JP5639429B2 - Substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for removing contaminants such as particles adhering to various substrate surfaces such as a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a photomask, a glass substrate for liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for plasma display, and an optical disk substrate, and the like. The present invention relates to a substrate processing method.

  Conventionally, a freeze cleaning technique is known as one of the processes for removing contaminants such as particles adhering to the substrate surface. In this technique, after the liquid film formed on the substrate surface is frozen, the frozen film is removed to remove particles and the like from the substrate surface together with the frozen film. For example, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, after supplying DIW (deionized water) as a cleaning liquid to the substrate surface and rotating the substrate to form a liquid film, a nozzle that discharges cooling gas is used. The liquid film is frozen by scanning in the vicinity of the substrate surface, and DIW is supplied again to thaw and remove the frozen film, thereby removing particles from the substrate surface.

JP 2008-071875 A (FIG. 5)

  As a result of various experiments, the present inventors have found that there is a certain correlation between the film thickness of the liquid film and the particle removal rate. Specifically, in order to ensure a high particle removal rate, it is necessary to adjust the film thickness of the liquid film within a predetermined range. descend. Therefore, it is important to consider the thickness of the liquid film formed on the substrate surface.

  However, in the prior art, the liquid film is formed by rotating the substrate with the rotation parameters (rotation speed and rotation time) set in the recipe, but the contact angle of the substrate differs depending on the processing content in the previous process, As a result, the film thickness of the liquid film may increase or decrease. When the freezing process (formation of a solidified body) and the thawing and removing process are performed while the film thickness of the liquid film is not within the predetermined range described above, the expected particle removal rate cannot be obtained, and a defective substrate is generated. May end up. In addition, it is useless to perform the freezing process and the thawing / removing process on such a substrate, which is one of the main factors that reduce the operation efficiency of the apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in the substrate processing apparatus and the substrate processing method for removing contaminants such as particles adhering to the surface of the substrate, it is possible to prevent generation of a defective substrate. At the same time, it is an object to provide a technique capable of suppressing the formation and thawing / removal of useless solidified bodies and improving the operation efficiency.

In order to achieve the above object, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a substrate holding means for holding a substrate on which a liquid film of water is formed, and a liquid formed on the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means. and the film thickness measuring means for measuring the thickness of a film, and solidifying means for water of the liquid film is cooled to form a solidified body of water, the decompression removing means for decompressing removing solidified body formed on the substrate surface, film When the film thickness of the liquid film measured by the thickness measuring means is within a predetermined range, formation of the solidified body and thaw removal of the solidified body are executed, while when the thickness exceeds the predetermined range, formation of the solidified body and thaw removal of the solidified body are performed. And a control means for regulating.

The substrate processing method according to the present invention, after forming the solidified body of water a liquid film of water formed on the surface of the substrate is cooled, the substrate processing method for decompressing removing solidified body formed on the substrate surface In order to achieve the above object, the thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface of the substrate is measured, and when the measurement result is within a predetermined range, formation of the solidified body and thawing removal of the solidified body are executed. On the other hand, when exceeding a predetermined range, the formation of the solidified body and the thawing and removal of the solidified body are regulated.

In the invention thus configured (substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method), the liquid film of water formed on the surface of the substrate is cooled to form a solidified body of water . Then, particles and the like attached to the substrate surface are removed by thawing and removing the solidified body. Regarding the removal rate of particles and the like, the present inventor has now obtained the following knowledge from various experimental verifications. The knowledge is that the film thickness of the liquid film is one of the factors that greatly affects the removal rate of particles and the like. As will be described in detail later, in order to increase the removal rate of particles and the like, It is important to keep the film thickness within the specified range, and even if the film thickness of the liquid film exceeds that range, if the solidified body is formed and the solidified body is thawed and removed as it is, the removal rate decreases. As a result, a poorly processed substrate is generated. Therefore, in the present invention, when the film thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface of the substrate exceeds a predetermined range, the formation of the solidified body and the thawing and removal of the solidified body are regulated to prevent the occurrence of processing defects. . The “film thickness of the liquid film” in the present invention includes the thickness of the liquid film before cooling and freezing and the thickness of the solidified body formed by freezing the liquid film.

  Here, when the substrate rotating means is provided and the liquid film is formed by rotating the substrate, when the film thickness of the liquid film formed by the substrate rotating means exceeds a predetermined range, the formation of the solidified body and the solidified body Thawing and removal may be regulated. Also, for example, a plurality of recipes with different rotation parameters such as the number of rotations and rotation time of the substrate by the substrate rotation means are prepared, and when the liquid film formed according to one recipe exceeds a predetermined range, the solidified body However, it may be configured such that the user or the operator switches to another recipe to retry the liquid film formation.

  Further, the film thickness of the liquid film may be adjusted within a predetermined range by changing the substrate rotation parameters (such as the number of rotations and the rotation time) by the substrate rotating means based on the measurement result by the film thickness measuring means. It is possible to execute formation and thawing removal of the solidified body without switching.

Further, coagulating liquid supply means for supplying water to the substrate surface may be provided. In the apparatus having this coagulating liquid supply means, the substrate is rotated by the coagulating liquid supply means before or during rotation of the substrate with the changed rotation parameter. Water can be supplied to the surface, and a liquid film having a film thickness within a predetermined range can be formed on the substrate surface. In the apparatus configured in this way, when the film thickness of the liquid film before the change of the rotation parameter is thicker than the predetermined range, even when it is thin, the substrate is rotated with the rotation parameter after the change. Since water is newly supplied to the substrate surface, the liquid film can be adjusted within a predetermined range.

Furthermore, in the apparatus provided with the substrate rotating means, and rotating the substrate to sprinkle water from the substrate surface to form the film thickness of the liquid film, the measurement result by the film thickness measuring means in parallel with the water sprinkling from the substrate surface When the measurement result reaches within a predetermined range, the water film may be stopped and cooling of the liquid film may be started.

  According to the present invention, the film thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface of the substrate is measured, and when the measurement result exceeds a predetermined range, the formation of the solidified body and the thawing and removal of the solidified body are regulated. In addition to preventing the generation of defective substrates, it is possible to increase the operating efficiency by suppressing the formation / defrosting / removal of useless solidified bodies.

