JP2657392B2 - Rotary processing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a rotation processing device.

(Prior Art) In a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a spin-type resist coating / developing apparatus, generally, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), a semiconductor is rotated by a rotating holder such as a spin chuck (2) having a vacuum suction port (1). The wafer (3) is held by suction, and the spin chuck (2) is rotated by a motor (4) or the like.

For this rotation, a high-speed rotation is used, for example, at a maximum rotation speed of about 8.000 rpm and a rotation acceleration of about 10.000 to 50.000 rpm / sec.

Further, since the spin chuck (2) rotates at high speed and high acceleration as described above while holding the semiconductor wafer (3), the suction of the spin chuck (2) is performed in order to increase the reliability of the suction. The surface structure is very important. Conventionally, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5 (b) and (c), a vacuum suction port (7) is provided at the center of the spin chucks (5) and (6), and an annular base (8) is provided at the peripheral edge. Annular pedestals (9) and (10) for supporting the semiconductor wafer (3) are provided concentrically. An annular groove (11) and a radial groove (12) are formed in the middle of each of the bases (9) and (10), and communicate with the vacuum suction port (7) to form a vacuum suction passage. To form The annular base (10) in FIG. 5 (c)
FIG. 5 (b) is a modification of the annular base (9), which is formed to be thin to reduce the contact area between the semiconductor wafer (3) and the spin chuck (6).

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the above-described conventional apparatus has the following problems.

Since the spin chuck (2) rotates at high speed and high acceleration while holding the semiconductor wafer (3), friction occurs in a state where the contact pressure is high between the spin chuck (2) and the back surface of the semiconductor wafer (3). Dust is generated due to the friction, and the dust adheres to the pattern forming surface of the semiconductor wafer (3) in a continuous processing step to generate a pattern defect, or adheres as a foreign matter to the back surface of the semiconductor wafer (3), for example. Such as defocus in the exposure process,
This has been one of the causes for lowering the yield in the semiconductor device manufacturing process.

As a method for solving the above points, a method of reducing the contact surface pressure between the semiconductor wafer (3) and the spin chuck (2) which causes dust, a method of reducing the rotation speed and acceleration of the spin chuck (2), A method of cleaning the chuck (2) and a method of removing static electricity from the spin chuck (2) to prevent adhesion of generated dust and the like have been tried, but none of them has been able to obtain a sufficient effect.

That is, for example, in the resist processing process in the semiconductor manufacturing process, the rotation speed and acceleration as described above are indispensable, and unless these conditions are satisfied, a desired uniform resist film thickness cannot be obtained.

On the other hand, in order to obtain the above-mentioned high-speed rotation speed and high acceleration, both the contact area and the surface pressure between the semiconductor wafer (3) and the spin chuck (2) may be increased, but the semiconductor wafer (3) generally has a thickness of 0.5. It is as thin as about mm, and if the surface pressure is large, there is an inconvenience that it is deformed due to mechanical strain. Further, when cleaning the spin chuck (2) in order to reduce dust adhering to the spin chuck (2), the effect is weak unless the frequency of cleaning is increased.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional circumstances,
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which generates little dust and has a high semiconductor yield.

[Configuration of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the present invention is a rotary processing apparatus that includes a rotating body that rotates with a processing object being attracted to a rotation support surface, and performs a predetermined process on the processing object. , On the rotation support surface,
An elastically deformable support member is partially provided, and when the object to be processed is attracted to the rotation support surface in a state of being in contact with the support member and the rotary body rotates, the support member rotates in the rotation direction. The present invention provides a rotation processing device characterized by being elastically deformed. In the above device,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotation processing device, wherein the support member is provided radially on the rotation support surface.

(Operation) According to the present invention having such a configuration, when the object to be processed is attracted to the rotation support surface in a state of being in contact with the support member and the rotary body rotates, the rotation support surface is partially formed. The provided support member is elastically deformed in the rotation direction, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of slip between the workpiece and the rotation support surface.
Further, by providing the support members radially, such a function of preventing occurrence of slippage is further enhanced.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the rotation processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a resist coating apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG. Base (13)
Is provided with a motor (14). This motor (14)
A rotating support, for example, a spin chuck (16), is attached to the rotating shaft portion of the rotating support, which rotates while holding the object to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer (15), on a rotating support surface by vacuum (negative pressure). By controlling the rotation of the motor (14), the semiconductor wafer (15) is rotated, for example, at a maximum rotation speed of 80.
It is configured to be rotatable at about 00 rpm and at a rotational acceleration of about 5000 to 50.000 rpm / sec.

On the other hand, above the vicinity of the rotation center of the spin chuck (16), a nozzle (18) for dropping a resist (17) toward the semiconductor wafer (15) is arranged. A cover (19) is provided to surround the cover.

Then, after a resist (17) is dropped on the semiconductor wafer (15), the resist (17) is spread by centrifugal force by rotating the semiconductor wafer (15), and a resist film (20) is formed on the surface of the semiconductor wafer (15). ), And is configured to prevent scattering of extra resist scattered outward from the outer periphery of the semiconductor wafer (15).

Next, on the suction surface side of the spin chuck (16), a vacuum suction port (21) is provided near the upper center as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. ) Is provided. An elastically deformable support member (23) is provided partially and radially on the support surface of the semiconductor wafer (15) of the spin chuck (16). This support (2
In 3), when rotating the semiconductor wafer (15), an elastic material having an action of absorbing the generation of friction between the back surface of the semiconductor wafer (15) and the support surface is used.

