JP7190550B2 - Substrate processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus that performs substrate processing by supplying a processing liquid to a rotated substrate.

BACKGROUND ART As a surface treatment apparatus for semiconductor wafers and glass substrates for photomasks, a single-wafer system for treating substrates one by one is widely used from the viewpoint of improving the uniformity and reproducibility of surface treatment. In a single substrate processing apparatus, a horizontally held substrate is rotated (spinned) around its central axis, causing the processing liquid to flow onto the surface of the substrate at the center, and centrifugal force to cause the processing liquid to flow toward the outer periphery. Proceed with the processing of the entire substrate. When the predetermined substrate processing is completed, the rinsing processing for washing away the liquid remaining on the substrate surface is performed in the same manner, and after stopping the supply of the rinsing liquid, the substrate is dried by high-speed rotation to complete the processing.

In the above-described single-wafer type substrate processing apparatus, the processing liquid flowing on the rotating substrate is spattered by centrifugal force from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate or from the outer peripheral edge of the rotating body for rotating the substrate, and then spreads into the processing tank. It is either collected in a designated area and disposed of as waste or collected for reuse. For example, an inner waste liquid tank and an outer recovery tank are arranged so as to surround the rotating body that rotates the substrate. are collected in collection tanks located in , and the processing liquid is collected while preventing contamination with the waste liquid.

In addition, a plurality of collection tanks are arranged in concentric circles so as to surround the rotating body that holds the substrate, and the fence with the top can be opened and closed. There has been proposed a substrate processing apparatus having a structure in which the top portion of another collection tank is closed to prevent contamination by other processing liquids. (See Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-31400

In the above-described substrate processing apparatus, when the rotation speed is such that the processing liquid is less likely to scatter from the outer peripheral edge of the substrate or the outer peripheral edge of the rotating body to the recovery tank outside the substrate, that is, the rotation speed of the substrate is a low rotation speed of about several tens of rpm. When the substrate is processed in , the processing liquid does not scatter to the collection tank for the processing liquid to be collected, and it is difficult to collect the processing liquid in the collection tank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of recovering a predetermined processing liquid used for substrate processing in a predetermined recovery tank.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention is a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the substrate, and includes: a rotating body portion for holding the substrate; a rotation drive unit for rotating; a processing liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid to the surface of the substrate; and a ring body rotation mechanism capable of rotating the ring body at a rotation speed different from the rotation speed of the substrate, wherein the ring body rotation mechanism has a variable speed. and an interlocking mechanism for interlocking the variable speed rotation drive and the ring body. a first disc member engaged with a groove formed on the inner surface of the second disc member coaxially connected to the first disc member by a connecting shaft; It is characterized in that it has a synchronous rotating body that engages with the member, and that the synchronous rotating body is rotated by the variable speed rotation drive section.

According to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to recover the processing liquid supplied to the substrate in a predetermined recovery tank.

1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in a state in which a movable liquid receiver is lowered; FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the ring body shown in FIG. 1; 4B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of part A shown in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX shown in FIG. 3; FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a scattering state of a processing liquid when the number of revolutions of the ring body shown in FIG. 1 is higher than the number of revolutions of the substrate; FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an outflow state of a processing liquid when the number of revolutions of the ring body shown in FIG. 1 is lower than the number of revolutions of the substrate; FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the synchronous rotor and the synchronous rotor stop pin shown in FIG. 7 ; FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional explanatory view of a state in which the synchronous rotor stop pin shown in FIG. 8A operates on the synchronous rotor;

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

A basic structure of a substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG.
A substrate processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 11 mainly includes a disk-shaped rotating body 13 for rotating a substrate 12 such as a semiconductor wafer transported by a transport robot (not shown), and a rotating body 13 that covers the rotating body 13. A disk-shaped cover portion 15 that rotates together with the rotating body 13 and six clamp pins 25 (Fig. 1 3 are shown), a ring body 21 rotatably provided on the upper surface of the outer peripheral end of the rotating body 13, a driving motor 35 (rotational driving section) as a power source for rotating the rotating body 13, and a driving motor A cylindrical power transmission body 36 that transmits the rotation of the rotor 34a of 35 to the rotating body 13 and the cover part 15 to rotate it, and a processing liquid (etching liquid, rinsing liquid, etc.) on the surface of the substrate 12 (upper surface in FIG. 1). ), a movable liquid receiver 22 arranged around the ring body 21 to receive the processing liquid scattered from the ring body 21, and a controller 100 for controlling each part. Further, the upper surface of the ring body 21 is located below the surface of the substrate 12 and the outer peripheral edge of the ring body 21 is located outside the outer peripheral edge of the substrate 12 so that the processing liquid flows from the substrate 12 into the ring body 21 . provided to be located. The top surface of the ring body 21 may be flush with the surface of the substrate 12 .

