JP3821663B2 - Rotating substrate processing apparatus and rotating substrate processing method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention requires a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a plasma display, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “substrate”) while rotating the substrate. The present invention relates to a rotary substrate processing apparatus and method for performing the above process.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a conventional substrate processing apparatus of this type, there is an apparatus that applies, for example, a chemical processing mode, a cleaning processing mode, and a drying processing mode to a substrate in that order. Among these processing modes, in the chemical processing mode and the cleaning processing mode, required processing is executed by the chemical and cleaning liquid supplied to the substrate while rotating the substrate in a horizontal plane. On the other hand, in the drying process mode, the substrate is dried by rotating the substrate in a horizontal plane.
[0003]
As described above, since it is necessary to rotate the substrate in any processing mode, this type of substrate processing apparatus is supported by the substrate support unit that holds the substrate in a horizontal posture, the substrate support unit, and the substrate support unit. And a driving unit that integrally rotates with the substrate. More specifically, in the substrate support portion, a plurality of support pins are erected on the upper surface of a circular substrate support plate in plan view, and the substrate is supported by these support pins. In addition, the rotation shaft of the motor constituting the drive unit is fixed to the central portion of the lower surface of the substrate support plate. By driving the motor, the substrate support plate rotates about the rotation shaft, and the substrate support plate is rotated. Accordingly, the rotational force is transmitted to the substrate through the support pins, and the substrate rotates together with the substrate support plate.
[0004]
Further, two liquid nozzles are respectively arranged facing the front and back surfaces of the substrate. Each of these liquid nozzles is configured to be selectively connected to a chemical liquid supply source and a cleaning liquid supply source, and is configured to control supply / stop of the chemical liquid or the cleaning liquid in accordance with the processing mode. .
[0005]
In the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above, the substrate processing is performed as follows. First, a substrate is placed on the substrate support plate. Subsequently, the motor is started to rotate the substrate together with the substrate support plate. When the number of rotations of the substrate reaches a predetermined value, the chemical solution is supplied to the substrate from the upper and lower liquid nozzles to perform the chemical treatment (chemical treatment mode). When this chemical processing is completed, the substrate is cleaned by supplying a cleaning liquid to the substrate instead of the chemical while the substrate is rotated (cleaning processing mode). Thus, when the cleaning process is completed, the substrate is dried by rotating the substrate (drying process mode).
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the conventional apparatus, as described above, the substrate is rotated while the substrate is supported by the support pins. However, the substrate posture is the same in all processing modes, that is, a substantially horizontal posture. After various experiments and verifications by the present inventors, the substrate is rotated while supporting the substrate in a curved posture in which the substrate is positively and smoothly curved rather than making the substrate posture horizontal depending on the processing mode. However, it has been found that it is desirable to perform the processing mode satisfactorily and to improve the product quality and the yield. However, the conventional apparatus does not employ a configuration in which the substrate posture is changed according to the processing mode, and can support the substrate only in a single substrate posture, and this type of substrate processing apparatus is improved. There was a lot of room left.
[0007]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a rotary substrate processing apparatus and method having a plurality of processing modes for performing a required processing on the substrate while rotating the substrate, in any processing mode. The purpose is to improve the product quality and yield by improving the processing mode.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate substantially horizontally and a drive unit that rotationally drives the substrate holding unit, and rotates the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. A rotary substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of processing modes for performing a required processing on the substrate, and in order to achieve the above object, the substrate holding unit is arranged at the center of the substrate according to the processing mode. The substrate is rotated with the relative relationship between the surface height and the peripheral surface height at the peripheral edge of the substrate being different. Further, the substrate holding part is a center support pin that supports the central part of the substrate, a peripheral support pin that supports the peripheral part of the substrate, and a pin lift that moves up and down at least one of the central support pin and the peripheral support pin. With mechanism (Claim 1).
[0009]
Moreover, the substrate processing method according to the present invention includes: By support pin A rotating substrate processing method having a plurality of types of processing modes for performing a required processing on the substrate while rotating the substrate held substantially horizontally, in order to achieve the above object, according to the processing mode, By vertically moving at least one of the center support pin that supports the center portion of the substrate and the periphery support pin that supports the periphery portion of the substrate, The relative relationship between the central surface height in the central part of the substrate and the peripheral surface height in the peripheral part of the substrate is changed ( Claim 9 ).
