JP3840238B2 - Treatment liquid application equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing liquid coating apparatus for coating a predetermined processing liquid on a surface of a substrate.

  Equipment for applying processing liquid to the surface of rectangular substrates such as liquid crystal glass substrates, color filter substrates, photomask substrates, ceramic substrates for thermal heads, circular substrates such as semiconductor wafers, and semiconductor wafers with orientation flats. For example, there are known spin coaters disclosed in JP-A-4-61955 and JP-A-1-135565. In a spin coater, a substrate is held on a rotatable spin chuck, and a processing liquid is dropped from a nozzle onto the center of the substrate. Thereafter, the substrate is rotated together with the spin chuck, and the processing liquid at the center of the substrate surface is diffused over the entire substrate surface by centrifugal force. As a result, the treatment liquid is uniformly applied to the substrate surface.

On the other hand, in order to solve the problem of mass consumption of the processing liquid in the spin coater, a nozzle coater using a slit nozzle having a slit-like discharge portion is used as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-159646. . In the nozzle coater, the processing liquid is applied onto the substrate while the slit nozzle moves with respect to the substrate held horizontally on the holding surface. At that time, the lower end of the nozzle presses the coating liquid to form a pressure portion, and the film thickness after coating is kept constant. In such a nozzle coater, necessary processing liquid can be reliably supplied to the substrate, so that large consumption of the processing liquid can be avoided.
JP-A-4-61955 JP-A-1-135565 JP-A-56-159646

  In the nozzle coater, a large amount of processing liquid is supplied to the nozzles in order to uniformly discharge the processing liquid in the longitudinal direction of the nozzles when starting the discharge of the processing liquid. Therefore, the processing liquid swells at the edge of the substrate on the application start side. In addition, the swell of the processing liquid also occurs at the edge of the substrate on the application end side.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a processing liquid coating apparatus that supplies a processing liquid while the processing liquid supply unit moves relative to the substrate, and the processing liquid at the coating start side edge or the coating end side edge of the substrate. It is to prevent the bulge and form a film having a uniform thickness on the surface of the substrate.

Treatment liquid application device according to 請 Motomeko 1 is a device for applying a predetermined processing solution to the surface of the square substrate, and the substrate holding portion for holding the substrate, a treatment liquid supply unit, a control unit It has. The processing liquid supply unit can move up and down and move in the direction along the substrate surface, and can supply the processing liquid to the substrate surface while moving in the direction along the substrate surface. The control unit lowers the processing liquid supply unit by a predetermined distance when the processing liquid supply unit reaches the vicinity of the edge on the substrate application end side when the processing liquid supply unit is relatively moved in the direction along the substrate surface. The processing liquid supply unit can suck the supplied processing liquid, and the control unit sucks the processing liquid in the processing liquid supply unit when the processing liquid supply unit is lowered near the edge on the substrate application end side. As a result, the amount of the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply unit is lowered while being suppressed.

In this apparatus, the substrate is first held by the substrate holding unit. The processing liquid supply unit supplies the processing liquid to the substrate surface while relatively moving in a direction along the surface of the substrate. At this time, when the processing liquid supply unit reaches the vicinity of the edge on the application end side of the substrate, control for lowering the processing liquid supply unit by a predetermined distance is executed. Further, when the processing liquid supply unit is lowered, a control is performed to lower the processing liquid while suppressing the amount of the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply unit . Specifically, when the processing liquid supply unit reaches the vicinity of the edge on the application end side of the substrate, control for sucking the processing liquid in the processing liquid supply unit is executed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the processing liquid coating apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein when the control unit relatively moves the processing liquid supply unit in a direction along the substrate surface, the processing liquid supply unit is on the substrate coating start side. When the edge is reached, the processing liquid supply unit is raised by a predetermined distance, and then the processing liquid supply unit is relatively moved along the substrate surface.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the processing liquid coating apparatus according to the second aspect, wherein the control section causes the processing liquid supply section to suck the processing liquid when the processing liquid supply section reaches the edge on the substrate coating start side. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the processing liquid coating apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the control unit supplies the processing liquid supplied by the processing liquid supply unit to the processing liquid coating start side portion of the substrate. Then, the suction is stopped, and then the processing liquid is supplied onto the substrate while the processing liquid supply unit is relatively moved in the direction along the surface of the substrate.

