JP5179282B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for processing a semiconductor wafer or a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display device (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) with a processing liquid.

Conventionally, as this type of apparatus, there is an apparatus that includes a plurality of processing tanks and a transport mechanism that transports a substrate across each processing tank, and sequentially processes with different processing liquids in each processing tank (for example, patents) Reference 1). In such an apparatus, for example, the surface is lightly etched with BHF (buffered hydrofluoric acid) in the first treatment tank, washed with pure water in the second treatment tank, and IPA ( Pure water is replaced with isopropyl alcohol), and a series of processing is performed while moving the substrate sequentially so as to form a solvent vapor atmosphere in the fourth treatment tank and dry the substrate.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-22257 (FIG. 11)

However, the conventional example having such a configuration has the following problems.
That is, when a fine pattern is formed on a substrate, the conventional apparatus has a fine pattern formed on the substrate when the substrate is moved between the processing tanks due to the surface tension of pure water remaining between them. There is a problem that the pattern may collapse.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing capable of preventing the collapse of a fine pattern formed on a substrate by improving the removal rate of pure water. It aims to provide a method.

The present invention has the following configuration in order to achieve such an object.
That is, the invention described in claim 1 is a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate with a processing liquid, a processing tank comprising an inner tank for storing the processing liquid and an outer tank for recovering the processing liquid overflowing from the inner tank. A holding mechanism that holds the substrate, is movable between a processing position in the processing tank and an upper position that is above the processing tank, and connects the inner tank and the outer tank to circulate the processing liquid. A supply pipe, a first branch pipe that divides the supply pipe, a second branch pipe that divides the supply pipe, a third branch pipe that divides the supply pipe, and the first branch pipe A cooling unit that is disposed and that cools the processing liquid to a predetermined temperature and an oil water that is disposed in the second branch pipe and separates the pure water and the solvent in the processing liquid and discharges the pure water from the processing liquid. A separation filter and pure water in the treatment liquid disposed in the third branch pipe An adsorption filter for adsorbing and removing, an injection pipe that is arranged in the supply pipe and injects pure water downstream from the oil-water separation filter, and a water-soluble that injects a water-soluble organic solvent into the injection pipe Organic solvent injection means, water-insoluble organic solvent injection means for injecting a water-insoluble organic solvent into the injection pipe, and the injection pipe in the processing tank in a state where the substrate is moved to the processing position by the holding mechanism And a pure water cleaning process for supplying pure water from the supply pipe to clean the substrate in the processing tank with pure water, and the process from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means through the injection pipe and the supply pipe. A water-soluble organic solvent is supplied to the tank so that pure water is replaced with the water-soluble organic solvent, the flow path is switched to the first branch pipe, and the processing liquid is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the cooling unit. Let the process to do The flow path is switched to the second branch pipe, the pure water and the solvent in the processing liquid are separated by the oil / water separation filter, and the process of discharging the pure water from the processing liquid is performed, and the third branch pipe The processing tank is switched from the non-water-soluble organic solvent injection means through the injection pipe and the supply pipe, and the process is performed by switching the flow path and adsorbing and removing pure water in the processing liquid by the adsorption filter. A non-water-soluble organic solvent is supplied to the substrate, and the water-soluble organic solvent is supplied from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe. And a control unit that moves the holding mechanism to an upper position after performing the treatment with the mixed solution with the water-insoluble organic solvent .

[Operation / Effect] According to the invention described in claim 1, the control means performs a pure water cleaning process in which the substrate in the processing tank is cleaned with pure water while the substrate is moved to the processing position by the holding mechanism. The water-soluble organic solvent is supplied from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank through the injection pipe and the supply pipe, and the pure water is replaced with the water-soluble organic solvent. As a result, the pure water adhering to the substrate can be replaced with a water-soluble organic solvent. However, when a fine pattern is formed on the substrate, the pure water that has entered deeply into the substrate is also completely replaced. It does not lead to. Thereafter, the flow path is switched to the first branch pipe, and the processing liquid is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the cooling filter, and then the flow path is switched to the second branch pipe and processed by the oil / water separation filter. The pure water and the solvent in the liquid are separated and the pure water is discharged from the processing liquid. After that, the flow path is switched to the third branch pipe and the pure water in the processing liquid is removed by the adsorption filter. The water-insoluble organic solvent is supplied from the water-insoluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe, and the water-soluble organic solvent injection means is supplied from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means via the injection pipe and the supply pipe. After supplying the water-soluble organic solvent to the treatment tank and performing the treatment, the holding mechanism is moved to the upper position. In the treatment with the mixed solution, pure water that has entered the depth of the fine pattern on the substrate can be drawn out with a small amount of a water-soluble organic solvent, so that the pure water can be prevented from remaining in the fine pattern on the substrate. As a result, collapse of the fine pattern formed on the substrate can be prevented.

