JP2970899B2 - Processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a process of manufacturing a semiconductor product, a circuit pattern is reduced by using photolithography technology, transferred to a photoresist, and developed. When performing such processing, a plurality of processing apparatuses that perform each step of performing photolithography technology, for example, a hydrophobizing step, a resist coating step, a developing step, a baking step, a cooling step, and the like, increase work efficiency. They are assembled and combined for the purpose of improvement.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing an example of a processing apparatus group in which a plurality of the above processing apparatuses are combined. As shown in the figure, the entire processing apparatus group is configured in a substantially rectangular shape.
At one end in the longitudinal direction, a loader unit 2 for loading a semiconductor wafer that has been processed in the previous step into the processing apparatus group or unloading the processed wafer is provided, and at the other end. Is provided with an interface unit 4 for transferring a wafer between an external device (not shown), for example, an exposure machine and this device group. A main transfer mechanism (not shown) that moves along the longitudinal direction to transfer the wafer is provided at the center of the group of apparatuses so as to divide the apparatus back and forth at the center. A coating device 6 for coating the resist on the wafer surface and a developing device 8 for developing the resist after exposure are provided in parallel, and the other side is heated and evaporated to remove the solvent remaining in the coated resist. Heat treatment equipment 1 for pre-baking
And a post-baking heat treatment device 12 for heating and evaporating a developing solution remaining in the photoresist after development is provided in one block by vertically stacking in multiple stages. It is juxtaposed.

[0004] More specifically, as shown in FIG. 16, columns 14 are provided with upright columns 14 at four corners thereof, and the columns 14 are vertically divided into a plurality of steps. A plurality of, for example, four-stage heat treatment apparatuses are configured in the illustrated example. Note that the lowermost part in FIG. 16 is a control unit of each heat treatment apparatus. As shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, for example, in each of the heat treatment apparatuses 10 for pre-baking, a disc-shaped hot plate 16 having a heating element such as a heater therein for mounting and heating a wafer is provided. A (mounting table) is provided, and the hot plate 16 is supported on an arm 20 attached to an elevating means 18 having, for example, a cylinder or the like provided on the side so as to be able to move vertically. And this hot plate 1
6, a plurality of pins 22, for example, three pins 22 are inserted in the up and down direction in a loosely fitted state, and when the hot plate 16 is raised, the hot plate 16 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the wafer W, while the lower plate is lowered. The configuration is such that the wafer W is supported by the upper ends of the pins 22 when the wafer W is moved. In addition, near the elevating means 18, accessories such as a sensor for detecting the up / down, a cable connected to the hot plate 16, a pipe for supplying nitrogen gas, and the like are provided. And this heat treatment apparatus 1
A cover member 24 for collecting a solvent gas in the resist generated at the time of heating the wafer and discharging the gas to the outside of the apparatus is provided in an upper part of the wafer.

[0005]

In the heat treatment apparatuses 10 and 12 as described above, the downflow flowing from the wafer inlet / outlet directly hits the wafer and locally lowers the wafer temperature so that the resist film thickness becomes uniform. There was a problem that it would be an obstacle to the development. Further, in some cases, a solvent or the like evaporated from the resist on the wafer surface adheres to the inner side wall, the hot plate, or the like as an adhering substance, causing the generation of particles.

[0006] The present invention focuses on the above problems,
It was created to solve this effectively. An object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus capable of flowing down-flow clean air from around a mounting table.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention forms a mounting table for mounting and processing an object to be processed and a processing space for accommodating the mounting table. A housing that surrounds the mounting table, a shutter member provided around the mounting table, an elevating mechanism that moves the shutter member up and down, and a central part that is provided so as to cover the upper part of the processing space in the housing. The shutter member is provided with a cover member to which an exhaust line is connected, and a large number of ventilation holes provided in the shutter member along a circumferential direction thereof.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting table for mounting and processing an object to be processed, a housing for accommodating the mounting table to form a processing space, and a surrounding area surrounding the mounting table. A shutter member, an elevating mechanism for moving the shutter member up and down, a cover member provided so as to cover an upper part of the processing space in the housing, and having a central portion connected to an exhaust line, and an upper part of the shutter member. And a ring-shaped air baffle that forms an annular air inflow port with the periphery of the cover member when it is lifted upward.