The cylindrical rotor 34 a is provided through a circular through hole 14 provided in the base plate 30 located at the bottom of the substrate processing apparatus 11 . A cylindrical stator 34b is provided below the base plate 30 so as to cover the rotor 34a. The rotor 34a and the stator 34b constitute a main part of a drive motor 35 that rotates the rotating body 13. As shown in FIG. The upper end of the cylindrical rotor 34 a is connected to the lower end of the cylindrical power transmission body 36 , and the upper end of the power transmission body 36 is connected to the rotating body 13 and the cover portion 15 . In addition, the rotating body 13 and the cover portion 15 are configured as a rotating body portion. Rotor 34 a of drive motor 35 rotates rotating body 13 , cover 15 , and substrate 12 held by clamp pins 25 on cover 15 through power transmission member 36 . The drive motor 35 is electrically connected to the controller 100 and its drive is controlled by the controller 100 .

A non-rotating holding cylinder 37 coaxial (axis A) with the rotor 34a and the power transmission body 36 is provided in the hollow interior of the rotor 34a and the power transmission body 36, and a nozzle head 38 is provided at the upper end of the holding cylinder 37. ing. The nozzle head 38 is provided with nozzles 24 (24a, 24b) for injecting a processing liquid (etching liquid, rinsing liquid, etc.) onto the back surface (lower surface in FIG. 1) of the substrate 12, and the other end is provided with a processing liquid supply. (not shown). One end of the hollow tube 39 penetrates the nozzle head 38 and is connected to the bottom of a recess formed in the nozzle head 38. are placed coaxially (axis A). The nozzle 24 is provided to process the back surface of the substrate 12 with a chemical solution. In double-side processing using the nozzle 24, the nozzle 23 and the nozzle 24 constitute a processing liquid supply means. The supply of the processing liquid by the processing liquid supply means is controlled by the controller 100 . An opening 15 a is formed in the center of the cover portion 15 for passing the processing liquid sprayed from the nozzles 24 ( 24 a and 24 b ) toward the back surface of the substrate 12 .

A side wall portion 13a of a predetermined length is hung down around the outer periphery of the rotating body 13, and the tip of the lower portion of the side wall portion 13a surrounds the outer periphery of the rotating body 13 and is attached to the base. It is in a position inserted into a waste liquid tank 51 provided on the plate 30 . The waste liquid tank 51 is an annular container with an opening at the top. A partition wall 51 b on the outer peripheral side of the waste liquid tank 51 is formed higher than an inner wall 51 a on the inner peripheral side, and its tip is positioned close to the outer peripheral end of the rotating body 13 . A waste liquid pipe 53 is connected to the bottom portion 51c of the waste liquid tank 51 to flow the waste liquid that has flowed into the waste liquid tank 51 to the outside. Outside the waste liquid tank 51, there is provided a collection tank 52 which is formed in an annular shape with an upper opening and which is composed of the above-described partition wall 51b, an outer wall 52a positioned on the outer peripheral side of the partition wall 51b, and a bottom portion 52c. A recovery pipe 55 for recovering the recovered liquid that has flowed into the recovery tank 52 is connected to the bottom portion 52 b of the recovery tank 52 . Although one waste liquid tank 51 and one recovery tank 52 are provided in this embodiment, a plurality of recovery tanks may be installed in the radial direction of the substrate processing apparatus 11 .