In the present invention, the control means performs the treatment with the mixed solution of the water-soluble organic solvent and the water-insoluble organic solvent from the water-insoluble organic solvent injection means through the injection pipe and the supply pipe. A process of supplying a water-insoluble organic solvent to the substrate and supplying the water-soluble organic solvent from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means to the processing tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe to make the substrate water-soluble. The treatment with a mixed solution of a water-soluble organic solvent and a water-insoluble organic solvent is preferred (claim 2). First, after supplying a water-insoluble organic solvent, replacing the water-soluble organic solvent with a water-insoluble organic solvent, and then supplying the water-soluble organic solvent, a mixture of the water-soluble organic solvent and the water-insoluble organic solvent As a two-stage process in which the process is performed, pure water can be extracted with a water-soluble organic solvent.

In the present invention, a chamber surrounding the treatment tank and a solvent vapor supply means for supplying a solvent vapor into the chamber are provided, and the control means moves the holding mechanism to an upper position after the treatment with the mixed solution. It is preferable to supply a solvent vapor from the solvent vapor supply means to form a solvent vapor atmosphere in the chamber before the process is performed. After the solvent vapor atmosphere is formed in the chamber, the substrate can be dried by the solvent vapor by moving the holding mechanism to the upper position.

In the present invention, the water-soluble organic solvent supply means supplies IPA (isopropyl alcohol) as a water-soluble organic solvent, and the water-insoluble organic solvent supply means uses HFE (hydrofluoroether) as a water-insoluble organic solvent. It is preferable to supply (claim 4). IPA is excellent in substituting pure water, HFE is nonflammable, and has a lower surface tension than IPA, so that the fine pattern is less likely to be damaged when the substrate is pulled up.

  In the present invention, IPA (isopropyl alcohol) in the mixed solution is preferably 10% or less (Claim 5). By adding a small amount of IPA of about 10%, pure water in the fine pattern can be extracted.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate processing method for processing a substrate with a processing liquid, a process of moving a substrate to a processing position in a processing tank, and supplying pure water into the processing tank. The process of cleaning the substrate in the treatment tank with pure water while circulating pure water between the outer tank and the outer tank, supplying the water-soluble organic solvent to the treatment tank, and circulating the water-soluble organic solvent between the inner tank and the outer tank The process of replacing pure water with a water-soluble organic solvent while cooling, the process of cooling the treatment liquid by the cooling unit, and separating the pure water and the solvent in the treatment liquid by the oil / water separation filter and discharging the pure water from the treatment liquid A process of adsorbing and removing pure water of the treatment liquid by an adsorption filter, supplying a water-insoluble organic solvent to the treatment tank, and supplying a water-soluble organic solvent to the treatment tank, Circulate the water-insoluble organic solvent and water-soluble organic solvent to the substrate. And is characterized in that it comprises a step of causing the processing by the mixture of water-soluble organic solvent and water-insoluble organic solvent, a process of moving the substrate upward corresponding to a position above the processing tank, the Te .

[Operation / Effect] According to the invention described in claim 6, after the substrate is moved to the processing position in the processing tank and pure water is supplied to the processing tank to perform the pure water cleaning process on the substrate. Then, the inside of the treatment tank is replaced with pure water to a water-soluble organic solvent, and the substrate is treated with the water-soluble organic solvent. As a result, the pure water adhering to the substrate can be replaced with a water-soluble organic solvent. However, when a fine pattern is formed on the substrate, the pure water that has entered deeply into the substrate is also completely replaced. It does not lead to. Thereafter, the flow path is switched to the first branch pipe, and the processing liquid is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the cooling filter, and then the flow path is switched to the second branch pipe and processed by the oil / water separation filter. The pure water and the solvent in the liquid are separated and the pure water is discharged from the processing liquid. After that, the flow path is switched to the third branch pipe and the pure water in the processing liquid is removed by the adsorption filter. The water-insoluble organic solvent is supplied from the water-insoluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe, and the water-soluble organic solvent injection means is supplied from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means via the injection pipe and the supply pipe. After supplying the water-soluble organic solvent to the treatment tank and performing the treatment, the holding mechanism is moved to the upper position. In the treatment with the mixed solution, pure water that has entered the depth of the fine pattern on the substrate can be drawn out with a water-soluble organic solvent, so that the pure water can be prevented from remaining in the fine pattern on the substrate. As a result, collapse of the fine pattern formed on the substrate can be prevented.

In the present invention, the process of performing the treatment with the mixed solution of the water-soluble organic solvent and the water-insoluble organic solvent, the water-insoluble organic solvent is supplied to the treatment tank, and the water is insoluble in the inner tank and the outer tank. Replace the inside of the treatment tank from a water-soluble organic solvent to a water-insoluble organic solvent while circulating the organic solvent, and supply the water-soluble organic solvent to the treatment tank. In this process, the substrate is treated with a mixture of the water-soluble organic solvent and the water-insoluble organic solvent while circulating the water-soluble organic solvent and the water-insoluble organic solvent between the inner tank and the outer tank . (Claim 7). The inside of the treatment tank is replaced with a water-insoluble organic solvent from a water-soluble organic solvent, and the substrate is treated with the water-insoluble organic solvent. Pure water can be extracted with a water-soluble organic solvent as a two-stage treatment.

