development is completed from the suction drainage port 27 of the second container 15. You may drain it.

According to this method, almost all of the developing solution 6 can be recovered, and the pure developing solution 6 containing no rinse solution can be recovered and reused.

Further, when the first container 14 is naturally dried by using the exhaust flow 24a, a drying nozzle 38 is also used, and a gas such as nitrogen (N ₂ ) is supplied with an arrow 38a in FIG.
As indicated by, the forced ejection of the first container 14 toward the upper surface of the first container 14 allows the first container 14 to be dried more quickly.

As described above, the developing speed has a high temperature dependency, and therefore, the temperature change during development causes uneven development due to the change in the developing speed. As in the example, the heat capacity is large and the developer 6
If the second container 15 that controls the heat conduction with respect to is used, the effect of temperature control is improved.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the second container 15 and the first container 14 are liquid-tightly contact-sealed by vacuum suction of the upper seal 18, but the weight of the second container 15 is If sufficient, the upper seal 18 may be, for example, an O-ring and may be mechanically liquid-tightly contacted without negative pressure suction.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the mode applied to the immersion type liquid processing apparatus has been described, but it can be applied to any apparatus as long as the entire one side surface of the substrate to be processed is uniformly applied with the processing liquid. However, it may be applied to, for example, a coater, that is, a photoresist film coating apparatus.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, basically, a substrate to be processed such as a wafer can be cleanly processed in a predetermined manner without unevenness of processing, resulting in excellent product reliability and throughput. An excellent effect of being able to perform the above treatment is exhibited.

Then, the substrate to be processed is set in a dipping manner through the supporting and rotating mechanism by the first and second concentric upper and lower containers of the doughnut-shaped accommodating container so that the unevenness of the processing is prevented. There is an effect that it does not occur, after processing, the substrate to be processed and the first and second containers are separated from each other, and the processing liquid is quickly flowed down and drained from the gap between them, and the processed liquid is also processed. When the liquid or cleaning liquid is shaken off through the rotating mechanism, it is scattered from the outward inclined surface of the second container by the centrifugal force due to the rotation and collides with it, and then reflects and falls downward, driving the center support rotation mechanism. The excellent effect that it does not cover the parts is exhibited.

The mist generated during cleaning and the like is similarly rotated, reflected and falls, and is exhausted from the exhaust port, so that the mist does not bounce and adhere to the substrate to be processed.

Further, since the processing liquid having a predetermined temperature is supplied from the outer peripheral direction of the wafer, the processing liquid can be supplied without giving an impact to the wafer, and there is an effect that uniform processing can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic partial cross-sectional schematic structural diagram.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of part A of the same.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional schematic side view of the same in the original position.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional schematic side view showing the middle of the operation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing a conventional liquid processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 wafer 6 developer 12 wafer chuck 13 lower seal 14 first container 15 second container 16 lower backup ring 17 vacuum suction connection port 18 upper seal 10 upper backup ring 20 vacuum suction port 21 liquid discharge port (liquid supply / discharge mechanism) ) 22 temperature control water flow path 23 inclined surface 24 exhaust port (exhaust means) 25 cleaning liquid inlet 26 back surface cleaning nozzle 27 suction drainage port (liquid supply / discharge mechanism) 28 drainage pipe 29 partition plate 30 motor 31 fixing part 32 main air Cylinder 33 Rod 34 Lifting fitting 35 Sub air cylinder 36 Rod 37 Storage container 38 Drying nozzle 39 Lifting drive mechanism

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage container (3) for a substrate (5) to be processed.
A first container 7) is in contact with the back <br/> surface peripheral portion of the substrate to be processed and a bottom portion and a sidewall portion (5) forms the bottom portion of the storage container (37) (14) And a second container having an inner diameter larger than that of the substrate (5) to be processed and forming a side wall portion of the storage container (37) in contact with the peripheral portion of the upper surface of the first container (14).
(15) , a plurality of treatment liquid (6) discharge ports (21) provided in the inner peripheral portion of the second container (15) , and the treatment liquid
From the discharge port (21) and said first container (14) and the second container consists of (15) storage container (37) processing solution supplying treatment liquid (6) in the supply mechanism (6), the Treatment liquid (6)
A temperature adjusting mechanism (22) provided in the second container (15) for controlling the temperature of the treatment liquid (6) discharged from the discharge port (21 ) of An immersion type liquid processing apparatus characterized in that a processing liquid (6) at a predetermined temperature is supplied to the surface of a substrate (5 ) to be processed without impact.