Above the collection tank 52, an annular movable liquid receiver 22 that can move up and down is provided. The movable liquid receiving portion 22 includes a liquid receiving portion 22a composed of an upright peripheral wall and an inclined wall sloping upward and inward, and a double wall portion 22b having a double wall below the liquid receiving portion. , and can be moved up and down by a liquid receiver elevation driving mechanism (not shown). The liquid receiving portion elevation driving mechanism is controlled by the control portion 100 . In order to prevent the scattered treatment liquid from scattering outside the recovery tank 52, the movable liquid receiving part 22 is in a state where the outer wall 52a of the recovery tank 52 is inserted between the double wall parts 22b even at each vertical and vertical position. It has become. In the raised position, the movable liquid receiver 22 receives the processing liquid scattered from the rotating substrate 12 and drips it into the recovery tank 52 (see FIG. 1). The vertical position is set so that the substrate 12 can be exchanged while avoiding contact with the substrate (see FIG. 2). At the position where the movable liquid receiver 22 is lowered, the movable liquid receiver 22 covers the opening of the recovery tank 52 and prevents the processing liquid from flowing into the recovery tank 52 .

Six upper discs 18 (see FIG. 3), which are first disc members, are rotatably arranged in the cover portion 15 at intervals of 60 degrees in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral side of the cover portion 15 . The outer periphery of the upper disc 18 engages with the engagement groove 21a on the inner surface of the ring body 21 (see FIG. 4B), and the central portion of the upper disc 18 is a disc shaft 27 (6 pieces) which is a cylindrical connecting shaft. ) to be coaxially and integrally connected with the central portion of the lower disk 61 (only two are shown in FIG. 1), which is the second disk member. The disk shaft 27 is rotatably positioned on the outer peripheral side of the rotor 13 by cylindrical support cylinders 60 (six pieces) provided at intervals of 60 degrees in the circumferential direction (only two pieces are shown in FIG. 2). do.). The lower disk 61 is engaged with the outer peripheral end of the synchronous rotor 63 via the synchronous rotor bearing 62 on the outer periphery of the power transmission body 36 .

The synchronous rotor 63 is provided on the power transmission body 36 , which is the rotating shaft of the rotator 13 , via a synchronous rotor bearing 62 . As a result, when the rotating body 13 rotates, it can rotate in conjunction with the engaging lower disk 61 . The synchronous rotor 63 is provided with a protrusion 63 a that engages with a rotary plate 65 a of the drive motor 65 provided on the base plate 30 . By driving the drive motor 65, the synchronous rotor 63 is rotated at a predetermined number of revolutions. The drive motor 65 is electrically connected to the controller 100 and its drive is controlled by the controller 100 . When the synchronous rotor 63 is rotated by driving the drive motor 65, the disc shaft 27 and the upper disc 18 are rotated via the lower disc 61 engaged with the synchronous rotor 63, and further engaged with the upper disc 27, which will be described later. The mating ring body 21 rotates. The rotation direction of the drive motor 65 is such that the ring body 21 rotates in the same direction as the substrate 12 rotates. Further, the drive motor 65 is variable speed and can also rotate in forward and reverse directions, and can rotate the ring body 21 at a predetermined number of revolutions in a direction different from the direction of rotation of the substrate 12 . The drive motor 65 corresponds to a speed-changeable rotary drive unit, and the upper disk 18, disk shaft 27, lower disk 61 and synchronous rotor 63 constitute an interlocking mechanism, and the ring body rotation mechanism is composed of all of them. configure.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4A, and 4B, a ring body 21, which is an annular member having a rectangular cross section, is rotatably provided at the outer peripheral end of the upper surface of the rotating body 13. It is provided coaxially with the rotation axis (axis A) and has a rotation radius larger than that of the substrate 12 . The ring body 21 has a flat upper surface, and an annular engagement groove 21a is formed along the inner side surface, and the upper disk 18 (see FIG. 3) engages with the engagement groove 21a. As a result, the rotation (rotation) of the upper disk 18 can rotate the ring body 21 via the engagement groove 21a. Therefore, by controlling the rotation speed of the drive motor 65 by the control unit 100, the rotation speed of the ring body 21 can be controlled. The ring body 21 can be rotated at a higher or lower rotational speed). Furthermore, since the rotation of the drive motor can be reversed, it is also possible to rotate the ring body 21 in the direction opposite to the rotation of the substrate 12 . Further, the ring body 21 in this embodiment has a plurality of V-shaped grooves 21b formed along the outer peripheral side surface. This is because droplets dripping on the outer peripheral surface of the ring body 21 are collected in the V-shaped groove 21b, and the collected droplets are made into large droplets and scattered by the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the ring body 21. By selecting the shape of the surface (side surface, top surface, etc.) of the ring body 21 according to the property (hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, etc.) of the processing liquid, the processing liquid can be effectively scattered to the recovery tank 52. can be done. In addition to providing the plurality of V-shaped grooves 21, an eaves-shaped member is provided along the outer peripheral surface of the ring body 21 so that droplets dripping on the outer peripheral surface of the ring body 21 are scattered from the ring body 21. can be

