JP2906001B2 - Processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid such as a resist liquid to a surface of an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a processing apparatus of this type, an object to be processed such as a semiconductor wafer is held on a spin chuck, a processing liquid is dropped on a central portion of the object to be processed, and then the spin chuck is rotated at a high speed. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known an apparatus for uniformly applying a processing liquid to a peripheral portion of an object to be processed by centrifugal force.

In order to form a coating film having a desired film thickness on the surface of an object to be processed using the processing apparatus having the above-described structure, the temperature of the object to be processed must be controlled to an appropriate temperature. There is. Therefore, conventionally, in this type of processing apparatus,
The above-described coating process was performed by taking measures such as giving a temperature control function to the spin chuck that directly contacts the workpiece and setting the workpiece to a predetermined temperature in advance, and then transporting the workpiece to the spin chuck. .

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional processing apparatus, for example, the inside of the apparatus is evacuated at the time of spin coating, so that the atmosphere heated by the heat of a motor for driving a spin chuck or the like is heated. When (air) hits the object, the temperature of the object increases due to the influence.
In such a case, the temperature of the central portion of the object to be processed that is in contact with the spin chuck can be adjusted by the spin chuck, but the temperature of the peripheral portion of the object to be processed is hard to be adjusted, so that the film thickness is easily formed to be large. There is a problem that the in-plane uniformity of the thickness is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a processing apparatus capable of supplying a processing liquid to an object to be processed and controlling the temperature of the atmosphere around the object to be processed with good uniformity. It is intended for.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is based on the premise that a processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to the surface of a processing object is provided on a peripheral portion of the processing object. and the temperature control fluid circulation passage for circulating a fluid temperature control, and characterized in that the atmosphere flows into the temperature control fluid and the object to be processed peripheral portion of the flow path formed by and a heat exchange means for heat exchange
I do.

[0007] In the present invention, the heat exchanging means may be a thermo-exchange means.
Temperature control fluid in the control fluid circulation channel and flow to the periphery of the object
Heat exchange with the atmosphere, for example, in the horizontal direction or
It is formed by a plurality of fins arranged in the longitudinal Direction (according
Item 2).

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, the object to be processed is
Holding means for holding and rotating, and processing on the object to be processed
Enclosing the processing liquid supply means for supplying the liquid and the holding means
And an annular cup having an inner diameter smaller than the object to be processed.
And are arranged in the horizontal or vertical direction on the inner surface of the cup.
Forming a plurality of fins, and
And a gap is formed between them .

In the present invention, the holding means and the bracket
It is preferable to provide a temperature control means in the pump (claim 4).

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the invention , the temperature of the atmosphere flowing to the peripheral portion of the object to be processed is adjusted by heat exchange with the temperature control fluid in the temperature control fluid circulation channel when passing through the heat exchange means. Will be. By suitably adjusting the temperature of the peripheral portion of the object to be processed by the temperature-adjusted atmosphere, it is possible to uniformly apply the processing liquid to the surface of the object to be processed. In this case, they are arranged horizontally or vertically.
By providing multiple fins, the temperature can be further controlled.
It can be performed efficiently (claim 2).

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the periphery of the object to be processed is
The atmosphere flowing to the side passes through the inner surface of the cup and
As it flows through the gap between the processing object and the cup,
Of the processing liquid can be prevented. This place
In the case where the holding means and the cup are provided with temperature control means
The temperature of the object and the atmosphere can be adjusted.
(Claim 4).

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is applied to a resist coating and developing apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 1, the resist coating / developing apparatus includes a processing mechanism unit 10 having a processing mechanism for performing various processings on an object to be processed, for example, a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter simply referred to as a wafer) W; The loading / unloading mechanism 1 for automatically loading / unloading the wafer W into / from the mechanism unit 10 constitutes a main part.

The loading / unloading mechanism 1 includes a wafer carrier 2 for storing the unprocessed wafer W, a wafer carrier 3 for storing the processed wafer W, and an arm for holding the wafer W by suction.
A moving mechanism 5 for moving the arm 4 in X, Y (horizontal), Z (vertical) and θ (rotation) directions;
Stage 6 on which wafers are aligned and wafers W are transferred to and from processing mechanism unit 10
And

The processing mechanism unit 10 is provided with a transfer mechanism 12 movably along a transfer path 11 formed in the X direction from the alignment stage 6. Transport mechanism 1
2 has a main arm 13 movably in the Y, Z and θ directions.
Is provided. On one side of the transfer path 11, an adhesion processing mechanism 14 for performing an adhesion process for improving the adhesion between the wafer W and the resist liquid film, and a solvent remaining in the resist applied to the wafer W are heated and evaporated. A pre-bake mechanism 15 for cooling the wafer W and a cooling mechanism 16 for cooling the wafer W subjected to the heat treatment are arranged.
On the other side of the transfer path 11, a processing liquid application mechanism 17 for applying a resist on the surface of the wafer W (processing apparatus of the present invention)
In order to prevent diffused light reflection during the exposure process,
And a surface coating layer coating mechanism 18 for coating and forming a CEL film or the like on the resist.