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the control means performs a pure water cleaning process for cleaning the substrate in the processing tank with pure water in a state where the substrate is moved to the processing position by the holding mechanism , and is water-soluble. The water-soluble organic solvent is supplied from the organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe, and the pure water is replaced with the water-soluble organic solvent. As a result, the pure water adhering to the substrate can be replaced with a water-soluble organic solvent. However, when a fine pattern is formed on the substrate, the pure water that has entered deeply into the substrate is also completely replaced. It does not lead to. Thereafter, the flow path is switched to the first branch pipe, and the processing liquid is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the cooling filter, and then the flow path is switched to the second branch pipe and processed by the oil / water separation filter. The pure water and the solvent in the liquid are separated and the pure water is discharged from the processing liquid. After that, the flow path is switched to the third branch pipe and the pure water in the processing liquid is removed by the adsorption filter. The water-insoluble organic solvent is supplied from the water-insoluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe, and the water-soluble organic solvent injection means is supplied from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means via the injection pipe and the supply pipe. After supplying the water-soluble organic solvent to the treatment tank and performing the treatment, the holding mechanism is moved to the upper position. In the treatment with the mixed solution, pure water that has entered the depth of the fine pattern on the substrate can be drawn out with a small amount of a water-soluble organic solvent, so that the pure water can be prevented from remaining in the fine pattern on the substrate. As a result, collapse of the fine pattern formed on the substrate can be prevented.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

  The substrate processing apparatus according to this embodiment includes a processing tank 1, and the processing tank 1 includes an inner tank 3 and an outer tank 5. The inner tank 3 stores the processing liquid and can accommodate the substrate W held by the lifter 7. The lifter 7 includes a support member that is in contact with the lower edge of the substrate W and supports the substrate W in an upright position at the lower portion of the plate-like arm. The lifter 7 can be moved up and down over a “processing position” that is inside the inner tank 3 and an “upward position” that is above the inner tank 3. The inner tank 3 stores pure water, a solvent or a mixed solution thereof as a processing liquid, and the processing liquid overflowing from the inner tank 3 is collected by the outer tank 5 provided so as to surround the upper outer periphery of the inner tank 3. Is done. Two jet pipes 9 for supplying the processing liquid to the inner tank 3 are disposed on both sides of the bottom of the inner tank 3.

  One end side of the supply pipe 11 is connected to the ejection pipe 9 and the discharge port 13 of the outer tub 5 is connected to the other end side. The supply pipe 11 includes a three-way valve 15, a pump 17, three-way valves 19 to 21, and an inline heater 22 in order from the upstream side corresponding to the outer tub 5 side. The three-way valve 15 switches between processing liquid circulation and drainage, the pump 17 circulates the processing liquid, the three-way valve 19 switches between processing liquid circulation and pure water removal (details will be described later), and the three-way valves 20 and 21. Switches between circulation and cooling of the processing liquid (details will be described later). The inline heater 22 heats the processing liquid flowing through the supply pipe 11 to a predetermined temperature.

  A first branch pipe 23 branched from the supply pipe 11 is connected to the three-way valves 20 and 21. A cooling unit 25 is attached to the first branch pipe 23. The cooling unit 25 has a function for cooling the processing liquid flowing through the first branch pipe 23 to a predetermined temperature.

  One end of the injection pipe 27 is connected to one portion of the supply pipe 11 that is downstream of the in-line heater 22 and upstream of the ejection pipe 9. The other end side of the injection pipe 27 is connected to a pure water supply source 29 in communication. In the injection pipe 27, a control valve 31, a mixing valve 33, and a flow rate control valve 35 are arranged in this order from the downstream side. The control valve 31 controls supply / cutoff of pure water, a solvent, a treatment liquid in which a solvent is mixed with pure water, and the like. One end side of the two chemical liquid pipes 37 and 39 is connected to the mixing valve 33, and the other end side thereof is connected to the HFE supply source 41 and the IPA supply source 43. The two chemical liquid pipes 37 and 39 include flow rate control valves 45 and 47 for adjusting the flow rate, respectively. The mixing valve 33 has a function of mixing, for example, HFE (hydrofluoroether) which is a fluorine-based solvent as a water-insoluble organic solvent, or IPA (isopropyl alcohol) as a water-soluble solvent.

  The ejection pipe 9, the supply pipe 11, and the injection pipe 27 correspond to the “first supply means” in the present invention. The ejection pipe 9, the supply pipe 11, the injection pipe 27, the mixing valve 33, and the chemical liquid pipe 39 correspond to the “second supply means” in the present invention, and the ejection pipe 9, the supply pipe 11, the injection pipe 27, and the mixing valve 33. And the chemical | medical solution piping 37 is equivalent to the "3rd supply means" in this invention.

