JP3027125B2 - Temperature control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a temperature adjusting device for adjusting the temperature of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and a substrate for a liquid crystal display (LCD).

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various heating apparatuses have been used for performing heat treatment on substrates such as semiconductor wafers and glass substrates for LCDs. For example, in a photoresist processing step of a semiconductor manufacturing process, a heat treatment is performed to dehydrate moisture on the surface of a semiconductor wafer, or to remove a solvent in a resist applied to the wafer surface. As the heating method, there are a direct hot plate method, a batch type hot air heating method, a microwave method, and the like.
The direct hot plate method has become the mainstream under the demands of efficiency improvement, cycle time reduction, and improvement of reproducibility and uniformity. However, in the direct hot plate method, since the semiconductor wafer is brought into close contact with the hot plate and heated directly, the uniformity of the heat between the hot plate and the semiconductor wafer greatly affects the heat uniformity. Heavy metal pollution,
There is a problem such as adhesion of particles to the back surface of the semiconductor wafer. In order to eliminate such a problem, there is a proximity system in which a slight gap is provided between the hot plate and the semiconductor wafer, and a heat treatment is performed without directly bringing the semiconductor wafer into close contact with the hot plate. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, such a proximity-type heating device includes a hot plate 701 having a built-in heater, and three rectangular recesses near the center of the hot plate 701. 7
A ceramic ball 702 for supporting the substrate is provided in each recess 705 so as to slightly protrude from the upper surface of the hot plate 701. A semiconductor wafer 70 is located near the center of the hot plate 701.
In order to place the substrate 4 on the hot plate 701 or to carry it out of the hot plate 701, a support pin hole 703 through which a substrate support pin (not shown) enters and exits is provided. In the heating device configured as described above,
First, the substrate support pins are projected above the hot plate 701 through the support pin holes 703, and then the semiconductor wafer 704 is mounted on the substrate support pins. Next, the semiconductor wafer 704 is placed on the sphere 702 by housing the substrate support pins in the lower part of the hot plate 701, and heat treatment is performed. At this time, the sphere 702 slightly protrudes from the upper surface of the hot plate 701, that is, the semiconductor wafer 7
Since a minute gap exists between the substrate 04 and the hot plate 701, particle contamination or the like does not occur on the semiconductor substrate 704, and the semiconductor substrate 704 can be efficiently heated.

By the way, the ball 702
Are disposed in the recess 705 without being fixed, so that the semiconductor wafer 70 can be removed when the hot plate 701 is cleaned.
The ball 702 is pulled out of the recess 705 at the time of removal of 4, etc.
When the semiconductor wafer 704 is placed in this state, the semiconductor wafer 704 is inclined with respect to the upper surface of the hot plate 701, so that there is a problem that heating is not uniform. In the above-described substrate heating device, the ball 702 is disposed near the center of the hot plate 701. Since the semiconductor wafer 704 comes into contact with the hot plate 701 through the sphere 702, the vicinity of the central portion is heated to a higher temperature than other portions. Therefore, there is a problem that the temperature distribution in the plane of the semiconductor wafer 704 becomes non-uniform. In particular, in the case of post-baking for curing a resist pattern, there has been a problem that if the temperature of a portion corresponding to the resist pattern becomes too high, the thickness and shape of the resist pattern partially change. The present invention provides a temperature adjustment device capable of uniformly adjusting the temperature of a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or an LCD that requires a heat treatment. Further, according to the present invention, the integrated circuit (IC) formed on the semiconductor wafer 704 is usually formed on the entire surface of the semiconductor wafer 704 except for the peripheral edge thereof, and the main components such as a resist pattern which should be heated uniformly by nature. The present invention has been made by paying attention to the fact that the portion is disposed at a portion other than the periphery thereof, and an object of the present invention is to provide a temperature adjusting device capable of substantially uniformly adjusting the temperature of a substrate.

