JP2835520B2 - Resist coating equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a resist coating apparatus.

(Prior Art) In a photolinography process of a substrate to be processed, for example, a semiconductor wafer, a resist pattern is formed on the wafer surface by resist coating, exposure, development and the like. In this resist coating, a resist coating apparatus that spin-coats the wafer is used. The resist coating apparatus suctions and holds the wafer from the back side by a mounting table, for example, a spin chuck, controls rotation by a motor connected to the spin chuck, and supplies a predetermined amount of resist from the resist discharge nozzle to the wafer surface. Is to be rotated. Such a resist coating technique is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-60-175569, JP-A-61-15773, and JP-A-61-194829.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above-described conventional technology, when the resist coating process is repeated a plurality of times, the dried and hardened resist adheres to the tip of the resist discharge nozzle. If the amount of the deposited resist is large, the hole diameter at the tip of the resist discharge nozzle becomes small, so that a predetermined amount of the resist is not supplied to the surface of the substrate to be processed, or is not supplied at a predetermined speed, and There have been problems such as the unevenness of the resist film formed on the substrate surface and the inability to obtain a predetermined film thickness. Therefore, a cleaning liquid or the like is supplied to the tip portion of the resist discharge nozzle to remove the hardened resist, and the resist attached to the tip end inside the resist discharge nozzle is discharged with the solvent in the resist. Cleaning work such as removal is regularly performed. However, the above work is very troublesome, and there is a problem that the operation rate of the apparatus is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to provide a resist coating apparatus which has a long operation time of the apparatus by a simple operation of exchanging a tip end of a resist discharge nozzle, and has good film thickness stability. is there.

[Configuration of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention, in a resist coating apparatus for supplying a resist liquid to a substrate to be processed and performing coating treatment, a resist supply pipe for supplying the resist liquid, and a periphery of the resist supply pipe A temperature control water supply pipe that is provided so as to surround the resist supply pipe, and that controls the temperature of the resist solution in the resist supply pipe to a predetermined temperature by flowing temperature control water from the base end side to the tip end side of the resist supply pipe; And is formed so as to be directed toward the base end along the temperature control water supply pipe while adjoining the outside through the wall of the temperature control water supply pipe with respect to the temperature control water supply pipe. A temperature control water drain pipe for draining, and an exchangeable nozzle provided at the tip of the resist supply pipe; the temperature control water is turned outward at the tip of the temperature control water supply pipe to control the temperature; It is characterized by flowing through a water drain pipe.

In this case, it is preferable to form a temperature-regulated water drain pipe by turning the tip of the temperature-regulated water supply pipe outward on the front side of the replaceable nozzle.

(Effects) That is, according to the present invention, when the resist adheres to the tip of the resist discharge nozzle to some extent, the apparatus can be operated again only by a simple operation of replacing the tip of the resist discharge nozzle, The operation rate of the device can be improved. By performing such replacement work periodically, the amount of resist discharged from the resist discharge nozzle can be controlled to a desired amount, and a uniform film thickness can always be obtained.

Further, since the resist adhering to the tip of the resist discharge nozzle can be washed with an external cleaning liquid after removing the tip of the resist discharge nozzle, workability is improved.

(Embodiment) An embodiment in which the apparatus of the present invention is applied to a resist coating process in a semiconductor manufacturing process will be described below with reference to the drawings.

 First, the configuration of the resist coating device will be described.

An installation table, for example, a chuck (2) that can hold, for example, suction-hold a substrate to be processed, for example, a semiconductor wafer (1), is provided. A rotary drive mechanism, for example, a motor (3) is connected to the chuck (2), and the wafer (1) can be rotated via the chuck (2) by driving the motor (3). . A bottomed cylindrical cup (4) is provided so as to be vertically movable so as to surround the wafer (1) held by the chuck (2). The cup (4) is provided in such a manner that a portion near the intersecting surface of the surface of the wafer (1) is inclined at an angle A (A ≠ 90 °), and the wafer (1) is coated with a resist. Even when the resist scatters during the process, the resist is not repelled to the surface of the wafer (1) by the inclined inner wall of the cup (4). Also, at the bottom of the cup (4),
An exhaust pipe (5) and an exhaust pipe (6) for the processing liquid are connected. The discharge pipe (5) is connected to a drain box (7) for storing a used processing solution, for example, a resist.
The exhaust pipe (6) is connected to an exhaust mechanism (not shown) for exhausting the inside of the cup (4).

Further, a resist supply nozzle (8) is provided so that a resist can be dropped on the surface of the wafer (1) from near the wafer substantially on the central axis of the wafer (1). The resist supply nozzle (8) is supported by a movable support (9), and can be moved integrally by the movement of the moving mechanism (10) of the support (9). In the support (9), the resist supply nozzle (8) is connected to a resist supply pipe (8a), and the resist supply pipe (8a) is connected to a resist supply source (not shown). I have. In this case, the resist supply pipe (8a) above the support (9) passes through multiple pipes, and a temperature control (not shown) is provided around the resist supply pipe (8a) of the multiple pipe. A temperature-regulated water supply pipe (11a) through which temperature-regulated water whose temperature is controlled by a vessel flows, and a temperature-regulated water discharge pipe (11b) is disposed beside the temperature-regulated water supply pipe (11a). The temperature of the resist flowing in the resist supply pipe (8a) can be controlled to a predetermined temperature, for example, normal temperature, by the temperature control water. Also,
The resist supply nozzle (8) can be removed, so that the resist supply nozzle (8) can be replaced. As shown in FIG. 2, a resist supply nozzle (8) is detachably attached to a resist supply pipe (8a) from a cap (12). That is, the resist supply nozzle (8) has a cylindrical shape and is tapered at the upper end so as to be thick, and the resist supply nozzle (8) is passed from above through an opening formed in the cap (12),
The cap (12) is screwed to the resist supply pipe (8a). Thus, a resist coating apparatus is configured.