Next, the mechanism for holding the substrate 12 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5 showing cross sections of the substrate processing apparatus 11 viewed from different positions. Six rotating plates 17 are arranged rotatably with respect to the cover portion 15 on the outer peripheral side of the cover portion 15 between six upper discs 18 arranged at intervals of 60 degrees in the circumferential direction. (See FIG. 3). The rotary plate 17 is provided with a clamp pin 25 at a position eccentric from the center of rotation of the rotary plate 17 . The clamp pin 25 is configured as a substrate holder. The clamp pin 25 is integrally connected with the rotating plate 17 , the pin rotating body 29 provided under the central portion of each rotating plate 17 , and the pinion gear 31 provided under the pin rotating body 29 . Each child gear 31 meshes with a parent gear 32 provided so as to be coaxial (axis A) with the rotating body 13 . The parent gear 32 is provided on the outer periphery of the power transmission body 36 via a parent gear bearing 41 .

A clamp spring (torsion coil spring) 42 is attached to the parent gear 32 as an urging means. The clamp spring 42 has one end engaged with the rotor 13 and the other end engaged with the parent gear 32 to urge the parent gear 32 in the rotational direction (counterclockwise direction). As a result, the pinion gear 31 is urged clockwise, so that the pin rotor 29 and the rotor plate 17 interlock with the rotation of the pinion gear 31, and the clamp pin 25 rotates eccentrically toward the center of the rotor 13. Then, it comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 12 and is held (locked state). At this time, the substrate 12 is set to be centered on the substrate rotation axis A. FIG.

When releasing the locked state of the substrate 12 by the clamp pin 25, the rotation body 13 is clamped by the driving motor 35 while the rotation of the main gear 32 in the counterclockwise direction is blocked by the chuck release cylinder 43. It is rotated counterclockwise against the biasing force of the spring 42 . That is, when the rotating body 13 is rotated counterclockwise by an angle θ (approximately 20 degrees), each child gear 31 meshing with the parent gear 32 rotates counterclockwise. As a result, the clamp pin 25 rotates eccentrically in the direction away from the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 12, so that the holding state due to the contact of the head portion of the clamp pin 25 with the edge of the substrate 12 is released. is placed on the shoulder of the clamp pin 25, and the substrate 12 can be taken out by the transfer robot. The rotating body 13, the crank pin 25, the cover portion 15, the rotating plate 17, the pin rotating body 29, the child gear 31, the parent gear 32, and the clamp spring 42 constitute substrate holding means. Also, the substrate holding means is configured within the rotating body portion.

The ring body 21 can be adjusted to an optimum rotational speed by controlling the rotational speed and rotational direction of the drive motor 6 by the control unit 100 regardless of the rotational speed of the rotor 13 . The control unit 100 includes a microcomputer that centrally controls each unit, and a storage unit that stores substrate processing information and various programs related to substrate processing. The control unit 100 controls the driving motor 35 and the driving motor 65 based on substrate processing information and various programs, and supplies the processing liquid to the rotating substrate 12 by spraying it from the nozzles 23 and 24 . Control processing.

Next, a procedure for processing the substrate 12 using the substrate processing apparatus 11 according to this embodiment will be described below. In the substrate processing apparatus 11, processing liquid A (etching liquid: phosphoric acid solution) supplied from the nozzle 23a and processing liquid B (rinsing liquid: pure water) supplied from the nozzle 23b are used as processing liquids. In order to prevent contact with the substrate transport robot (not shown), the movable liquid receiver 22 of the substrate processing apparatus 11 is lowered to a predetermined position by a liquid receiver elevation driving mechanism (not shown) (FIG. 2). Then, an unprocessed substrate 12 is carried into the substrate processing apparatus 11 by a substrate transport robot, which is an external device, and placed on the clamp pins 25 . After the substrate 12 is loaded, when the transport robot moves back to the standby position, the movable liquid receiver 22 is returned to the raised position in order to prevent the processing liquid from scattering out of the apparatus due to the rotation of the substrate 12 (FIG. 1). .