[0010]
In this specification, “substantially horizontal” means that the substrate is horizontally arranged, and means the final holding posture of the substrate obtained by supporting the horizontally arranged substrate with support pins or the like. Not what you want. Therefore, “substantially horizontal” includes not only the case where the horizontally disposed substrate is completely horizontal but also the case where the substrate is curved to the extent of bending.
[0011]
In the invention (substrate processing apparatus and method) configured as described above, when executing each processing mode, By vertically moving at least one of the center support pin that supports the center portion of the substrate and the periphery support pin that supports the periphery portion of the substrate, The relative relationship between the central surface height of the substrate and the peripheral surface height of the substrate is changed, and processing is performed in a substrate posture suitable for the processing mode. Accordingly, it is possible to improve each product mode and yield by improving each processing mode.
[0012]
Here, as an example of a specific processing mode, there is a drying processing mode in which the substrate is dried by rotating the substrate. In this drying processing mode, the substrate is placed in a state where the central surface height is lower than the peripheral surface height. It is rotated (claim 2). Normally, in the drying process mode, the substrate is often rotated at a relatively high speed in order to increase the drying efficiency, but the center surface height is thus lower than the peripheral surface height, that is, by supporting in a curved state. The local undulation (unevenness) of the substrate is eliminated, and the vibration of the substrate can be suppressed even when the substrate is rotated at a high speed. Inconveniences (such as scattering and breakage of the substrate) caused by local undulation of the substrate It can be effectively prevented.
[0013]
Further, as a specific processing mode, there is a chemical processing mode in which a required chemical processing is performed with a chemical by rotating a substrate to which the chemical is supplied, in addition to the drying processing mode. This chemical processing mode is performed prior to the drying processing mode. In this chemical processing mode, it is desirable to rotate the substrate in a state where the center surface height and the peripheral surface height substantially coincide with each other. This is because by rotating the substrate while the substrate is held in a horizontal state during the chemical processing, the chemical spreads over the entire substrate, and uniform chemical processing is possible.
[0014]
In addition to the drying process mode and the chemical process mode, specific process modes include a cleaning process mode in which a cleaning process is performed on the substrate by rotating the substrate supplied with the cleaning liquid. This cleaning processing mode is executed between the chemical processing mode and the drying processing mode. In this cleaning processing mode, it is desirable to rotate the substrate with the center surface height being lower than the peripheral surface height. ). This is because, in the cleaning process, the substrate is rotated at a higher rotational speed than in the chemical process, and as in the case of the drying process, the vibration of the substrate due to the high-speed rotation of the substrate is suppressed, and the local waving of the substrate is caused. This is because it is desirable to prevent inconvenience (such as scattering and breakage of the substrate).
[0015]
The number of rotations of the substrate in the cleaning process is often smaller than the number of rotations of the substrate in the drying process, and the cleaning liquid stays in the center of the substrate when the substrate is largely curved to supply the cleaning liquid to the substrate and perform the cleaning process. In consideration of the possibility, it is desirable to adjust the relative relationship so that the displacement amount of the central surface height with respect to the peripheral surface height in the drying treatment mode is larger than the displacement amount in the cleaning treatment mode (claims). 5).
[0017]
As described above, in the drying process mode, it is desirable to control the substrate posture so that the central surface height is lower than the peripheral surface height. To lower the center surface height below the peripheral surface height ( Claim 6 ), The peripheral support pin is raised by the pin lifting mechanism, and the central surface height is made lower than the peripheral surface height ( Claim 7 ).
[0018]
The timing of changing the relative relationship by the pin lifting mechanism is a relative relationship between the central surface height and the peripheral surface height by moving up and down at least one of the central support pin and the peripheral support pin in accordance with switching of the processing mode. It is desirable to change before and after mode switching ( Claim 8 ).
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a rotary substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. This substrate processing apparatus is an apparatus that sequentially performs a chemical solution process, a cleaning process, and a dry operation process in this order on an LCD glass substrate W (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate W”). In this apparatus, as shown in the figure, a substrate support unit 1 that holds a substrate W, a drive unit 2 that rotationally drives the substrate support unit 1, and a processing space S is formed above the substrate support unit 1 to shield it. An upper shielding part 3 that moves up and down, a lifting part 4 that moves the upper shielding part 3 up and down, a cup part 5 that collects liquid that is shaken off from the substrate W, and a housing 6 that accommodates each part of the apparatus.