It is a graph which shows the relationship between the film thickness of a liquid film in a freeze cleaning technique, and a particle removal rate. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the liquid film temperature in a freeze washing technique, and a particle removal rate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows 1st Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the supply aspect of nitrogen gas and DIW in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement aspect of the arm in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. It is a graph which shows the film thickness change of formation of a liquid film, and a freezing process. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of 2nd Embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus concerning this invention. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the rotation time of a board | substrate, and the film thickness of a liquid film.

<Relationship between liquid film thickness and particle removal rate>
Although the conventional freeze cleaning technique freezes the liquid film, the thickness of the liquid film has not been considered much. However, according to the experiments of the present inventors using a liquid film by DIW, as shown in FIG. 1, the particle removal rate changes according to the film thickness of the liquid film. A high particle removal rate is obtained when the film thickness of the liquid film is within a predetermined range. On the other hand, when the film thickness of the liquid film exceeds a predetermined range (that is, becomes thicker than the upper limit value of the predetermined range or thinner than the lower limit value of the predetermined range), a desired particle removal rate cannot be obtained, As a result, processing failure occurs.

  FIG. 1 is a graph showing the relationship between the film thickness of the liquid film and the particle removal rate in the so-called freeze cleaning technique, and is specifically obtained by the following experiment. In this experiment, a Si wafer (wafer diameter: 300 mm) in a bare state (state in which no pattern is formed) is selected as a representative example of the substrate. In addition, evaluation is performed for the case where the substrate surface is contaminated with Si scrap (particle size: 0.08 μm or more) as particles.

  First, the wafer is forcibly contaminated using a single wafer processing apparatus (Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd., spin processor SS-3000). Specifically, while the wafer is rotated, a dispersion liquid in which particles (Si scraps) are dispersed is supplied to the wafer from a nozzle disposed opposite to the wafer. Here, the liquid amount of the dispersion, the wafer rotation speed, and the processing time are appropriately adjusted so that the number of particles adhering to the wafer surface is about 10,000. Thereafter, the number (initial value) of particles adhering to the wafer surface is measured. The number of particles is measured by using the wafer inspection apparatus SP1 manufactured by KLA-Tencor and removing the peripheral area from the outer periphery of the wafer to 3 mm (edge cut) and evaluating the remaining area.

  Next, DIW was supplied to the wafer surface for each wafer to form liquid films (water films) having different thicknesses on the wafer surface. More specifically, DIW was discharged and supplied onto the rotating wafer surface at 1.5 [L / min] for 6 seconds, and the wafer was rotated for 3 seconds after stopping the discharge. The wafer rotation speed after the ejection stop was made different for each wafer to make the DIW film thicknesses different from each other. The film thickness of the liquid film was obtained from the wafer weight before and after the above processing. For example, the film thickness was 10 μm when the wafer rotation number after stopping the discharge was 500 rpm, and the film thickness was 50 μm at 150 rpm.

  After forming the liquid film in this manner, a nozzle that discharges a cooling gas of −190 ° C. at a flow rate of 90 [L / min] is scanned over the substrate surface for 20 seconds to freeze the liquid film, thereby freezing the film (solidified body). Is formed on the wafer surface. Immediately after this freezing treatment, while rotating the wafer at 2000 rpm, DIW at 80 ° C. was supplied as a rinse solution at 4.0 [L / min] for 2 seconds to thaw and remove the frozen membrane. Thereafter, the wafer is rinsed with room temperature DIW, and then the wafer is rotated at high speed to dry (spin dry) the wafer.

  Thus, the number of particles adhering to the surface of the wafer subjected to a series of cleaning processes is measured. Then, the removal rate is calculated by comparing the number of particles after freeze cleaning with the number of particles measured earlier (before the freeze cleaning process). A plot of the data thus obtained is the graph shown in FIG.

  As is apparent from the figure, the particle removal rate is improved with an increase in the film thickness of the liquid film, but when the predetermined film thickness is exceeded, the particle removal rate is decreased with an increase in the film thickness of the liquid film. That is, in order to obtain a good particle removal rate, it is desirable to control the liquid film so that the film thickness falls within a predetermined range. For example, when the characteristics shown in FIG. 1 are shown, the particle removal rate peaks at a film thickness of 40 μm, and the particle removal rate can be maintained at the same level as at the peak when the film thickness is within a range of 20%. Therefore, it can be seen that a high particle removal rate can be obtained by setting the liquid film thickness to a value of 20% before and after the peak film thickness value (32 μm to 48 μm in the case of FIG. 1).

  The reason why the particle removal rate is maximized within the predetermined range as described above needs to consider the following two aspects. First, the first point is the presence of stress due to the difference in lattice constant. That is, the lattice constant of silicon is 5.43 [angstrom], whereas the solidified body of DIW, that is, the lattice constant of ice is 4.5 to 4.8 [angstrom]. When a frozen film is formed by solidifying, a stress acts on the frozen film (solidified body) formed on the surface of the silicon wafer. The particles existing on the wafer surface due to the formation of the frozen film are in close contact with the solidified body (ice) constituting the frozen film, and deformation of the solidified body due to stress is one of the driving forces for particle removal. Therefore, as the thickness of the frozen film, that is, the thickness of the liquid film increases, the stress increases, which contributes to the improvement of the particle removal rate.

  The second point to be considered is the relationship between the liquid film temperature and the particle removal rate. Although the conventional freeze-cleaning technique freezes the liquid film, the temperature of the liquid film after freezing has not been considered much. However, according to the experiments of the present inventors using a liquid film by DIW, as shown in FIG. 2, not only the liquid film is frozen, but the particle removal rate decreases as the arrival temperature of the liquid film after freezing decreases. It became clear that the increase. Here, the temperature of the liquid film before freezing and the temperature of the solidified body formed by freezing the liquid film are collectively referred to as “liquid film temperature”.

  FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between the temperature of the liquid film and the particle removal efficiency in the so-called freeze cleaning technique, and is specifically obtained by the following experiment. In this experiment, a Si wafer (wafer diameter: 300 mm) in a bare state (state in which no pattern is formed) is selected as a representative example of the substrate. In addition, evaluation is performed for the case where the substrate surface is contaminated with Si scrap (particle size: 0.08 μm or more) as particles.