The present invention further provides a mounting table for mounting and processing an object to be processed, a housing for accommodating the mounting table to form a processing space, and a surrounding area surrounding the mounting table. A shutter member, an elevating mechanism for moving the shutter member up and down, a cover member provided so as to cover an upper part of the processing space in the housing, an exhaust line connected to a central portion, and a lower peripheral edge of the cover member And an air rectifying plate that forms a number of air inlets along the circumferential direction of the shutter, and lifts the shutter member upward to contact the cover member, and is rectified from the air inlet. It is configured such that the air flows in.

According to the present invention, as described above, the shutter member is lifted upward by the elevating mechanism when processing an object to be processed, thereby defining a processing space. The downflow of the clean air flows around the outer periphery of the shutter member, and flows into the processing space from a number of ventilation holes provided in the shutter member. Accordingly, the clean air flows from the periphery of the mounting table substantially uniformly and in a laminar flow state into the processing space, whereby it is possible to prevent the object to be cooled from being partially cooled.

[0011] Further, the shutter member may be replaced with a vent hole,
Even in the case where a ring-shaped air rectifying plate is formed to form an annular air inlet between the shutter member and the peripheral portion of the cover member when the shutter member is lifted upward, the object to be processed is prevented from being cooled as described above. The effect can be exhibited. Furthermore,
By providing an air flow regulating plate on the lower peripheral edge of the cover member instead of the ventilation hole provided in the shutter member and allowing air to flow in from the circumferential direction, the size of the air inlet can be reduced due to the processing error of the lifting / lowering means of the shutter member. Can be eliminated. Therefore, it is possible to introduce more uniform laminar air into the processing space than in the case described above.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view for explaining a connected state of the processing apparatuses according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a processing apparatus group in which a plurality of processing apparatuses are engaged, and FIG. 3 is a connected state of the processing apparatuses according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state where the processing apparatuses are stacked, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the inside of the processing apparatus.

As shown, a processing apparatus 30 according to the present invention is shown.
Are combined together with other processing devices in the processing device group 32. More specifically, in the processing apparatus group 32, two main arms 34 are provided so as to be movable along the longitudinal direction of the central portion of the processing apparatus group 32 in order to transfer the semiconductor wafer as a processing object. On one side, a brush cleaning device 38 for brush cleaning the wafer carried in from the loader unit 36, a jet water cleaning device 40 for cleaning the wafer with high-pressure jet water, a resist coating device 43 for coating a resist on the wafer surface, A resist removing device 44 for removing the resist in the peripheral portion of the wafer is sequentially provided,
On the other side, a brush cleaning device 38 and a jet water cleaning device 40
In addition to the above, as the processing apparatus 30 according to the present invention, an adhesion processing apparatus 42 for hydrophobizing a wafer surface, a cooling processing apparatus 45 for cooling a wafer, and a heating processing apparatus 46 are appropriately combined and stacked in four layers in the vertical direction. 1
One block body is constituted, and four block bodies are juxtaposed.

In this embodiment, a description will be given of a heat treatment device 46 as an example of the treatment device 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the entire heat treatment apparatus 46 has a housing 50 formed in a substantially rectangular shape. The casing 50 has thick side walls 52 having a width of, for example, about 8 mm on both sides thereof.
The side wall 52 projects upward by a predetermined length,
A processing space S is formed in a portion sandwiched between the protruding portions. The upper part of the processing space S is covered by a bottom plate of a casing located at an upper stage of the apparatus as described later. And
The semiconductor wafer W, which is an object to be processed, can be loaded into and unloaded from the processing space S from the front side.

The upper and lower corners of the four corners of the side wall 52 are provided with engaging members 54 which are features of the present invention. Specifically, the engagement member 54A on the upper front side of each side wall 52 is
A locking plate 56 formed to project upward from the side wall 52 by a predetermined length, for example, about several tens of millimeters, and a horizontal engaging pin 5 extending horizontally from the locking plate 56 toward the rear side of the apparatus.
8 so that the horizontal engagement pin 58 can be engaged with the side wall of the processing apparatus located at the upper stage as described later. Further, the engagement member 54B on the lower front side of each side wall 52 has an engagement step portion 60 for mounting a locking plate located at the lower stage, and the engagement step portion 60 has A horizontal engagement hole 62 is formed in the rear side of the device to fit the horizontal engagement pin 58 of the lower device.

