JP2978619B2 - Semiconductor device manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.
And a manufacturing apparatus .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the manufacturing process of a semiconductor device,
A photoresist film is formed on a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD substrate by a coating device, and after a baking process or the like, the photoresist film is exposed by an exposure device.
The transfer of a predetermined circuit pattern is performed.

As the above-mentioned coating apparatus, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, a semiconductor wafer 1 is provided with a substrate holding table 2 which is suction-held by a vacuum chuck or the like, and which is capable of rotating the semiconductor wafer 1 at a high speed. A so-called spin coating apparatus is known, in which a photoresist liquid is supplied to the surface of a wafer 1 from a resist supply nozzle 3, and thereafter, the semiconductor wafer 1 is rotated to diffuse by a centrifugal force and uniformly coat the entire surface. In order to prevent the photoresist solution from scattering due to rotation, a cup 4 is provided so as to surround the periphery of the semiconductor wafer 1. Such a coating apparatus is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-61-294819 and JP-A-62-45378.

In such a coating apparatus, the semiconductor wafer 1 is rotated at a high speed.
Is known to cause a slip on the substrate holding table 2 and generate dust at these contact portions. For this reason, for example, as shown in FIG.
The contact portion 2a with the semiconductor wafer 1 is formed to be thin like a spoke of a wheel, and the contact area with the semiconductor wafer 1 is reduced to reduce the amount of dust generation.

Further, as the above-described exposure apparatus, a so-called stepper is known which reduces a pattern formed on a icle by an optical system and exposes a semiconductor wafer held on a substrate holding mechanism by, for example, a vacuum chuck. . In such an exposure apparatus, since another circuit pattern is transferred onto a semiconductor wafer on which a circuit pattern has been formed in a previous process to form a circuit pattern in a layer, extremely high positioning accuracy is achieved. Required.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional semiconductor device manufacturing process, dust is generated on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer in the coating process in the coating device. Therefore, in the exposure step, as shown in FIG.
The exposure process is performed in a state where dust 12 is interposed between the contact portion 11 of the substrate holding mechanism 10 of the exposure apparatus that contacts the semiconductor wafer 1 and the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 1, and the level of the semiconductor wafer 1 is maintained. In addition, there is a problem that the transfer accuracy of the circuit pattern is deteriorated due to deterioration of height accuracy and the like.

Such a problem is not so serious in the manufacture of relatively low-integration memory devices such as 4M and 8M. However, in the manufacture of highly integrated memory devices such as 64M, etc. , A big problem.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional circumstances, and can improve the accuracy of circuit pattern transfer, and can manufacture a semiconductor device capable of coping with high integration of semiconductor devices. And a manufacturing apparatus .

[0009]

That is, in a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to the present invention, a photoresist solution is supplied to a surface of a substrate which is sucked and held on a substrate holding table of a coating apparatus, and then the substrate is rotated. Forming a photoresist film by diffusing the photoresist solution onto the substrate surface by centrifugal force, holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism of an exposure apparatus, exposing the photoresist film to transfer a predetermined pattern; And a contacting portion of the substrate holding table of the coating device with the substrate.
Is formed in an annular shape so as to hold the peripheral portion of the substrate.
A plurality of concentric contact portions with the substrate of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus, and a substrate holding table of the coating apparatus;
A contact portion with the substrate, and a substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus
And a contact portion with the substrate is arranged at a position different from each other so as to contact the substrate. In addition, the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 2 is a method according to claim 1.
In the method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the substrate of the exposure apparatus
Between the concentric contact portion of the holding mechanism and the substrate, a true
An annular groove for empty suction is formed, and corresponds to this annular groove.
At a position where the substrate holding table of the coating apparatus is in contact with the substrate.
A touch portion is provided . Further, the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3 supplies the photoresist liquid to the surface of the substrate that is sucked and held on the substrate holding table of the coating apparatus,
Thereafter, a step of rotating the substrate and diffusing the photoresist liquid to the surface of the substrate by centrifugal force to form a photoresist film, and holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism of an exposure apparatus, and removing the photoresist film And a step of exposing and transferring a predetermined pattern in the semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus, wherein the contact portion of the substrate holding table of the coating device with the substrate is formed in an annular shape so as to hold a peripheral portion of the substrate.
To thereby form the contact portions between the substrate of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus, a plurality of concentrically formed, the coating
A contact portion of the substrate holding table of the apparatus with the substrate;
The contact portion of the substrate holding mechanism with the substrate is arranged at different positions so as to contact the substrate. The apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 4, apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3, before
The contact of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus with the concentric substrate
An annular groove for vacuum suction is formed between the touching parts.
At a position corresponding to the annular groove, the substrate holding table of the coating apparatus
Wherein the contact portion with the substrate is provided .