  First, the wafer is forcibly contaminated using a single wafer processing apparatus (Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd., spin processor SS-3000). Specifically, while the wafer is rotated, a dispersion liquid in which particles (Si scraps) are dispersed is supplied to the wafer from a nozzle disposed opposite to the wafer. Here, the liquid amount of the dispersion, the wafer rotation speed, and the processing time are appropriately adjusted so that the number of particles adhering to the wafer surface is about 10,000. Thereafter, the number (initial value) of particles adhering to the wafer surface is measured. The number of particles is measured by using the wafer inspection apparatus SP1 manufactured by KLA-Tencor and removing the peripheral area from the outer periphery of the wafer to 3 mm (edge cut) and evaluating the remaining area.

  Next, the following cleaning process is performed on each wafer. First, DIW whose temperature has been adjusted to 0.5 ° C. is discharged onto a wafer rotating at 150 rpm for 6 seconds to cool the wafer. Thereafter, the discharge of DIW is stopped and the rotation speed is maintained for 2 seconds, and excess DIW is shaken to form a liquid film. After forming the liquid film, the wafer rotation speed is reduced to 50 rpm, and while maintaining the rotation speed, nitrogen gas having a temperature of −190 ° C. is discharged to the wafer surface at a flow rate of 90 [L / min] by the scan nozzle. The nozzle scan is performed by reciprocating the center of the wafer and the edge of the wafer in 20 seconds. Black squares in FIG. 2 correspond to the number of scans, and the results of up to five scans in the order of one scan and two scans from the left in FIG. 2 are displayed. Thus, the temperature after freezing of the liquid film is changed by changing the number of scans.

  After the above cooling is completed, the rotation speed of the wafer is set to 2000 rpm, DIW whose temperature is adjusted to 80 ° C. is discharged at a flow rate of 4.0 [L / min] for 2 seconds, the rotation speed of the wafer is set to 500 rpm, A normal temperature DIW is supplied as a rinsing liquid at a flow rate of 1.5 [L / min] for 30 seconds to rinse the wafer. Thereafter, the wafer is rotated at a high speed and spin-dried.

  Thus, the number of particles adhering to the surface of the wafer subjected to a series of cleaning processes is measured. Then, the removal rate is calculated by comparing the number of particles after freeze cleaning with the number of particles measured earlier (before the freeze cleaning process). A plot of the data thus obtained is the graph shown in FIG.

  As is clear from the figure, not only the liquid film is simply frozen, but the particle removal rate increases as the temperature reached by the liquid film after freezing decreases. Therefore, when the liquid film is frozen by supplying a cooling gas to the liquid film for a certain period of time, the liquid film temperature decreases and the particle removal rate increases as the film thickness decreases. Therefore, the temperature of the liquid film is hardly lowered and the particle removal rate is also lowered.

  As described above, the particle removal rate is affected by the stress amount and the liquid film temperature caused by the lattice constant difference, and it is considered that these influence each other and the particle removal rate is maximized within a predetermined range.

  Therefore, in view of the above knowledge, in the following embodiments, the film thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface of the substrate is measured, and each part of the apparatus is controlled according to the film thickness of the liquid film to achieve the above object. . Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 3 is a view showing a first embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view showing a supply mode of nitrogen gas and DIW in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. Further, FIG. 5 is a view showing an operation mode of the arm in the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. This apparatus is a single-wafer type substrate processing apparatus capable of executing a substrate cleaning process for removing contaminants such as particles adhering to the surface Wf of a substrate W such as a semiconductor wafer. More specifically, with respect to the substrate surface Wf on which the fine pattern is formed, a liquid film is formed on the surface Wf and frozen, and by removing the frozen film, particles and the like are removed from the substrate surface together with the frozen film. It is a substrate processing apparatus which performs the freeze cleaning process. Since there are many known documents regarding the freeze cleaning technique including the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, detailed description thereof is omitted in this specification.

  This substrate processing apparatus has a processing chamber 1, and a spin chuck 2 for rotating the substrate W in a state where the surface Wf of the substrate W is held in a substantially horizontal position inside the processing chamber 1. Have. As shown in FIG. 4, a disc-shaped spin base 23 is fixed to the upper end portion of the central shaft 21 of the spin chuck 2 by fastening parts such as screws. The central shaft 21 is connected to a rotation shaft of a chuck rotation mechanism 22 including a motor. When the chuck rotation mechanism 22 is driven in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 4 that controls the entire apparatus, the spin base 23 fixed to the central shaft 21 rotates about the rotation center AO.

  In addition, a plurality of chuck pins 24 for holding the peripheral portion of the substrate W are provided in the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the spin base 23. Three or more chuck pins 24 may be provided to securely hold the circular substrate W, and are arranged at equiangular intervals along the peripheral edge of the spin base 23. Each of the chuck pins 24 includes a substrate support portion that supports the peripheral portion of the substrate W from below, and a substrate holding portion that holds the substrate W by pressing the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate W supported by the substrate support portion. ing. Each chuck pin 24 is configured to be switchable between a pressing state in which the substrate holding portion presses the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate W and a released state in which the substrate holding portion is separated from the outer peripheral end surface of the substrate W.

  Then, when the substrate W is delivered to the spin base 23, each chuck pin 24 is in a released state, and when performing a cleaning process on the substrate W, each chuck pin 24 is in a pressed state. When each chuck pin 24 is in a pressed state, each chuck pin 24 grips the peripheral edge of the substrate W, and the substrate W is held in a substantially horizontal posture at a predetermined interval from the spin base 23. As a result, the substrate W is held with the front surface Wf facing upward and the back surface Wb facing downward.

  A blocking member 9 is arranged above the spin chuck 2 configured as described above. The blocking member 9 is formed in a disk shape having an opening at the center. Further, the lower surface of the blocking member 9 is a substrate facing surface that faces the surface Wf of the substrate W substantially in parallel, and is formed to have a size equal to or larger than the diameter of the substrate W. The blocking member 9 is attached to the lower end portion of the support shaft 91 substantially horizontally. The support shaft 91 is rotatably held around a vertical axis passing through the center of the substrate W by an arm 92 extending in the horizontal direction. The arm 92 is connected to a blocking member rotation / lifting mechanism 93.