[0020]
The substrate support 1 includes a circular substrate support plate 11 in plan view, peripheral support pins 12 that are fixed to the upper surface of the substrate support plate 11 and support the peripheral portion of the substrate W, and an upper surface of the substrate support plate 11. A central support pin 13 that supports the central portion of the substrate W on the side and a pin lifting mechanism 14 that lifts and lowers the central support pin 13 are provided.
[0021]
The peripheral support pins 12 are arranged corresponding to the four corners of the substrate W. Each peripheral support pin 12 is a support member 121 that supports the outer peripheral edge of the substrate W from below, and a guide rising surface 122 that abuts the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate W supported by the support member 121 and restricts the movement of the substrate W. The peripheral edge of the substrate W is supported at four locations, and the peripheral edge of the substrate W is positioned at a predetermined surface height (hereinafter referred to as “perimeter surface height”). In FIG. 1, only two peripheral support pins 12 are shown in order to avoid a complicated drawing.
[0022]
Four central support pins 13 are arranged on the substrate support plate 11 corresponding to the central portion of the substrate W, and are moved up and down by the pin elevating mechanism 14 to support the central portion of the substrate W, while at the center of the substrate. The surface height of the part (hereinafter referred to as “center surface height”) can be changed. The configuration and operation of the center support pin 13 and the pin lifting mechanism 14 will be described in detail later.
[0023]
The drive unit 2 is connected to the opening at the center of rotation of the substrate support plate 11. The upper end of the cylinder shaft 21 is connected to the substrate support plate 11 so as to communicate with the opening, and the lower end of the cylinder shaft 21 is connected to the motor 23 via the belt mechanism 22. When 21 rotates, the substrate W held on the substrate support 1 by the substrate support plate 11 and the support pins 12 and 13 is rotated around the axis P in the vertical direction.
[0024]
Moreover, the cylinder shaft 21 is comprised by the member of a hollow cylinder shape, and the liquid nozzle 16 is arrange | positioned along the center. The upper end of the liquid nozzle 16 faces the center of the lower surface of the substrate W so that the processing liquid (chemical solution or cleaning liquid) can be supplied from the nozzle hole provided in the upper end to the vicinity of the rotation center of the lower surface of the substrate W. It is configured.
[0025]
Further, the cylindrical shaft 21 extends toward the opening of the substrate support plate 11, and the discharge port 17 is opened by being positioned above the substrate support plate 11. At the discharge port 17, air from an atmospheric pressure atmosphere is discharged from the gap between the side surface of the liquid nozzle 16 and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical shaft 21. The tip of the liquid nozzle 16 is formed in a T-shaped cross section, and a nozzle hole for the processing liquid is opened at the center of the flat upper surface.
[0026]
The liquid nozzle 16 is connected in communication with the pipe 80. The base end portion of the pipe 80 is branched, and a chemical solution supply source 81 is connected to one branch pipe 80a, and a pure water supply source 82 is connected to the other branch pipe 80b. The branch pipes 80a and 80b are provided with on-off valves 83a and 83b. By switching between opening and closing of these on-off valves 83a and 83b, a chemical solution and pure water are directed from the nozzle hole of the liquid nozzle 16 toward the back surface of the substrate W. Can be switched selectively.
[0027]
The gas supply path 18 is provided in the liquid nozzle 16, and a lower end portion thereof is connected to a gas supply source 85 via a pipe 84 provided with an on-off valve 84 a. A clean gas such as clean air or a clean inert gas (nitrogen gas or the like) can be supplied to the space between the substrate support plate 11 and the lower surface of the substrate W from the discharge port at the upper end. .
[0028]
The gap between the cylinder shaft 21 and the liquid nozzle 16 is configured such that the pipe 86 is opened to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere via a flow rate adjusting valve 86a. The gap between the cylinder shaft 21 and the liquid nozzle 16 communicates with the space between the substrate support plate 11 and the substrate W through the opening 19 so that the air in the gap can be discharged into the space. .
[0029]
The motor 23, the belt mechanism 22 and the like are accommodated in a cylindrical casing 62 provided on a base member 61 as a bottom plate of the substrate processing apparatus. The casing 62 is connected to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical shaft 21 via a bearing 63 and covers the cylindrical shaft 21. That is, the periphery of the cylinder shaft 21 from the motor 23 to just before the connection to the substrate support plate 11 is covered with the casing 62, and the motor 23 attached to the cylinder shaft 21 below is also covered with the cover.