[0010]

The method of manufacturing the semiconductor device according to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure and
In the manufacturing apparatus , a contact part of the substrate holding table of the coating apparatus with the substrate and a contact part of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus with the substrate contact the substrate at different positions.

Therefore, there is a possibility that dust generated (adhered) on the back surface of the substrate due to the contact with the substrate holding table of the coating apparatus may be interposed between the substrate contact portion of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus and the substrate. It is possible to greatly reduce the accuracy and improve the accuracy in circuit pattern transfer. This makes it possible to cope with high integration of semiconductor devices.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a schematic configuration of a coating apparatus used in the present embodiment. A substantially disc-shaped semiconductor is formed on an upper surface of a substrate holding table 20 for holding the semiconductor wafer 1 by suction. An annularly protruding contact portion 21 is provided so as to hold the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the wafer 1. This contact part 2
An exhaust channel 22 for a vacuum chuck is formed in the substrate holder 1 and the substrate holding table 20. The semiconductor wafer 1 is suction-held by the vacuum chuck while the semiconductor wafer 1 is placed on the contact portion 21. It is configured. A shaft 23 is provided at the center of the lower surface of the substrate holding table 20, and the shaft 23 is connected to a rotation drive mechanism (not shown). Then, the semiconductor wafer 1 is configured to be able to rotate at high speed together with the substrate holding table 20.

The contact portion 21 of the substrate holder 20
Are configured to hold a predetermined portion of the semiconductor wafer 1 as described later. Further, as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 2, since the orientation flat 1 a is normally formed on the semiconductor wafer 1, the contact portion 21 is set to have a slightly smaller diameter than the semiconductor wafer 1. By doing so, the semiconductor wafer 1 can be placed on the substrate holding table 20 without performing alignment of the orientation flat.

A resist supply nozzle 24 for supplying a photoresist solution from a photoresist solution bottle (not shown) is provided above the substrate holding table 20.
A cup 25 is provided around the substrate holder 20 so as to surround the periphery of the semiconductor wafer 1 in order to prevent the photoresist solution from scattering.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus used in the present embodiment. A contact portion 31 is formed concentrically on an upper surface of a substrate holding mechanism 30 for holding the semiconductor wafer 1 by suction. The semiconductor wafer 1 is sucked and held on the contact portion 31 by evacuating the inside of the groove 32 formed between the contact portions 31 through an exhaust passage (not shown). . The substrate holding mechanism 30 is configured to be movable by a driving mechanism (not shown). Further, an optical system 33 including a reduction optical system, a positioning optical system, and the like is provided above the substrate holding mechanism 30.
Is provided so that the semiconductor wafer 1 can be imaged and positioned, and at the same time, the semiconductor wafer 1 can be irradiated with beam-shaped light 34 via a reticle (not shown) to perform exposure. ing.

FIG. 5 shows the substrate holding table 2 of the above-mentioned coating apparatus.
0 indicates a positional relationship between the contact portion 21 of the exposure apparatus and the contact portion 31 of the substrate holding mechanism 30 of the exposure apparatus. The contact portion 21 of the substrate holding table 20 is located in the groove 32 of the substrate holding mechanism 30. Has become. That is, the contact portion 21 and the contact portion 31 are located at different positions on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 1.
It is set to contact with.

The above-described coating apparatus is arranged in a resist coating and developing apparatus 40 as shown in FIG. 6, for example. The resist coating and developing processing apparatus 40 includes a processing section 41 and a loading section 42. The processing unit 41
Photolithography on the object to be processed, for example, the semiconductor wafer 1
Processing units 43a to 43 for performing a series of processes for
and a transfer unit 44 for transferring the semiconductor wafer 1 to the semiconductor wafer 1. The coating device is arranged as one of the processing units 43a to 43f, for example, the processing unit 43a. The other processing units 43b to 43f are, for example, a development processing unit, a post bake processing unit, a post exposure bake unit, a cooling temperature control processing unit, and the like. Then, the transfer mechanism 46 is moved from the wafer cassette 45 provided in the loader section 42.
The semiconductor wafer 1 is taken out by the
Is transferred to the transport unit 44 via the
3a to 43f, and are sequentially processed.

Then, the semiconductor wafer 1 is placed on the substrate holding table 20 of the coating apparatus, and the semiconductor wafer 1 is suction-held by a vacuum chuck. Then, the resist supply nozzle 24
Then, the photoresist liquid is supplied to the semiconductor wafer 1 and then the semiconductor wafer 1 is rotated at a high speed, whereby the photoresist liquid is diffused by centrifugal force to form a photoresist film having a uniform film thickness.