  The blocking member rotating / elevating mechanism 93 rotates the support shaft 91 around the vertical axis passing through the center of the substrate W in response to an operation command from the control unit 4. Further, the control unit 4 controls the operation of the blocking member rotation / lifting mechanism 93 so that the blocking member has the same rotational direction as the substrate W and substantially the same rotational speed according to the rotation of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 2. 9 is rotated. Further, the blocking member rotating / lifting mechanism 93 moves the blocking member 9 close to the spin base 23 or conversely, in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 4. Specifically, the control unit 4 controls the operation of the blocking member rotation / lifting mechanism 93 so that the blocking member 9 is separated above the spin chuck 2 when the substrate W is loaded into and unloaded from the substrate processing apparatus. While the substrate W is raised to the position (position shown in FIG. 3), the blocking member 9 is opposed to the surface Wf of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 2 when the substrate W is subjected to predetermined processing. Lower to position.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the support shaft 91 of the blocking member 9 is hollow, and a gas supply pipe 95 that opens on the lower surface (substrate facing surface) of the blocking member 9 is inserted through the support shaft 91. The gas supply pipe 95 is connected to the dry gas supply unit 61. The dry gas supply unit 61 supplies nitrogen gas supplied from a nitrogen gas supply source (not shown) to the substrate W, and includes a mass flow controller (MFC) 611 and an opening / closing valve 612. The mass flow controller 611 can adjust the flow rate of nitrogen gas with high accuracy in accordance with the flow rate command from the control unit 4. Further, the open / close valve 612 is opened / closed according to an open / close command from the control unit 4 to switch supply / stop of nitrogen gas whose flow rate is adjusted by the mass flow controller 611. For this reason, the control unit 4 controls the dry gas supply unit 61 so that the nitrogen gas whose flow rate has been adjusted is suitable as a dry gas for drying the substrate W between the blocking member 9 and the surface Wf of the substrate W. The gas is supplied from the gas supply pipe 95 toward the space formed therebetween. In this embodiment, nitrogen gas is supplied as the dry gas from the dry gas supply unit 61. However, air or other inert gas may be supplied.

  A liquid supply pipe 96 is inserted into the gas supply pipe 95. A lower end portion of the liquid supply pipe 96 is opened at the lower surface of the blocking member 9, and a liquid discharge nozzle 97 is provided at the tip thereof. On the other hand, the other end of the liquid supply pipe 96 is connected to the DIW supply unit 62. The DIW supply unit 62 supplies normal temperature DIW supplied from a DIW supply source (not shown) to the substrate W as a rinsing liquid, and supplies high temperature DIW heated to about 80 ° C. to the substrate W for thawing removal processing. It is configured as follows. Here, two piping paths are provided for the DIW supply source. A flow rate adjusting valve 621 and an opening / closing valve 622 are inserted in a piping path for rinsing processing, which is one of them. The flow rate adjusting valve 621 can adjust the flow rate of the room temperature DIW with high accuracy in accordance with a flow rate command from the control unit 4. Further, the open / close valve 622 is opened / closed according to an open / close command from the control unit 4 to switch supply / stop of the room temperature DIW whose flow rate is adjusted by the flow rate adjustment valve 621.

  Further, a flow rate adjusting valve 623, a heater 624, and an opening / closing valve 625 are inserted in the other defrosting / removal processing piping path. The flow rate adjustment valve 623 adjusts the flow rate of the room temperature DIW with high accuracy in accordance with the flow rate command from the control unit 4 and sends it to the heater 624. Then, the heater 624 heats the fed normal temperature DIW to about 80 ° C., and sends the heated DIW (hereinafter referred to as “high temperature DIW”) through the opening / closing valve 625. The open / close valve 625 opens and closes in response to an open / close command from the control unit 4 to switch supply / stop of the high temperature DIW. Thus, the normal temperature DIW and the high temperature DIW sent from the DIW supply unit 62 are discharged from the liquid discharge nozzle 97 toward the surface Wf of the substrate W at an appropriate timing.

  The central axis 21 of the spin chuck 2 is hollow with a cylindrical cavity, and a cylindrical liquid supply tube 25 for supplying a rinsing liquid to the back surface Wb of the substrate W is provided inside the central axis 21. Is inserted. The liquid supply tube 25 extends to a position close to the back surface Wb, which is the lower surface side of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 2, and is a liquid that discharges a rinsing liquid toward the center of the lower surface of the substrate W at the tip thereof. A discharge nozzle 27 is provided. The liquid supply pipe 25 is connected to the above-described DIW supply unit 62 and supplies DIW as a rinsing liquid toward the back surface Wb of the substrate W.

  Further, a gap between the inner wall surface of the central shaft 21 and the outer wall surface of the liquid supply pipe 25 is a gas supply passage 29 having a ring-shaped cross section. The gas supply path 29 is connected to a dry gas supply unit 61, and nitrogen gas is formed in a space formed between the spin base 23 and the back surface Wb of the substrate W via the gas supply path 29 from the dry gas supply unit 61. Is supplied.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the spin guard 2 rotates so that the splash guard 51 surrounds the periphery of the substrate W held in a horizontal posture on the spin chuck 2. It is provided so as to be movable up and down with respect to the shaft. The splash guard 51 has a substantially rotationally symmetric shape with respect to the rotation axis. Then, the splash guard 51 is lifted and lowered stepwise by driving the guard lifting mechanism 52, so that the liquid film forming DIW scattered from the rotating substrate W, the rinsing liquid, and the process supplied to the substrate W for other purposes are used. The liquid or the like can be separated and discharged from the processing chamber 1 to a drainage processing unit (not shown).

  In addition, a plurality of exhaust ports 11 are provided on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 1, and the internal space of the processing chamber 1 is connected to the exhaust unit 63 via the exhaust ports 11. The exhaust unit 63 has an exhaust damper and an exhaust pump, and the exhaust amount by the exhaust unit 63 can be adjusted according to the degree of opening and closing of the exhaust damper. Therefore, the control unit 4 can control the temperature and humidity in the internal space by adjusting the exhaust amount from the processing chamber 1 by giving a command related to the opening / closing amount of the exhaust damper to the exhaust unit 63.

