JP5936535B2 - Liquid processing apparatus and liquid processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid processing apparatus and a liquid processing method for supplying a processing liquid to a square substrate and performing liquid processing on the substrate.

  Conventionally, when liquid processing such as resist removal is performed on a rectangular substrate for manufacturing a photomask (hereinafter also simply referred to as a substrate), the substrate is held horizontally and the central axis of the substrate is a rotation axis. As a liquid processing apparatus, a substrate holding unit that rotates about a vertical axis and a nozzle that discharges a processing liquid onto the substrate are used.

  In such a liquid processing apparatus, the four corners of the square substrate are held on support pins whose lower diameters are enlarged. In addition, when placing the square substrate on the substrate holding part, the substrate is brought into contact with the back surface of the substrate and lowered after receiving the substrate with a plurality of lift pins configured to be movable up and down. (For example, patent document 1).

  Further, for example, with the recent miniaturization of exposure apparatuses such as EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet), the degree of demand for the cleanliness of the back surface of the mask has increased more than ever.

JP-A-10-57872

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the back surface of the substrate is held by the lift pins when the substrate is delivered, there is a possibility that foreign matters adhering to the lift pins may adhere to the back surface of the mask substrate. With the miniaturization of the mask substrate itself, there is an increased risk that the charges charged on the mask substrate are discharged during liquid processing and the mask pattern is destroyed.

  The present invention has been made under such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid treatment apparatus that can perform liquid treatment of a substrate and delivery of the substrate without contacting the back surface of the square substrate. It is to provide a processing device. Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid processing apparatus capable of quickly removing charges charged on a mask substrate during liquid processing.

The liquid processing apparatus of the present invention is a liquid processing apparatus that supplies a processing liquid to a square substrate and performs a predetermined liquid processing, and holds a lower corner near the corner of the substrate. A rotation driving mechanism that rotates the substrate held by the first substrate holding unit around a vertical axis, a processing liquid supply mechanism that supplies a processing liquid to the substrate, and a lower corner portion of a side portion of the substrate. A second substrate holding unit for holding; and an elevating mechanism for raising and lowering the second substrate holding unit. The first substrate holding unit includes a first substrate holding plate and the first substrate holding unit. A pair of substrate holding pins provided on the plate corresponding to the corner position of the substrate, wherein the second substrate holding portion is a second substrate holding plate and an outer peripheral portion of the second substrate holding plate A plurality of holding pieces provided on the first holding slope, the holding pieces increasing in the outer circumferential direction. When, a greater angle than the angle of the first inclined surface contiguous with said first inclined surface, characterized in that it comprises a second inclined surface having an angle corresponding to the angle of the lower end portion of the substrate (Claim 1).

Te present invention smell, the substrate holding pin, and the substrate-side end abutment cylindrical, and enlarged diameter inclined portion descending from the lower end portion of the substrate-side end abutment portion, preferably provided with (Claim 2 ).

In the present invention, the second substrate holding plate, preferably provided above the first substrate holding plate (claim 3).

In the present invention, the second when the substrate holding plate is lowered, the preferably the first substrate holding plate and the second substrate holding plate is engaged rotatably (claim 4 ).

In the liquid processing apparatus of the present invention, at least a surface of the substrate holding pin is formed of a conductive member, and a grounded conductive plate is provided on a lower surface of the first substrate holding plate. The substrate holding pins are electrically connected (Claim 5 ).

In the present invention, the conductive member is preferably electrically conductive resin (claim 6).

The Te present invention smell, the conductive plate is preferably what is formed of conductive resin (claim 7).

Furthermore, in the present invention, the processing liquid is a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide, an organic solvent, ozone water, an alkaline aqueous solution is preferably either pure water (claim 8).