Before the transfer robot supplies the substrate 12 to the substrate processing apparatus 11, the clamp pin 25 is in an unlocked state. That is, it is located at a position radially outwardly spaced by a predetermined dimension from the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 12 . When the clamp pins 25 are in the unlocked state, the unprocessed substrate 12 is placed on the shoulders of the clamp pins 25 by a transfer bot (not shown). After the substrate 12 has been supplied and placed on the clamp pins 25 , the head portion at the top end of the clamp pin 25 rotates eccentrically in a direction to contact the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 12 , and the substrate 12 is held by the clamp pins 25 .

The nozzle 23 a that supplies the processing liquid A, which was in the standby position, is moved to the upper part of the surface center of the substrate 12 . Then, the substrate 12 is rotated by the drive motor 35 at a rotation speed (for example, several tens to 100 rpm) suitable for the chemical treatment of the substrate 12 with the treatment liquid A, which is an etchant. At this time, the ring body 21 is driven by the drive motor 65 to rotate in the same direction as the rotation direction of the substrate 12 at a higher rotation speed (eg, 500 rpm) than the rotation speed of the substrate 12 . When the substrate 12 and the ring body 21 are rotated, the processing liquid A is supplied from the nozzle 23a to the central portion of the substrate 12 being rotated. The supplied treatment liquid A is spread over the rotating substrate 12 from the central portion of the substrate 12 to the surroundings by centrifugal force. The processing liquid A that has reached the edge of the substrate 12 flows out from the edge of the substrate 12 to the cover portion 15 and then to the ring body 21 located on the outer periphery of the cover portion 15 . Since the ring body 21 rotates at a rotation speed higher than that of the substrate 12 as described above, a centrifugal force greater than the centrifugal force on the substrate 12 acts on the treatment liquid A. It scatters over the waste liquid tank 51 and into the collection tank 52 (FIG. 6A). At the same time that the processing liquid A is supplied to the front surface of the substrate 12 from the nozzle 23a, the processing liquid A is supplied to the rear surface of the substrate 12 from the nozzle 24a. The processing liquid A supplied to the back surface of the substrate 12 flows out to the cover portion 15, further flows out to the ring body 21 located at the outer peripheral position of the cover portion 15, and is scattered by the ring body 21 into the recovery tank 52. As a result, when the substrate 12 rotates at a low speed (for example, several tens to 100 rpm), the centrifugal force is small, so that the treatment liquid A falling into the waste liquid tank 51 between the side wall portion 13a and the partition wall 51b is transferred to the main body. In the embodiment, the processing liquid A can be recovered in the recovery tank 52 by rotating the ring body 21 at a higher speed than the substrate.

Next, when the processing of the substrate 12 with the processing liquid A is completed, the supply of the processing liquid A from the nozzles 23a and 24a is stopped, and the nozzle 23a is retracted from the center upper portion of the substrate 12 to the standby position. At this time, the movable liquid receiver 22 descends to a position that closes the opening of the recovery tank 52 (the state shown in FIG. 2). Then, the nozzle 23b is moved from the standby position to the central upper part of the substrate 12. Then, as shown in FIG. A processing liquid B, which is a rinsing liquid (pure water) for cleaning the substrate 12, is supplied from the nozzles 23b and 24b. In cleaning with the treatment liquid B, the rotation speed of the substrate 12 is set to a medium rotation speed (eg, 500 rpm). At this time, the drive motor 65 is driven to rotate the ring body 21 at a lower rotational speed (for example, several tens to 100 rpm) than the rotational speed of the substrate 12 . The processing liquid B that has reached the edge of the substrate 12 can pass over the movable liquid receiver 22 located at the lowered position from the edge of the substrate 12 and be scattered into a waste liquid tank located on the outer periphery of the movable liquid receiver 22 (not shown). can. Also, part of the treatment liquid B that scatters from the edge of the substrate 12 falls between the side wall portion 13 a and the partition wall portion 13 and flows into the waste liquid tank 51 . At this time, since the movable liquid receiver 22 is lowered to the position where it closes the opening of the recovery tank 52 , the processing liquid B can be prevented from flowing into the recovery tank 52 . Also, the processing liquid B supplied to the back surface of the substrate 12 flows out from the cover portion 15 to the ring body 21 . Since the rotational speed of the ring body 21 is lower than that of the substrate 12 , the centrifugal force acting on the processing liquid B that has flowed out from the cover portion 15 to the ring body 21 is smaller than when the processing liquid B is flowing over the cover 15 . Therefore, the processing liquid B that scatters from the ring body 21 falls between the side wall portion 13a and the partition wall 51b and flows into the waste liquid tank 52 without passing over the movable liquid receiving portion 22 at the lowered position (Fig. 6B). As a result, it becomes possible to wash away the processing liquid A adhering to the side wall portion 13a and the partition wall 51b in the previous processing with the processing liquid B, and the processing liquid A, which is an etchant, can be washed away by the processing liquid B when the substrate 12 rotates at high speed in the drying processing described later. It is possible to suppress the mist from scattering.