  The supply pipe 11 includes a second branch pipe 49 that connects the upstream side and the downstream side of the cooling unit 25 in communication. The second branch pipe 49 includes an oil / water separation filter 51 for separating pure water and solvent in the processing liquid. Further, the supply pipe 11 includes a third branch pipe 53 that is in parallel with the second branch pipe 49. The third branch pipe 53 communicates and connects the upstream and downstream portions of the oil / water separation filter 51 in the second branch pipe 49. The third branch pipe 53 includes an adsorption filter 55 for adsorbing and removing pure water in the processing liquid. The adsorption filter 55 is composed of molecular sieve, activated carbon, alumina, or the like, and has a function of adsorbing and removing a small amount of pure water in the treatment liquid.

  The second branch pipe 49 described above includes a static mixer 57 on the upstream side of the oil / water separation filter 51. The fourth branch pipe 58 connects the upstream side of the static mixer 57 with the downstream side of the static mixer 57 and the upstream side of the oil / water separation filter 51. In the fourth branch pipe 58, the flow of the processing liquid is controlled by the control valve 59. The static mixer 57 includes an injection unit 60 for injecting pure water into the processing liquid flowing through the second branch pipe 49 at the upstream portion thereof. Moreover, the flow control valve 61 which controls the injection flow of the pure water to the injection | pouring part 60 is provided. As will be described in detail later, the static mixer 57 does not have a driving unit, and stirs and mixes the fluid sequentially by the action of decomposition, conversion, and inversion.

  A control valve 63 is disposed between the three-way valve 19 and the second branch pipe 49, and a control valve 65 is disposed upstream of the adsorption filter 55 in the third branch pipe 53. Further, a control valve 67 is disposed at the most upstream portion of the second branch pipe 49, and a control valve 68 is disposed at the most downstream portion. A control valve 69 is disposed in the third branch pipe 53 on the downstream side of the adsorption filter 55.

  The processing tank 1 described above is surrounded by the chamber 70 so as to be separated from the ambient atmosphere. A pair of solvent nozzles 71 is disposed above the inside of the chamber 70. The solvent nozzle 71 supplies IPA vapor from a solvent vapor generation unit (not shown). The supply destination of the IPA vapor is an upper position above the treatment tank 1, and the inside of the chamber 71 is set to a solvent vapor atmosphere. An openable and closable upper cover (not shown) is disposed on the upper portion of the chamber 70, and is opened and closed when the lifter 7 moves back and forth in the chamber 70.

  Reference is now made to FIG. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the static mixer.

  The static mixer 57 includes a main body portion 73 and a plurality of elements 75 disposed in the main body portion 73. Each element 75 is formed by twisting a rectangular plate member by 180 °, and adjacent elements 75 are formed by twisting in opposite directions. The static mixer 57 includes the above-described injection section 60 in the upstream section, injects pure water into the processing liquid, and stirs and mixes them by the action of division, conversion, and inversion. In particular, when the solvent is a water-insoluble organic solvent that is not completely soluble in pure water, such as HFE (hydrofluoroether), the pure water and the solvent are mixed by the static mixer 57 before oil water Separation by the separation filter 51 can increase the separation efficiency of pure water.

  Reference is now made to FIG. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a schematic configuration of the oil / water separation filter.

  The oil / water separation filter 51 stores a housing 77, a liquid introduction part 79 at the bottom of the housing 77, a filter 81 for filtering the processing liquid from the liquid introduction part 79, and a liquid having a high specific gravity among the liquids that have passed through the filter 81. The first storage section 83 that stores the second storage section 85 that stores a small specific gravity, the inflow section 87 through which the processing liquid flows into the liquid introduction section 79, and the first storage section 83 that discharges the liquid in the first storage section 83. A discharge portion 89, a second discharge portion 91 for discharging the liquid in the second storage portion 85, and a cooling pipe 93 that is disposed along the outer wall of the housing 77 and indirectly cools the filter 81. ing. The inflow portion 87 is on the upstream side of the second branch pipe 49, and the first discharge portion 89 is on the downstream side of the second branch pipe 49. The filter 81 has a function of capturing finely dispersed free liquid with a microfiber filter and agglomerating and coarsening. The free liquid finely dispersed in a micron order is coarsened to a millimeter order and instantly caused by a difference in specific gravity. Disperse in a complete bilayer system. In addition, the efficiency of oil-water separation can be improved by cooling the filter 81 through the cooling pipe 93.

  Further, the inner tank 3 is provided with a densitometer 95 for measuring the concentration of pure water in the treatment liquid in the vicinity of the upper part. An example of the densitometer 95 is an infrared absorption type.