A liquid processing method of the present invention is a liquid processing method for performing a predetermined liquid processing by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate using the liquid processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8 , A step of moving the holding transport mechanism to an upper position of the liquid processing apparatus; and the lifting mechanism lifts the second substrate holding portion and is provided from the transport mechanism to the holding piece of the second holding portion. The second inclined surface holds the lower corner portion of the side portion of the substrate and receives the substrate, and the lifting mechanism lowers the second substrate holding portion that holds the substrate, so that the first A step of delivering the substrate to the substrate holding unit; and a predetermined liquid process by supplying the processing liquid from the processing liquid supply mechanism to the substrate while rotating the first substrate holding unit holding the substrate by the rotation driving mechanism. And the rotation drive mechanism stops rotating, and the treatment liquid supply After configuration has stopped the processing liquid, the lifting mechanism by rises the second substrate holding portion, the second gradient from the first substrate holding portion provided on the holding piece of the second holding portion A surface holding the lower corner of the side of the substrate and receiving the substrate; and a step of raising and lowering the second substrate holding portion by the lifting mechanism to deliver the substrate to the transport mechanism. ( 9 ).

(1) According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the first substrate holding portion that holds the lower corner portion in the vicinity of the corner portion of the substrate, and the substrate held by the first substrate holding portion. A rotation drive mechanism for rotating the substrate around the vertical axis, a processing liquid supply mechanism for supplying a processing liquid to the substrate, a second substrate holding part for holding the lower corner of the side of the substrate, and a second substrate holding And a lowering / lowering mechanism for moving the substrate up and down, so that the lower corner end of the corner of the substrate is held by the first substrate holding unit during the liquid processing of the substrate, and the second substrate holding unit is used for transferring the substrate. Since the lower corner end of the side is held, it does not come into contact with the back surface of the square substrate during processing and when the substrate is delivered. The degree can be increased.

(2) According to the invention described in claims 5 to 7 , at least the surface of the substrate holding pin is formed of a conductive member. Can be removed.

(3) According to the invention described in claim 9 , since the liquid processing can be performed without contacting the back surface of the square substrate during the processing of the substrate and the delivery of the substrate, the back surface of the square substrate is contaminated. The cleanliness can be increased.

It is a vertical side view of the mask cleaning apparatus which comprises the liquid processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the said mask cleaning apparatus. It is a partial cross section side view which shows the attachment part of the board | substrate holding pin of the said mask cleaning apparatus. It is a perspective view of the lifter plate of the mask cleaning apparatus. It is a principal part enlarged side view of the holding piece of the said cleaning apparatus. It is a top view of the board | substrate conveyance mechanism of the said mask cleaning apparatus.

  A mask cleaning apparatus 1 which is an embodiment of a liquid processing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 1 and a plan view of FIG. This mask cleaning apparatus 1 is a SPM (Sulfuric acid Hydrogen Peroxide Mixture) (Sulfuric Acid Hydrogen Peroxide Mixture) as a cleaning liquid (processing liquid) from a nozzle 2 connected to a cleaning liquid supply mechanism (not shown) on a square substrate G having a resist film formed on its surface. (Hydrogen peroxide solution mixture) is supplied, and the resist film is peeled off to clean the substrate G. The substrate G manufactures a pattern mask used to transfer a circuit pattern to a resist formed on a semiconductor wafer. This is a mask substrate.

  The mask cleaning apparatus 1 includes a first substrate holding unit 30 that holds a lower corner near the corner of the substrate G, and a rotation that rotates the substrate G held by the first substrate holding unit 30 around a vertical axis. A driving mechanism 24; a nozzle 2 that is a processing liquid supply mechanism that supplies a cleaning liquid to the substrate G; a second substrate holding portion 40 that holds the lower corners of the sides of the substrate G; and a second substrate holding portion. And an elevating mechanism 47 for elevating 40.

  In this case, the mask cleaning apparatus 1 includes a chamber 11, in which a first rotating cylinder 21 that extends vertically downward from the inside of the chamber 11 to the outside and a first for supporting the substrate G are provided. A chuck base 31 as a substrate holding plate, a lifter plate 41 as a second substrate holding plate provided above the chuck base and moving up and down relatively with respect to the chuck base, and a support plate 31 are supported. And a composite cup body 51 surrounding the side periphery of the substrate G.