Next, when the cleaning process of the substrate 12 with the treatment liquid B is completed, the supply of the treatment liquid B from the nozzles 23b and 24b is stopped, and the nozzle 23b is retracted from the center upper part of the substrate 12 to the standby position. Then, the substrate 12 is rotated at a high speed (for example, 1000 to 1500 rpm) by the driving motor 35, the rotating body 13, etc., and the processing liquid B is scattered from the substrate 12 to dry the substrate 12. FIG. At this time, the treatment liquid B passes over the movable liquid receiver 22 at the lowered position and scatters into the waste liquid tank located on the outer periphery of the movable liquid receiver 22 (not shown). The ring body 21 is rotated at the same so-called high speed as the substrate 12 . In addition, since the movable liquid receiving portion 22 is in the lowered position blocking the opening of the recovery tank 52 , it is possible to prevent the processing liquid B from flowing into the recovery tank 52 .

When the drying process is completed after a predetermined time has passed, the holding (locking) state of the substrate 12 by the clamp pins 25 is released. After the holding state of the substrate 12 is released, the processed substrate 12 is transported outside by a transport robot (not shown). At this time, since the movable liquid receiver 22 is in the lowered position that closes the opening of the recovery tank 52, contact with the transfer robot can be avoided.

In the present embodiment, when the substrate is processed with the processing liquid at a low rotation speed, the rotation speed of the ring body 21 provided near the outer periphery of the substrate 12 is higher than the rotation speed of the substrate 12. The processing liquid that has flowed into the ring body 21 can be scattered to the collection tank 52 with a greater centrifugal force than when the ring body 21 rotates at a low speed. That is, since the ring body 21 can be rotated at a rotation speed different from the rotation speed of the substrate 12, the substrate 12 can maintain the optimum rotation speed for substrate processing, and the rotation speed of the ring body 21 can be adjusted to the processing liquid. It is possible to set the optimal number of rotations for recovery, disposal, etc., and to effectively reuse or discard the treated liquid. The number of rotations and the direction of rotation of the ring body 21 can be arbitrarily set according to the recovery of the treatment liquid and the waste liquid.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a substrate processing apparatus 11a according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 8B. Differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and common points will be simplified or omitted as appropriate. In addition, common names and reference numerals are used to describe constituent elements common to those of the first embodiment.

This embodiment is characterized in that the driving motor 65 for rotating the synchronizing rotor 63 in the first embodiment is not provided, and instead a cylinder 75 is provided (FIG. 7). The cylinder 75 is provided on the base plate 30, and has the function of stopping the rotation of the synchronous rotating body 63 by extending the upper cylinder rod 75a and pressing the synchronous rotating body 63 positioned above. The cylinder 75 is electrically connected to the controller 100 and its drive is controlled by the controller 100 . As shown in FIG. 8A, the cylinder 75 is out of contact with the synchronous rotor 63 before the cylinder rod 75a is extended. The synchronous rotor bearing 62 is provided on the power transmission body 36 via a sliding member 77 with low dust generation. The sliding member 77 allows the synchronous rotor bearing 62 to move vertically. The synchronous rotor 63 is engaged with the lower disk 61, and is connected to the power transmission body 36 via a sliding member 77 and a synchronous rotor bearing 62. connected through When the rotating body 13 rotates, the disc shaft 27 and the lower disc 61 positioned on the rotating body 13 and the synchronous rotating body 63 also rotate together with the rotating body 13 .