[0030]
The upper shielding unit 3 is provided with an upper rotating plate 31 so as to face the substrate support plate 11 with the substrate W interposed therebetween, and is moved up and down by the rotating plate elevating mechanism 41 of the elevating unit 4. The upper rotating plate 31 has a ring shape covering the peripheral area of the substrate W, and a large opening 31a is opened at the center. A partition wall 31b is provided in a cylindrical shape around the opening 31a. An auxiliary shielding mechanism 32 and a cleaning liquid such as pure water are applied to the upper surface of the substrate W in the partition wall 31b so as to close the opening 31a. The liquid nozzle 33 to be supplied is provided so as to be movable up and down. The auxiliary shielding mechanism 32 and the liquid nozzle 33 are moved up and down integrally by the auxiliary shielding raising / lowering mechanism 42 of the elevating unit 4. For this reason, the upper rotating plate 31 is lowered to the substrate support plate 11 side by the rotating plate lifting mechanism 41 and the upper rotating plate 31 is supported by the peripheral support pins 12, and the auxiliary shielding mechanism 32 and the liquid nozzle are supported by the auxiliary shielding lifting mechanism 42. When 33 is lowered toward the substrate support plate 11 to close the opening 31a, a processing space S sandwiched between the substrate support plates 11 is formed.
[0031]
A nozzle hole is provided in the liquid nozzle 33 toward the processing space S, and the chemical solution and pure water can be selectively switched and supplied to the center of the upper surface of the substrate W in the same manner as the liquid nozzle 16 side. ing. In other words, the liquid supply pipe 332 penetrates through the hollow portion of the liquid nozzle 33, and the processing liquid (chemical solution or cleaning liquid) can be supplied from the lower end thereof to the vicinity of the rotation center of the upper surface of the substrate W held on the substrate support plate 11. It is configured as follows. The liquid supply pipe 332 is connected in communication with the pipe 87. A base end portion of the pipe 87 is branched, and a chemical solution supply source 81 is connected to one branch pipe 87a, while a pure water supply source 82 is connected to the other branch pipe 87b. Yes. The branch pipes 87a and 87b are provided with on-off valves 88a and 88b. By switching between the on-off valves 88a and 88b, a chemical solution and pure water are provided from the liquid nozzle 33 to the center of the upper surface of the substrate W. Can be selectively switched.
[0032]
A gap between the inner peripheral surface of the liquid nozzle 33 and the outer peripheral surface of the liquid supply pipe 332 serves as a gas supply path 333. The gas supply path 333 is connected to a gas supply source 85 through a pipe 89 provided with an on-off valve 89a. The gas supply path 333 is connected to the upper rotary plate 31 and the upper surface of the substrate W from the lower end of the gas supply path 333. It is configured so that clean gas can be supplied to the space.
[0033]
Next, the configuration of the center support pin 13 and the pin lifting mechanism 14 will be described with reference to FIG.
[0034]
2 is a cross-sectional view showing a pin lifting mechanism employed in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (a) shows a state in which the substrate support plate is stopped and rotated at a low speed. (B) has shown the state which the board | substrate support plate is rotating at high speed. The center support pin 13 is inserted through an opening 111 provided in the substrate support plate 11, and supports the substrate W at the tip 131 thereof, while the rear end surface 132 is finished to be a tapered surface. Then, the pin elevating mechanism 14 acts on the tapered surface 132 and the central support pin 13 moves forward and backward with respect to the substrate support plate 11 to raise and lower the central portion of the substrate W.
[0035]
The pin elevating mechanism 14 includes a pin guide member 142 that guides the vertical movement of the central support pin 13 within a case 141 attached to the lower surface of the substrate support plate 11. Further, a guide rail 143 is provided on the inner bottom surface of the case 141 in the centrifugal direction about the axis P (FIG. 1). Therefore, when the guide rail 143 provided in each pin lifting mechanism 14 is viewed in plan, it extends radially about the axis P.
[0036]
An action member 144 is slidably attached to the guide rail 143. An upper surface 144 a of the action member 144 is a tapered surface that can be engaged with the tapered surface 132 of the central support pin 13. A spring member 145 is provided between the end 144b of the action member 144 on the shaft core side (right hand side in the figure) and the inner surface of the case 141, and the action member 144 is biased toward the shaft core. is doing. In the figure, reference numerals 146 and 147 denote an uppermost point stopper and a lowermost point stopper, respectively.