In this apparatus, the substrate is first held by the substrate holding unit. Then, the processing liquid supply unit sucks the processing liquid supplied to the processing liquid application start side portion of the substrate, stops the suction, and then the processing liquid supply unit moves on the substrate while relatively moving in the direction along the surface of the substrate. A processing solution is supplied to .

  A processing liquid coating apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the substrate holding unit has a holding plate on which the substrate is placed, and the processing liquid supply unit discharges the processing liquid. have. Further, the apparatus further includes a member that is attached to the holding plate and extends in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the processing liquid supply unit relatively moves, and from which the processing liquid is discharged from the nozzle. The control unit controls the gap between the nozzle and the member to be the first gap when the processing liquid supply unit is positioned above the member, and the processing liquid supply unit has an edge on the coating start side of the substrate. When reaching the above, the gap between the nozzle and the substrate is controlled to be a second gap wider than the first gap.

In the above-described present invention, the treatment liquid application device for supplying a processing liquid processing liquid supply unit while moving relative to the substrate, to prevent swelling of the treatment liquid at the edge of the coated fabric finishing side of the substrate Thus, a film having a uniform thickness can be formed on the surface of the substrate.

  FIG. 1 shows a resist solution coating apparatus 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. The resist solution coating apparatus 1 is a device for applying a resist solution to the surface of a square substrate W, and mainly includes a substrate holding unit 2, a coating unit 3, and a cleaning unit 4.

  The substrate holding unit 2 mainly includes a holding plate 5 on which the square substrate W is placed, nine actuators 6 disposed below the holding plate 5, and a guide mechanism 7.

  The holding plate 5 is a rectangle that is long in the X direction in FIG. 1 and can be elastically deformed in the vertical direction. A number of vacuum suction holes (not shown) are formed on the surface of the holding plate 5. The vacuum suction hole is connected to an intake system 66 (described later) such as a vacuum pump (not shown). The nine actuators 6 support the holding plate 5 from below. The actuator 6 elastically deforms the local portion of the holding plate 5 by expanding and contracting.

  As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the guide mechanism 7 includes a pair of dispenser guides 9 and a link mechanism 10 for driving the dispenser guide 9. As is apparent from the drawing, the dispenser guide 9 is an elongated plate-like member extending along the short side of the holding plate 5. The upper surface of the dispenser guide 9 is flush with the upper surface of the square substrate W when the square substrate W is held on the holding plate 5. The link mechanism 10 is disposed below the holding plate 5 and is fixed to each plate member 12, a support rod 11 fixed to each dispenser guide 9 by two, a pair of plate members 12 to which the support rod 11 is fixed. The adjusting rod 13, the rotating member 15 rotatably connected to both adjusting rods 13, the return spring 16 that urges the plate member 12 inward (in a direction toward each other), and the rotating member 15. And a cylinder 17 for movement. In the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cylinder 17 is in an off state, and the cylinder rod protrudes to rotate the rotating member 15 counterclockwise. Accordingly, the dispenser guide 9 is separated from the short side edge of the holding plate 5 by a predetermined distance against the urging force of the return spring 16. When the cylinder 17 is turned on, the rod of the cylinder 17 moves away from the rotating member 15, and the dispenser guide 9 moves to the holding plate 5 side by the urging force of the return spring 16. At this time, when the square substrate W is held by the holding plate 5, the dispenser guide 9 comes into contact with the short side edge of the square substrate W. The dispenser guide 9 and the support rod 11 are connected by a coil spring 18.