  Lifting and lowering of the lifter 7 described above, operation / stop of the pump 17, temperature control of the in-line heater 22, flow control of the flow control valves 35, 45, 47, 61, open / close control of the control valve 31, three-way valves 15, 19-21 The control unit 97 corresponding to the “control means” in the present invention controls the switching control and the opening / closing control of the control valves 59, 63, 65, 67, 68, and 69 in an integrated manner.

  In addition, the control unit 97 operates each unit described above to move the lifter 7 to the processing position, supplies pure water as a processing liquid to perform “pure water cleaning processing”, and then adds IPA to the processing liquid. A “replacement process” for supplying and replacing pure water with IPA, a “cooling process” for cooling the processing liquid by the cooling unit 25, and a “separation removing process” for removing pure water in the processing liquid by the oil / water separation filter 51 are performed. Make it. Thereafter, an “adsorption removal process” for adsorbing and removing pure water in the treatment liquid is performed by the adsorption filter 55. And HFE is inject | poured into a process liquid and the "replacement acceleration | stimulation process" which replaces IPA with HFE is performed. When the concentration of pure water in the treatment liquid becomes a predetermined value or less, a small amount (for example, about 5 to 10%) of IPA is injected again, and a mixed liquid of HFE and IPA is used as the treatment liquid to adsorb. The filter 55 performs a “finishing process” in which pure water in the processing liquid is further adsorbed and removed. However, in the “replacement process” and the “separation removal process”, the pure water and the solvent are stirred and mixed by the action of division, conversion, and inversion through the static mixer 57 and then passed through the oil / water separation filter 51. Thus, the separation efficiency by the oil / water separation filter 51 is improved. In particular, when the organic solvent is HFE that is difficult to dissolve in pure water, the effect of the static mixer 57 is great. After the “finishing process” is completed, an organic solvent vapor is supplied from the solvent nozzle 71 to form a solvent atmosphere in the chamber 70, and the lifter 7 is lifted from the processing tank 1 to perform a drying process on the substrate W.

  Before performing the “adsorption removal treatment”, it is preferable to check the saturation solubility of the organic solvent in the treatment liquid, but a densitometer 95 can be used instead. A specific value of the pure water concentration is, for example, 0.1 [%] or less. This is to avoid the inconvenience that if the “adsorption removal process” is performed while the concentration of pure water is too high, the adsorption filter 55 loses the water absorption force in a short time and the adsorption filter 55 needs to be replaced frequently. It is.

  Further, in the “replacement promotion process”, the control unit 97 preferably operates the flow rate control valve 45 to set the HFE flow rate to a small flow rate and injects HFE. Thereby, the inside of the inner tank 3 can be made HFE while maintaining the interface with the IPA stored in the inner tank 3. Therefore, IPA can be efficiently replaced with HFE.

  Next, the operation of the above-described substrate processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams in which (a) to (d) are used to explain the action of the organic solvent.

Step S1
The control unit 97 switches the three-way valve 15 to the circulation side, switches the three-way valves 19 to 21 to the supply piping 11 side, opens the control valve 31 and adjusts the flow rate control valve 35, so that the pure water supply source 29 Pure water is supplied to the inner tank 3 through the injection pipe 27 and the supply pipe 11 at a predetermined flow rate. After all of the inner tank 3 and the outer tank 5 and the supply pipe 11 are filled with pure water, the pump 17 and the in-line heater 22 are operated to heat the pure water to a predetermined temperature (for example, 60 ° C.). After reaching the predetermined temperature, the lifter 7 is lowered from the standby position outside the chamber 70 to the processing position and maintained for a predetermined time, and the substrate W is cleaned with pure water heated to the predetermined temperature. The state at this time is a state in which pure water has entered between the fine patterns of the substrate W as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG.

Step S2
The control unit 97 stops the inline heater 22 and the pump 17, switches the three-way valve 15 to the drain side, and closes the flow control valve 35. Then, the flow rate control valve 47 is adjusted to a predetermined flow rate, and IPA is supplied to the supply pipe 11 (FIG. 5B). After the inner tank 3 and the outer tank 5 are filled with IPA, the three-way valve 15 is switched to the supply pipe 11 side and the pump 17 is operated. As a result, most of the pure water is discharged from the treatment liquid, IPA is mixed with the treatment liquid, and the pure water is replaced with IPA. In this state, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 5C, although most of the pure water DIW that has entered the fine pattern of the substrate W can be replaced by IPA, the pure water DIW in the back of the fine pattern is changed to IPA. Cannot be completely replaced.

Step S3
The control unit 97 switches the three-way valves 20 and 21 to the first branch pipe 23 side and cools the processing liquid to a predetermined temperature by the cooling unit 25. By cooling, pure water can be made difficult to dissolve in IPA.

Step S4
The control unit 97 opens the control valves 63, 67, and 68 and switches the three-way valve 19 to the first branch pipe 49 side. As a result, after the IPA and pure water are sufficiently mixed by the static mixer 57, the treatment liquid passes through the oil / water separation filter 51.