Further, an engaging member 54C on the upper back side of each side wall 52 has a vertical engaging groove 64 having a predetermined depth formed by notching a corner of each side wall 52 at a right angle and opening upward and rearward.
The vertical engagement pin located in the upper stage, which will be described later, is slid in the horizontal direction and is configured to be freely disengaged from the vertical engagement groove 64. The engagement member 54D on the lower rear surface side of each side wall 52 is constituted by a vertical engagement pin 66 extending vertically downward from the lower surface of the corner of the side wall. 6
The length of the vertical engaging groove 6 is slightly shorter than the depth of the vertical engaging groove 6 of the device located at the lower stage, and is slidable in the horizontal direction so as to be freely disengaged from the vertical engaging groove. . Thus, the engagement member 54 of the housing of each processing apparatus is provided.
Is configured in the same manner as described above. As shown in FIG. 3, the engaging members can be connected to each other by overlapping and sliding the processing devices 30, which are to be positioned vertically. By such coupling, as shown in FIG. 4, the processing apparatuses 30 can be stacked so as to be separable in multiple stages.

Each of the side walls 52 has an exhaust hole 6 formed vertically through almost the entire area of the cross section.
The exhaust holes 68 are connected in the vertical direction when a plurality of the processing apparatuses are vertically stacked to form an exhaust path. A heating plate 70 as a mounting table having a heating element such as a heater inside is fixedly provided to the side wall 52 in the central portion of the inside of the heat treatment device 46, and is mounted thereon. Wafer W
Is configured to be heat-treated.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, for example, three holes 71 are formed in the hot plate 70, and three support pins 76 are loosely fitted in each hole 71 from below. The support pin 76 is inserted and inserted into a first elevating means 72, which is provided on the back side of the heat treatment apparatus and is constituted by a ball screw, a cylinder, or the like, so as to be vertically movable via an arm 74. . Therefore, when the support pins 76 are raised and the tips thereof are projected from the upper surface of the hot plate 70 to support the wafer at the tip of the pins, the wafer W is separated from the hot plate 70 and conversely, the support pins 76 are lowered. The wafer W is configured to be in contact with the surface of the hot plate 70 when its tip is located below the upper surface of the hot plate 70.

A strip ring member 78 made of, for example, stainless steel and having a predetermined length is provided so as to cover the periphery of the processing space S formed above the hot plate 70. The shutter member 78 has a large number of ventilation holes 80 having a diameter of about 3 mm which are located at a position of about 10 mm above the wafer surface and have a diameter of about 3 mm, for example, at intervals of 10 mm. It is configured such that the downflow cleaning air flowing into the apparatus 46 can uniformly flow into the processing space S from the circumferential direction thereof, or the gas generated during the heat treatment does not leak out of the apparatus. The vent 80 may not be provided depending on the chemical used for the wafer.

The lower end of the shutter member 78 is detachably attached to a shutter support member 82 having a right-angle cross section.
A second elevating means 84, such as a ball screw or a cylinder, provided on the back side of the heat treatment apparatus 46 is vertically movably attached via an arm 86, and the processing is performed by raising and lowering the same. An upper end of the shutter member 78 is brought into contact with a peripheral portion of a cover member 88 formed so as to cover the space S, so as to cover the entire processing space S.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, an exhaust hole 90 is formed in a side portion of the cover member 88, and an exhaust hole 92 is formed in the side wall 52 corresponding to the exhaust hole 90.
Are formed so that the gas generated during the heat treatment can be sucked and exhausted through an exhaust passage on the side of the apparatus. As shown in FIG. 6, a large number of outside air vents 94 for introducing clean air are formed on the front side of the heat treatment device 46, and the processing space S is formed through this portion.
It is configured such that the wafer W can be loaded and unloaded into the inside.