  The application unit 3 includes a nozzle 20 and a drive mechanism 21 for driving the nozzle 20. The nozzle 20 is movable in the X direction in FIG. The nozzle 20 extends long in the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the nozzle 20 is an inverted house type member in cross section. The nozzle 20 has a slit 20a extending in the longitudinal direction at the lower end. Inside the nozzle 20, a liquid reservoir 20b having a width wider than that of the slit 20a is formed in the middle of the slit 20a. The liquid reservoir 20b is connected to a resist liquid supply device 67 (described later). The liquid reservoir 20b uniformly diffuses the resist solution supplied from the resist solution supply device in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20.

Moving direction rear side of the nozzle 20 to the inclined surface (X ₂ side of FIG. 3) is, gap adjustment mechanism 33 is provided. The gap adjustment mechanism 33 mainly includes a die member 34, a support block 35, a piezoelectric element 36, and a capacitance displacement meter 37. The die member 34 is disposed obliquely in a recess 20 c formed along the rear inclined surface of the nozzle 20. The recess 20c and the die member 34 extend in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 3 (the Y direction in FIG. 1). The die member 34 is a thin plate member and can be elastically deformed in the thickness direction. The die member 34 has a lower end disposed in the vicinity of the exit of the slit 20 a of the nozzle 20, and forms a gap with the square substrate W. A predetermined gap is formed between the die member 34 and the recess 20c. In this gap, two pairs of cone springs 38 that are overlapped in opposite directions are arranged, and the die member 34 is biased diagonally downward to the square substrate W side. The gap between the die member 34 and the recess 20 c communicates with the suction hole 20 d formed in the nozzle 20. The suction hole 20d is connected to an intake system 66 (described later) including a vacuum pump (not shown). Thus, since the resist solution discharged from the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 is sucked, the amount of the resist solution supplied to the square substrate W can be adjusted.

  The support block 35 extends in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle and is fixed to the inclined surface on the rear side of the nozzle 20. The support block 35 has a plurality of holes 35a formed side by side in the nozzle longitudinal direction on the side wall in contact with the die member 34. Each of the plurality of protrusions 34a formed on the die member 34 is inserted into each hole 35a. Inside the support block 35, a plurality of link portions 35 b formed integrally with the support block 35 are arranged at locations corresponding to the protrusions 34 of the die member 34. Each link part 35b and the support block 35 are connected by a thin connecting part 35c, and the lower part of the link part 35b is in contact with the protrusion 34a of the die member 34. In addition, the link part 35b can be elastically deformed so that it may rotate using the connection part 35c as a fulcrum. A plurality of piezoelectric elements 36 are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the plane of FIG. 3 at a pitch of 20 mm, for example, corresponding to the plurality of link portions 35b. When the piezoelectric element 36 extends downward from the state shown in FIG. 3, the link portion 35b is deformed so as to rotate, and a part of the die member 34 corresponding thereto is locally deformed. As a result, the distance between the lower end of the die member 34 and the square substrate W is variously changed in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20. A capacitance displacement meter 37 is disposed in the vicinity of the piezoelectric element 36. The capacitance displacement meter 37 is for correcting a displacement deviation caused by the relationship between the voltage and the displacement amount in the piezoelectric element 36.

The relative movement direction front side of the nozzle 20 (X ₁ side), the gap sensor 27 is provided. The gap sensor 27 is an optical sensor and is arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the square substrate W, and detects the interval between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the square substrate W. As shown in FIG. 4, the gap sensor 27 is movable in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20 by a ball screw 54 fixed to the nozzle 20 and a motor 55.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the drive mechanism 21 mainly includes a block 22 that supports both ends of the nozzle 20 and a U-shaped support stay 23 that supports the blocks 22 at both ends from below. The support stay 23 is connected to a ball screw 24 extending in the moving direction of the nozzle 20. The ball screw 24 is connected to a motor (not shown). When this motor is driven, the support stay 23 and the nozzle 20 move in the X direction of FIG.