For example, a band-shaped elastic piece having a width T at a contact portion with the semiconductor wafer (15) is disposed as a support member (23) as shown in FIG. That is, a plurality of supports elastically deformed in a plurality of rotational directions, for example, a support material (23) made of a polyacetal resin, serving as a platform supporting the semiconductor wafer (15), follow a straight line passing through the center of the spin chuck (16). It is arranged and fixed using an adhesive or other means as described above. The support member (23) may protrude from the support surface, may be embedded so as not to lose its function, or may form a uniform surface.

A plurality of grooves (24) are formed radially from the center of the spin chuck (16) between the support members (23), and a plurality of grooves (25) are formed concentrically. The (25) communicates with the vacuum suction port (21) so that the semiconductor wafer (15) can be suction-held. The four projections (26) provided around the vacuum suction port (21) are also support members for the semiconductor wafer (15).

When the spin chuck (16) is made of, for example, a polyacetal resin, the support (23) and the spin chuck (16) are manufactured as an integral body.

 Next, the operation and operation will be described.

First, the semiconductor wafer (15) before resist application is placed on a spin chuck (16) and held by suction by a transfer mechanism (not shown) including a transfer arm mechanism and the like. Next, after a predetermined amount of the resist (17) is dropped from the nozzle (18) toward the semiconductor wafer (15), the motor (14) is controlled to rotate the semiconductor wafer (15) at a low speed, and the resist (17) is rotated. Expand (17). After the low-speed rotation is performed for a certain period of time, the motor (14) is controlled to rotate, and the semiconductor wafer (15) is rotated at a high speed to perform a coating process.

At this time, since the spin chuck (16) is rapidly accelerated and rotated at a high speed, it is inevitable that a slip occurs at a contact portion with the semiconductor wafer (15) adsorbed on the spin chuck (16). Particles such as dust are easily generated.

In a conventional spin chuck, a semiconductor wafer (1
The pedestal contacting with 5) is a pedestal that is long in the rotational direction, that is, long in the sliding direction and has no elasticity. When the semiconductor wafer (15) and the pedestal receive a significantly high acceleration, A slight slippage caused friction and caused dust.

On the other hand, in the case of the present invention, the support member (23) serving as the base has a narrow band-shaped contact portion with the semiconductor wafer (15), and the center of the spin chuck (16). The support material (23) is provided along the straight line passing through, so that even if a slip occurs between the semiconductor wafer (15) and the spin chuck (16), the support material (23) can be slightly deformed in the rotation direction. It is. Therefore, the above-mentioned sliding works so as to be absorbed by the support member (23), so that generation of dust due to friction between the support member (23) and the semiconductor wafer (15) can be prevented.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the number of particles is such that the width T of the support (23) or the base of the semiconductor wafer (15) is 1.0 m.
In the region of about m or less, the value is smaller than in the conventional case.

Note that the smaller the width T of the support member (23), the smaller the contact area with the semiconductor wafer (15), so that the number of particles decreases.

However, if the suction force for suctioning the semiconductor wafer (15) is fixed, the contact surface pressure increases when the contact area is reduced, so that the friction at the contact portion increases. Conversely, when the contact area is increased, the contact area increases. Although the surface pressure is reduced, the friction surface is increased and the elastic function of the support member (23) is reduced. Therefore, dust is generated at the contact portion, the number of particles is not reduced, and the effective range is inevitably limited.

When the semiconductor wafer (15) is rotated at high speed to a desired thickness, the rotation of the motor (14) is stopped, and the semiconductor wafer (15) is removed from the spin chuck (16) by a transfer mechanism (not shown). Out of the resist coating device.

In the above embodiment, as a support material for the spin chuck and the semiconductor wafer, a polyacetal resin is used, which has a high heat insulating property with respect to the semiconductor wafer and is generally made of silicon, and the balance of hardness is taken into consideration. Although used, the same effect as that of the polyacetal resin can be obtained by using, for example, an ethylene trifluoride resin having the same hardness and a conductive resin to which carbon is added.

Further, since the spin chuck of the above-described embodiment generates little dust as described above, other devices that perform suction and hold and perform a rotation process, such as a spin developing device, a cleaning device, an ion implantation device, and a laser heat treatment in semiconductor manufacturing. It is also effective when used for devices.

Furthermore, the object to be processed is not limited to a semiconductor wafer, and may be any device that performs a rotation process, such as a liquid crystal drive circuit or a printed circuit board.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the resist coating has been described. However, any processing may be applied, and for example, the resist coating may be applied to the application of a developer.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to increase the yield of an object to be processed such as a semiconductor with less generation of dust.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a resist coating apparatus, FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one characteristic example of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional example. 14 ... Motor, 15 ... Semiconductor wafer, 16 ... Spin chuck, 21 ... Vacuum suction port, 22 ... Stand, 23 ... Support material, 24, 25 ... Groove.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rotary processing apparatus which has a rotating body which rotates with an object to be processed attracted to a rotation supporting surface, and performs a predetermined process on the object to be processed, wherein the rotation supporting surface has an elasticity. A deformable support member is partially provided, and when the object to be processed is attracted to the rotation support surface in a state of being in contact with the support member and the rotator rotates, the support member moves in the rotation direction. A rotation processing device characterized by being elastically deformed. 2. The rotation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the support member is provided radially on the rotation support surface.