  A nozzle shaft 12 is provided in the first rotating cylinder 21. A back nozzle 3 having an N2 supply nozzle 3a and a back rinse nozzle 3b is formed at the tip of the nozzle shaft 12. The N2 supply nozzle 3a is connected to an N2 supply mechanism 14, and the back rinse nozzle 3b is DIW (Deionized Water). ) It is connected to the supply mechanism 15. The back surface nozzle 3 supplies N2 gas to the center of the back surface of the substrate G to prevent the SPM supplied to the front surface of the substrate G from flowing around the back surface of the substrate G, and supplies DIW to the back surface of the substrate G to supply the back surface of the substrate G. Wash.

  Next, the chuck base 31 as the first substrate holding plate will be described. The chuck base 31 is formed in a horizontal circular ring plate shape, and the lower surface of the chuck base 31 is connected to the upper end of the first rotary cylinder 21, and the first rotary cylinder is rotated by the rotation drive mechanism 24. 21 and the chuck base 31 rotate around the vertical axis. In this case, the rotation drive mechanism 24 is connected to the driven sprocket 25 attached to the lower end of the first rotating cylinder 21, the drive sprocket 27a attached to the drive shaft of the drive motor 27, the driven sprocket 25, and the drive sprocket 27a. It is composed of a timing belt 26 to be stretched. The chuck base 31 can be formed using a metal such as stainless steel or aluminum. However, in this embodiment, since SPM is used as the cleaning liquid, a material having high chemical resistance such as quartz or Teflon resin is used. It is preferable to use it.

  Eight substrate holding pins 16 are provided near the corners of the substrate G on the surface of the chuck base 31. One substrate holding pin is arranged for each adjacent side of the corner of the rectangular substrate. As shown in FIG. 3, the substrate holding pin 16 includes a small-diameter columnar substrate-side end abutting portion 16a, a diameter-inclined inclined portion 16b descending from the lower end portion of the substrate-side end abutting portion 16a, and a diameter-increasing inclination. And a lower cylindrical portion 16c descending from the lower end of the portion 16b, and the substrate side end abutting portion 16a of the substrate holding pin 16 prevents the substrate G from moving sideways. . Further, the substrate G is held by placing the lower corner of the substrate G on the enlarged diameter inclined portion 16b. With such a configuration, the substrate holding pins 16 can hold the substrate G without contacting the back surface of the substrate G. The substrate holding pin 16 can be made of a conductive material such as metal, but is formed of conductive Teflon in consideration of the case where SPM is used as a cleaning liquid, or a metal pin body covered with conductive Teflon. Can be used.

  A grounded earth plate (conductive plate) 18 made of a conductive material such as a conductive resin is provided below the chuck base 31. The ground plate 18 is connected to the substrate holding pins 16 via the chuck base 31 by metal bolts 19 from the back side of the substrate G. Since the substrate holding pin 16 is also formed of a conductive material, the substrate holding pin 16 and the bolt 19 are fixed so as to sandwich the chuck base 31, whereby the substrate holding pin 16 is electrically connected to the ground plate 18. Has been. Therefore, the charge charged on the substrate G can be removed from the substrate holding pin 16 via the bolt 19 and the earth plate 18. As the material of the ground plate 18, a conductive material such as a metal can be used. However, in this case as well, it is preferable to use conductive polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in consideration of corrosion due to the cleaning liquid. .

  Subsequently, the lifter plate 41 as the second substrate holding mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, and 5. 4 is a perspective view of the lifter plate 41, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the main part of the substrate holding piece of the lifter plate. The lifter plate 41 is formed in a circular ring shape using a fluorine-based resin such as polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE) having high chemical resistance, and is provided above the chuck base 31. The lifter plate 41 has a large diameter equivalent to the length of one side of the square substrate G, and does not interfere with the substrate holding pins 16.