  The block 22 is provided with a motor 25. As shown in FIG. 5, the motor 25 is connected to a ball screw 127 by a pulley 38 and a belt 26. The ball screw 127 is screwed into a nut 28 attached to the shaft 29. The shaft 29 is connected to the nozzle 20. With the above configuration, when the motor 25 rotates, the nozzle 20 moves in the Y direction in FIG. Further, the nozzle 20 can be tilted by the motor 30 (FIG. 1) provided in the block 22.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a ball screw 31 extending in the vertical direction is connected to both blocks 22. The ball screw 31 is connected to the motor 32. Thereby, the nozzle 20 can be moved up and down.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning unit 4 is disposed on each side of the substrate holding unit 2 in the X direction. Each cleaning unit 4 includes a cleaning device 39 and a moving mechanism 40 that moves the cleaning device 39 in the Y direction. The cleaning device 39 has a block shape, and as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the dispenser guide 9 and the dispenser guide 9 are separated from the holding plate 5 by a predetermined distance (see FIG. 1). In order to clean the edge of the guide 9, there are openings 41 that are open on both sides in the X direction. As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of needle-like rinse nozzles 43 arranged in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface are arranged above and below each opening 41. A plurality of needle-like gas nozzles 44 arranged in the direction orthogonal to the plane of the drawing are arranged obliquely above each opening 41. The gas nozzle 44 is disposed outside the edge of the square substrate W and outside the dispenser guide 9, and is disposed so as to blow off the cleaning liquid and the dissolved material into the opening 41. Both openings 41 are continuous with the exhaust hole 42, and the exhaust hole 42 is continuous with the discharge passage 45 shown in FIG. Further, the cleaning device 39 has a cleaning groove 46 for cleaning the lower end of the nozzle 20 on the upper surface. In the vicinity of the cleaning groove 46, a plurality of rinse nozzles 47 arranged in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface are arranged. The cleaning groove 46 is connected to a discharge passage 48 (FIG. 6) formed in the cleaning device 39. The discharge passages 45 and 48 are connected to one exhaust system.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the moving mechanism 40 includes a roller chain 50 extending in the Y direction, sprockets 51 disposed at both ends of the roller chain 50, a speed reducer 52 connected to the sprocket 51, and a speed reducer 52. The motor 53 is mainly configured. The roller chain 50 is connected to the cleaning device 39. When the motor 53 rotates, the cleaning device 39 moves in the Y direction.

  The resist solution coating apparatus 1 further includes a control unit 57 shown in FIG. The control unit 57 includes a microcomputer composed of a CPU, RAM, ROM, and other components. An operation panel 58, a gap sensor 27, a nozzle position sensor 59, and a substrate detection sensor 60 are connected to the control unit 57 as input devices. An operator can give various instructions to the apparatus 1 from the operation panel 58. For example, the number of the square substrates W to be cleaned every nozzle 20 is set. The nozzle position sensor 59 detects the position of the nozzle 20 in the X direction. The substrate detection sensor 60 detects whether or not the square substrate W is placed on the holding plate 5.

Further, the control unit 57 includes an actuator drive unit 62, a die drive unit 63, a sensor drive unit 64, a nozzle drive unit 65, an intake system 66, a resist solution supply device 67, a cleaning solution supply device 68, and an N ₂ gas as output devices. The supply device 69, the cleaning device drive unit 70, and the cylinder 17 are connected. The actuator driver 62 extends and contracts each actuator 6. The die driving unit 63 drives the piezoelectric element 36 and is connected with a capacitance displacement meter 37. The sensor driving unit 64 is connected to the motor 55 and moves the gap sensor 27 in the Y direction. The nozzle driving unit 65 is connected to the ball screw 24, the motor 25, and the motors 30 and 32, and moves, moves up and down, swings, and tilts the nozzle 20 with respect to the square substrate W. The intake system 66 includes a holding plate 5, a nozzle 20, and a vacuum pump that performs suction with the cleaning device 39. The cleaning liquid supply device 68 supplies cleaning liquid to the rinse nozzles 43 and 47, and the N ₂ gas supply device 69 supplies N ₂ gas to the gas nozzle 44. The cleaning device driving unit 70 is connected to the motor 53 and moves the cleaning device 39 in the Y direction.