  In this substrate processing apparatus, the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 is provided so as to be able to discharge the cooling gas for freezing the liquid film toward the surface Wf of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 2. That is, the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 is connected to a cooling gas supply unit 64 configured as follows. The cooling gas supply unit 64 has a heat exchanger 641 as shown in FIG. The container 642 of the heat exchanger 641 has a tank shape that stores liquid nitrogen therein, and is formed of a material that can withstand the liquid nitrogen temperature, such as glass, quartz, or HDPE (High Density Polyethylene). ing. In addition, you may employ | adopt the double structure which covers the container 642 with a heat insulation container. In this case, in order to suppress heat transfer between the atmosphere outside the processing chamber and the container 642, the external container is made of a highly heat-insulating material such as foamable resin or PVC (polyvinyl chloride). It is preferable to form by.

  The container 642 is provided with a liquid nitrogen inlet 643 for taking in liquid nitrogen. The liquid nitrogen introduction port 643 is connected to a liquid nitrogen supply source (not shown) via an opening / closing valve 644. When the opening / closing valve 644 is opened in response to an opening command from the control unit 4, the liquid nitrogen supply source 643 is sent from the liquid nitrogen supply source. Liquid nitrogen to be introduced is introduced into the container 642. Further, a liquid level sensor (not shown) is provided in the container 642, and the detection result by the liquid level sensor is input to the control unit 4, and the opening / closing of the opening / closing valve 644 is controlled by feedback control by the control unit 4. Thus, the liquid level of liquid nitrogen in the container 642 can be controlled with high accuracy. In the first embodiment, feedback control is performed so that the liquid nitrogen level is constant.

  In addition, a coil-shaped heat exchange pipe 645 formed of a metal pipe such as stainless steel or copper is provided as a gas delivery path inside the container 642. The heat exchange pipe 645 is immersed in liquid nitrogen stored in a container 642, and one end of the heat exchange pipe 645 is connected to a nitrogen gas supply source (not shown) via a mass flow controller (MFC) 646. Is supplied with nitrogen gas. As a result, the nitrogen gas is cooled by liquid nitrogen to a temperature lower than the freezing point of DIW in the heat exchanger 641 and is sent as a cooling gas from the other end of the heat exchange pipe 645 to the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 via the opening / closing valve 647. Is done.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 from which the cooling gas is sent out is attached to the distal end portion of the first arm 71 that extends horizontally. The rear end portion of the first arm 71 is rotatably supported around the rotation center axis J1 by a rotation shaft 72 that hangs down from the ceiling portion of the processing chamber 1. The first arm lifting / lowering mechanism 73 is connected to the rotating shaft 72, and the rotating shaft 72 is rotationally driven around the rotation center axis J1 in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 4, and is also vertically moved. As a result, the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 attached to the tip of the first arm 71 moves above the substrate surface Wf as follows.

  In the present embodiment, similarly to the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7, the cold water discharge nozzle 8 is configured to be movable above the substrate surface Wf. The cold water discharge nozzle 8 is a liquid that forms a liquid film toward the surface Wf of the substrate W held by the spin chuck 2 (corresponding to the “coagulation target liquid” of the present invention) that is lower than room temperature, for example, 0 to 2 DIW cooled to about 0.degree. C., preferably about 0.5.degree. C. is supplied. In other words, the cold water discharge nozzle 8 is connected to the cold water supply unit 65, and the cold water supply unit 65 cools the DIW at room temperature to about 0.5 ° C. and then sends it to the cold water discharge nozzle 8. The cold water supply unit 65 includes a flow rate adjustment valve 651, a cooler 652, and an opening / closing valve 653, as shown in FIG. The flow rate adjusting valve 651 adjusts the flow rate of the room temperature DIW with high accuracy in accordance with a flow rate command from the control unit 4 and sends it to the cooler 652. The cooler 652 cools the fed room temperature DIW to about 0.5 ° C., and feeds the cold water (cooled DIW) through the opening / closing valve 653.

  Thus, the rear end portion of the second arm 81 extending horizontally is rotated by the rotation shaft 82 in order to rotate the nozzle 8 receiving cold water supply around the rotation center axis J2 and to move up and down in the vertical direction. It is rotatably supported around the axis J2. On the other hand, the cold water discharge nozzle 8 is attached to the tip of the second arm 81 with the discharge port (not shown) directed downward. Further, a second arm lifting / lowering mechanism 83 is connected to the rotating shaft 82, and the rotating shaft 82 is driven to rotate around the rotation center axis J2 in accordance with an operation command from the control unit 4, and is also moved in the vertical direction. As a result, the cold water discharge nozzle 8 attached to the tip of the second arm 81 moves above the substrate surface Wf as follows.

  The cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 and the cold water discharge nozzle 8 are independently moved relative to the substrate W. That is, when the first arm elevating / rotating mechanism 73 is driven based on the operation command from the control unit 4 and the first arm 71 swings around the rotation center axis J1, the cooling gas discharge nozzle attached to the first arm 71. 7 horizontally moves along a movement trajectory T1 between a rotation center position Pc corresponding to the rotation center of the spin base 23 and a standby position Ps1 retracted to the side from the facing position of the substrate W. That is, the first arm lifting / lowering mechanism 73 moves the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 relative to the substrate W along the surface Wf of the substrate W.