In order to achieve the above object, a temperature controller according to the present invention is housed in a temperature control body which can be set to a predetermined temperature and a storage portion provided in the temperature control body, and has a temperature control unit. In a temperature control device including a plurality of support members that support a body and hold a temperature-controlled body in non-contact with a temperature-controlled body, the support member includes a disc-shaped embedded portion embedded in the temperature-controlled body, and a disk. A protrusion having an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the buried portion, provided at the center of the buried portion, and having a hole having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the protrusion and smaller than the outer diameter of the buried portion. A fixing member for fixing the supporting member to the temperature control body by protruding the tip of the portion above the surface of the temperature control body is provided. The disk-shaped buried portion buried in the temperature control body and the support member having a protrusion provided at the center thereof have a hole having a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the disk-shaped buried portion and larger than the outer diameter of the protrusion. By the member, the tip of the protrusion is projected from the hole of the fixing member and fixed to the temperature control body,
Do not pull out or rise out of the temperature controller. Therefore, the temperature-regulated body supported by the support member does not tilt, and the temperature of the temperature-regulated body can be uniformly adjusted. Further, since the opening of the fixing member has a diameter smaller than the outer diameter of the buried portion, accumulation of dust in the concave portion can be prevented, and contamination of the temperature-controlled body can be eliminated. In addition, by using a plurality of support members to support the temperature-controlled body at its peripheral edge, it is possible to substantially uniformly control the temperature of the temperature-controlled body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a temperature control device of the present invention will be described.
An embodiment applied to a substrate heating apparatus used for heating processing such as adhesion processing, prebaking processing, and postbaking processing of a semiconductor wafer will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the substrate heating apparatus has a circular temperature control body 101, and the temperature control body 101 has a heating member (not shown) capable of adjusting a heating temperature such as an electric heater inside. ) Built-in. In addition, the heating temperature and the heating time of the temperature control body 101 can be variously set according to the purpose of the treatment. For example, in the case of the adhesion treatment, heating is performed at about 80 to 100 ° C. for about 30 seconds. In the case of pre-baking, heating is performed at about 120 to 150 ° C. for one minute. In the case of post baking, about 120 to 1
Heat at 50 ° C. for about 1 minute. In the case of cooling for cooling, the temperature is controlled to room temperature (for example, 23 ° C.). Substrate support pins (not shown) enter and exit the temperature control body 101 in order to use the semiconductor wafer 104, which is a temperature control target, on the temperature control body 101 or to carry it out of the temperature control body 101. Hole 103 for a support pin is provided.
The support pins are disposed at positions inside a support member 102 described later, and the temperature controller 101 is used when the semiconductor wafer 104 is loaded and unloaded.
To support the semiconductor wafer 104.
The semiconductor wafer 1 is placed on the periphery of such a temperature control body 101.
There are provided three support members 102 for supporting the support member 04. The support member 102 is preferably made of ceramic or the like to prevent contamination of the back surface of the semiconductor wafer 104. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the support member 102 has a disc-shaped buried portion 102a and a protruding portion 102b provided to protrude from the center of the disc-shaped buried portion 102a. On the other hand, the temperature control body 101 has a concave portion 403 serving as a storage section.
It is formed at a position facing the peripheral portion of the semiconductor wafer 104 mounted thereon. Disc-shaped embedded part 1 of support member 102
02a is accommodated in the concave portion 403, and is fixed by a nut 402 which is a fixing member screwed with a screw portion 404 provided on a side wall of the concave portion 403. The nut 402 has a hole 402b smaller than the outer diameter of the disc-shaped buried portion 102a and larger than the outer diameter of the protruding portion 102b.
b is inserted and its tip is 0.1 mm from the top of the temperature control body 101.
About 0.3 mm. For this reason, a gap between the semiconductor wafer 104 mounted on the protruding portion 102b and the temperature control body 101 is maintained between the semiconductor wafer 104 and the temperature control body 101. In the above-described fixing, instead of screwing the nut 402, a resin ring-shaped member (fixing member) such as PTFE may be press-fitted and attached to the concave portion to fix the support member 102. Further, as shown in FIG.
The concave portion 403a provided in the temperature control body 101 is
02 is formed so as to be loosely fitted. The size of the concave portion 403 may be a size that can absorb the difference in volume that expands during heating due to the difference in the expansion coefficient between the material forming the temperature control body 101 and the material forming the support member 102. After storing the embedded portion 102a of the support member 102, the support member 102 can be fixed by the screw portion 404 and the nut 402 provided on the side wall of the concave portion 403 as described above. At this time, the hole 402b that penetrates the protrusion 102b of the support member 102 formed in the nut is formed in the protrusion 10b.