Then, the first and second lifting means 72,
On the back side of the heat treatment apparatus in which 84 is accommodated, other up-down sensors of these elevating means 72, 84, a piping system for nitrogen gas, and accessory parts such as electric wiring of a driving system of the elevating means are housed. Therefore, maintenance can be easily performed from the rear side of the apparatus. In addition, similar to the above-mentioned heat treatment device 46, the other treatment devices such as the adhesion treatment device 42 and the cooling treatment device 45 are provided with the engaging members 54 at the four corners of the housing, and the lifting / lowering means and other accessory parts are provided on the back side. Etc. are provided.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, each of the heat treatment devices 46
The processing devices 30 such as the adhesion processing device 42 and the cooling processing device 45 are appropriately combined and arranged in a plurality of stages facing the main arm 34 on the front side as shown in FIG. Then, a lid is separately attached to the uppermost processing unit. The semiconductor wafer W carried into the processing apparatus group 32 from the loader unit 36 is processed by the main arm 34 in accordance with the processing order, for example, a brush cleaning apparatus 38, a jet water cleaning apparatus 40, an adhesion processing apparatus 42, a resist coating apparatus 43, and a heating process. It is sequentially transported as in the device 46 and the like, and the processing is performed.

Here, the stacking of the processing devices 30 in the vertical direction is performed by, for example, taking the heat processing device 46 as an example, as shown in FIG. Then, they are slid horizontally relative to each other and overlapped so that they completely coincide with each other in the vertical direction. At this time, the horizontal engagement pin 58 provided on the upper front side of the side wall 52 of the housing 50 is fitted into the horizontal engagement hole 62 provided on the lower front side of the upper heat treatment apparatus, and is moved upward. The upstanding locking plate 56 comes into contact with the upper side wall corner and stops, and furthermore, the upper side heat treatment device 4
6 is prevented from sliding forward. At this time, the vertical engagement groove 64 provided on the upper rear surface side of the lower heat treatment device 46 has a vertical engagement pin projecting downward on the lower rear surface side of the upper heat treatment device 46. 66 is inserted and engaged with the slide of the apparatus from the horizontal direction, and is positioned and fixed as a whole. In this way, the processing devices 30 are sequentially stacked in the required number of stages as shown in FIG.

In such a state, when a failure occurs in, for example, the heating processing unit 46 located substantially in the middle of the processing units stacked in a plurality of stages, and in the case of a minor failure, the heating treatment is performed. The cover (not shown) is removed from the back side of the device 46, and the first and second
The drive system of the elevating means 72, 84 or the up-down sensor is repaired. Thereby, repair can be easily performed. In the case of a serious failure that cannot be repaired only by removing the rear cover, the stacking procedure of the above apparatus is reversed to isolate the failed heat treatment apparatus.
That is, by pushing the heat treatment device located in the upper stage of the failed heat treatment device 46 toward the rear side, the horizontal engagement pin 58 of the failed heat treatment device 46 that has been engaged up to that time is pushed.
And the upper horizontal engagement hole 62 and the vertical engagement groove 64 of the failure heat treatment device 46 and the upper vertical engagement pin 6
6, the two heat treatment devices are separated from each other.

Then, similarly, the failed heat treatment apparatus 46
Is pushed to the rear side to separate it from the lower heat treatment apparatus for the same reason as described above.Therefore, only the failed heat treatment apparatus 46 can be separated and removed alone, and It will be possible to repair it. As described above, since the engaging member 54 which is slidably engaged and disengaged is provided on the housing 50 of the processing apparatus, the processing apparatus can be easily separated and detached by itself.
Positioning at the time of mounting can be performed accurately, and maintenance work can be performed quickly.

In addition, a member which is more likely to cause a failure than the other parts such as the lifting / lowering means 72 and 84 and the up / down sensor is provided on the back of the processing apparatus. As described above, by removing the back cover without separating the processing apparatus by itself, the faulty part can be repaired, and the maintenance work can be performed more efficiently.

When the wafer W is heat-treated by using such a heat treatment apparatus 46, for example, the wafer W coated with the resist solution is moved from the wafer entrance on the front side of the processing apparatus 46 using the main arm 34. The wafer W is loaded and the upper end of the support pin 76 supports the wafer W. At this time, the first lifting / lowering means 72 for vertically moving the support pin 76 is located above, and the upper end of the support pin 76 is projected above the upper surface of the hot plate 70. Further, the shutter member 78 is lowered by the second lifting / lowering means 84.

From this state, by lowering the first elevating means 72, the support pins 76 are lowered, and the hot plate 70 heated to a predetermined temperature, for example, 100 to 200 ° C.
The wafer W is placed on the surface of the wafer W and brought into contact with the wafer W to heat the wafer W, and the atmosphere in the processing space S is evacuated by a static pressure of, for example, ₂ mmH ₂ O by an exhaust mechanism (not shown), and the wafer W Heat treatment. At this time, the second lifting / lowering means 84 for vertically moving the shutter member 78 is located at the upper side, and the upper end of the shutter member 78 is located at the upper cover member 88.
And the processing space S is covered as a whole. At this time, if necessary, nitrogen, for example, is introduced as an inert gas for preventing oxidation into the heat treatment device 46 at a flow rate of, for example, 10 liter / min.