  Further, when the second arm raising / lowering / rotating mechanism 83 is driven based on the operation command from the control unit 4 and the second arm 81 swings around the rotation center axis J <b> 2, the cold water discharge nozzle 8 attached to the second arm 81. Moves horizontally along a movement track T2 between another standby position Ps2 different from the standby position Ps1 of the first arm 71 and the rotation center position Pc. That is, the second arm lifting / lowering / rotating mechanism 83 moves the cold water discharge nozzle 8 relative to the substrate W along the surface Wf of the substrate W.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the laser displacement meter 5 is attached to the second arm 81 to which the cold water discharge nozzle 8 is attached as described above. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the laser displacement meter 5 is fixed to the front end side surface of the second arm 81 on the standby position Ps2 side (right hand side in FIG. 5). Is moved and positioned along substantially the same locus as the movement locus T2. For example, as shown by the dotted line in the figure, when the second arm 81 is moved and positioned to the rotation center position Pc, the laser displacement meter 5 is also positioned substantially on the rotation center of the spin base 23, as will be described later. The liquid film of the liquid to be solidified (DIW in this embodiment) formed on the substrate surface Wf and the film thickness at the center of the surface of the solidified body can be measured in a non-contact manner. As the second arm 81 swings, the laser displacement meter 5 is separated from the central portion of the substrate surface Wf by a distance D, and is positioned above the separated portion to cause a liquid film of the liquid to be solidified (freezing the liquid film). The film thickness of the part located on the separation portion can be measured in a non-contact manner. In this specification, in order to specify the measurement position by the laser displacement meter 5, the position corresponding to the central portion of the substrate surface Wf is referred to as “P (0)”, and the distance D from the central portion of the substrate surface Wf. The position separated by a distance is referred to as “P (D)”. For example, in an apparatus for processing a substrate W having a diameter of 300 mm, the maximum value of the distance D is 150 mm, and the film thickness of the liquid film at the position P (150) can be measured.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. In this apparatus, when an unprocessed substrate W is carried into the apparatus, the control unit 4 reads and sets a recipe selected by the user or operator from a memory (not shown) (step S1), and is defined by the recipe. A series of cleaning processes are performed on the substrate W by controlling each part of the apparatus based on the various control data (rotation parameters of the substrate, rotation parameters of the rotation time, cooled DIW flow rate, cooling gas flow rate, etc.) To do. Here, the substrate W is loaded into the processing chamber 1 in advance with the surface Wf facing upward, and is held by the spin chuck 2, while the blocking member 9 faces the lower surface as shown in FIG. The retracted position is set up to an upper position where it does not interfere with the arms 71 and 81.

  After loading the substrate W, the control unit 4 drives the chuck rotating mechanism 22 to rotate the spin chuck 2 and drives the second arm lifting / lowering mechanism 83 to move the second arm 81 to the rotation center position Pc. Position. As a result, the cold water discharge nozzle 8 is positioned above the central portion of the substrate surface Wf as shown in FIG. 6A, and the measurement position of the laser displacement meter 5 is a position P (0). Then, the control unit 4 opens the open / close valve 653 of the cold water supply unit 65, discharges low-temperature DIW, that is, cold water from the cold water discharge nozzle 8, and supplies it to the substrate surface Wf (step S2). A centrifugal force accompanying the rotation of the substrate W acts on the DIW supplied to the substrate surface Wf, and the DIW is uniformly spread outward in the radial direction of the substrate W, and a part thereof is shaken off the substrate. Thereby, the thickness of the liquid film is uniformly controlled over the entire surface of the substrate surface Wf, and a liquid film (water film) having a uniform thickness is formed on the entire surface of the substrate Wf (step S3).

  When the liquid film formation is thus completed, the control unit 4 drives the second arm raising / lowering / rotating mechanism 83 to move the second arm 81 to the standby position Ps2 side, thereby moving the laser displacement meter 5 from the center of the substrate by a distance of 120 mm. Position to a distant position P (120). Thus, the film thickness of the liquid film at the position P (120) is measured in a non-contact manner by the laser displacement meter 5, and information related to the film thickness is output to the control unit 4. Then, the control unit 4 that has received the film thickness information determines whether or not the film thickness measured by the laser displacement meter 5 is within an allowable range (step S4). The “allowable range” means a range in which the particle removal rate is maximized as described above, for example, the range R shown in FIG.

  When it is confirmed in step S4 that the film thickness of the liquid film is within the allowable range, the freezing process (step S5), the thawing removal of the frozen film (step S6), and the substrate drying (step S7) are performed as in the conventional technique. Is executed. That is, the control unit 4 drives the first arm lifting / rotating mechanism 73 to move and position the first arm 81 to the rotation center position Pc. Then, the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 is gradually moved toward the edge position of the substrate W while discharging the cooling gas from the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 toward the surface Wf of the rotating substrate W (step S5). . As a result, the entire liquid film formed on the substrate surface Wf is frozen to form a frozen film (solidified body). Subsequently, the blocking member 9 is disposed close to the substrate surface Wf, and high temperature DIW heated to about 80 ° C. is supplied from the nozzle 97 provided on the blocking member 9 toward the frozen liquid film on the substrate surface Wf. Then, the frozen film (coagulated body) is thawed and removed, and room temperature DIW is supplied to the substrate surface W as a rinsing liquid, and the substrate W is rinsed (step S6).

  When the thawing and removing process (rinsing process) is completed, the supply of DIW to the substrate W is stopped, and a spin drying process is performed to dry the substrate W by high-speed rotation (step S7). That is, the substrate W is rotated at a high speed while discharging the drying nitrogen gas supplied from the drying gas supply unit 61 from the nozzle 97 provided on the blocking member 9 and the lower surface nozzle 27 provided on the spin base 23. Thus, the DIW remaining on the substrate W is shaken off and the substrate W is dried. When the drying process is completed in this manner, the processed substrate W is carried out to complete the process for one substrate.

  On the other hand, in step S4, the control unit 4 determines that the film thickness of the liquid film exceeds the allowable range, that is, the film thickness is thicker than the upper limit value FTmax of the allowable range R or thinner than the lower limit value FTmin of the allowable range R. Upon confirmation, an alarm that the desired liquid film is not formed on the substrate surface Wf is notified by a display member (not shown) such as a liquid crystal display or a display member such as a display lamp (step S8), and the user or operator is notified. Inform. At the same time, the recipe is forcibly terminated (step S9). As a result, the execution of the freezing process (step S5), the thawing and removal of the frozen film (step S6), and the substrate drying (step S7) on the substrate W is restricted.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, only when the film thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface Wf of the substrate W is within the predetermined range R, the freezing process is performed on the substrate W (step S5). The frozen film is thawed and removed (step S6) and the substrate is dried (step S7). Therefore, when the film thickness of the liquid film exceeds the predetermined range R and a sufficient particle removal rate cannot be expected, the process of freezing the substrate W (Step S5) and thawing and removing the frozen film (Step S5) are in progress. The substrate processing is terminated without performing S6) and substrate drying (step S7). Therefore, it is possible to prevent a processing failure from occurring. In addition, it is possible to suppress the formation and thawing removal of useless frozen membranes (coagulated bodies), and to improve the operation efficiency.

  Thus, in the first embodiment, the frozen film corresponds to the “solidified body” of the present invention, the spin chuck 2 corresponds to the “substrate holding means” of the present invention, and the laser displacement meter 5 corresponds to the “film” of the present invention. The control unit 4 corresponds to the “control means” of the present invention. Further, the cooling gas discharge nozzle 7 and the cooling gas supply unit 64 function as the “solidifying means” of the present invention. Further, the nozzle 97 and the DIW supply unit 62 function as the “thawing and removing means” of the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the thickness of the liquid film is measured by positioning the laser displacement meter 5 at a position P (120) that is 120 mm away from the center of the substrate. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not the film thickness of the liquid film is within the predetermined range R. The reason will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the change in the film thickness of the liquid film during the formation of the liquid film and the freezing process, and shows the results of measurement with the laser displacement meter 5 positioned at positions P (120) and P (140), respectively. .
In this embodiment, DIW is shaken off from the substrate surface for forming a liquid film, and the rotation speed of the substrate W is changed from 150 rpm to 50 rpm when the freezing process is completed after the shake-off process (formation of the liquid film) is completed. Has slowed down. By switching the rotational speed, the DIW that has been driven to the edge of the substrate W returns to the inside due to the deceleration. As a result, for example, as shown in the experimental result at position P (140) in FIG. 7, the film thickness increases abruptly at a position 140 mm away from the center of the substrate, that is, near the edge of the substrate W. The influence of this DIW return is further away from the vicinity of the edge, that is, it becomes weaker as it approaches the center of the substrate. As shown in the experimental result of the position P (120) in FIG. It is possible to stably measure the film thickness of the liquid film without being affected. Therefore, in the above embodiment, the laser displacement meter 5 is positioned at the position P (120) to improve the accuracy of film thickness measurement. Of course, the position of the laser displacement meter 5 is not limited to this, and the laser displacement meter 5 is positioned in a range from the center of the substrate to a distance of 120 mm, that is, any one of the positions P (0) to P (120). The film thickness of the liquid film may be measured.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment of the substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention. The point in which this 2nd Embodiment differs greatly from 1st Embodiment is a process when the film thickness of a liquid film exceeds the tolerance | permissible_range R, operation | movement (step S1-S3) and liquid until it forms a liquid film The operations after the formation of the liquid film (steps S5 to S7) when the film thickness is within the allowable range R are all the same as in the first embodiment. Therefore, description on the same operation is omitted, and processing (steps S10 to S12) when the film thickness of the liquid film exceeds the allowable range R will be described.

  If the control unit 4 determines that the liquid film thickness FT exceeds the allowable range in step S4 (FTmin> FT or FT> FTmax), is the measured film thickness FT thicker than the upper limit value FTmax of the allowable range R? It is determined whether or not (step S10). When the film thickness FT is thicker than the upper limit value FTmax of the allowable range R, the number of rotations of the substrate W at the time of the previous liquid film formation is increased by 50 rpm, and this is the number of rotations of the substrate W at the time of new liquid film formation. (Step S11). On the other hand, if “NO” in step S9, that is, if the film thickness FT is smaller than the lower limit value FTmin of the allowable range R, the number of rotations of the substrate W at the previous liquid film formation is decreased by 50 rpm, The number of rotations of the substrate W at the time of film formation is set (step S12).

  After resetting the number of rotations of the substrate W at the time of forming the liquid film in this manner, the process returns to step S2 to form the liquid film again (steps S2 to S4). Each time a liquid film is formed, it is determined whether or not the film thickness FT of the liquid film is within an allowable range (step S4), and the above process is repeated until it is determined "YES" in step S4.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, until the film thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface Wf of the substrate W falls within a predetermined range, the freezing process on the substrate W (step S5) and the thawing and removal of the frozen film (steps). S6) While restricting the execution of substrate drying (step S7), the number of rotations of the substrate W during the formation of the liquid film is increased or decreased, and when the film thickness of the liquid film finally falls within the predetermined range R, the above restriction is performed. The freezing process (step S5), the thawing removal (step S6), and the substrate drying (step S7) are executed after the release. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the transition to the freezing process (step S5) is prevented at a stage where a sufficient particle removal rate cannot be expected, and a processing failure occurs as in the first embodiment. Can be prevented, and the formation and thawing / removal of useless frozen membranes (coagulated bodies) can be suppressed to increase operating efficiency.

  In the first embodiment, after the alarm is notified and the recipe is forcibly terminated, it is necessary for the user or operator to select and set another recipe, or to rewrite the contents of the recipe. End up. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the rotational speed is automatically updated until the film thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface Wf of the substrate W falls within the predetermined range R, so that the user or operator is restrained. Therefore, processing failure can be prevented.

  In the second embodiment, the rotation speed of the substrate W is changed as a rotation parameter for changing the film thickness of the liquid film. However, for example, the rotation time of the substrate W may be used as the rotation parameter. This is because even if the number of rotations of the substrate is kept constant, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the elapsed time from the start of the liquid film formation (swing-off process) (hereinafter referred to as “substrate rotation”). The thickness of the liquid film decreases with time). Therefore, the rotation time of the substrate may be used as the rotation parameter instead of the rotation speed of the substrate W at the time of forming the liquid film or together with the rotation speed.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, since the film thickness of the liquid film continuously decreases according to the rotation time of the substrate, the film thickness is measured continuously or intermittently by the laser displacement meter 5 during the liquid film formation. When the measurement result enters the permissible range R, the rotation speed of the substrate W is decreased, the DIW (solidification target liquid) from the substrate surface Wf is stopped, and the process proceeds to the freezing process (step S5). May be. According to the third embodiment, although the start of the freezing process (step S5) is restricted until the film thickness of the liquid film is within the predetermined range R, the film thickness is within the predetermined range R by one liquid film formation. Therefore, the processing time can be shortened as compared with the case where the discharge of the cold water (step S2) and the formation of the liquid film (step S3) are repeated while changing the rotation parameter until the film thickness is within the predetermined range R.