In the resist coating and developing apparatus configured as described above, first, the unprocessed wafer W is unloaded from the wafer carrier 2 by the arm 4 of the loading / unloading mechanism 1 and placed on the alignment stage 6. Is done. Then
The wafer W on the alignment stage 6 is transferred to the transfer mechanism 12
Of each of the processing mechanisms 14 to 1
8 and processed according to a predetermined process. Then, the processed wafer W is returned to the alignment stage 6 by the main arm 13 and further transported by the arm 4 to be stored in the wafer carrier 3.

Next, regarding the processing device 17 of the present invention,
This will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 2, the processing apparatus 1 of the present invention
7, retention and suction holding the wafer W is horizontally rotated so
Means, for example, a spin chuck 19, an annular inner cup 20 concentrically arranged so as to surround the spin chuck 19, and configured to control the temperature of the peripheral portion of the wafer W as described later, Outer cup 21 for accommodating the inner space 19 and inner cup 20 to form a processing space
And a processing liquid supply means for supplying a resist liquid as a processing liquid to the surface of the wafer W by being moved onto the spin chuck 19.
For example, the processing liquid supply nozzle 22 forms a main part.

The lower end of the spin chuck 19 is fixed to a rotating shaft 36 of a motor 23 for rotating the spin chuck 19 and the wafer W at a predetermined rotation speed. The motor 23 is provided with an encoder 27 capable of accurately detecting the rotation position of the rotation shaft 36 and the like. The heat generated by the driving of the motor 23 is transmitted to the spin chuck 19 via the rotating shaft 36 and further to the wafer W held by the spin chuck 19 on the mounting flange 23a of the motor 23. In order to prevent this, a chuck temperature adjusting means 24 is provided. The chuck temperature adjusting means 24 includes a constant-temperature water circulation channel 25 for temperature adjustment formed inside the flange 23 a, and a constant-temperature water tank 26 connected to the channel 25 via a pipe 30. The constant temperature water tank 26 is provided with a circulating device (not shown) for circulating constant temperature water in the tank to the constant temperature water circulation channel 25 and a temperature controller (not shown) for controlling the temperature of the constant temperature water to a predetermined temperature. According to the chuck temperature adjusting means 24, the temperature of the spin chuck 19 is adjusted via the rotating shaft 36 by appropriately adjusting the temperature of the constant temperature water.
The temperature of the central portion of the wafer which directly contacts the wafer 9 can be adjusted. The temperature of the spin chuck 19 is controlled, for example, to 23 ° C., which is room temperature.

The processing liquid supply nozzle 22 is connected to a resist liquid container (not shown) via a pipe 28. The piping 28 includes a mechanism for circulating constant-temperature water and the like, and is provided with a resist temperature adjusting device 29 for adjusting the temperature of the resist solution through the pipe wall. The resist temperature controller 29 adjusts the temperature of the resist solution to, for example, 23
Adjusted to ２４24.5 ° C.

The inner cup 20 is formed of an annular member formed of a material having good heat conductivity such as aluminum, and includes an upper member 20u and a lower member 20d. Upper member 20
u and the inner diameter of the lower member 20d are set to be equal and smaller than the diameter of the wafer W. The outer peripheral surface of the upper member 20u is formed in a cone shape, and the upper end surface 20a is disposed slightly away from the back surface of the wafer W sucked and held by the spin chuck 19, and is located between the wafer W and the upper end surface 20a.
(See FIG. 2). The inner cup 20 has an inner cup temperature control means 31 and a heat exchange means 3.
5 are provided.