[0037]
According to the pin lifting / lowering mechanism 14 configured in this manner, when the rotation of the substrate support plate 11 is stopped, the acting member 144 is pivoted by the biasing force of the spring member 145 as shown in FIG. The tip 131 of the center support pin 13 is at the same height as the substrate support position by the peripheral support pin 12. The tip 131 of the center support pin 13 is positioned at the position determined by the uppermost point stopper 146. For this reason, the surface height of the central portion of the substrate supported by the central support pins 13, that is, the central surface height is the same as the surface height of the peripheral portion of the substrate supported by the peripheral support pins 12, that is, the peripheral surface height. When the substrate support plate 11 starts to rotate, a force directed to the side opposite to the axis P (left hand side in the figure), that is, centrifugal force, acts on the action member 144 due to the rotation. During a low period (below the rotation speed Vth described later), the urging force of the spring member 145 is larger than the centrifugal force, and is maintained in the state shown in FIG.
[0038]
And if the rotation speed of the board | substrate support plate 11 further increases, the centrifugal force accompanying rotation will become larger than an urging | biasing force, and the action member 144 will move to the opposite side (left hand side of the figure) with respect to the axial center P, and the movement Accordingly, the center support pin 13 moves backward with respect to the substrate support plate 11, and the center surface height becomes lower than the peripheral surface height. However, in this embodiment, by providing the lowest point stopper 147, even if the rotation speed of the substrate support plate 11 becomes a predetermined value or more, the center support pin 13 is more than in the state of FIG. Prevents it from becoming low.
[0039]
Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0040]
FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a support state of the substrate in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. In this substrate processing apparatus, the substrate W is placed on the substrate support 1. At this time, the supply of the processing liquid (chemical solution and cleaning liquid) from the liquid nozzles 16 and 33 is stopped, and the rotation speed of the substrate support plate 11 is zero, and the rotation is stopped. Therefore, the tip 131 of the center support pin 13 is at the highest position Hmax, and the center surface height of the substrate W is the same as the peripheral surface height. That is, the substrate W is held by the substrate support portion 1 in a horizontal posture as shown in FIG.
[0041]
Next, the motor 23 is started at a predetermined timing T1, and the substrate support plate 11 starts to rotate. Then, the rotation of the substrate support plate 11 is accelerated, and the constant speed control is started when the rotation speed reaches the predetermined value Vth. Further, from the predetermined timing T1 to timing T2, the chemical liquid is supplied from the liquid nozzles 16 and 33 toward the substrate W, and the chemical liquid processing is executed (chemical liquid processing mode). At this time, in this embodiment, when the rotational speed is equal to or lower than the predetermined value Vth, the urging force of the spring member 145 is larger than the centrifugal force, and the rotation is stopped and the low speed state is maintained as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4A, the chemical treatment is performed in a horizontal state. Since the substrate W is rotated while the substrate W is held in the horizontal state during the chemical solution processing in this way, the chemical solution can be spread over the entire substrate, and uniform chemical solution processing can be performed.
[0042]
At the timing T2 when the chemical solution processing is completed, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the liquid nozzles 16 and 33 instead of the chemical solution, and the rotation speed of the substrate support plate 11 is set to a rotation speed higher than a predetermined value Vth (however, the maximum rotation speed Vmax). The tip 131 of the central support pin 13 is made lower than that during chemical treatment. That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, the central surface height of the substrate W is in a shallow dish state slightly lower than the peripheral surface height, and the cleaning process with the cleaning liquid is executed until the timing T3 in the curved state. (Cleaning processing mode).
[0043]
At the timing T3 when the cleaning process is completed, the supply of the cleaning liquid from the liquid nozzles 16 and 33 to the substrate W is stopped, and the number of rotations of the substrate support plate 11 is controlled by the acceleration / deceleration pattern shown in FIG. The cleaning liquid adhering to W is shaken off, and the drying process for the substrate W is executed (drying process mode). That is, after the rotational speed of the substrate support plate 11 is increased to the maximum rotational speed Vmax, it is gradually decelerated to zero at timing T4, and the drying process is completed. As described above, when the rotation speed of the substrate support plate 11 is increased to the maximum rotation speed Vmax, the tip 131 of the center support pin 13 is lowered to the lowest position Hmin. As a result, as shown in FIG. The central surface height of W is a bowl state considerably lower than the peripheral surface height, and the swing-off drying process is performed in such a curved state. Therefore, the following effects can be obtained.