  The lifter plate 41 is provided with four holding pieces 42 at 90 ° intervals for holding the substrate G on the outermost peripheral portion of the upper surface. As shown in FIG. 5, the holding piece 42 is formed continuously with the first inclined surface 42 a and the first inclined surface 42 a that become higher toward the outside of the lifter plate 41, and the first inclined surface 42 a The second inclined surface 42b having an angle θ2 that is larger than the angle θ1 is provided. Since the end portion of the mask substrate is generally chamfered at an angle of 45 degrees, the second inclined surface θ2 is set to 45 degrees in accordance with the end portion angle of the square substrate G so that the substrate G is on the inclined surface. The first inclined surface θ1 is smaller than the angle of the second inclined surface θ2, and the lower end portion of the substrate G slides from the second inclined surface 42b to the first inclined surface 42a. It is difficult to drop (see dotted line in FIG. 5). In the present embodiment, the holding piece 42 has two inclined surfaces. However, the number of the inclined surfaces is not limited to two, and may be one or three or more.

  The lifter plate 41 is connected to the second rotary cylinder 43 at the lower end of the lifter plate 41 as shown in FIG. The second rotary cylinder 43 is concentrically formed between the first rotary cylinder 21 and the nozzle shaft 12 between the first rotary cylinder 21 and the nozzle shaft 12. The first rotating cylinder 21 and the second rotating cylinder 43 are connected via a rotary sliding mechanism 44, and transmit the rotating force of the first rotating cylinder 21 to the second rotating cylinder 43. The first rotary cylinder 21 and the second rotary cylinder 43 are relatively moved in the axial direction. In this case, the rotary sliding mechanism 44 includes a rotating cylinder 44 a that rotates together with the second rotating cylinder 43, an axial groove provided on the outer periphery of the rotating cylinder 44 a, and the inner periphery of the first rotating cylinder 21. And a key 44c that is slidably interposed therebetween. With such a configuration, when the lifter plate 41 is in the lowered position, the chuck base 31 and the lifter plate 41 are engaged with each other in the rotation direction around the vertical axis, and the chuck base 31 rotates around the vertical axis. Is rotated in conjunction with the lifter plate 41.

  Further, the second rotating cylinder 43 is connected to a shaft case 45, and the shaft case 45 is connected to an elevating mechanism 47 such as a cylinder. Therefore, the lifter plate 41 can be lifted and lowered with respect to the chuck base 31 by driving the lifting mechanism 47. Since the second rotating cylinder 43 and the shaft case 45 are connected via a bearing 46, the second rotating cylinder 43 and the shaft case 45 do not rotate even when the chuck base 31 and the lifter plate 41 are rotating.

  Next, a transport mechanism 61 that transports the substrate G into the liquid processing apparatus 1 and delivers the substrate G to and from the lifter plate 41 will be described with reference to FIG. The transport mechanism 61 has a leading end cut into a substantially circular shape with a diameter slightly longer than the diagonal length of the square substrate G, and has four holding claws 62 at positions corresponding to the corners of the substrate G. The substrate G is held by placing the corners of the substrate G on the substrate. Since the lifter plate 41 has a diameter substantially the same as the length of one side of the substrate G, even if the lifter plate 41 moves up and down from the lower side, it does not interfere with the transport mechanism 61. In the present embodiment, the tip of the transport mechanism 61 is hollowed out in a substantially circular shape, but the shape is not limited to such a shape, and any shape that does not interfere with the lifter plate 41 and the second rotating cylinder 43 may be used. .