2b may be larger than the outer diameter, and the protrusion 102b may be loosely fitted. As a fixing member for fixing the supporting member 102, not only the concave portion 403a but also a disk-shaped lid 402a covering the entire surface of the temperature control body 101, and the fixing member is provided at a position corresponding to each protruding portion 102b. A hole 402b that allows the tip to be loosely fitted and protruded may be formed, and the lid may be fixed to the temperature control body 101. Support member 10
2 by loose fitting, the temperature controller 1
It is possible to prevent the support member 102 from being damaged due to the difference between the volume of the support member 102 and the increased volume of the support member 102 during heating. The operation of the substrate heating apparatus configured as described above will be described below. The semiconductor wafer 104 transported from a processing device such as a sender that sends out a semiconductor wafer before processing or a coater that coats a photoresist on the semiconductor wafer is first passed through a support pin hole 103 by a transport mechanism (not shown). It is mounted on three substrate support pins protruding above the temperature control body 101. Next, each substrate support pin is connected to the temperature controller 101.
The semiconductor wafer 104 is accommodated in the lower portion, whereby the semiconductor wafer 104 is placed on the protrusion 102 b of the support member 102. In this state, the semiconductor wafer 104 is heated by an electric heater built in the temperature controller. Note that the heating temperature and the heating time are variously set according to the type of processing as described above. The tip of the protruding portion 102 b is approximately 0.5 mm from the upper surface of the temperature control body 101.
The semiconductor substrate 10 protrudes by about 1 to 0.3 mm, that is, a gap of about 0.1 to 0.3 mm exists between the semiconductor wafer 104 and the temperature controller 101.
No. 4 does not cause particle contamination and the like and can be efficiently heated. At this time, since each support member 102 is disposed near the peripheral portion of the temperature controller 101, the semiconductor wafer 104 is supported by each support member 102 near its end. Therefore, the semiconductor wafer 1
The periphery of the support member 102 near the end of the substrate 04 is heated to a higher temperature than the other parts. However, since the IC is provided inside the end of the semiconductor wafer 104,
The portion where the IC is provided is uniformly heated by radiant heat from the heating table, and the semiconductor wafer 104 can be substantially uniformly heated. The semiconductor wafer 104 that has been subjected to the heat treatment as described above is removed from the temperature control body 101 by projecting the substrate support pins from the support pin holes 103 to the upper part of the temperature control body 101, and is conveyed to the next step. . As another embodiment of the present invention, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
May be provided. It is preferable that the tip of the support member 102, that is, the contact portion with the semiconductor wafer 104, be made as thin as possible from the viewpoint of uniformity of particle attachment and heating. When the diameter of the semiconductor wafer 104 becomes large, for example, about 8 inches, when only the vicinity of the end is supported by the support member 102, the semiconductor wafer 104 bends, and the center thereof contacts the temperature control body 101, and the And so on. However, by supporting the semiconductor wafer with the support member 102 provided at the center, it is possible to prevent the semiconductor wafer 104 from bending, and the semiconductor wafer 104 is heated more uniformly. Although the above-described embodiment is a case of a substrate heating apparatus for a semiconductor wafer, it can also be used for various substrates such as an LCD substrate which requires a heat treatment.
In addition, although the description has been made with reference to the example of the circular substrate, the present invention can be applied to the case of a polygonal substrate such as a triangle and a square.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, by fixing the support member to the temperature control body,
The support member does not come out or rise,
Since the substrate can be prevented from being tilted, the temperature-controlled body can be heated uniformly, and since the peripheral portion of the temperature-controlled body is supported, the temperature-controlled body can be substantially evenly heated. It becomes possible to heat. Further, since the recess for accommodating the support member is not provided with an opening, there is no problem that dust and the like accumulate. Further, since the support member is provided to be loosely fitted to the temperature control body, it is possible to prevent the support member from being damaged during heating due to a difference in expansion rate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an AA cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a main part of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a main part of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: Temperature control body 104: Semiconductor wafer (temperature control target) 102: Support member 102a: Embedded part 102b: Projection part 402: Fixing member 402b: Hole 403; 403a: storage unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-169367 (JP, A) JP-A-3-69111 (JP, A) JP-A-3-135011 (JP, A) 193833 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/027 G03F 7/38

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A temperature control body that can be set to a predetermined temperature, and a temperature control body that is housed in a storage unit provided in the temperature control body, supports the temperature control body, and makes the temperature control body non-contact with the temperature control body. In the temperature control device provided with a plurality of support members to hold the support member, the support member is a disc-shaped buried portion buried in the temperature control body, and provided at the center of the disc-shaped buried portion, A protrusion having an outer diameter smaller than the outer diameter, and a hole having a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the protrusion and smaller than the outer diameter of the buried portion. A temperature adjusting device, further comprising a fixing member projecting upward to fix the support member to the temperature control body.