<Others>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the blocking member 9 disposed close to the upper side of the substrate W is provided. In this apparatus, the laser displacement meter 5 can be fixedly disposed above the substrate W.

  Further, the laser displacement meter 5 may be fixedly arranged around the side of the substrate W, and a folding mirror may be attached to the tip of the first arm 71 or the second arm 81. The film thickness of the liquid film is as follows. May be measured. That is, the tip of the arm to which the folding mirror is attached is positioned above the measurement position, and in this state, the laser optical path of the laser displacement meter 5 is folded back to the substrate surface W side by the folding mirror attached to the tip of the arm. You may comprise as follows. As a result, the film thickness of the liquid film can be measured while fixing the laser displacement meter 5 in an apparatus having the blocking member 9 as shown in FIG.

  In the above embodiment, the laser displacement meter 5 is arranged at the tip of the second arm 81. However, the arrangement position of the laser displacement meter 5 is not limited to this, for example, the standby of the second arm 81. You may fix to the rear end side surface of the position Ps2 side (right hand side of FIG. 4). Further, in the substrate processing apparatus in which the nozzles 7 and 8 are arranged in parallel on the first arm 71, a nozzle that discharges room temperature DIW (or high temperature DIW) is attached to the second arm instead of the nozzle provided on the blocking member 9. However, in such an apparatus, the laser displacement meter 5 may be attached to the front end side surface of the first arm on the standby position Ps1 side (left hand side in FIG. 4), or the second arm on the standby position Ps2 side (see FIG. 4 (right hand side) may be attached to the side surface. In the above embodiment, a nozzle that discharges room temperature DIW or high temperature DIW may be attached to the second arm 81, and in this case, it is attached to the side surface of the second arm on the standby position Ps2 side (right hand side in FIG. 4). May be.

  Further, although the “liquid film” of the present invention is formed by DIW, the liquid constituting the liquid film is not limited to this. For example, carbonated water, hydrogen water, dilute ammonia water (for example, about 1 ppm), dilute hydrochloric acid or the like, or DIW added with a small amount of surfactant may be used.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although dry gas (nitrogen gas) is supplied to the dry gas supply unit 61 and the cooling gas supply unit 64 from the same nitrogen gas supply source, these are not limited to nitrogen gas. For example, the dry gas and the cooling gas may be different gas types.

  In addition, the substrate processing apparatus of the above embodiment incorporates a nitrogen gas supply source, a DIW supply source, and a liquid nitrogen supply source inside the apparatus, but these supply sources may be provided outside the apparatus. For example, an existing supply source in the factory may be used. Further, when there are existing facilities for cooling them, liquid or gas cooled by the facilities may be used.

  Moreover, although the substrate processing apparatus of the said embodiment hold | maintains the board | substrate W with the chuck pin 24 contact | abutted to the peripheral part, the holding | maintenance method of a board | substrate is not limited to this, A board | substrate is carried out by another method The present invention can also be applied to an apparatus that holds the lens.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the film thickness of a liquid film is measured with the laser displacement meter 5, you may measure the film thickness of a liquid film non-contactingly with another film thickness measuring apparatus.

  The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for photomask, a glass substrate for liquid crystal display, a glass substrate for plasma display, a substrate for FED (Field Emission Display), a substrate for optical disk, a substrate for magnetic disk, a substrate for magneto-optical disk, etc. The present invention can be applied to a substrate processing apparatus and a substrate processing method for freezing a liquid film formed on the entire surface of a substrate including the substrate.

2 ... Spin chuck (substrate holding means)
4. Control unit (control means)
5 ... Laser displacement meter (film thickness measuring means)
7 ... Cooling gas discharge nozzle (solidification means)
62 ... DIW supply unit (thawing and removing means)
64 ... Cooling gas supply unit (solidification means)
97 ... Nozzle (defrosting and removing means)
W ... Substrate Wf ... Substrate surface

Claims (6)

Substrate holding means for holding a substrate on which a liquid film of water is formed;
A film thickness measuring means for measuring a film thickness of a liquid film formed on the surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding means;
And solidifying means for forming a solidified body of the water by cooling the liquid film of the water,
Thawing and removing means for thawing and removing the solidified body formed on the substrate surface;
When the film thickness of the liquid film measured by the film thickness measuring means is within a predetermined range, the solidified body is formed and the solidified body is thawed and removed. And a control means for regulating thaw removal of the solidified body. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
A substrate rotating means for rotating the substrate to form the liquid film;
The control means changes the rotation parameter of the substrate by the substrate rotation means based on the measurement result by the film thickness measurement means when the film thickness of the liquid film formed by the substrate rotation means is out of the predetermined range. A substrate processing apparatus for adjusting the film thickness of the liquid film within the predetermined range. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2,
A coagulation liquid supply means for supplying the water to the substrate surface;
The control means supplies the water to the substrate surface by the coagulating liquid supply means before or during rotation of the substrate with the changed rotation parameter, and forms a liquid film having a film thickness within the predetermined range. A substrate processing apparatus formed on a substrate surface. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,
The substrate processing apparatus, wherein the rotation parameter is at least one of a rotation speed and a rotation time of the substrate. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
Substrate rotating means for rotating the substrate to shake off the water from the substrate surface to form the liquid film,
The control means acquires a measurement result by the film thickness measurement means while shaking off the water from the substrate surface, and when the measurement result reaches the predetermined range, stops the water shaking and A substrate processing apparatus that starts cooling. In the substrate processing method of cooling the liquid film of water formed on the surface of the substrate to form the solidified body of water and then thawing and removing the solidified body formed on the surface of the substrate,
The film thickness of the liquid film formed on the surface of the substrate is measured, and when the measurement result is within a predetermined range, the formation of the solidified body and the thawing and removal of the solidified body are performed, while when the predetermined range is exceeded. A substrate processing method characterized by regulating formation of the solidified body and thawing and removal of the solidified body.

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