  Next, the control operation by the control unit 57 will be described using the control flowcharts of FIGS. 10 to 14 and the graph of FIG.

  In the overall flowchart shown in FIG. 10, the entire resist solution coating apparatus 1 is initialized in step S1. Here, the nozzle 20 is disposed at the initial position on the upper side in FIG. 1, and a variable n indicating the number of processed square substrates W is set to zero. At this time, the operator inputs the number of square substrates W for cleaning the nozzle 20, and the value becomes the value of the variable p. In step S <b> 2, the process waits for the square substrate W to be carried into the resist solution coating apparatus 1 by a transfer device (not shown). Since the dispenser guide 9 is separated from both short sides of the holding plate 5 when the substrate W is loaded / unloaded, it is easy to load / unload the square substrate W. When the square substrate W is carried in, the process proceeds to step S3, and a displacement measurement process is performed. In step S4, a resist solution coating process is performed. In step S5, a drying process is performed. Next, in step S6, the edge cleaning process of the square substrate W is performed. In step S7, the process waits for the rectangular square substrate W to be unloaded from the resist solution coating apparatus 1, and returns to step S2.

  The displacement measurement process in step S3 is shown in FIG. In this process, the variable n is incremented in step S10. In step S <b> 11, the vacuum pump of the intake system 66 is turned on to vacuum-suck the square substrate W to the holding plate 5. In step S12, the cylinder 17 is turned on. Then, the dispenser guide 9 returns to the holding plate 5 side by the urging force of the return spring 16. When the dispenser guide 9 comes into contact with the short side edge of the square substrate W, the shock at the time of collision is alleviated by the return spring 16, and the square substrate W is hardly damaged. Further, since the dispenser guide 9 is connected to the support rod 11 via the coil spring 18, the shock when contacting the square substrate W is absorbed. If the square substrate W is displaced with respect to the holding plate 5, the dispenser guide 9 is freely changed in posture by the coil spring 18 and closely contacts the short side edges of the square substrate W. .

  Next, in step S <b> 13, the nozzle 20 is reciprocated on the surface of the square substrate W, and a gap between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the square substrate W is detected by the gap sensor 27. Here, for example, the gaps at the intersections (7 × 7) of the squares when the square substrate W is divided into 6 × 6 squares in the X and Y directions are detected. In step S14, with respect to nine points (hereinafter referred to as large displacement points) where the actuator 6 is disposed, the actuator 6 is moved so that the nine points of the square substrate W are on the same plane based on the gap detection data in step S13. To drive. In step S15, correction calculation is performed for points other than the large displacement point (hereinafter referred to as the small displacement point). The small displacement point measured in step S13 is considered to be further displaced by crosstalk because the large displacement point is driven in step S14. Therefore, the initial displacement amount is corrected in consideration of the influence from the large displacement point, and the correct displacement amount is obtained. These corrected displacement amounts are stored in the memory. From step S15, the process returns to the main routine of FIG.

  The resist solution coating process in step S4 is shown in FIGS. In this process, in step S20, the movement of the nozzle 20 in the X direction is started (point 0 in FIG. 15). In step S21, the process waits for the nozzle 20 to come on the dispenser guide 9, and in step S22, the nozzle 20 starts to descend. Subsequently, in step S23, discharge of the resist solution from the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 is started. In step S24, the process waits for the interval between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the dispenser guide 9 to be 20 microns, and in step S25, the movement and lowering of the nozzle 20 in the X direction are stopped. In step S26, the nozzle 20 is reciprocated in the Y direction in FIG. Thereby, the resist solution discharged from the slit 20a uniformly adheres to the dispenser guide 9 over the entire longitudinal direction of the slit 20a. That is, the resist solution continues in a curtain shape between the slit 20a and the dispenser guide 9. Here, since the nozzle 20 is close to the square substrate W, the consumption amount of the resist solution is small. As a modification, the nozzle 20 may be moved up and down and inclined.