  At this time, the flow control valve 61 may be adjusted so that a small amount of pure water is injected into the processing liquid flowing through the static mixer 57. This is because if the concentration of pure water in the solvent is below a certain value, the separation efficiency between the pure water and the solvent by the oil / water separation filter 51 is lowered, so that the pure water is positively treated with respect to the treatment liquid having a reduced pure water concentration. This is because pure water that has become a certain value or less by injecting and mixing water is separated by the oil / water separation filter 51 so as to be drawn out with pure water.

  After performing the above processing for a predetermined time, the control unit 97 opens the control valve 59 and switches the flow path to the fourth branch pipe 58 to bypass the flow of the processing liquid so as not to pass through the static mixer 57. As a result, the treatment liquid having a reduced pure water concentration passes only through the oil / water separation filter 51. Note that the fourth branch pipe 58 may be omitted, and the processing liquid may always flow through the static mixer 57.

Step S5
The control unit 97 opens the control valves 65 and 69 and closes the control valves 67 and 68. As a result, the treatment liquid (mostly IPA ) having a reduced pure water concentration flows to the third branch pipe 53. Thus, the pure water remaining slightly in the processing liquid is removed by adsorption by the adsorption filter 55.

Step S6
After performing the above-described adsorption removal process for a predetermined time, the control unit 97 switches the control valve 15 to the drain side and switches the three-way valves 19 to 21 to the supply pipe 11 side. Further, the flow rate control valve 45 is adjusted to supply HFE to the inner tank 3 with a small flow rate (FIG. 5 (d)). Thereby, IPA is gradually pushed up without being mixed with HFE and discharged from the inner tank 3 and is replaced with HFE. However, a slight amount of pure water still remains in the processing solution and in the fine pattern of the substrate W (FIG. 6A). That is, HFE penetrates more deeply into the fine pattern than IPA, but since HFE does not dissolve in pure water, pure water remains behind in the fine pattern. After the inner tank 3 is filled with HFE, the control valve 31 and the flow rate control valve 45 are closed, the three-way valve 19 is switched to the second branch pipe 49 side, and the control valves 67 and 68 are opened. 58 is closed. Thereby, like the said step S4, the process liquid containing HFE distribute | circulates the static mixer 57 and the oil-water separation filter 51, and a pure water is removed. The controller 97 performs pure water removal by the oil / water separation filter 51 for a predetermined time, and then performs adsorption removal by the adsorption filter 55 by switching the flow path as in step S5.

Step S7
The control unit 97 refers to the concentration meter 95 and performs adsorption removal by the adsorption filter 55 until the concentration of pure water in the processing liquid becomes a predetermined value or less. The predetermined value is, for example, 0.1 [%] or less.

Step S8
The control unit 97 performs the finishing process by injecting IPA again into the processing liquid whose pure water concentration is reduced. Specifically, the control valve 31 is opened and the flow rate control valve 47 is adjusted to inject a small amount of IPA into the processing liquid (FIG. 6B). The concentration is, for example, about 5 to 10%. By maintaining the adsorption removal by the adsorption filter 55 in this state, HFE occupies the majority, and a small amount of pure water is removed from the treatment liquid containing a small amount of IPA. Thereby, pure water remaining in the fine pattern of the substrate W can be drawn out and removed. In other words, as shown in FIG. 6C, the pure water remaining in the back of the fine pattern of the substrate W and the HFE that has penetrated into the back of the fine pattern of the substrate W are used as both pure water and HFE. IPA and pure water are removed from the substrate W by HFE as shown in FIG.

The relationship between IPA and pure water described above is as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between IPA and pure water.
That is, when the concentration of IPA decreases in the process described above, pure water DIW dissolved in IPA decreases, and as a result, the concentration of pure water DIW does not decrease below a certain value. As a result, pure water DIW remains (reference rs). Therefore, as described above, after supplying HFE, IPA is supplied again, and the remaining rs of pure water DIW is dissolved in IPA.

Step S9
After performing the above processing for a predetermined time, the control unit 97 supplies solvent vapor from the solvent nozzle 71 to form a solvent atmosphere around the processing tank 1. Then, the lifter 7 is raised to volatilize the HFE adhering to the substrate W and dry the substrate W.

  As described above, according to the apparatus of the present embodiment, the control unit 79 performs the pure water cleaning process in which the substrate W in the processing tank 1 is cleaned with pure water while the substrate W is moved to the processing position by the lifter 7. Then, a replacement process is performed in which IPA is injected from the mixing valve 33 into the supply pipe 11 to replace pure water with IPA. As a result, the pure water adhering to the substrate W can be replaced with IPA. However, when a fine pattern is formed on the substrate W, the pure water that has entered deeply into the substrate W is also completely replaced. Is not reached. Thereafter, the flow path is switched to the second branch pipe 49, and separation / removal processing for removing pure water in the processing liquid is performed by the oil / water separation filter 51, and HFE is injected from the mixing valve 33 into the supply pipe 11 for replacement. After the acceleration process is performed and a small amount of IPA is injected from the mixing valve 33 into the supply pipe 11 to perform the finishing process, the lifter 7 is moved to the upper position. In the finishing process, pure water that has entered the depth of the fine pattern on the substrate W can be drawn out with a small amount of IPA, so that the pure water can be prevented from remaining in the fine pattern on the substrate W. As a result, the fine pattern formed on the substrate W can be prevented from collapsing.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified as follows.

  (1) In the above-described embodiment, a circulation system is adopted in which the inner tank 3 and the outer tank 5 are connected to each other by the supply pipe 11 and the processing liquid is circulated by the pump 17. It is not limited.

  That is, the processing liquid collected in the outer tank 5 is drained through the three-way valve 15 without returning to the supply pipe 11, and the cooling unit 25, the oil / water separation filter 51, the adsorption filter 55, and the like are omitted. . In such a configuration, processing is performed as follows.

  The control unit 97 supplies pure water from the mixing valve 33 to the processing tank 1 while discharging the processing liquid from the outer tank 5 while moving the substrate W to the processing position by the lifter 7. A pure water washing process is performed. Next, IPA is supplied from the mixing valve 33 to the treatment tank 1 to replace the inside of the treatment tank 1 with pure water to IPA, and a replacement process using IPA is performed. As a result, the pure water adhering to the substrate W can be replaced with IPA. However, when a fine pattern is formed on the substrate W, the pure water that has entered deeply into the substrate W is also completely replaced. Is not reached. Next, HFE is supplied from the mixing valve 33 to the processing tank 1, while the processing liquid is discharged from the outer tank 5, the inside of the processing tank 1 is replaced with IPA to HFE, and the substrate W is subjected to replacement promotion processing with HFE. Make it. Further, IPA is supplied from the mixing valve 33 to the processing tank 1 and the processing liquid is discharged from the outer tank 5 while the substrate W is subjected to a finishing process using a mixed liquid of IPA and HFE, and the lifter 7 is moved to the upper position. It is moved to complete the processing for the substrate W. In the finishing process, pure water that has entered the back of the fine pattern of the substrate W can be drawn out by IPA, so that the pure water can be prevented from remaining in the fine pattern of the substrate W. As a result, collapse of the fine pattern formed on the substrate W can be prevented.

  (2) In the above-described embodiments, IPA is adopted as the water-soluble organic solvent and HFE is adopted as the water-insoluble organic solvent, but the present invention is not limited to these organic solvents, An organic solvent may be employed.

  (3) In the above-described embodiment, the processing liquid is cooled by the cooling unit 25, but this may be omitted, and pure water removal may be performed without cooling the processing liquid. Thereby, the apparatus configuration can be simplified.

  (4) In the above-described embodiment, the IPA vapor is supplied from the solvent nozzle 71, but HFE vapor may be supplied instead. Alternatively, the solvent nozzle 71 may be omitted, and the substrate W may be unloaded after the finishing process. Thereby, the apparatus configuration can be simplified.

  (5) In the above-described embodiment, after replacing pure water with IPA, HFE is supplied, and then a small amount of IPA is supplied. Instead, after replacing pure water with IPA, , HFE and a small amount of IPA may be supplied simultaneously. That is, you may make it supply the processing liquid of HFE containing a small amount of IPA. Even if it does in this way, there exists an effect similar to the Example mentioned above.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on an Example. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of a static mixer. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows schematic structure of an oil-water separation filter. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement. (A)-(d) is a schematic diagram with which it uses for description of the effect | action of an organic solvent. (A)-(d) is a schematic diagram with which it uses for description of the effect | action of an organic solvent. It is a figure where it uses for description of the relationship between IPA and a pure water.

Explanation of symbols

W ... Substrate 1 ... Processing tank 3 ... Inner tank 5 ... Outer tank 7 ... Lifter 9 ... Jet pipe 11 ... Supply pipe 23 ... First branch pipe 33 ... Mixing valve 49 ... Second branch pipe 51 ... Oil-water separation filter 53 ... Third branch pipe 55 ... Adsorption filter 57 ... Static mixer 58 ... Fourth branch pipe 97 ... Control unit 70 ... Chamber 71 ... Solvent nozzle

Claims (8)