Thereafter, the semiconductor wafer 1 is transferred and subjected to, for example, a baking process, and thereafter, the semiconductor wafer 1 is placed on the substrate holding mechanism 30 of the exposure apparatus. Then, the semiconductor wafer 1 is sucked and held by the vacuum chuck, positioned by the optical system 33, and irradiated with light 34 toward the semiconductor wafer 1 via a reticle (not shown) to perform exposure. Note that such exposure is performed by the substrate holding mechanism 30.
Is moved to change the position of the semiconductor wafer 1 a predetermined number of times.

At this time, dust is generated at the contact portion on the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 1 due to the contact with the contact portion 21 of the substrate holder 20 of the coating apparatus, but as shown in FIG. The contact portion 21 is disposed at a position corresponding to the inside of the groove 32 of the substrate holding mechanism 30. Therefore, even if the dust 50 adheres to the substrate holding mechanism 3
0 is not sandwiched between the contact portion 31 and the semiconductor wafer 1. Note that the normal dust is
It does not adhere firmly to the site of occurrence and move.

Accordingly, the accuracy of the horizontality and the height of the semiconductor wafer 1 does not deteriorate, and the transfer accuracy of the circuit pattern does not deteriorate. Therefore, circuit pattern transfer can be performed with high accuracy, and it is possible to cope with high integration of a semiconductor device such as 64M.

In the above embodiment, the contact portion 21 of the substrate holder 20 of the coating apparatus is formed in an annular shape so as to hold the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer 1. However, in this case, a small contact area is sufficient. A high suction holding power can be obtained. As a result, the contact area between the contact portion 21 and the semiconductor wafer 1 can be reduced, and the amount of dust generated can be reduced. However, the contact portion 21 may be formed in an annular shape like the contact portion 31 of the exposure apparatus. These may be formed on the spokes in any shape.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, which can improve the accuracy in transferring a circuit pattern and can cope with high integration of a semiconductor device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a coating apparatus used in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an upper surface of a substrate holding table of the coating apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an exposure apparatus used in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an upper surface of a substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a contact portion of a coating device and a contact portion of an exposure device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a resist coating and developing processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional coating apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an upper surface of a substrate holder of the coating apparatus of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a conventional problem.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor wafer 20 Substrate holder 21 Contact part 22 Exhaust flow path 23 Shaft 24 Resist supply nozzle 25 Cup 30 Substrate holding mechanism 31 Contact part 32 Groove 33 Optical system 34 Light

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Katsuya Okumura 1, Komukai Toshiba-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Tamagawa Plant, Toshiba Corporation (56) References JP-A-2-191317 (JP, A) Hei 3-16207 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H01L 21/027

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A photoresist solution is supplied to a substrate surface sucked and held on a substrate holding table of a coating apparatus, and thereafter, the substrate is rotated and the photoresist solution is diffused to the substrate surface by centrifugal force. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising: forming a resist film; and holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism of an exposure apparatus, exposing the photoresist film and transferring a predetermined pattern. the contact portion between the substrate holder of the substrate, group
A plate is formed in an annular shape so as to hold a peripheral portion of the plate, and a contact portion of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus with the substrate is the same.
Forming a plurality of concentric circles , a contact portion of the substrate holding table of the coating device with the substrate,
A contact portion with the substrate of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus,
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, wherein the semiconductor device is arranged at different positions so as to be in contact with the substrate. 2. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein
In the above, the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus may be in contact with the concentric substrate.
An annular groove for vacuum suction is formed between the contact parts.
Holding the substrate of the coating apparatus at a position corresponding to the annular groove of
A contact portion with the substrate of the table is provided.
The method of manufacturing a semiconductor device to be. 3. A photoresist solution is supplied to a surface of a substrate that is adsorbed and held on a substrate holding table of a coating apparatus. Thereafter, the substrate is rotated to diffuse the photoresist solution onto the surface of the substrate by centrifugal force, thereby forming a photoresist. A semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus that performs at least a step of forming a resist film, and a step of transferring the predetermined pattern by exposing the photoresist film by holding the substrate by a substrate holding mechanism of an exposure apparatus; the contact portion between the substrate holder of the substrate of the device, group
A plate is formed in an annular shape so as to hold a peripheral portion of the plate, and a contact portion of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus with the substrate is the same.
Forming a plurality of concentric circles , a contact portion of the substrate holding table of the coating device with the substrate,
A contact portion with the substrate of the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus,
An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device, wherein the semiconductor device is arranged so as to be in contact with the substrate at different positions. 4. An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 3, wherein
In the above, the substrate holding mechanism of the exposure apparatus may be in contact with the concentric substrate.
An annular groove for vacuum suction is formed between the contact parts.
Holding the substrate of the coating apparatus at a position corresponding to the annular groove of
An apparatus for manufacturing a semiconductor device , wherein a contact portion with a substrate is provided .