Next, a resist coating method using the above-described resist coating apparatus will be described.

First, the cup (4) is lowered, and the wafer (1) is transferred onto the chuck (2) in the cup (4) by a transfer mechanism (not shown) such as a belt transfer or a handling arm. It is placed on the chuck (2) with its center aligned with the center of the chuck (2). Then, the placed wafer (1) is sucked and held by a vacuum mechanism (not shown) connected to the chuck (2). Thereafter, the cup (4) is raised and stopped so that the cup (4) is positioned around the wafer (1). This chuck (2)
A predetermined amount of resist is discharged from the front end (8a) to the center of the wafer (1) held above via the resist discharge nozzle (8). Then, the wafer (1) supplied with the predetermined amount of resist is chucked by the motor (3) into the chuck (2).
Rotation control via. This rotation is automatically controlled based on the acceleration and the number of rotations set in advance by the operator. By this rotation, the resist on the surface of the wafer (1) is diffused from the center to the periphery by centrifugal force. Then, the wafer (1) is further rotated at a higher speed to dry the resist, thereby forming a uniform predetermined film thickness on the surface of the wafer (1).

The resist scattered by such rotation is discharged from a discharge pipe (5) provided at the bottom of the cup (4), and collected in a drain box (7). During the resist coating process, the atmosphere in the cup (4) affects the thickness of the resist formed on the surface of the wafer (1). The exhaust is controlled by the pipe (6).

When such a resist coating process is repeated a plurality of times, the resist solidifies and adheres to the tip (8a) of the resist discharge nozzle. In this development, when the developer comes into contact with the atmosphere or the like, the solvent contained therein evaporates and is dried and adheres. In other words, the portion where the resist liquid has leaked to the inner wall of the nozzle tip (8a) after dropping once is exposed to the atmosphere and solidified until the next dropping. If this resist is deposited and adhered on the inner wall of the resist discharge nozzle tip (8a), the hole diameter of the resist discharge nozzle tip (8a) becomes smaller, and thus the resist is set in advance within a predetermined period. A problem that the resist amount is not supplied to the surface of the wafer (1) or is not supplied at a predetermined speed, and the resist film formed on the surface of the wafer (1) becomes uneven or a predetermined film thickness cannot be obtained. Will occur. Therefore, before the resist flow rate changes, the tip (8a) of the resist discharge nozzle is replaced. This replacement time may be determined by an operator, or, for example, a flow meter is provided in the middle of the resist discharge nozzle (8), and the flow rate of the resist monitored by the flow meter drops below a predetermined constant value. In such a case, an alarm or the like may be used to report to the operator. Moreover, you may make it replace automatically. The replacement of the tip (8a) of the resist discharge nozzle is performed by an operator's work. The cap is removed by rotating the cap (12), and the tip (8a) is further removed from the cap (12). Remove. Then, attach the new tip (8a) to the cap (12),
The cap (12) is screwed and fixed to the resist discharge nozzle (8). With this operation, the replacement work is completed, and the apparatus is operated to resume the predetermined resist coating. At this time,
The tip (8a) to which the resist has adhered may be removed, washed and re-attached. However, if such cleaning work is performed at the same time, the operation rate of the apparatus will be reduced. The tip is replaced or replaced with a tip (8a) that has been cleaned beforehand, and thereafter, the tip (8a) to which the replaced resist is attached is appropriately cleaned outside. The replacement operation is performed in a region outside the region above the wafer surface. This is to prevent dust from dropping during replacement.

In the above embodiment, the resist coating process on the semiconductor wafer has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an LCD substrate used for a screen display device such as a liquid crystal TV or a printed substrate can obtain the same effect.

As described above, according to this embodiment, a step of supplying a resist liquid onto the surface of a substrate to be processed, and a step of replacing a resist liquid supply nozzle under a predetermined condition of a resist liquid supply state in this step. Is provided. Therefore, when the resist adheres to the tip of the resist discharge nozzle to some extent, the apparatus can be operated again only by a simple operation of replacing the tip of the resist discharge nozzle, and the operation efficiency of the apparatus can be improved. . By performing such replacement work periodically, the amount of resist discharged from the resist discharge nozzle can be controlled to a desired amount, and a uniform film thickness can always be obtained.

In addition, the resist adhering to the tip of the resist discharge nozzle can be washed with an external cleaning liquid after removing the tip of the resist discharge nozzle,
Workability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural view of a resist coating apparatus for explaining an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a tip end portion of a resist discharge nozzle of the apparatus of FIG. 1 wafer 8 resist discharge nozzle 8a resist discharge nozzle tip 12 cap

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A resist coating apparatus for supplying a resist solution to a substrate to be processed and applying the resist solution, comprising: a resist supply pipe for supplying the resist liquid; and a resist supply pipe surrounding the resist supply pipe. A temperature-regulated water supply pipe for flowing temperature-regulated water from the base end side to the tip side of the supply pipe to set the resist solution in the resist supply pipe to a predetermined temperature; and A temperature-regulated water drainage pipe formed to extend toward the base end along the temperature-regulated water supply pipe while adjoining the outside via the pipe wall with respect to the temperature-regulated water supply pipe, and discharging the temperature-regulated water; An exchangeable nozzle provided at the tip of the resist supply pipe, and the temperature control water is turned outward at the tip of the temperature control water supply pipe,
A resist coating apparatus characterized by flowing through a temperature-regulated water drain pipe. 2. The resist coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature control water supply pipe is formed by turning the tip of the temperature control water supply pipe outward at the front side of the replaceable nozzle.