  Next, the composite cup body 51 will be described. The composite cup body 51 includes a rotating cup 57 and an outer cup 58. As shown in FIG. 1, the rotating cup 57 includes a lower cup body 57a extending downwardly from above the periphery of the substrate G, and a lower cup body 57a from above an intermediate portion of the lower cup body 57a. The upper cup body 57b extends outward and the tip of the upper cup body 57b hangs down. The lower cup body 57a and the upper cup body 57b are fixed by a fixing member 57c protruding from the chuck base 31. The rotary cup 57 fixed to the chuck base 31 in this way rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the chuck base 31. With such a configuration, the cleaning liquid and the exhaust gas supplied onto the substrate G are collected by the rotating cup 57 and the outer cup 58 and discharged from the exhaust port 55. The rotating cup 57 and the outer cup are made of a highly hydrophobic material such as PCTFE in order to efficiently remove the misted processing liquid adhering to the rotating cup 57 and the outer cup 58 when processing the substrate G. Yes.

  In the figure, reference numeral 52 denotes a wall portion that divides the lower space of the chuck base 31 into an inner region 53 and an outer region 54, and the wall portion 52 is slightly separated from the lower surface of the chuck base 31. An exhaust port 55 is opened in the outer region 54, and the exhaust port 55 is connected to an exhaust mechanism 56 constituted by a vacuum pump or the like. Both exhaust gas and drainage liquid flow into the exhaust port 55, and the drainage liquid is separated by a separation mechanism (not shown) provided in the flow path to the exhaust mechanism 56.

  Next, the process of processing the substrate G by the mask cleaning apparatus 1 will be described. The substrate G is transferred into the chamber 11 through the opening 8 of the chamber 11 by the transfer mechanism 61 shown in FIG. Thereafter, the lifter plate 41 rises, and each holding piece 42 of the lifter plate holds the lower end of each side of the substrate G. After the transfer mechanism 61 moves toward the outside of the chamber 11, the lifter plate 41 descends and delivers the substrate G to the substrate holding pins 16 of the chuck base 31.

  Thereafter, the nozzle 2 moves from the outside of the composite cup body 51 onto the rotation center of the substrate G, and exhaust is performed from the exhaust port 55 with a preset exhaust amount. Subsequently, the chuck base 31 and the rotating cup 57 rotate, SPM as a cleaning liquid is discharged from the nozzle 2 to the rotation center, and spread from the rotation center of the substrate G to the peripheral portion of the substrate G by centrifugal force. Further, N 2 gas is discharged from the nozzle shaft 12 toward the back surface of the substrate G.

  The SPM supply is stopped after a preset time has elapsed from the start of the supply of the processing liquid, and DIW is supplied from the nozzle 2 to remove the resist residue and the SPM liquid on the substrate G. After that, when the lifter plate 41 is raised and the substrate G is pushed up from the chuck base 31 and transferred to the transport mechanism 61 that has entered the chamber 11, the transport mechanism 61 transports the substrate G to the outside of the mask cleaning apparatus 1. To do.

  According to the mask cleaning apparatus 1, when the substrate G is subjected to liquid processing, the lower end near the corner of the substrate G is held by the substrate holding pins 16 provided on the chuck base 31, and the substrate G is conveyed. When transferring to and from the mechanism 61, the holding piece 42 provided on the lifter plate 41 does not come into contact with the back surface of the substrate G in order to hold the lower end of the side portion of the substrate G. The cleanliness of the substrate G can be increased more than ever.

  Further, in this mask cleaning apparatus 1, the substrate holding pins 16 are formed of a conductive material and are electrically connected to the conductive ground plate 18 provided on the back surface of the chuck base 31, so that the substrate G is charged. The charged charges can be quickly removed when the substrate G is held.

  In the present embodiment, the processing liquid supplied to the substrate is not limited to SPM. For example, when the mask cleaning apparatus 1 is used for the purpose of removing the resist as in the above embodiment, an organic solvent such as propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA), acetone, alcohol may be used, or ammonia and excess An alkaline aqueous solution such as a liquid mixture with hydrogen oxide (SC1) may be used, and various chemical solutions such as chemical solution having oxidizing power such as ozone water or pure water (DIW) can be used.

  In the present embodiment, the square substrate G is described as having a square side, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the case of a rectangle, the diameter of the lifter plate 41 is substantially the same as the long side of the rectangular substrate G, and the holding piece 42 that holds the short side of the substrate G is disposed on the outermost peripheral portion of the lifter plate 41 and the long side The holding piece 42 that holds the inner diameter may be disposed on the inner side from the outermost peripheral portion of the lifter plate 41.

G Substrate 1 Liquid processing device 2 Nozzle (Processing liquid supply mechanism)
16 Substrate holding pin 16a Substrate side end contact portion 16b Diameter-increasing inclined portion 18 Ground plate (conductive plate)
19 Bolt 24 Rotation drive mechanism 30 First substrate holding part 31 Chuck base (first substrate holding plate)
40 Second substrate holding part 41 Lifter plate (second substrate holding plate)
42 Holding piece 42a First inclined surface 42b Second inclined surface 44 Rotating sliding mechanism 47 Lifting mechanism

Claims (9)

A liquid processing apparatus for supplying a processing liquid to a square substrate and performing a predetermined liquid processing,
A first substrate holding portion for holding a lower corner portion in the vicinity of the corner portion of the substrate;
A rotation drive mechanism for rotating the substrate held by the first substrate holding unit around a vertical axis;
A processing liquid supply mechanism for supplying the processing liquid to the substrate;
A second substrate holding portion for holding the lower corner portion of the side portion of the substrate;
An elevating mechanism for elevating and lowering the second substrate holding part ,
The first substrate holding part includes a first substrate holding plate and a pair of substrate holding pins provided on the first substrate holding plate corresponding to the corner positions of the substrate,
The second substrate holding unit includes a second substrate holding plate and a plurality of holding pieces provided on the outer periphery of the second substrate holding plate,
The holding piece has a first inclined surface that increases in the outer peripheral direction, and an angle that is continuous with the first inclined surface and is larger than an angle of the first inclined surface, and is at an angle of a lower end portion of the substrate. And a second inclined surface having a corresponding angle . The liquid processing according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate holding pin includes a cylindrical substrate-side end contact portion and a diameter-increasing inclined portion that descends from a lower end portion of the substrate-side end contact portion. apparatus. The second substrate holding plate, the liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that provided above said first substrate holding plate. When the second substrate holding plate is lowered, more of claims 1 to 3 wherein the first substrate holding plate and the second substrate holding plate is characterized in that it is rotatably engaged The liquid processing apparatus of crab. The substrate holding pin has at least a surface formed of a conductive member ,
The first substrate holding plate lower surface grounded conductive plate is provided, any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said conductive plate substrate holding pins, characterized in that it is electrically connected The liquid processing apparatus as described in. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the conductive member is a conductive resin. The liquid processing apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the conductive plate is formed of a conductive resin. It said processing liquid is a mixture of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide, an organic solvent, ozone water, an alkaline aqueous solution, a liquid processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1, characterized in that either pure water 7 . By using the liquid processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, by supplying a processing liquid to a substrate a liquid processing method for performing a predetermined liquid process,
A step of moving a transport mechanism for holding a substrate to a position above the liquid processing apparatus;
The lifting mechanism raises the second substrate holding portion, and the second inclined surface provided on the holding piece of the second holding portion from the transport mechanism holds the lower corner portion of the side portion of the substrate. a step of receiving and,
A step of lowering the second substrate holding unit holding the substrate by the elevating mechanism and delivering the substrate to the first substrate holding unit;
Supplying a processing liquid to the substrate from the processing liquid supply mechanism and rotating the first substrate holding unit holding the substrate by the rotation driving mechanism to perform a predetermined liquid processing;
The rotary drive mechanism stops rotating, after the treatment liquid supply mechanism stops the processing solution, the lifting mechanism by rises the second substrate holding portion, the second from the first substrate holding portion A second inclined surface provided on the holding piece of the holding portion holds the lower corner of the side portion of the substrate and receives the substrate;
A step of raising and lowering the second substrate holding portion and delivering the substrate to the transport mechanism.

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