The inner cup temperature adjusting means 31 is provided for the inner cup 2.
0, a temperature control fluid circulation channel for circulating a temperature control fluid such as constant temperature water, that is, a constant temperature fluid circulation channel 32.
And a constant-temperature water tank 34 connected to the constant-temperature fluid circulation channel 32 via a pipe 33. Constant temperature fluid circulation channel 32
Is formed by closing the upper portion of a groove provided over the entire circumference on the upper surface of the lower member 20d with the upper member 20u.
2 are connected to the start point and the end point. Constant temperature water tank 3
4 includes a constant temperature water circulating device (not shown) configured by a pump or the like that circulates constant temperature water in the tank to the constant temperature fluid circulation channel 32, and a temperature controller (not illustrated) that controls the temperature of the constant temperature water to a predetermined temperature. Is provided. The inner cup temperature adjusting means 31 configured as described above is controlled by an inner cup temperature control device 37 including a temperature sensor and the like for detecting the temperature of the inner cup 20. While monitoring the temperature of the inner cup 20, the inner cup temperature control device 37 drives and controls the constant temperature water circulating device and the temperature controller provided in the constant temperature water tank 34, so that the constant temperature water flows at a predetermined flow rate and temperature at a constant temperature fluid circulating flow. By circulating to the path 32, the temperature of the inner cup 20 is controlled to a predetermined temperature. The temperature of the inner cup 20 is controlled, for example, to room temperature (23 ° C.) ± 2 ° C.

The heat exchange means 35 provides good heat between the inner cup 20 whose temperature has been adjusted as described above and the air A flowing to the peripheral portion of the wafer W through the inside of the inner cup 20 as described later. It is provided on the inner periphery of the inner cup 20 for replacement. The heat exchange means 35 is formed of an annular member made of a material having good heat conductivity such as aluminum similarly to the inner cup 20, and has an inner periphery along a circumferential direction as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A plurality of annular fins 35
a is appropriately spaced in the height direction (vertical direction) of the inner cup 20 .
And are arranged.

An exhaust port 38 is provided at the bottom of the outer cup 21. The exhaust port 38 is connected to an exhaust device (not shown) so that the resist solution and particles scattered when performing the spin coating process on the wafer W can be discharged from the exhaust port 38 together with the atmosphere in the processing apparatus 17. Has become.

In the processing apparatus 17 of the present invention configured as described above, when the resist solution is applied to the surface of the wafer W, the chuck temperature adjusting means 24 and the inner cup temperature adjusting means 31 previously use the spin chuck 19 and the inner cup temperature adjusting means 31. The temperature of the cup 20 is adjusted to, for example, 23 ° C. Then, the wafer W is mounted on the spin chuck 19 by the main arm 13. At this time, the wafer W is positioned so that the direction of the orientation flat (commonly called orientation flat) becomes a predetermined direction, and the spin chuck 19 is rotated.
Placed on top.

Then, after the wafer W is sucked and held by the spin chuck 19, the exhaust inside the apparatus is started from the exhaust port 38. During this exhaust, air (downflow in the processing mechanism unit 10) introduced from the upper opening of the outer cup 21 flows downward through the outer peripheral portion of the inner cup 20 and is discharged from the exhaust port 38. . Air-A flowing between the upper end surface 20a of the inner cup 20 and the back surface of the wafer W is:
The temperature is adjusted to 23 ° C. by good heat exchange with a number of fins 35 a of the heat exchange means 35 provided on the inner periphery of the inner cup 20. Since the fins 35a are provided, the effect of the inner cup temperature adjusting means 31 can be greatly enhanced. Therefore, the central portion of the wafer W is exchanged with the spin chuck 19 and the peripheral portion of the wafer W is air-exchanged.
The temperature is adjusted to 23 ° C. equally by heat exchange with A, and the temperature is adjusted over the entire surface of the wafer W.

Next, the processing liquid supply nozzle 22 is moved to the center position of the wafer W, the resist liquid is dropped on the wafer W, and the spin chuck 19 is driven to drive the wafer W.
Is rotated at a high speed, and the resist solution is uniformly applied to the surface of the wafer W by centrifugal force. Since the temperature of the entire wafer W is adjusted to a suitable temperature, it is possible to prevent the peripheral portion of the wafer W from becoming too thick, and to apply the resist liquid to the entire surface of the wafer W very uniformly. Here, if the temperature of the resist solution to be dropped is also adjusted to 23 ° C., which is the temperature of the wafer W, a coating film having better in-plane uniformity can be obtained. When the spin chuck 19 is stopped, the motor 27 is rotated by the encoder 27.
If the rotation position of the wafer 6 is detected and the orientation of the orientation flat of the wafer W is accurately positioned so as to be the direction at the start of the rotation, the wafer W can be transferred to the next process while keeping the orientation flat direction. Therefore, the reproducibility of the processing and the analysis are facilitated.