[0044]
Conventionally, when a substrate W is supported by support pins, many substrate processing apparatuses support the substrate W in a horizontal posture. However, in order to support the substrate W horizontally, a large number of support pins are necessary, and it is difficult to support the substrate W in a state where the substrate W is locally undulated due to difficulty in accuracy. When the substrate W is rotated at a high speed in such a waved state, the substrate W is vibrated, resulting in inconvenience that the processing becomes unstable or the substrate W is scattered or damaged. On the other hand, in this embodiment, by supporting the substrate W in a smoothly curved state as described above, the local undulation (unevenness) of the substrate W can be eliminated, and the substrate W is rotated at high speed. Even at times, the vibration of the substrate W can be suppressed.
[0045]
When the chemical solution processing, the cleaning processing, and the drying processing are completed as described above, the processed substrate W is unloaded by the substrate transport robot (not shown). Then, in the same manner as described above, an unprocessed substrate W is carried in and a series of processes is repeated.
[0046]
As described above, according to this embodiment, when executing each processing mode, the relative relationship between the central surface height of the substrate and the peripheral surface height of the substrate is changed according to the processing mode. Processing is performed with a substrate posture suitable for the processing mode. For example, in the chemical processing mode, since the substrate W is rotated in a substrate posture (FIG. 4A) in which the center surface height and the peripheral surface height substantially coincide with each other, the chemical solution spreads over the entire substrate, and uniform chemical processing is possible. Become. In the drying process mode, since the substrate W is rotated in a substrate posture in which the central surface height is lower than the peripheral surface height ((c) in the same figure), the local waviness (unevenness) of the substrate W is eliminated. Even when the substrate is rotated at a high speed, vibration of the substrate can be suppressed, and inconveniences (such as scattering and breakage of the substrate) due to local waving of the substrate can be effectively prevented. Further, in the cleaning processing mode, the center surface height is lower than the peripheral surface height, and the displacement amount (= Hmax−Hcl) of the central surface height with respect to the peripheral surface height in the cleaning processing mode is the displacement amount in the drying processing mode (= Since the substrate W is rotated in a substrate posture smaller than (Hmax−Hmin) ((b) in the same figure), the vibration of the substrate accompanying the substrate rotation is suppressed while preventing the cleaning liquid from staying in the center of the substrate. Inconvenience (such as scattering and breakage of the substrate) due to local undulation of the substrate W is prevented. As described above, according to this embodiment, in each processing mode, processing is performed with the substrate posture suitable for the processing mode. Therefore, each processing mode can be performed satisfactorily to improve product quality and yield.
[0047]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the pin elevating mechanism 14 is configured such that the central support pin 13 moves up and down by the centrifugal force generated with the rotation of the substrate support plate 11, but the configuration of the pin elevating mechanism 14 is limited to this. Any configuration may be employed as long as the central support pin 13 can be driven up and down. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the center support pin 13 may be moved up and down by an actuator 148 such as an air cylinder or solenoid.
[0048]
In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to the substrate processing apparatus that performs the chemical processing mode, the cleaning processing mode, and the drying processing mode in this order on the substrate W. However, the scope of application of the present invention is limited to this. The present invention can be applied to all substrate processing apparatuses that execute a plurality of different processing modes. Further, the substrate to be processed is not limited to a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, and includes a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate for a photomask, a substrate for an optical disk, and the like.
[0049]
Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, in chemical | medical solution process mode (the figure (a)), cleaning process mode (the figure (b)), and dry process mode (the figure (c)), it is a center surface. Although all the relative relationships between the height and the peripheral surface height are different, it is not an essential constituent requirement of the present invention to make all the above relative relationships different in all processing modes. For example, in the chemical processing mode and the cleaning processing mode, the substrate W May be rotated in a horizontal posture while the substrate is rotated in a bowl shape in the drying process mode. In addition, a plurality of types of chemical solutions may be used, but in each chemical solution processing mode, all may be rotated in a horizontal posture.
[0050]
In the above embodiment, the peripheral support pin 12 is fixedly arranged, and the central support pin 13 is moved up and down by the pin lifting mechanism 14 to change the relative relationship between the central surface height and the peripheral surface height. In order to change the relative relationship, a pin elevating mechanism is also provided on the peripheral support pin 12 side so that the peripheral support pin 12 and the central support pin 13 can be moved up and down, or the central support pin 13 is fixedly disposed. On the other hand, the peripheral support pins 12 may be moved up and down by a pin lifting mechanism.
[0051]
Further, in the above embodiment, four peripheral support pins 12 and four central support pins 13 are provided, but the number, arrangement, shape, and the like thereof are not limited thereto.
[0052]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, according to the processing mode, By vertically moving at least one of the center support pin that supports the center portion of the substrate and the periphery support pin that supports the periphery portion of the substrate, Since the relative relationship between the central surface height at the central portion of the substrate and the peripheral surface height at the peripheral portion of the substrate is changed, the center surface height of the substrate is changed when each processing mode is executed. The relative relationship with the peripheral surface height of the substrate is changed, processing is performed in a substrate posture suitable for the processing mode, and each processing mode can be performed satisfactorily. As a result, product quality and yield can be improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of a rotary substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a pin lifting mechanism employed in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.
3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.
4 is a schematic diagram showing a support state of a substrate in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the rotary substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 ... Substrate support part
2 ... Drive unit
11 ... Substrate support plate
12 ... Peripheral support pin
13 ... Center support pin
14 ... Pin lifting mechanism
Hmax: Perimeter surface height
P ... Shaft core
W ... Board

Claims (9)

A process that includes a substrate holding unit that holds the substrate substantially horizontally and a drive unit that rotationally drives the substrate holding unit, and performs a required process on the substrate while rotating the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. In a rotary substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of modes,
The substrate holding unit rotates the substrate in a state in which the relative relationship between the central surface height at the central portion of the substrate and the peripheral surface height at the peripheral edge portion of the substrate is different according to a processing mode ,
further,
The substrate holding unit includes a center support pin that supports the center portion of the substrate, a periphery support pin that supports the periphery of the substrate, and a pin lifting mechanism that moves up and down at least one of the center support pin and the periphery support pin. A rotary substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above. There is a drying processing mode for drying the substrate by rotating the substrate as one of the plurality of processing modes,
The rotary substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate holding unit rotates the substrate in a state where the central surface height is lower than the peripheral surface height in the drying processing mode. As one of the plurality of processing modes, there is a chemical processing mode for performing a required chemical processing with the chemical by rotating a substrate supplied with the chemical.
After executing the chemical treatment mode, execute the drying treatment mode,
The rotary substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the substrate holding unit rotates the substrate in a state in which the central surface height and the peripheral surface height substantially coincide with each other in the chemical solution processing mode. As one of the plurality of processing modes, there is a cleaning processing mode in which a cleaning process is performed on the substrate with the cleaning liquid by rotating the substrate supplied with the cleaning liquid.
Performing the cleaning processing mode between the chemical processing mode and the drying processing mode; and
The rotary substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the substrate holding unit rotates the substrate in a state in which the central surface height is lower than the peripheral surface height in the cleaning processing mode.   The rotary substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a displacement amount of the central surface height with respect to the peripheral surface height in the drying treatment mode is larger than the displacement amount in the cleaning treatment mode. There is a drying processing mode for drying the substrate by rotating the substrate as one of the plurality of processing modes,
The rotary substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the drying process mode, the pin lifting mechanism lowers the center support pin to lower the center surface height than the peripheral surface height. There is a drying processing mode for drying the substrate by rotating the substrate as one of the plurality of processing modes,
6. The rotary substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the drying processing mode, the pin lifting mechanism raises the peripheral support pins to lower the central surface height than the peripheral surface height. 7. The pin elevating mechanism changes the relative relationship between the central surface height and the peripheral surface height before and after mode switching by vertically moving at least one of the central support pin and the peripheral support pin in accordance with switching of the processing mode. The rotation according to any one of claims 1 to 7. Type substrate processing apparatus. In the rotary substrate processing method having a plurality of types of processing modes for performing a required processing on the substrate while rotating the substrate held substantially horizontally by the support pins,
Depending on the processing mode, by moving up and down at least one of a central support pin that supports the central portion of the substrate and a peripheral support pin that supports the peripheral portion of the substrate, the central surface height in the central portion of the substrate, and the substrate The rotary substrate processing method characterized by changing the relative relationship with the peripheral surface height in the peripheral part.

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