  In step S27, the movement of the nozzle 20 in the X direction is started. At this time, the resist solution is discharged onto the dispenser guide 9. A large amount of the resist solution is supplied to the nozzle 20 in order to uniformly discharge the resist solution in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 20 at the start of the discharge of the resist solution. However, since the initial resist solution is applied on the dispenser guide 9, a thick resist film generated at the start of resist discharge is formed on the dispenser guide 9. Therefore, the resist film formed on the surface of the square substrate W becomes uniform.

  Next, in step S28, the process waits for the nozzle 20 to reach the edge on the application start side of the square substrate W, and in step S29, suction of the suction hole 20d of the nozzle 20 is started. (Suction on the left side in FIG. 15) Here, a part of the resist solution discharged from the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 is discharged to the suction hole 20d side through the gap between the die member 34 and the recess 20c of the nozzle 20. . That is, in the processing liquid application start side portion of the square substrate W, the amount of the resist solution supplied from the nozzle 20 is equal to the amount supplied to other portions of the square substrate W. As a result, it is possible to prevent the resist liquid from adhering to the processing liquid application start side portion of the square substrate W. The resist solution exiting from the slit 20a flows along the wall at the lower end of the nozzle 20 (Coanda effect) and is smoothly sucked into the gap between the die member 34 and the recess 20c. Further, since the gap for suction is arranged behind the slit 20a in the traveling direction and sucked forward from the die member 34 in the traveling direction, the resist solution can be sucked efficiently. Further, since the gap is inclined with respect to the surface of the square substrate W, the resist solution is unlikely to flow backward.

  In step S30, the nozzle 20 starts to rise. In step S31, the interval between the lower end of the nozzle 20 and the surface of the square substrate W (GAP in FIG. 15) waits for 30 to 50 microns, for example. In step S32, the suction of the suction hole 20d is stopped, and in step S33. The rising of the nozzle 20 is stopped. Thereafter, the nozzle 20 applies the resist solution onto the square substrate W while moving in the X direction. Note that the length and positioning of the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 with respect to the long side edge of the square substrate W are determined with high accuracy, so that the resist solution is not on the back side of the long side edge of the square substrate W. Difficult to wrap around.

  In step S34, it is determined whether or not the nozzle has reached the position where the small displacement point is measured in the X direction. When the position where the small displacement point is measured is reached, the die member 34 of the nozzle 20 is deformed in step S35, and the interval between the nozzle 20 and the square substrate W is finely adjusted. Specifically, when the nozzle 20 reaches a predetermined position on the X axis, each piezoelectric element 36 is driven according to the displacement amount at the small deformation point stored in the displacement measurement process. Thereby, the die member 34 is locally deformed in the longitudinal direction, and the distance from the square substrate W is kept constant. As described above, the gap adjustment by the deformation of the nozzle 20 is performed during the resist solution coating process by the nozzle 20. Further, since the flatness of the square substrate W is coarsely adjusted in advance on the holding plate 5 side during the displacement measurement processing, the final interval adjustment becomes finer and more accurate. Further, since the die member 34 is deformed in a direction with less rigidity, the acting force of the piezoelectric element 36 is small, and the deformation point hardly affects the surrounding points.

  In step S36, it is determined whether or not the nozzle 20 has reached the vicinity of the edge on the application end side of the square substrate W. If not, the process returns to step S34. In step S37, suction from the suction hole 20d is started (suction on the right side in FIG. 15). In step S38, the nozzle 20 starts to descend. That is, the nozzle 20 descends while suppressing the amount of resist solution to be discharged. For this reason, the amount of the resist solution at the application end side portion of the square substrate W becomes equal to the amount at the other portion, and the swell of the resist solution at the short side edge of the square substrate W is prevented. In step S39, the process waits for the interval between the nozzle 20 and the square substrate W to be 20 microns, and in step S40 of FIG. . In step S42, the nozzle 20 starts to rise. At this time, the resist solution remaining in the slit 20 a of the nozzle 20 is discharged onto the dispenser guide 9. As described above, since the resist solution is continuously applied from the square substrate W to the dispenser guide 9, the film thickness of the square substrate W on the processing liquid supply end side is not increased, and the entire film thickness is constant. become. In step S43, the process waits for the nozzle 20 to reach a certain height, and in step S44, the rising of the nozzle 20 is stopped. In step S45, the process waits for the nozzle 20 to be placed in a basket (not shown). In step S46, the movement of the nozzle 20 in the X direction is stopped. In step S47, the nozzle 20 is swung at a high speed in the Y direction and the vertical direction, the resist solution adhering to the nozzle 20 is shaken off, and the process returns to the main routine of FIG. By swinging the nozzle 20, the resist solution in the vicinity of the slit 20a of the nozzle 20 is shaken off. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the resist solution from dropping onto unnecessary portions of the square substrate W.

In the edge cleaning process shown in FIG. 14, the cylinder 17 is turned off in step S50. Then, the rotation member 15 rotates, and the dispenser guide 9 overcomes the urging force of the return spring 16 and moves away from the short side edge of the square substrate W. In step S51, it is determined whether n is a multiple of p. When n is a multiple of p, it is necessary to clean the nozzle 20, so the process proceeds to step S52 and the nozzle 20 is lowered to the cleaning position. At this time, the nozzle 20 may be disposed on either cleaning unit 4 side. If n is not a multiple of p, there is no need to clean the nozzle 20, so step S52 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S53. In step S53, suction of the discharge passages 45 and 48 of the cleaning device 40 is started. In step S54, N ₂ gas is discharged from the gas nozzle 44. In step S55, the cleaning liquid is discharged from the rinse nozzles 43 and 47. In step S56, the cleaning device 39 is reciprocated several times in the Y direction. At this time, the short side edge of the square substrate W and the dispenser guide 9 are simultaneously cleaned. In particular, the dissolved material and the cleaning liquid on the upper surfaces of the square substrate W and the dispenser guide 9 are blown off by the N ₂ gas, sucked into the exhaust hole 42, and further discharged to the discharge passage 45. When the nozzle 20 is disposed at the cleaning position shown in FIG. 8, the vicinity of the slit 20 a of the nozzle 20 is cleaned by the rinse nozzle 47. Deposits and cleaning liquid flow into the discharge passage 45 and are discharged. As a modification, when the suction hole 20d is sucked at this time, the cleaning liquid flows through the gap between the die member 34 and the recess 20c of the nozzle 20 and flows into the suction hole 20d. As a result, the gap, the suction hole 20d, and the suction mechanism are cleaned.

In step S57, the discharge of the cleaning liquid is stopped. In step S58, the discharge of N ₂ gas is stopped. In step S59, exhaust in the cleaning device 39 is stopped. In step S60, the nozzle 20 is placed at the initial position on the front side in FIG. 1, and the process returns to the main routine in FIG.

  In the above-described embodiment, both end edges of the square substrate W are cleaned for each substrate and the pair of dispenser guides 9 are simultaneously cleaned, and only the nozzle 20 is cleaned for every p substrates. Here, both end edges of the square substrate W need to be cleaned for each substrate, but for example, the pair of dispenser guides 9 may be configured to be cleaned for every p substrates. The nozzle 20 may also be configured to be cleaned for each substrate.

  As described above, in this resist solution coating apparatus 1, the edge cleaning of the square substrate W and the cleaning of the dispenser guide 9 are simultaneously performed by a single drive mechanism, and the nozzle 20 is cleaned when necessary. Can also be performed simultaneously by a single drive mechanism. The nozzle 20 is also cleaned at the same time. As a result, the structure for cleaning is simplified and the cost is reduced. Furthermore, the number of processes is reduced.

[Other variations]
The present invention is not limited to a resist solution coating apparatus, and may be used for other treatment liquid coating apparatuses. Further, the type of the substrate is not limited to the square type, and other types such as a circular semiconductor wafer, a semiconductor wafer having an orientation flat, and the like may be used.

  Although the nozzle 20 is swung on the dispenser guide 9 to form a curtain-like film, it may be swung on the edge of the square substrate W on the resist solution supply start side.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a resist solution coating apparatus as one embodiment of the present invention. The top view of a board | substrate holding part. The partial longitudinal cross-sectional view of a nozzle. The partial front view of the moving mechanism of a gap sensor. The fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of a rocking | fluctuation mechanism. The top view of a washing | cleaning apparatus. The front view of a washing | cleaning apparatus. FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial view of FIG. 7. The control block diagram of a resist liquid coating device. The control flowchart of a resist liquid coating device. The control flowchart of a resist liquid coating device. The control flowchart of a resist liquid coating device. The control flowchart of a resist liquid coating device. The control flowchart of a resist liquid coating device. The graph which shows the relationship between the movement time of a nozzle, and the change of an interval.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Resist liquid coating device 2 Substrate holding part 3 Coating part 5 Holding plate 20 Nozzle 20a Slit 20d Suction hole 57 Control part 66 Intake system

Claims (5)

A treatment liquid application apparatus for applying a predetermined treatment liquid to the surface of a square substrate,
A substrate holder for holding the substrate;
A processing liquid supply unit that can move up and down and move in the direction along the substrate surface, and can supply a processing liquid to the substrate surface while moving in the direction along the substrate surface;
When the processing liquid supply unit relatively moves in the direction along the substrate surface, the processing liquid supply unit is lowered by a predetermined distance when the processing liquid supply unit reaches the vicinity of the edge of the substrate on the coating end side. A control unit;
Equipped with a,
The processing liquid supply unit can suck the supplied processing liquid,
The control unit supplies the processing liquid supplied from the processing liquid supply unit by sucking the processing liquid in the processing liquid supply unit when the processing liquid supply unit is lowered near the edge on the coating end side of the substrate. Lowering the amount of liquid,
Treatment liquid application device.   The control unit moves the processing liquid supply unit when the processing liquid supply unit reaches an edge of the substrate on the application start side when moving the processing liquid supply unit in a direction along the substrate surface. The processing liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid supply unit is moved up by a predetermined distance and then relatively moved in a direction along the surface of the substrate.   The control unit sucks the processing liquid in the processing liquid supply unit when the processing liquid supply unit reaches the edge on the application start side of the substrate,
The processing liquid coating apparatus according to claim 2.   The control unit stops the suction after the processing liquid supply unit sucked the processing liquid supplied to the processing liquid application start side portion of the substrate by the processing liquid supply unit, and then the processing liquid supply unit The processing liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing liquid is supplied onto the substrate while relatively moving the substrate in a direction along the surface of the substrate.   The substrate holder has a holding plate on which the substrate is placed,
  The processing liquid supply unit has a nozzle for discharging the processing liquid,
  The apparatus further includes a member that is attached to the holding plate, extends in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the processing liquid supply unit relatively moves, and discharges the processing liquid from the nozzle.
  The control unit controls the gap between the nozzle and the member to be a first gap when the processing liquid supply unit is located above the member, and the processing liquid supply unit is on the side where the substrate is applied. Controlling the gap between the nozzle and the substrate to a second gap wider than the first gap when reaching the edge of
The processing liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1.

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