The heat exchange means 35 described in the above embodiment is
Longitudinal Although plurality of annular fins 35a is in ordered structure which disposed are perpendicular to the flow
The purpose is to enhance the heat exchange efficiency by disturbing the flow of the air-A by the annular fins 35a arranged in a circle. Various structures can be applied to the structure of the heat exchange means 35. In consideration of the rectifying action of the air-A, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of fins 35b along the 0 in the height direction) of the circumferential direction (lateral
Direction) and a structure having a spiral fin 35c as shown in FIG. According to the structure shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the back surface of the wafer W and the inner cup 20 are not significantly reduced without significantly reducing the flow rate of the air-A.
Can be introduced into the gap s between the upper end surface 20a of the inner cup 20 and the resist solution can be prevented from wrapping around the back surface of the wafer W and particles from adhering to the upper end surface 20a of the inner cup 20.

In the above embodiment, the case where the object to be processed is a semiconductor wafer has been described. However, the object to be processed is not necessarily limited to a semiconductor wafer. For example, an object to be processed is similarly coated on an LCD substrate or a printed circuit board. Is also applicable. When processing is performed on an LCD substrate, it is necessary to determine the direction of the substrate. Therefore, the function of detecting the rotational position of the motor rotation shaft 36 by the encoder 27 is particularly effective. In the above embodiment, the case where the processing apparatus is applied to the resist coating and developing apparatus has been described. However, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to an apparatus for performing, for example, an etching liquid coating processing or a magnetic liquid coating processing. In the above embodiment, the case where the temperature rise in the peripheral portion of the object to be processed is prevented is described. However, the present invention is not necessarily applied only to the case where the temperature rise is prevented. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to any temperature control.

[0030]

As described above , according to the processing apparatus of the present invention, since it is configured as described above,
Such excellent effects can be obtained. 1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, a temperature control fluid circulating flow path for circulating a temperature control fluid around the object to be processed, and the temperature control fluid in the flow path and the atmosphere flowing to the peripheral area of the object to be processed. And heat exchange means for exchanging heat with
The atmosphere flowing to the peripheral portion of the processing object and the temperature control fluid in the temperature control fluid circulation flow path are heat-exchanged satisfactorily through the heat exchange means. The temperature can be suitably adjusted, and the treatment of the surface of the object can be performed with high uniformity. 2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, the heat exchanging means is arranged in a lateral direction or
Is formed by a plurality of fins arranged in the vertical direction,
In addition to the above 1), the heat exchange efficiency can be further improved.
Wear. 3) According to the third aspect of the present invention, the flow to the peripheral portion of the object is
Atmosphere passing through the inner surface of the cup,
Since the gap between the cup and the processing liquid flows, the processing liquid
Wraparound can be prevented. 4) According to the invention described in claim 4, the holding means and the cup
Is provided with temperature control means, so that
The temperature of the processing object and the atmosphere can be adjusted.
Performs a uniform coating of the processing liquid on the surface of the processing object
be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an embodiment in which a processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a resist liquid coating and developing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing a heat exchange means in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional perspective view showing another embodiment of the heat exchange means in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional perspective view showing still another embodiment of the heat exchange means in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 17 processing apparatus 19 spin chuck (holding means) 22 processing liquid supply nozzle (processing liquid supply means) 24 chuck temperature adjustment means 31 inner cup temperature adjustment means 32 constant temperature fluid circulation flow path 35 heat exchange means 35a, 35b, 35c Fin A air -(Atmosphere) W Semiconductor wafer (workpiece) s Gap

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-211919 (JP, A) JP-A-1-262968 (JP, A) JP-A-3-41715 (JP, A) JP-A-1 107867 (JP, A) JP-A-62-205626 (JP, A) JP-A-61-142743 (JP, A) JP-A-4-262552 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁶ , DB name) H01L 21/027

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to the surface of an object to be processed, wherein a temperature adjusting fluid circulation channel for circulating a temperature adjusting fluid around the object to be processed is provided. A processing apparatus, comprising: heat exchange means for exchanging heat between a temperature controlling fluid and an atmosphere flowing to a peripheral portion of an object to be processed. 2. The heat exchange means according to claim 1, wherein said heat exchange means is provided in a horizontal or vertical direction.
Characterized by being formed by a plurality of fins arranged
The processing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. A holding means for holding and rotating an object to be processed.
And a processing liquid supply unit for supplying a processing liquid onto the object to be processed.
Surrounding the holding means and having an inner diameter smaller than that of the object to be processed.
A circular cup, and a plurality of cups arranged in a horizontal or vertical direction on an inner surface of the cup.
Number of fins, and the object and the cup
A processing apparatus characterized by forming a gap between them. 4. A temperature control means for the holding means and the cup.
The processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: