JP5355615B2 - Substrate processing method, program, computer storage medium, substrate processing apparatus, and imprint system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a substrate processing method that forms on a substrate a film of an adhesive that increases the adhesion between a coating film and the surface of the substrate, and wherein the method has: a coating step that coats the adhesive to the surface of the substrate while radiating ultraviolet rays at the surface of the substrate; and afterwards, a rinsing step that rinses the adhesive coated onto the surface of the substrate, eliminating the unreacted portion of the adhesive. Substrate processing throughput is increased while appropriately forming a film of the adhesive on the surface of the substrate.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing method, a program, a computer storage medium, a substrate processing apparatus, and an imprint system for forming an adhesive on a substrate to improve the adhesion between the surface of the substrate and a coating film.

  For example, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, for example, a photolithography process is performed on a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter referred to as “wafer”) to form a predetermined resist pattern on the wafer.

  When the resist pattern described above is formed, the resist pattern is required to be miniaturized in order to achieve higher integration of the semiconductor device. In general, the limit of miniaturization in the photolithography process is about the wavelength of light used for the exposure process. For this reason, it has been advancing to shorten the wavelength of exposure light. However, there are technical and cost limitations to shortening the wavelength of the exposure light source, and it is difficult to form a fine resist pattern on the order of several nanometers, for example, only by the method of advancing the wavelength of light. is there.

  Therefore, in recent years, it has been proposed to form a fine resist pattern on a wafer by using a so-called imprint method instead of performing a photolithography process on the wafer. In this method, a template having a fine pattern on the surface (sometimes referred to as a mold or a mold) is pressed onto the surface of a resist film formed on a wafer, then peeled off, and directly patterned on the surface of the resist film. Transfer is performed (Patent Document 1).

JP 2009-43998 A

  In the above-described imprint method, it is necessary that the surface of the wafer and the resist film are in close contact with each other in order to appropriately peel the resist film from the surface of the template. Therefore, an adhesive agent that improves the adhesion between the wafer surface and the resist film may be formed on the wafer.

  When depositing an adhesive on the surface of the wafer, first, after cleaning the surface of the wafer, the adhesive is applied to the surface of the wafer. Next, in order to improve the adhesion between the wafer surface and the resist film, an adhesion agent is adhered to the wafer surface. Specifically, the adhesive agent and the surface of the wafer are chemically reacted, and among the components contained in the adhesive agent, a component having reactivity with the resist film, for example, an organic substance component is adsorbed on the wafer surface. Thereafter, the unreacted portion of the adhesive is removed, and an adhesive having a predetermined film thickness is formed on the surface of the wafer. Note that the unreacted portion of the adhesive agent refers to a portion other than the portion where the adhesive agent chemically adheres to the surface of the wafer.

  However, when the adhesive is formed as described above, it takes time to make the adhesive on the wafer adhere to the surface of the wafer. For example, when the wafer is left in a room temperature atmosphere, it takes about 24 hours to bring the adhesive into close contact with the wafer.

  Therefore, the inventors have tried to heat and bak the adhesive on the wafer in order to promote the chemical reaction between the adhesive and the surface of the wafer. In this case, it was possible to shorten the time for the adhesive agent to adhere to the wafer. For example, when the adhesion agent is heated to 60 ° C., the time required to adhere the adhesion agent to the wafer is about 1 hour, and when the adhesion agent is heated to 200 ° C., the adhesion agent is adhered to the wafer. The required time was about 5 minutes.

  However, in this case, it takes time to cool the once heated wafer. Therefore, the throughput of wafer processing has not been improved. In addition, when the adhesive agent is heated, the adhesive agent thermally expands, so that the adhesive agent cannot be formed with a predetermined film thickness on the surface of the wafer. When a resist film is formed on the wafer on which the adhesive is formed in this way and imprint processing is performed, it is difficult to form a fine resist pattern on the order of several nanometers on the wafer. .

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to improve the throughput of substrate processing while appropriately forming an adhesive on the surface of the substrate.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a substrate processing method for forming an adhesive on a substrate to improve the adhesion between the surface of the substrate and a coating film, and irradiates the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays. However, it has an application step of applying an adhesive to the surface of the substrate, and then a rinse step of rinsing the adhesive applied to the surface of the substrate to remove unreacted portions of the adhesive It is characterized by that. The unreacted portion of the adhesive agent refers to a portion other than the portion where the adhesive agent chemically adheres to the surface of the substrate.

  As a result of investigations by the inventors, when an adhesive is applied to the surface of the substrate while irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays, the chemical reaction between the surface of the substrate and the adhesive is promoted, and the surface of the substrate and the adhesive It has been found that the adhesion with is improved. Specifically, when the surface of the substrate is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, a hydroxyl group bond on the surface of the substrate is broken. Immediately after the bond between the hydroxyl groups is cut in this way, the surface of the substrate and the adhesive molecule are bonded by dehydration condensation. Furthermore, adjacent adhesive agent molecules are bonded to each other by dehydration condensation by the ultraviolet rays irradiated on the surface of the substrate. Thus, the surface of the substrate and the adhesive agent are firmly bonded, and the adhesion between the surface of the substrate and the adhesive agent is improved. Therefore, when an adhesive is applied to the surface of the substrate while irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays, the adhesive can be brought into close contact with the surface of the substrate in a short time, and the adhesion between the surface of the substrate and the coating film can be improved. Can be improved. Thus, since the adhesive agent can be brought into close contact with the surface of the substrate in a short time, the throughput of the entire substrate processing can also be improved. In addition, in this case, it is not necessary to heat the adhesive as in the prior art, so that the adhesive does not thermally expand. Therefore, the adhesion agent can be appropriately formed with a predetermined film thickness on the surface of the substrate.

  Prior to the coating step, the substrate may further include a cleaning step for cleaning the surface of the substrate. In such a case, the surface of the substrate may be irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the cleaning step.

  The coating step may be performed in an inert gas atmosphere.

  In the coating step, the supply of the adhesive to the surface of the substrate may be started while the surface of the substrate is irradiated with the ultraviolet rays.

  Further, in the coating step, in a state where an adhesive is supplied between the surface of the substrate and a support plate arranged to face the surface, the irradiation of the ultraviolet ray on the surface of the substrate is started. Also good. In such a case, the support plate may transmit the ultraviolet light.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program that operates on a computer of a control unit that controls the substrate processing apparatus in order to cause the substrate processing apparatus to execute the substrate processing method.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a readable computer storage medium storing the program is provided.

  Another aspect of the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus for forming an adhesive on a substrate to improve the adhesion between the surface of the substrate and a coating film, and irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays. An adhesive unit provided with an adhesive part and an adhesive agent supplying part for supplying an adhesive agent to the surface of the substrate, and an adhesive agent applied to the surface of the substrate to rinse away an unreacted part of the adhesive agent In the rinsing unit and the coating unit, the ultraviolet irradiation unit and the adhesive supply unit are configured to execute an application process of applying an adhesive to the surface of the substrate while irradiating the surface of the substrate with the ultraviolet light. And a control unit for controlling. The unreacted portion of the adhesive agent refers to a portion other than the portion where the adhesive agent chemically adheres to the surface of the substrate.

  The control unit may control the ultraviolet irradiation unit so as to irradiate the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays in the coating unit before executing the coating step.

  The coating unit further includes a processing container that accommodates the substrate, and a gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas into the processing container, and the control unit is configured so that the coating process is performed under an inert gas atmosphere. The gas supply unit may be controlled as in

  The control unit may control the ultraviolet irradiation unit and the adhesive supply unit so as to start supply of the adhesive to the surface of the substrate during irradiation of the ultraviolet ray on the surface of the substrate in the coating process. Good.

  The coating unit includes a support plate disposed to face the surface of the substrate, and the control unit is in a state where an adhesive is supplied between the surface of the substrate and the support plate in the coating process. The ultraviolet irradiation unit and the adhesive supplying unit may be controlled so as to start the irradiation of the ultraviolet ray onto the surface of the substrate. In such a case, the support plate may transmit the ultraviolet light.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an imprint system including the substrate processing apparatus on a substrate on which an adhesive is formed by the substrate processing apparatus using a template having a transfer pattern formed on a surface thereof. And an imprint unit that transfers the transfer pattern to the coating film formed on the coating film and forms a predetermined pattern on the coating film.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the throughput of substrate processing while appropriately forming an adhesive on the surface of the substrate.

It is a top view which shows the outline of a structure of the wafer processing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the outline of a structure of the wafer processing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the outline of a structure of the wafer processing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of a coating unit. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of a coating unit. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of a rinse unit. It is the flowchart which showed each process of wafer processing. It is explanatory drawing which showed typically the wafer state in each process of a wafer process, (a) shows a mode that the surface of a wafer is wash | cleaned, (b) shows the said wafer's surface, irradiating an ultraviolet-ray to the surface of a wafer. A state where the adhesive is applied to the surface is shown, and (c) shows a state where the adhesive is formed on the wafer. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the coupling | bonding of the hydroxyl group on a wafer was cut | disconnected. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the surface of a wafer and adhesive agent molecule | numerator carry out dehydration condensation. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the surface of the wafer and adhesive agent molecule | numerator couple | bonded. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of the coating unit concerning other embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed typically the state of the wafer in each process of the wafer processing concerning other embodiment, (a) shows a mode that the surface of a wafer is wash | cleaned, (b) is the surface of a wafer, and support (C) shows a state where an adhesive is applied to the surface of the wafer while irradiating the surface of the wafer with ultraviolet rays, and (d) shows a state where the adhesive is applied onto the wafer. A mode that the film | membrane was formed into a film is shown. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that an ultraviolet-ray is irradiated to the surface from the back surface side of a wafer. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of a washing | cleaning unit. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of a washing | cleaning unit. It is a top view which shows the outline of a structure of the imprint system concerning this Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the outline of a structure of the imprint system concerning this Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the outline of a structure of the imprint system concerning this Embodiment. It is a perspective view of a template. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of the imprint unit. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the outline of a structure of an imprint unit. It is the flowchart which showed each process of the imprint process. It is explanatory drawing which showed typically the state of the template and wafer in each process of an imprint process, (a) shows a mode that a resist liquid is apply | coated on the adhesion film | membrane of a wafer, (b) is resist on a wafer. (C) shows how the resist film on the wafer is photopolymerized, (d) shows how the resist pattern is formed on the wafer, and (e) shows on the wafer. This shows how the remaining film is removed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of a wafer processing apparatus 1 as a substrate processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. 2 and 3 are side views showing an outline of the configuration of the wafer processing apparatus 1. In this embodiment, the treated surface in which a predetermined processing is performed on the wafer W as a substrate is called a surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the surface W ₁ opposite to the surface of the back surface W _2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wafer processing apparatus 1 carries a plurality of, for example, 25 wafers W between the outside and the wafer processing apparatus 1 in a cassette unit, and carries a wafer W into and out of the wafer cassette _CW . The wafer loading / unloading station 2 and the wafer processing station 3 including a plurality of processing units for performing predetermined processing on the wafer W are integrally connected.

The wafer loading / unloading station 2 is provided with a cassette mounting table 10. The cassette mounting table 10 can mount a plurality of wafer cassettes _CW in a row in the X direction (vertical direction in FIG. 1). That is, the wafer carry-in / out station 2 is configured to be capable of holding a plurality of wafers W.

The wafer carry-in / out station 2 is provided with a wafer carrier 12 that can move on a conveyance path 11 extending in the X direction. The wafer transfer body 12 can expand and contract in the horizontal direction, and can also move in the vertical direction and the vertical direction (θ direction), and can transfer the wafer _W between the wafer cassette _CW and the wafer processing station 3.

  The wafer processing station 3 is provided with a transfer unit 20 at the center thereof. Around the transport unit 20, for example, four processing blocks G1 to G4 in which various processing units are arranged in multiple stages are arranged. On the front side of the wafer processing station 3 (X direction negative direction side in FIG. 1), the first processing block G1 and the second processing block G2 are sequentially arranged from the wafer carry-in / out station 2 side. A third processing block G3 and a fourth processing block G4 are arranged in this order from the wafer carry-in / out station 2 side on the back side of the wafer processing station 3 (positive side in the X direction in FIG. 1). On the wafer carry-in / out station 2 side of the wafer processing station 3, a transition unit 21 for transferring the wafer W is disposed.

  The transfer unit 20 has a transfer arm that holds and transfers the wafer W and is movable in the horizontal direction, the vertical direction, and the vertical direction. The transfer unit 20 can transfer the wafer W to various processing units (to be described later) arranged in the processing blocks G <b> 1 to G <b> 4 and the transition unit 21.

The first processing block G1, a plurality of liquid processing units, as shown in FIG. 2, for example while irradiating ultraviolet rays to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the coating unit for applying an adhesion agent on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W 30 and 31 are stacked in two steps from the bottom. Similarly, in the second processing block G2, the coating units 32 and 33 are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. In addition, chemical chambers 34 and 35 for supplying various processing liquids to the liquid processing unit are provided at the lowermost stages of the first processing block G1 and the second processing block G2, respectively.

  In the third processing block G3, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of liquid processing units, for example, rinse units 40 and 41 for rinsing the adhesive on the wafer W are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. Similarly, in the fourth processing block G2, rinse units 42 and 43 are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. In addition, chemical chambers 44 and 45 for supplying various processing liquids to the liquid processing unit are provided at the lowermost stages of the third processing block G3 and the fourth processing block G4, respectively.

  Next, the structure of the coating units 30 to 33 described above will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the coating unit 30 has a processing container 100 in which a loading / unloading port (not shown) for the wafer W is formed on the side surface.

  A gas supply port 101 for supplying an inert gas such as nitrogen gas toward the inside of the processing container 100 is formed on the ceiling surface of the processing container 100. A gas supply source 103 that supplies nitrogen gas is connected to the gas supply port 101 via a gas supply pipe 102. The inside of the processing container 100 may be supplied with a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and water vapor. In this embodiment, the gas supply port 101, the gas supply pipe 102, and the gas supply source 103 constitute a gas supply unit.

  An exhaust port 104 for exhausting the atmosphere inside the processing container 100 is formed on the bottom surface of the processing container 100. An exhaust pump 106 that evacuates the atmosphere inside the processing container 100 is connected to the exhaust port 104 via an exhaust pipe 105.

A spin chuck 110 that holds and rotates the back surface W _{2 of the} wafer W is provided at the center of the processing container 100. The spin chuck 110 has a horizontal upper surface, and a suction port (not shown) for sucking, for example, the wafer W is provided on the upper surface. By suction from the suction port, the wafer W can be sucked and held on the spin chuck 110.

  The spin chuck 110 is provided with a rotation drive unit 112 via a shaft 111. By this rotation driving unit 112, the spin chuck 110 can rotate at a predetermined speed around the vertical and can move up and down.

  Around the spin chuck 110, there is provided a cup 113 that receives and collects the adhesive agent scattered or dropped from the wafer W. Connected to the lower surface of the cup 113 are a discharge pipe 114 for discharging the collected liquid and an exhaust pipe 115 for exhausting the atmosphere in the cup 113.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a rail 120 extending along the Y direction (left and right direction in FIG. 5) is formed on the X direction negative direction (downward direction in FIG. 5) side of the cup 113. For example, the rail 120 is formed from the outside of the cup 113 in the Y direction negative direction (left direction in FIG. 5) to the outside in the Y direction positive direction (right direction in FIG. 5). An arm 121 is attached to the rail 120.

The arm 121 supports an adhesive agent nozzle 122 as an adhesive agent supply unit that supplies an adhesive agent on the wafer W. The arm 121 is movable on the rail 120 by a nozzle driving unit 123. As a result, the adhesive nozzle 122 can move from the standby unit 124 installed outside the cup 120 on the positive side in the Y direction to above the center of the wafer W in the cup 120. The arm 121 can be moved up and down by a nozzle driving unit 123 and the height of the adhesive agent nozzle 122 can be adjusted. Note that the material of the adhesion promoter, the material to improve the adhesion of the resist film to be described later to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, for example, organic compounds and the like. More specifically, the adhesive agent is a silane coupling agent, and the adhesive agent molecule has two functional groups. That is, one functional group is an OR group (R is an alkyl group, for example). The other functional group is a functional group that easily reacts with the resist film and has an organic component.

An ultraviolet irradiation unit 130 that irradiates the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W with ultraviolet light having a wavelength of, for example, 172 nm is provided on the ceiling surface in the processing container 100 and above the spin chuck 110. For example, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 130 is disposed so as to face the surface W ₁ of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 110 and cover the entire surface W ₁ .

For example, a cleaning liquid nozzle that ejects a cleaning liquid such as an organic solvent may be provided below the spin chuck 110. By spraying the cleaning liquid onto the back surface W _{2 of the} wafer W from the cleaning liquid nozzle, the back surface W ₂ can be cleaned.

  In addition, since the structure of the coating units 31-33 is the same as that of the coating unit 30 mentioned above, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  Next, the structure of the rinse units 40-43 mentioned above is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 6, the rinse unit 40 has a processing container 140 in which a loading / unloading port (not shown) for the wafer W is formed on the side surface.

  An immersion tank 141 into which the wafer W is immersed is provided on the bottom surface in the processing container 140. In the immersion tank 141, a rinse liquid for rinsing the adhesive on the wafer W, for example, an organic solvent is stored.

A holding unit 142 that holds the wafer W is provided on the ceiling surface in the processing container 140 and above the immersion bath 141. Holding portion 142 has a chuck 143 for attracting and holding the outer peripheral portion of the back surface _{W 2} of the wafer W. Wafer W, the surface W ₁ is held by the chuck 143 to face upward. The chuck 143 can be moved up and down by a lifting mechanism 144. And the wafer W is immersed in the organic solvent stored in the immersion tank 141 in the state hold | maintained at the holding | maintenance part 142, and the contact | adherence agent on the said wafer W is rinsed.

The holding unit 142 has a gas supply unit 145 provided above the wafer W held by the chuck 143. The gas supply unit 145 can spray an inert gas such as nitrogen or a gas gas such as dry air downward, that is, the surface W ₁ of the wafer W held by the chuck 143. Thus, it is possible to dry the surface W ₁ of the wafer W which is rinsed with immersion layer 141. The rinse unit 31 is connected to an exhaust pipe (not shown) for exhausting the internal atmosphere.

  In addition, since the structure of the rinse units 41-43 is the same as that of the structure of the rinse unit 40 mentioned above, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The above wafer processing apparatus 1 is provided with a control unit 150 as shown in FIG. The control unit 150 is, for example, a computer and has a program storage unit (not shown). The program storage unit controls the transfer of the wafer W between the wafer carry-in / out station 2 and the wafer processing station 3, the operation of the drive system in the wafer processing station 3, and the like. The program that executes is stored. This program is recorded in a computer-readable storage medium such as a computer-readable hard disk (HD), flexible disk (FD), compact disk (CD), magnetic optical desk (MO), memory card, or the like. Or installed in the control unit 150 from the storage medium.

  The wafer processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. Next, wafer processing performed in the wafer processing apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 7 shows the main processing flow of this wafer processing, and FIG. 8 shows the state of the wafer W in each step.

First, the wafer W is taken out from the wafer cassette _CW on the cassette mounting table 10 by the wafer transfer body 12 and transferred to the transition unit 21 of the wafer processing station 3 (step A1 in FIG. 7). In this case, in the wafer cassette C _W, the wafer W, the surface W ₁ is accommodated to face upward, the wafer W in this state is conveyed to the transition unit 21.

Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the coating unit 30 by the transfer unit 20 and transferred to the spin chuck 110. Subsequently, nitrogen gas is supplied into the processing container 100 from the gas supply port 101. At this time, the atmosphere inside the processing container 100 is exhausted from the exhaust port 104, and the inside of the processing container 100 is replaced with a nitrogen gas atmosphere. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8A, ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 130 to the entire surface W _{1 of the} wafer W. The organic surface W ₁ of the wafer W is removed, the surface W ₁ of the wafer W is cleaned (step A2 in FIG. 7). Incidentally, the cleaning of the surface W ₁ of the wafer W in this step A2 may be performed while rotating the wafer W.

Thereafter, the adhesive nozzle 122 is moved to above the center of the wafer W, and the wafer W is rotated. Then, while irradiating ultraviolet rays continue from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 130 onto the surface W ₁ of the wafer W as shown in FIG. 8 (b), supplies the adhesion agent B on the wafer W in the rotation from the contact agent nozzle 122. That is, during the irradiation of ultraviolet light, initiates the supply of the adhesion agent B to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W. Supplied adhesion agent B diffuses on the wafer W by the centrifugal force is applied to the surface W ₁ the entire surface of the wafer W (step A3 in FIG. 7). In this step A3, the inside of the processing container 100 is maintained in a nitrogen gas atmosphere. Further, after the application of the adhesive B, after stopping the irradiation of ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 130 and the supply of the adhesive B from the adhesive agent nozzle 122, the wafer W is continuously rotated and the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W is rotated. Shake off and dry.

In this step A3, by the ultraviolet rays are irradiated, the binding of hydroxyl groups (OH groups) on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W as shown in FIG. 9 is disconnected. Then, thus immediately after the coupling of the hydroxyl group is disconnected, the adhesion agent molecules with the surface W ₁ of the wafer W as shown in FIG. 10 are combined by the dehydration condensation. Further, the ultraviolet rays irradiated on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the adhesion agent molecules with adjacent bonded by dehydration condensation. Although not shown, the adhesive molecule is hydrolyzed and dehydrated and condensed. Thus, the chemical reaction between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W is promoted as shown in FIG. 11, the adhesion between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W is improved. In FIG. 10, R of the OR group in one functional group is an alkyl group, for example, CH ₃ . 10 and 11, the other functional group B _G (shaded portion in the figure) is a functional group that easily reacts with the resist film, and has an organic component.

Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the rinse unit 40 by the transfer unit 20 and held by the holding unit 142. Subsequently, the holding unit 142 is lowered, and the wafer W is immersed in the organic solvent stored in the immersion tank 141. When a predetermined time elapses, only the unreacted portion of the adhesion agent B, i.e. only other than the portion close contacting agent B are in close contact with the surface W ₁ and the surface W ₁ and the chemical reaction of the wafer W is peeled. At this time, since adhesion agent B on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W in the above step A3 are in close contact, the adhesion agent B of the distance from the surface W ₁ of the wafer W in a predetermined will not be peeled off. Thus, as shown in FIG. 8C, the adhesion film _BF is formed on the wafer W with a predetermined film thickness (step A4 in FIG. 7). Then, raise the holding portion 142 blows air gas to the wafer W from the gas supply unit 145, drying the surface W _1.

Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the transition unit 21 by the transfer unit 20, and returned to the wafer cassette _CW by the wafer transfer body 12 (step A5 in FIG. 7). Thus, a series of wafer processing in the wafer processing apparatus 1 is completed.

According to the above embodiment, in step A3, while irradiating ultraviolet rays to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, since by applying the adhesion agent B on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the surface W ₁ of the wafer W chemical reaction between the adhesion agent B is accelerated, adhesion between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W is improved and. That is, the adhesive B can be brought into close contact with the surface W ₁ of the wafer W in a short time. As a result, the throughput of wafer processing in steps A1 to A5 can be improved.

Further, since the ultraviolet in the step A3 can be brought into close contact adhesion agent B on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, as in the prior art adhesion agent it is not necessary to heat B, adhesion agent B is nor thermally expanded. Therefore, the adhesive B can be appropriately formed with a predetermined film thickness on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W.

Moreover, since the step A3 irradiation of ultraviolet rays to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W is carried out under an atmosphere of nitrogen gas, it is possible to prevent the ozone is generated in the processing chamber 100.

Further, since the ultraviolet irradiation unit 130 in step A3 may be irradiated with ultraviolet rays adhesion agent B surface W ₁ the entire surface of the wafer W by one irradiation, the adhesion between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W quickly Can be done.

Moreover, since cleaning the surface W ₁ of the wafer W in step A2, it is possible to properly carry out the subsequent step A3. Further, since the ultraviolet In step A2 is irradiated onto the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, for example, a liquid organic solvent as compared with the case of cleaning the surface W ₁ of the wafer W using, to better remove the organic matter it is possible to clean the surface W ₁ of the wafer W more properly Te.

Here, in JP2011-56747, a mold release agent, which is a silane coupling agent similar to an adhesive, is applied onto a template, and then the applied mold release agent is irradiated with light, thereby the surface of the template. It is described that the adhesion between the resin and the mold release agent is improved. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the adhesive agent B is applied onto the wafer W while irradiating ultraviolet rays, the adhesive agent molecules are formed immediately after the hydroxyl group bond on the wafer W is cut by the ultraviolet rays. Combined by dehydration condensation. In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-56747, the chemical reaction between the template surface and the release agent can be promoted to some extent, but the adhesive B is supplied onto the wafer W as in the present embodiment. immediately after, it does not lead to up to bind and adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the chemical reaction between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the adhesive B can be further promoted compared to the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-56747, and the surface W of the wafer W can be further promoted. ₁ and the adhesion agent B can be further improved.

In the above embodiment, the supply of the adhesive B to the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W is started during the irradiation with ultraviolet rays in the step A3. However, the adhesive B is supplied to the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W. Thus, the irradiation of ultraviolet rays onto the surface W ₁ of the wafer W may be started.

  In such a case, for example, a coating unit 30 shown in FIG. 12 is used to perform the process A3. The coating unit 30 has a processing container 200 having a wafer W loading / unloading port (not shown) formed on the side surface.

  A gas supply port 201 for supplying an inert gas, for example, nitrogen gas, is formed on the ceiling surface of the processing container 200 toward the inside of the processing container 200. A gas supply source 203 that supplies nitrogen gas is connected to the gas supply port 201 via a gas supply pipe 202. The inside of the processing container 200 may be supplied with a mixed gas of nitrogen gas and water vapor. In the present embodiment, the gas supply port 201, the gas supply pipe 202, and the gas supply source 203 constitute a gas supply unit.

  An exhaust port 204 for exhausting the atmosphere inside the processing container 200 is formed on the bottom surface of the processing container 200. An exhaust pump 206 that evacuates the atmosphere inside the processing container 200 is connected to the exhaust port 204 via an exhaust pipe 205.

On the bottom surface in the processing container 200, a mounting table 210 on which the wafer W is mounted is provided. Wafer W, the surface W ₁ is placed on the upper surface of the mounting table 210 to face upward. In the mounting table 210, lifting pins 211 are provided for supporting the wafer W from below and lifting it. The elevating pin 211 can be moved up and down by the elevating drive unit 212. A through hole 213 that penetrates the upper surface in the thickness direction is formed on the upper surface of the mounting table 210, and the elevating pin 211 is inserted through the through hole 213.

An ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 that irradiates the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W with ultraviolet light having a wavelength of, for example, 172 nm is provided on the ceiling surface in the processing container 200 and above the mounting table 210. The ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 is disposed so as to face the surface W ₁ of the wafer W placed on the mounting table 210 and cover the entire surface W _1, for example.

A support plate 221 is disposed between the mounting table 210 and the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220. Support plate 221, for example, the surface W ₁ and the counter of the wafer W mounted on the stage 210 mounting through a predetermined gap, and is arranged so as to cover the surface W ₁ whole surface. The support plate 221 can be moved in the processing container 200 by a moving mechanism (not shown). The support plate 221 is made of a transparent material that can transmit ultraviolet rays. In this embodiment, for example, quartz glass is used.

An adhesive agent nozzle 230 as an adhesive agent supply unit that supplies the adhesive agent B between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W placed on the mounting table 210 and the support plate 221 is disposed inside the processing container 200. Has been. For example, the adhesive nozzle 230 is arranged so that the supply port 230a at the lower end thereof is directed obliquely downward. The adhesive agent nozzle 230 is supported by the arm 231. A movement mechanism (not shown) is attached to the arm 231, and the adhesive agent nozzle 230 can be inside the processing container 200.

  In addition, since the structure of the coating units 31-33 is the same as that of the coating unit 30 mentioned above, description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, the other configuration of the wafer processing apparatus 1 is the same as the configuration of the wafer processing apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment, so that the description thereof is omitted.

  Next, wafer processing performed in the wafer processing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 13 shows the state of the wafer W in each step of wafer processing. Note that the processing flow of wafer processing in the present embodiment is the same as the processing flow shown in FIG.

First, the wafer _W in the wafer cassette _CW on the cassette mounting table 10 is transferred to the transition unit 21 by the wafer transfer body 12 (step A1 in FIG. 7).

Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the coating unit 30 by the transfer unit 20. The wafer W carried into the coating unit 30 is transferred to the elevation pins 211 and placed on the placement table 210. Subsequently, nitrogen gas is supplied into the processing container 200 from the gas supply port 201. At this time, the atmosphere inside the processing container 200 is exhausted from the exhaust port 204, and the inside of the processing container 200 is replaced with a nitrogen gas atmosphere. Thereafter, ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220, as shown in FIG. 13 (a) on the surface W ₁ the entire surface of the wafer W. The organic surface W ₁ of the wafer W is removed, the surface W ₁ of the wafer W is cleaned (step A2 in FIG. 7).

Thereafter, the ultraviolet irradiation from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 is temporarily stopped, and the support plate 221 is placed so that the surface W1 of the wafer W and the support plate 221 face _{each other} with a predetermined gap as shown in FIG. Deploy. Then, the adhesive B is supplied from the adhesive nozzle 230 between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the support plate 221. The supplied adhesive B diffuses between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the support plate 221 by capillary action (surface tension). Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 13C, ultraviolet rays are irradiated downward from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 in a state where the adhesive B is supplied between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the support plate 221. The ultraviolet rays pass through the support plate 221 and are irradiated on the entire surface W _{1 of the} wafer W. Thus, while irradiating ultraviolet rays to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the adhesion agent B is applied on the wafer W (step A3 in FIG. 7). In this step A3, the inside of the processing container 200 is maintained in a nitrogen gas atmosphere. By this step A3, a chemical reaction between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W is promoted, adhesion between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W is improved. After applying the adhesive B, after stopping the irradiation of ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 and the supply of the adhesive B from the adhesive nozzle 230, for example, an inert gas such as nitrogen or a gas gas such as dry air is supplied to the wafer W. sprayed on the surface _{W 1} of, drying the surface _{W 1.} The chemical reaction between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W will be omitted because it is similar to the chemical reaction in step A3 of the above-described embodiment.

Thereafter, the transfer unit 20 transfers the wafer W to the rinse unit 40 to be rinsed, and an adhesion film _BF is formed on the wafer W with a predetermined film thickness as shown in FIG. Step A4). Note that step A4 is the same as step A4 in the above embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the transition unit 21 by the transfer unit 20, and returned to the wafer cassette _CW by the wafer transfer body 12 (step A5 in FIG. 7). Thus, a series of wafer processing in the wafer processing apparatus 1 is completed.

Also in this embodiment, the same effect as that of the above embodiment can be enjoyed. For example, in step A3, while irradiating ultraviolet rays to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, since by applying the adhesion agent B on the surface W ₁ of the the wafer W, a chemical reaction between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W There is promoted, adhesion between the adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W is improved. Therefore, it is possible to contact the contact agent B in a short time on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, it is possible to improve the throughput of the wafer processing steps A1~ step A5.

Further, in the present embodiment, in step A3, in a state where adhesion agent B is supplied between the surface W ₁ of the wafer W and the support plate 221, since the ultraviolet rays are irradiated onto the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the adhesion UV rays are not irradiated while the agent B is diffusing. That is, it is possible to in a short time irradiation of ultraviolet rays to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W. As a result, the adhesive B of the wafer W can be prevented from being broken by ultraviolet rays.

In step A3 of this embodiment, it had been supplied an adhesion agent B between the surface W ₁ and the support plate 221 of the wafer W by use of the capillary phenomenon, the method of supplying the adhesion agent B to this It is not limited. For example, the adhesive B may be pressed between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the support plate 221.

Further, in step A3 of this embodiment, when supplying the adhesion agent B between the surface W ₁ and the support plate 221 of the wafer W, but the irradiation of ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 it was once stopped, You may continue and irradiate the said ultraviolet-ray. That is, in the process A2 and the process A3, the ultraviolet irradiation from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 may be continuously performed.

In the above embodiments, the ultraviolet in the step A3, but from the support plate 221 side had been irradiated with ultraviolet rays on the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the surface W ₁ from the back surface W ₂ of the wafer W as shown in FIG. 14 May be irradiated. In order to irradiate ultraviolet rays in this way, in the coating unit 30, the top and bottom arrangement of the wafer W and the support plate 221 may be reversed, that is, the wafer W may be arranged above the support plate 221. Alternatively, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 220 disposed on the ceiling surface of the processing container 200 may be disposed below the wafer W.

In such a case, the ultraviolet rays irradiated from the back surface W ₂ of the wafer W as shown in FIG. 14 passes through the wafer W, is applied to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W. In this way, the adhesive B is applied onto the wafer W while irradiating the surface W ₁ of the wafer W with ultraviolet rays. Then, the chemical reaction between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the adhesive B is promoted, and the adhesion between the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the adhesive B is improved.

According to the present embodiment, since the front surface W ₁ is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the back surface W ₂ side of the wafer W, the ultraviolet rays are not disturbed by the adhesive agent B, and the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W and the adhesive agent B Reach the interface. For this reason, the ultraviolet rays are irradiated to the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W without being attenuated by the adhesive B. Further, the adhesive B is hardly decomposed by ultraviolet rays. Furthermore, with the adhesion agent B is supplied between the surface W ₁ of the wafer W and the support plate 221, since the ultraviolet rays are irradiated onto the surface W ₁ of the wafer W, the adhesion agent B is ultraviolet rays are irradiated in the diffusion There is nothing to do. That is, it is possible to in a short time irradiation of ultraviolet rays to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the adhesive B of the wafer W from being decomposed by the ultraviolet rays. According to the embodiment as described above, it can be made to adhere more efficiently adhesion agent B and surface W ₁ of the wafer W.

In the above embodiment, the cleaning of the surface W ₁ of the wafer W in step A2, which had been performed in the coating unit 30 that performs step A3, may be performed in a separate cleaning unit. This cleaning unit is disposed, for example, in any of the processing blocks G1 to G4 of the wafer processing apparatus 1.

  In this case, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the cleaning unit 240 has a processing container 250 in which a loading / unloading port (not shown) for the wafer W is formed on the side surface.

A chuck 251 for attracting and holding the wafer W is provided in the processing container 250. Chuck 251, surface _{W 1} of the wafer W to face upward, suction-holds the rear surface _{W 2.} A chuck driving unit 252 is provided below the chuck 251. The chuck driving unit 252 is provided on the bottom surface in the processing container 250 and is mounted on a rail 253 extending along the Y direction. The chuck 251 can move along the rail 253 by the chuck driving unit 252.

  An ultraviolet irradiation unit 254 for irradiating the wafer W held by the chuck 251 with ultraviolet rays is provided on the ceiling surface in the processing container 250 and above the rails 253. The ultraviolet irradiation unit 254 extends in the X direction as shown in FIG.

Then, the wafer W transferred to the cleaning unit 240 is sucked and held by the chuck 251. Subsequently, the wafer W is irradiated with ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 254 while moving the wafer W along the rails 253 by the chuck driving unit 252. In this manner, the entire surface W _{1 of the} wafer W is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, and the surface W _{1 of the} wafer W is cleaned.

In the above embodiment, in the coating unit 30, the adhesive agent B is applied to the surface W ₁ of the wafer W by supplying the adhesive agent B onto the rotating wafer W. The adhesive B may be applied onto the wafer W using an adhesive nozzle that extends in the direction and has a slit-like supply port formed on the lower surface. In this case, the adhesive agent B is supplied from the supply port while the adhesive agent nozzle is moved in the side direction of the wafer W, and the adhesive agent B is applied to the entire surface W _{1 of the} wafer W.

  In the rinse unit 40 according to the above embodiment, the adhesive B is rinsed by immersing the wafer W in the organic solvent stored in the immersion layer 151. However, the coating unit 30 illustrated in FIGS. A rinse unit having a similar configuration may be used. In such a case, a rinsing liquid nozzle that supplies an organic solvent as a rinsing liquid for the adhesive B onto the wafer W is used instead of the adhesive nozzle 122 of the coating unit 30.

In this rinsing unit, an organic solvent is supplied onto the rotating wafer W to rinse the entire surface W _{1 of the} wafer W. When a predetermined time elapses, only the unreacted portion of the adhesive B is peeled off, and the adhesive film _BF is formed on the wafer W. Then, after stopping the supply of the organic solvent, it continues to further rotate the the wafer W, thereby drying finishing off the surface W _1. In this way, the adhesive B on the wafer W is rinsed.

In the above embodiment, the wafer W is transported by the transport unit 20 in the wafer processing station 3, but the wafer W may be transported using a so-called flat flow format. In such a case, the coating unit and the rinsing unit are arranged in this order at the wafer processing station 3. Then, the wafers W carried out from the wafer carry-in / out station 2 are sequentially carried to these processing units by carrying using a carrying roller. In each processing unit, a predetermined process is performed on the wafer W being transferred. When the adhesion film _BF is thus formed on the wafer W, the wafer W is returned to the wafer carry-in / out station 2 and a series of wafer processing is completed. In this case, since predetermined processing is performed during the transfer of the wafer W in each processing unit, the throughput of the wafer processing can be further improved.

  The wafer processing apparatus 1 of the above embodiment may be arranged in the imprint system 300 as shown in FIGS. In the imprint system 300 of the present embodiment, a template processing apparatus 310 that forms a release agent on the template T is also disposed.

In the imprint system 300 (template processing apparatus 310) of the present embodiment, a template T having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and having a predetermined transfer pattern C formed on the surface is used as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the transfer pattern C means the side of the template T which is formed with the surface T _1, the surface T ₁ opposite to the surface of the backside T _2. For the template T, a transparent material capable of transmitting light such as visible light, near ultraviolet light, and ultraviolet light, such as quartz glass, is used.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the imprint system 300 uses a template T processed by the template processing apparatus 310 in addition to the wafer processing apparatus 1 and the template processing apparatus 310 to process the wafer W processed by the wafer processing apparatus 1. An imprint unit 320 for forming a resist pattern is provided thereon. An interface station 321 for delivering the wafer W is disposed between the wafer processing apparatus 1 and the imprint unit 320. Further, an interface station 322 for transferring the template T is disposed between the template processing apparatus 310 and the imprint unit 320. That is, the wafer processing apparatus 1, the interface station 321, the imprint unit 320, the interface station 322, and the template processing apparatus 310 are arranged in this order in the Y direction (left and right direction in FIG. 17), and are integrally connected.

Template processing unit 310 has a plurality, for example five or transferring, between the template T between the outside and the template processing unit 310 in the cassette unit, the template unloading station or transferring, the template T with respect to the template cassette C _T 330 and a template processing station 331 including a plurality of processing units that perform predetermined processing on the template T are integrally connected.

The template loading / unloading station 330 is provided with a cassette mounting table 340. Cassette mounting table 340 is adapted to be mounted thereon a plurality of template cassettes C _T in a line in the X direction (vertical direction in FIG. 17). That is, the template loading / unloading station 330 is configured to be able to hold a plurality of templates T.

The template carry-in / out station 330 is provided with a template carrier 342 that can move on a conveyance path 341 extending in the X direction. The template transport body 342 can expand and contract in the horizontal direction, and can also move in the vertical direction and the vertical direction (θ direction), and can transport the template T between the template cassette _CT and the template processing station 331.

  The template processing station 331 is provided with a transport unit 350 at the center thereof. Around the transport unit 350, for example, four processing blocks F1 to F4 in which various processing units are arranged in multiple stages are arranged. On the front side of the template processing station 331 (X direction negative direction side in FIG. 17), the first processing block F1 and the second processing block F2 are sequentially arranged from the template loading / unloading station 330 side. On the back side of the template processing station 331 (positive side in the X direction in FIG. 17), the third processing block F3 and the fourth processing block F4 are arranged in this order from the template loading / unloading station 330 side. A transition unit 351 for delivering the template T is disposed on the template loading / unloading station 330 side of the template processing station 331. A transition unit 352 for transferring the template T is also arranged on the interface station 322 side of the template processing station 331.

  The transport unit 350 has a transport arm that holds and transports the template T and is movable in the horizontal direction, the vertical direction, and the vertical direction. And the conveyance unit 350 can convey the template T with respect to the various process units mentioned later arrange | positioned in the process blocks F1-F4, and the transition units 351 and 352. FIG.

The first processing block F1, a plurality of liquid processing units, as shown in FIG. 18, for example while irradiating ultraviolet rays to the surface T ₁ of the template T, releasing agent is coated on the surface T ₁ of the template T applied Units 360 and 361 are stacked in two stages from the bottom. Similarly, in the second processing block F2, the coating units 362 and 363 are stacked in two stages from the bottom. In addition, chemical chambers 364 and 365 for supplying various processing liquids to the liquid processing unit are provided at the lowermost stages of the first processing block F1 and the second processing block F2, respectively.

The configuration of the coating units 360 to 363 is the same as the configuration of the coating unit 30 that coats the adhesive B on the wafer W in the wafer processing apparatus 1, and thus the description thereof is omitted. However, in the coating units 360 to 363, a release agent nozzle that supplies a release agent on the surface T _{1 of the} template T is provided instead of the adhesive agent nozzle 122. In addition, the coating units 360 to 363 are provided with a holding member that holds and holds the template T in place of the spin chuck 110 that holds the wafer W by suction. Note that a material having a liquid repellency with respect to a resist film on the wafer W, which will be described later, such as a fluorine-carbon compound, is used as the material of the release agent. More specifically, the release agent is a silane coupling agent like the adhesion agent, and the release agent molecule has two functional groups. That is, one functional group is an OR group (R is an alkyl group, for example). The other functional group is a functional group having liquid repellency with respect to the resist film on the wafer W, and has a fluoride component.

  In the third processing block F3, as shown in FIG. 19, a plurality of liquid processing units, for example, rinsing units 370 and 371 for rinsing the release agent on the template T are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. Similarly, in the fourth processing block F2, rinse units 372 and 373 are stacked in two stages in order from the bottom. In addition, chemical chambers 374 and 375 for supplying various processing liquids to the liquid processing unit are provided at the lowermost stages of the third processing block F3 and the fourth processing block F4, respectively.

  The configuration of the rinsing units 370 to 373 is the same as the configuration of the rinsing unit 40 that rinses the adhesive B on the wafer W, so that the description thereof is omitted. In the rinse units 370 to 373, for example, an organic solvent is used as the rinse liquid.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the interface station 321 is provided with a wafer transfer body 381 that moves on a transfer path 380 extending in the X direction. A buffer cassette 382 for temporarily storing a plurality of wafers W is disposed on the negative side in the X direction of the transfer path 380. The wafer transfer body 381 can expand and contract in the horizontal direction, and can also move in the vertical direction and the vertical direction (θ direction), and transfers the wafer W between the wafer processing station 3, the buffer cassette 382, and the imprint unit 320. it can. In the wafer processing station 3 of the wafer processing apparatus 1, a transition unit 383 for delivering the template T is arranged on the interface station 321 side of the transfer unit 20.

  The interface station 322 is provided with a template transport body 391 that moves on a transport path 390 extending in the X direction. A reversing unit 392 that reverses the front and back surfaces of the template T is disposed on the positive direction side in the X direction of the transport path 390, and a plurality of templates T are temporarily stored on the negative direction side of the transport path 390 in the X direction. A buffer cassette 393 is disposed. The template transport body 391 can be expanded and contracted in the horizontal direction, and can also move in the vertical direction and around the vertical direction (θ direction), and between the template processing station 331, the reversing unit 392, the buffer cassette 393, and the imprint unit 320. The template T can be conveyed.

  Next, the configuration of the above-described imprint unit 320 will be described. As shown in FIG. 21, the imprint unit 320 has a processing container 400 in which a loading / unloading port (not shown) for the template T and a loading / unloading port (not shown) for the wafer W are formed on the side surfaces.

A wafer holding unit 401 on which the wafer W is placed and held is provided on the bottom surface in the processing container 400. Wafer W, the surface W ₁ is placed on the upper surface of the wafer holding portion 401 to face upward. In the wafer holding unit 401, elevating pins 402 are provided for supporting the wafer W from below and elevating it. The elevating pin 402 can be moved up and down by the elevating drive unit 403. A through hole 404 that penetrates the upper surface in the thickness direction is formed on the upper surface of the wafer holding unit 401, and the elevating pins 402 are inserted through the through hole 404. The wafer holding unit 401 can be moved in the horizontal direction and can be rotated around the vertical by a moving mechanism 405 provided below the wafer holding unit 401.

  As shown in FIG. 22, a rail 410 extending along the Y direction (left and right direction in FIG. 22) is provided on the negative side in the X direction (downward direction in FIG. 22) of the wafer holding unit 401. For example, the rail 410 is formed from the outer side of the wafer holding unit 401 on the Y direction negative direction (left direction in FIG. 22) to the outer side on the Y direction positive direction (right direction in FIG. 22). An arm 411 is attached to the rail 410.

  A resist solution nozzle 412 for supplying a resist solution onto the wafer W is supported on the arm 411. The resist solution nozzle 412 has, for example, an elongated shape along the X direction that is the same as or longer than the diameter dimension of the wafer W. For example, an inkjet type nozzle is used as the resist solution nozzle 412, and a plurality of supply ports (not shown) formed in a line along the longitudinal direction are formed below the resist solution nozzle 412. The resist solution nozzle 412 can strictly control the resist solution supply timing, the resist solution supply amount, and the like.

  The arm 411 is movable on the rail 410 by a nozzle driving unit 413. As a result, the resist solution nozzle 412 can move from the standby unit 414 installed outside the wafer holding unit 401 on the positive side in the Y direction to above the wafer W on the wafer holding unit 401, and further the surface of the wafer W The top can be moved in the radial direction of the wafer W. The arm 411 can be moved up and down by a nozzle driving unit 413 and the height of the resist solution nozzle 412 can be adjusted.

A template holding unit 420 that holds the template T as shown in FIG. 21 is provided on the ceiling surface in the processing container 400 and above the wafer holding unit 401. That is, the wafer holding unit 401 and the template holding unit 420 are arranged such that the wafer W placed on the wafer holding unit 401 and the template T held on the template holding unit 420 face each other. Furthermore, the template holding portion 420, the outer peripheral portion of the rear surface T ₂ of the template T has a chuck 421 for holding suction. The chuck 421 is movable in the vertical direction and rotatable about the vertical by a moving mechanism 422 provided above the chuck 421. Accordingly, the template T can be rotated up and down in a predetermined direction with respect to the wafer W on the wafer holding unit 401.

  The template holding unit 420 includes a light source 423 provided above the template T held by the chuck 421. The light source 423 emits light such as visible light, near ultraviolet light, and ultraviolet light, and the light from the light source 423 is transmitted through the template T and irradiated downward.

  The imprint system 300 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. Next, an imprint process performed in the imprint system 300 will be described. FIG. 23 shows the main processing flow of this imprint process, and FIG. 24 shows the state of the template T and wafer W in each step of this imprint process.

First, the template conveyor 342, the template T is taken from the template cassette _{C T} on the cassette mounting table 340 is conveyed to the transition unit 351 of the template processing station 331 (Step B1 in FIG. 23). At this time, in the template cassette C _T, the template T, the surface T ₁ of the transfer pattern C is formed is accommodated so as to face upward, the template T in this state is conveyed to the transition unit 351.

Thereafter, the conveyance unit 350, the template T is transported to the coating unit 360, ultraviolet rays are irradiated onto the surface _{T 1} of the template T, the surface _{T 1} is washed (step B2 in FIG. 23). Subsequently, in the coating unit 360, while irradiating ultraviolet rays to the surface T ₁ of the template T, the release agent on the surface T ₁ is applied (step B3 in FIG. 23). Then, the chemical reaction between the surface T ₁ and the release agent of the template T is accelerated, adhesion to the surface T ₁ and the release agent of the template T is improved. Thereafter, the template T is conveyed to the rinse unit 370, and the release agent on the template T is rinsed (step B4 in FIG. 23). Thus, as shown in FIG. 24, the release film S _F along the transfer pattern C on the surface T ₁ of the template T is deposited in a predetermined thickness. In these steps B2 to B4, the same process as the steps A2 to A4 performed on the wafer W in the above embodiment is performed on the template T, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

Template T release film S _F is deposited is transported to the transition unit 352. Subsequently, the template T is transported to the reversing unit 392 by the template transport body 391 of the interface station 322, and the front and back surfaces of the template T are reversed. That is, the rear surface T ₂ of the template T is directed upwards. Thereafter, the template T is transported to the imprint unit 320 by the template transport body 391 and sucked and held by the chuck 421 of the template holding unit 420. At this time, prior to conveying the template T in the imprint unit 320, the buffer cassette 393, the template T release film S _F is deposited may be temporarily stored.

In this way, the template processing station 331 performs predetermined processing on the template T, and the wafer W is transferred from the wafer carry-in / out station 2 to the wafer processing station 3 while the template T is being transferred to the imprint unit 320 (step of FIG. 23). B5). The wafer processing station 3, the cleaning of the surface _{W 1} of the wafer W (step B6 in FIG. 23), the coating adhesion agent B to irradiation and the surface _{W 1} of the ultraviolet to the surface _{W 1} of the wafer W (in Figure 23 step B7 ), rinse adhesion agent B on the wafer W (step B8 in FIG. 23) are sequentially performed, the adhesion film _{B F} is deposited on the surface _{W 1} of the wafer W. In addition, since these processes B6 to B8 are the same as the processes A2 to A4 in the above-described embodiment, detailed description is omitted.

The wafer W on which the adhesion film _BF is formed is transferred to the transition unit 383. Subsequently, the wafer W is transferred into the imprint unit 320 by the wafer transfer body 381. At this time, the wafer W on which the adhesion film _BF is formed may be temporarily stored in the buffer cassette 382 before the wafer W is transferred to the imprint unit 320.

The wafer W carried into the imprint unit 320 is transferred to the lift pins 402 and is placed and held on the wafer holding unit 401. Subsequently, after aligning the wafer W held by the wafer holding unit 401 by moving it to a predetermined position in the horizontal direction, the resist solution nozzle 412 is moved in the radial direction of the wafer W, as shown in FIG. As shown, a resist solution R is applied on the adhesion film _BF of the wafer W (step B9 in FIG. 23). At this time, the control unit 160 controls the supply timing and supply amount of the resist solution R supplied from the resist solution nozzle 412. That is, in the resist pattern formed on the wafer W, the amount of the resist solution R applied to the portion corresponding to the convex portion (the portion corresponding to the concave portion in the transfer pattern C of the template T) is large, and the portion corresponding to the concave portion. The resist solution R is applied so that the amount of the resist solution R applied to the portion corresponding to the convex portion in the transfer pattern C is small. Thus, the resist solution R is applied on the wafer W in accordance with the aperture ratio of the transfer pattern C. Then, the adhesive film B _F on the wafer W, in close contact surface with the resist solution R the wafer W, the resist film R _F as the coating film as shown in FIG. 24 (b) is formed.

When the resist film _RF is formed on the wafer W, the wafer W held on the wafer holder 401 is moved to a predetermined position in the horizontal direction for alignment, and the template held on the template holder 420 is used. T is rotated in a predetermined direction. Then, the template T is lowered to the wafer W side as indicated by the arrow in FIG. Template T is lowered to a predetermined position, the surface T ₁ of the template T is pressed against the resist film R _F on the wafer W. The predetermined position is set based on the height of the resist pattern formed on the wafer W. Subsequently, light is emitted from the light source 423. Light from the light source 423 is irradiated to the resist film R _F on the wafer W passes through the template T as shown in FIG. 24 (c), thereby the resist film R _F is photopolymerized. Thus, the transfer pattern C of the template T on the resist film R _F on the wafer W is transferred, the resist pattern P is formed (step B10 in FIG. 23).

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 24 (d), the template T is raised to form a resist pattern P on the wafer W. At this time, the surface T ₁ of the template T since Hanaregatamaku S _F is deposited, does not resist on the wafer W adheres to the surface T ₁ of the template T. Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred to the wafer carrier 381 by the lift pins 402, transferred from the imprint unit 320 to the wafer carry-in / out station 2, and returned to the wafer cassette _CW (step B11 in FIG. 23). A thin resist residual film L may remain in the concave portion of the resist pattern P formed on the wafer W. For example, as shown in FIG. 23E, the residual film L remains outside the imprint system 300. The film L may be removed.

The above steps B5 to B11 (portions surrounded by dotted lines in FIG. 23) are repeatedly performed to form resist patterns P on the plurality of wafers W using one template T, respectively. During this period, it repeats the step B1~B4 described above, forming a release film _{S F} on the surface _{T 1} of the plurality of templates T. Template T release film S _F is deposited are stored in the buffer cassette 393 in the interface station 322.

  Then, when Steps B5 to B11 are performed on the predetermined number of wafers W, the used template T is unloaded from the imprint unit 320 by the template transfer body 391 and transferred to the reversing unit 392 (Step of FIG. 23). B12). Subsequently, the template T in the buffer cassette 393 is transported to the imprint unit 320 by the template transport body 391. Thus, the template T in the imprint unit 320 is exchanged. Note that the timing for exchanging the template T is set in consideration of deterioration of the template T and the like. The template T is also replaced when a different pattern P is formed on the wafer W. For example, the template T may be exchanged each time the template T is used once. Further, for example, the template T may be exchanged for each wafer W, or the template T may be exchanged for each lot, for example.

The used template T conveyed to the reversing unit 392 has its front and back surfaces reversed. Thereafter, the template carrier 391, the conveying unit 350, the template conveyor 342, the template T is returned to the template cassette _{C T.} Thus, in the imprint system 300, the predetermined resist pattern P is continuously formed on the plurality of wafers W while the template T is continuously replaced.

According to the above embodiment, since the imprint system 300 includes a template processing unit 310 and the wafer processing apparatus 1, in the imprint system 300, forming a release film S _F on the template T At the same time, the adhesion film _BF can be formed on the wafer W. As described above, since the template processing and the wafer processing are performed by the one implement system 300, the throughput of the imprint processing can be improved. This also enables mass production of semiconductor devices.

  In the above embodiment, the liquid adhesive agent B is supplied onto the wafer W in the coating unit 30 of the wafer processing apparatus 1, but a gaseous adhesive agent may be supplied. Similarly, in the application unit 360 of the template processing apparatus 310, the liquid release agent is supplied onto the template T, but a gaseous release agent may be supplied.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious for those skilled in the art that various modifications or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the idea described in the claims, and these naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood. The present invention is not limited to this example and can take various forms. The present invention can also be applied to a case where the substrate is another substrate such as an FPD (flat panel display) other than a wafer or a mask reticle for a photomask.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wafer processing apparatus 30-33 Application | coating unit 40-43 Rinse unit 100 Processing container 101 Gas supply port 102 Gas supply pipe 103 Gas supply source 122 Adhesive agent nozzle 130 Ultraviolet irradiation part 150 Control part 200 Processing container 201 Gas supply port 202 Gas supply tube 203 gas supply source 220 ultraviolet irradiator 221 supporting plate 230 adhesion agent nozzle 240 cleaning unit 300 in the printing system 320 imprint unit B adhesion agent B _F adhesive film C transfer pattern P resist pattern R resist solution R _F resist film S _F release Film T Template W Wafer

Claims (16)

A substrate processing method for forming an adhesive on a substrate to improve the adhesion between the surface of the substrate and a coating film,
An application step of applying an adhesive to the surface of the substrate while irradiating the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays;
And a rinsing step of rinsing the adhesive applied to the surface of the substrate to remove an unreacted portion of the adhesive. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning step of cleaning the surface of the substrate before the coating step. The substrate processing method according to claim 2, wherein in the cleaning step, the surface of the substrate is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein the coating step is performed in an atmosphere of an inert gas. 5. The substrate processing method according to claim 1, wherein in the coating step, supply of an adhesive to the surface of the substrate is started while the surface of the substrate is irradiated with the ultraviolet rays. . In the coating step, the irradiation of the ultraviolet ray on the surface of the substrate is started in a state where an adhesive is supplied between the surface of the substrate and a support plate arranged to face the surface. The substrate processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The substrate processing method according to claim 6, wherein the support plate transmits the ultraviolet light. A program that operates on a computer of a control unit that controls the substrate processing apparatus in order to cause the substrate processing apparatus to execute the substrate processing method according to claim 1. A readable computer storage medium storing the program according to claim 8. A substrate processing apparatus for forming an adhesive on a substrate to improve the adhesion between the surface of the substrate and a coating film,
An application unit including an ultraviolet irradiation unit that irradiates ultraviolet rays onto the surface of the substrate, and an adhesive supply unit that supplies an adhesive to the surface of the substrate;
Rinsing the adhesive applied to the surface of the substrate, and removing a non-reacted portion of the adhesive;
In the coating unit, a control unit that controls the ultraviolet irradiation unit and the adhesive supply unit so as to execute an application process of applying the adhesive to the surface of the substrate while irradiating the surface of the substrate with the ultraviolet light. And a substrate processing apparatus. The substrate processing according to claim 10, wherein the control unit controls the ultraviolet irradiation unit to irradiate the surface of the substrate with ultraviolet rays in the coating unit before executing the coating step. apparatus. The coating unit further includes a processing container that accommodates the substrate, and a gas supply unit that supplies an inert gas into the processing container,
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit controls the gas supply unit so that the coating process is performed in an inert gas atmosphere. The control unit controls the ultraviolet irradiation unit and the adhesive supply unit so as to start supplying the adhesive to the surface of the substrate while irradiating the surface of the substrate with the ultraviolet ray in the coating step. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is characterized. The coating unit has a support plate arranged to face the surface of the substrate,
The control unit is configured to start the irradiation of the ultraviolet ray on the surface of the substrate in a state where an adhesive is supplied between the surface of the substrate and the support plate in the coating step. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein an adhesive agent supply unit is controlled. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the support plate transmits the ultraviolet light. An imprint system comprising the substrate processing apparatus according to claim 10,
Using the template having the transfer pattern formed on the surface, the substrate processing apparatus transfers the transfer pattern to the coating film formed on the substrate on which the adhesion agent is formed, and applies the predetermined pattern to the coating film. An imprint system comprising an imprint unit to be formed.

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