In a substrate processing apparatus for processing a substrate with a processing liquid,
A treatment tank comprising an inner tank for storing the treatment liquid, and an outer tank for collecting the treatment liquid overflowing from the inner tank;
A holding mechanism that holds the substrate and is movable between a processing position in the processing tank and an upper position that is above the processing tank;
A supply pipe for connecting the inner tank and the outer tank in communication and circulating the processing liquid;
A first branch pipe that divides the supply pipe;
A second branch pipe that divides the supply pipe;
A third branch pipe that divides the supply pipe;
A cooling unit that is disposed in the first branch pipe and cools the processing liquid to a predetermined temperature;
An oil-water separation filter that is disposed in the second branch pipe and separates the pure water and the solvent in the processing liquid and discharges the pure water from the processing liquid ;
An adsorption filter disposed in the third branch pipe for adsorbing and removing pure water in the treatment liquid;
An injection pipe disposed in the supply pipe and injecting pure water downstream from the oil-water separation filter;
Water-soluble organic solvent injection means for injecting a water-soluble organic solvent into the injection tube;
Water-insoluble organic solvent injection means for injecting a water-insoluble organic solvent into the injection tube;
In a state where the substrate is moved to the processing position by the holding mechanism, pure water cleaning processing is performed in which pure water is supplied from the injection pipe and the supply pipe into the processing tank to clean the substrate in the processing tank with pure water. Performing a process of supplying a water-soluble organic solvent from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank through the injection pipe and the supply pipe to replace pure water with the water-soluble organic solvent. The flow path is switched to one branch pipe, the process for cooling the processing liquid to a predetermined temperature is performed by the cooling unit, the flow path is switched to the second branch pipe, and the processing liquid is The pure water and the solvent are separated and the pure water is discharged from the treatment liquid, the flow path is switched to the third branch pipe, and the pure water in the treatment liquid is adsorbed by the adsorption filter. Where to remove And supplying the water-insoluble organic solvent from the water-insoluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe, and from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means to the injection pipe and the after through the supply pipe to perform the treatment with a mixed solution of water-soluble organic solvent and water-insoluble organic solvent to the substrate by supplying a water-soluble organic solvent into the processing bath, the holding mechanism at the upper position Control means to move;
A substrate processing apparatus comprising: The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
The control means performs water-insoluble treatment with a mixture of the water-soluble organic solvent and the water-insoluble organic solvent from the water-insoluble organic solvent injection means to the treatment tank via the injection pipe and the supply pipe. a process to perform by supplying an organic solvent, a water-soluble organic solvent and the substrate by supplying water-soluble organic solvent into the processing bath through the injection pipe and the supply pipe from the water-soluble organic solvent injection means A substrate processing apparatus characterized in that the processing is performed with a mixed solution of a water-insoluble organic solvent. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
A chamber surrounding the treatment tank;
Solvent vapor supply means for supplying solvent vapor into the chamber,
The control means supplies a solvent vapor from the solvent vapor supply means to form a solvent vapor atmosphere in the chamber before moving the holding mechanism to an upper position after the treatment with the mixed solution. A substrate processing apparatus. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The water-soluble organic solvent supply means supplies IPA (isopropyl alcohol) as a water-soluble organic solvent, and the water-insoluble organic solvent supply means supplies HFE (hydrofluoroether) as a water-insoluble organic solvent. A substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 4 ,
An IPA (isopropyl alcohol) in the mixed solution is 10% or less. In a substrate processing method for processing a substrate with a processing liquid,
Moving the substrate to a processing position in the processing tank;
A process of cleaning the substrate in the processing tank with pure water while supplying pure water into the processing tank and circulating the pure water between the inner tank and the outer tank,
A process of supplying a water-soluble organic solvent to the treatment tank and replacing the pure water with the water-soluble organic solvent while circulating the water-soluble organic solvent between the inner tank and the outer tank;
A process of cooling the processing liquid by the cooling unit;
The process of separating the pure water and the solvent in the treatment liquid by the oil / water separation filter and discharging the pure water from the treatment liquid,
The process of adsorbing and removing pure water of the treatment liquid by the adsorption filter,
Supplies the water-insoluble organic solvent to the processing tank, and supplies the water-soluble organic solvent in the processing tank, the substrate while circulating the water-insoluble organic solvent and a water-soluble organic solvent and the inner tub and the outer tub A process of performing treatment with a mixture of a water-soluble organic solvent and a water-insoluble organic solvent;
A process of moving the substrate to an upper position above the processing tank;
A substrate processing method characterized by comprising: The substrate processing method according to claim 6 ,
A process of performing a treatment with a mixed solution of the water-soluble organic solvent and the water-insoluble organic solvent,
Supply the water-insoluble organic solvent to the processing tank and circulate the water-insoluble organic solvent between the inner tank and the outer tank, and replace the inside of the processing tank from the water-soluble organic solvent to the water-insoluble organic solvent. A process of performing treatment with a water-insoluble organic solvent,
To the treatment tank by supplying water-soluble organic solvent, the inner tank and the outer tank and in a mixture of water-soluble organic solvent and water-insoluble organic solvent to the substrate while circulating the water-soluble organic solvent and water-insoluble organic solvent A method for processing a substrate, characterized in that a process for performing a process is performed. In the substrate processing method of Claim 6 or 7 ,
The water-soluble organic solvent is IPA (isopropyl alcohol), the water-insoluble organic solvent is HFE (hydrofluoroether), and the IPA (isopropyl alcohol) in the mixed solution is 10% or less. Substrate processing method.

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