In this heat treatment process, as shown in FIG. 9, a downflow of clean air flows into the apparatus from the inlet / outlet of the wafer. This downflow is caused by the outer periphery of the shutter member 78 covering the processing space 5. And flows almost uniformly into the processing space S from the peripheral portion thereof through the ventilation holes 80 provided therein to form a laminar flow, and covers the wafer W with a gas heated and evaporated from the resist applied to the wafer W. The gas flows out from the central portion of the member 88 and is discharged out of the system through an exhaust hole 68 provided in the side wall 52.

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, the downflow flowing from the inlet / outlet of the wafer directly hits the wafer and locally lowers the wafer temperature, thereby hindering the uniformization of the resist film thickness. In the embodiment, the downflow can be prevented from directly hitting the wafer W by the shutter member 78 as described above, and the downflow can be uniformly taken into the processing space S from the circumferential direction. It is possible to prevent the temperature from locally decreasing, and it is possible to maintain high uniformity of the film thickness.

Further, in the conventional apparatus, as shown in FIG. 17, a solvent or the like evaporated from the resist on the wafer surface adheres to the inner side wall or the hot plate as an adhered substance M, which causes the generation of particles. However, in this embodiment, since the shutter member 78 is provided as described above, the downflow flowing into the inside is laminarized, the stagnation of the airflow is reduced, and the vaporized solvent does not hit the inner wall smoothly. In addition, vaporization is promoted by the heat stored in the shutter member 78 itself, and therefore, it is possible to reduce as much as possible a solvent or the like which causes particles adhering to the inner wall portion. After the elapse of the heat treatment time, the support pins 76 are moved up by
Is projected from the surface of the wafer W to support the wafer W from the tips of the pins, and the heating is terminated. Then, after lowering the shutter member 78 by lowering the second lifting / lowering means 84, the processed wafer W is taken out by the main arm 34 and transferred to the next processing apparatus.

In this case, if the next processing unit is processing and there is no room, the wafer W which has been subjected to the heat treatment is made to stand by in the heating unit 46. In this case, the wafer W and the hot plate 70 with the shutter member 78 separated from the shutter member 78.
Is raised so as to cover the periphery of the processing space S. Thus, the downflow flowing into the apparatus does not hit the wafer W unevenly, and this one-sided cooling can be prevented. In the present embodiment, the downflow directly hits the hot plate 70 by raising the shutter member 78 upward in the standby state without the wafer being accommodated in the heat treatment device 46. Can be prevented, and the hot plate 70 can be prevented from being locally cooled.

Further, in the conventional device, since the heating plate 16 itself has a structure as shown in FIG. 12, there is a danger that the power supply line connected thereto is cut off. In this embodiment, since the heating plate 70 has a fixed structure, it is possible to greatly reduce the possibility that the power supply wiring connected thereto is cut off.

Further, in the conventional apparatus, as shown in FIG. 15, since adjacent blocks of the heat treatment apparatus are very close to each other, for example, the adjacent blocks may be processed under different temperature conditions. In consideration of the points, a heat insulating agent or the like had to be interposed in order to prevent mutual thermal effects. However, according to the present embodiment, exhaust holes 68 are formed on both sides of the processing apparatus, and this portion is formed. Is made to have a heat insulating effect, so that mutual thermal effects can be prevented without using a heat insulating agent or the like required in the conventional apparatus.

In the above embodiment, during the heat treatment of the wafer W, cool air flows into the inside from the gap between the upper end of the shutter member 78 and the peripheral portion of the cover member 88. In this case, even if the gap is set to, for example, 3 mm, the gap becomes an uneven interval along the circumferential direction because the shutter member 78 is mounted on the shutter support member 82 or the like. ing. For this reason, the way in which air enters differs at each location in the circumferential direction of the gap. For this reason, there is a possibility that turbulence may occur in the processing space S due to the action of the cold air flowing at the uneven flow rate and the rising airflow from the hot plate 70.

Therefore, in order to prevent this turbulent flow from occurring, a configuration as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 may be adopted. The same parts as those in the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. That is, the hot plate 70 is placed on a ring-shaped hot plate support ring 102 formed in a stepped cross section, and the hot plate support ring 1 on the outer peripheral portion of the hot plate 70 is provided.
As shown in FIG. 11, a ring-shaped hollow pipe 106 serving as an inert gas supply unit connected to the N ₂ gas source 104 is disposed on the surface 02. This hollow pipe 106
Has a large number of injection ports 108 opened upward in the figure.
Are formed at a predetermined pitch along the circumferential direction, and the wafer W is prevented from being oxidized by injecting N ₂ gas, which is an inert gas, upward when necessary.

On the upper part of the shutter member 78 placed on the shutter supporting member 82, for example, a ring-shaped air rectifying plate 1 having a width of about 20 mm and a thickness of about 1 mm.
10 is attached. The air straightening plate 110 is formed in a completely flat plate shape. When the air straightening plate 110 is lifted upward during the heat treatment, a width L1 is formed between the upper surface of the air straightening plate 110 and the lower surface of the peripheral portion of the cover member 88. About 2.5m
An m-shaped annular air inlet 111 is formed. In the figure, reference numeral 113 denotes a wafer misalignment prevention guide.
115 is an O-ring.

With this configuration, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 10, during the heat treatment of the wafer, the lower surface of the peripheral portion of the cover member 88 and the air rectifier 110
The clean air flows into the processing space S through the air inlet 111 having a width L1 formed about 2.5 mm between the upper surface and the upper surface of the processing space S. The air inlet 111 has a certain size, for example, 2
Since it has a length of about 0 mm, the inflowing air is rectified to some extent, so that the generation of turbulence can be suppressed to some extent and good results can be obtained to some extent.

In this case as well, the width L1 of the air inlet 111 is still affected by processing errors of the shutter member 78 and various members located thereunder or the lifting / lowering means. Uniform width L1 along the circumferential direction
Could not be achieved. Further, when the shutter member 78 is lowered as shown by the phantom line in the drawing, the N ₂ gas injected from the hollow pipe 106 hits the lower surface of the air rectifying plate 110 and flows in the horizontal direction to cool the hot plate 110. Was not preferred. Furthermore,
When the shutter member 78 descends, the air flow regulating plate 110 is
There is also a possibility of touching 0.

In order to prevent this, a configuration as shown in FIGS. 12 to 14 may be used. That is, the air flow regulating plate 110 (see FIG. 10) is provided at the upper end of the shutter member 78.
Instead, another air flow regulating plate 116 as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 is provided on the lower surface peripheral portion of the cover member 88. The air baffle 116 is not formed in a flat plate shape as in the air baffle 110. That is, in the air baffle 116, a plurality of protrusions 112 and a plurality of recesses 114 formed along its radial direction are alternately arranged at a predetermined pitch along the circumferential direction of the air baffle. ing. In this case, the height L2 of the convex portion 112 with respect to the concave portion 114 is set to about 2 mm. And an air inlet 118 having a width L2 of about 2 mm defined between the air flow regulating plate 116 and the recess 114.
Are formed at a predetermined pitch along the circumferential direction. In this case, since the processing accuracy of the air flow regulating plate 116 is good, the width L2 of the air inlet 118 is uniform with high accuracy along the circumferential direction.

Accordingly, when the heat treatment of the wafer W is performed by pushing the shutter member 78 upward, the shutter member 7
The upper end of the air flow regulating plate 8 contacts the lower surface of the air flow regulating plate 116 so that no air flows from this portion. The air inlet formed by the lower surface of the peripheral portion of the cover member 88 and the recess 14 of the air flow regulating plate 116 is formed. The air will flow into the processing space S after passing through 118. In this case, since the width L2 of the air inlet 118 is set uniformly and accurately along the circumferential direction, the inflowing air becomes uniform, and turbulence does not occur in the processing space S. . Therefore, the resist film can be reliably formed uniformly over the entire surface of the wafer W without being locally cooled.

As described above, by providing the air rectifying plate 116 on the cover member 88 side and providing the air inlet 118 with good dimensional accuracy, the air flowing into the processing space S from the outside can be made uniform. Therefore, generation of turbulence can be particularly prevented, and uniform heating can be performed accurately over the entire surface of the wafer. In the above-described embodiment, the heat processing apparatus has been described as an example of the processing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an adhesion processing apparatus having a similar structure having a mounting table for processing in a housing, cooling processing, Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to devices and the like.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following excellent functions and effects can be exhibited. Since the clean air can be introduced into the processing space uniformly and in a laminar flow state from a large number of air holes provided in the shutter member surrounding the mounting table, the generation of turbulence is prevented, and the air is uniformly distributed from the circumferential direction. Can be taken in, and the object can be prevented from being cooled down. Further, vaporization of the solvent or the like applied to the object to be processed can be promoted by the heat storage of the shutter member itself, and the generation of particles can be suppressed accordingly.

In addition, the shutter member is replaced with a vent hole,
Even in the case where a ring-shaped air flow regulating plate that forms an annular air inflow port with the peripheral portion of the cover member is provided, similarly to the above, the effect of preventing the object to be cooled and the effect of suppressing the generation of particles are provided. Can be demonstrated. In addition, instead of the ventilation holes and air rectification plates provided in the shutter member, air rectification plates are provided on the peripheral edge of the lower surface of the cover member to allow air to flow in from the circumferential direction, so that the size of the air inflow port rises and falls. Air in a more uniform laminar flow state can be introduced without being affected by processing errors or the like of the means. Further, by supplying the inert gas from the inert gas supply means provided around the mounting table, it is possible to prevent the object to be processed from being oxidized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a combined state of processing apparatuses according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a processing apparatus group in which a plurality of processing apparatuses are combined.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a combined state of the processing apparatuses.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a state in which the processing apparatuses are stacked.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the inside of the processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing elevating means in the processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the elevating means in the processing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a shutter member in the processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation state in the processing apparatus where the heat treatment is performed.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the device of the present invention.

11 is a perspective view showing a hollow pipe for introducing N ₂ gas used in the apparatus shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing an air flow regulating plate used in the device shown in FIG.

14 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a conventional processing apparatus group.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an arrangement of a conventional processing device group.

FIG. 17 is an operation explanatory diagram for explaining an operation of a conventional processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 30 processing device 32 processing device group 36 loader unit 42 adhesion processing device 43 resist coating device 44 resist removing device 45 cooling processing device 46 heating processing device 50 housing 52 side wall 54A to 54D engaging member 56 locking plate 58 horizontal engaging pin Reference Signs List 60 engaging step portion 62 horizontal engaging hole 64 vertical engaging groove 68 exhaust hole 70 hot plate (mounting table) 72 first elevating means 76 support pin 78 shutter member 84 second elevating means 88 cover member 111, 118 air inlet 112 Convex part 110, 116 Air rectifying plate 114 Concave part S Processing space W Semiconductor wafer (workpiece)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01L 21/027

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] A mounting table for mounting and processing an object to be processed;
A housing for accommodating the mounting table to form a processing space, a shutter member provided around the mounting table to surround the mounting table, an elevating mechanism for vertically moving the shutter member, and a processing space in the housing. A processing apparatus, comprising: a cover member provided so as to cover an upper portion thereof and connected to an exhaust line at a central portion; and a number of ventilation holes provided in the shutter member along a circumferential direction thereof. 2. A mounting table for mounting and processing an object to be processed,
A housing for accommodating the mounting table to form a processing space, a shutter member provided around the mounting table to surround the mounting table, an elevating mechanism for vertically moving the shutter member, and a processing space in the housing. An annular air is provided between a cover member provided so as to cover the upper portion and having an exhaust line connected to a central portion thereof, and a peripheral portion of the cover member provided at an upper portion of the shutter member when the shutter member is lifted upward. A processing apparatus, comprising: a ring-shaped air flow regulating plate forming an inflow port. 3. A mounting table for mounting and processing an object to be processed, a housing accommodating the mounting table to form a processing space, and a shutter member provided around the mounting table to surround the mounting table. An elevating mechanism for moving the shutter member up and down, a cover member provided so as to cover an upper part of the processing space in the housing, an exhaust line connected to a central portion, and a lower surface peripheral portion of the cover member Air rectifying plate forming a number of air inlets along the circumferential direction thereof, wherein rectified air flows in from the air inlet while the shutter member is lifted upward and is in contact with the cover member. A processing device characterized in that it is configured to perform 4. The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an inert gas supply means having a plurality of injection ports for introducing an inert gas is provided around the mounting table.