As shown in FIG. 8B, when the cylinder rod 75a of the cylinder 75 is extended and its tip is pressed against the synchronizing rotor 63, the joint between the synchronizing rotor 63 and the sliding plate 76 on the power transmission body 36 side is separated, and the synchronous It is rotatable by the rotor bearing 62 . As a result, the rotation of the synchronous rotor 63 is stopped. At this time, the lower disc 61 rotates together with the rotating body 13 while rotating around the engaging synchronous rotating body 63 . At this time, the lower disc 61 rotates in the same direction as the substrate 12 . As the lower disc 61 rotates, the upper disc 18 also rotates, and the ring body 21 engaged with the upper disc 18 rotates. Thereby, the ring body 21 is rotated in the rotation direction of the lower disc 61, that is, in the rotation direction of the substrate. In addition, since the ring body 21 rotates around the rotating body 13, it rotates at a higher rotational speed than the rotating body 13. As shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, it is not possible to freely change the number of rotations and the direction of rotation of the ring body 21 using the drive motor 65. Since the rotation speed of the ring body 21 can be higher than the rotation speed of the substrate, the processing liquid can be scattered and recovered in the recovery tank 52 when the substrate 12 rotates at a low rotation speed. In this embodiment, the cylinder 75 corresponds to the cylinder mechanism portion, the upper disk 18, the disk shaft 27, the lower disk 61, and the synchronizing rotor 63 constitute the interlocking mechanism portion, and the ring body rotation mechanism is constituted by these as a whole. Configure.

Next, a procedure for processing the substrate 12 using the substrate processing apparatus 11a according to this embodiment will be described below. As in the first embodiment, the processing liquids to be used are the processing liquid A (etching liquid: phosphoric acid solution) supplied from the nozzles 23a and 24a, and the processing liquid B (rinsing liquid) supplied from the nozzles 23b and 24b. pure water) is used.

The movable liquid receiver 22 is lowered by a liquid receiver elevation driving mechanism (not shown). An unprocessed substrate 12 is loaded into the substrate processing apparatus 11 by a substrate transport robot (not shown) and placed on clamp pins 25 . After the substrate 12 is loaded, when the transport robot moves back to the standby position, the movable liquid receiver 22 is returned to the raised position in order to prevent the processing liquid from scattering out of the apparatus due to the rotation of the substrate 12 .

After the substrate 12 is placed on the clamp pins 25 , the head portions of the clamp pins 25 provided on the rotating plate 17 rotate eccentrically in a direction in which they abut on the outer peripheral surface of the substrate 12 , and the substrate 12 clamps the clamp pins 25 . will be retained by

The nozzle 23 a that supplies the processing liquid A is moved from the standby position to above the center of the surface of the substrate 12 . Then, the substrate 12 is rotated by the drive motor 35 at a rotation speed (for example, several tens to 100 rpm) suitable for the chemical treatment of the substrate 12 with the treatment liquid A, which is an etchant. At this time, when the cylinder rod 75a of the cylinder 75 is extended and its tip is brought into contact with the synchronizing rotor 63 and the joint between the synchronizing rotor 63 and the power transmission body 36 is separated, the ring body 21 is formed as described above. It rotates at a rotation speed higher than that of the substrate 12 . Then, the processing liquid A is supplied to the central portion of the rotating substrate 12 from the nozzle 23a. The supplied treatment liquid A spreads evenly from the central portion of the substrate 12 to the surroundings on the rotating substrate 12 due to centrifugal force. The processing liquid A that has reached the edge of the substrate 12 flows out from the edge of the substrate 12 to the cover portion 15 and then to the ring body 21 located on the outer periphery thereof. Since the ring body 21 rotates at a rotation speed higher than that of the substrate 12 as described above, a centrifugal force greater than the centrifugal force on the substrate 12 acts on the treatment liquid A. Most of it scatters over the waste liquid tank 51 to the recovery tank 52 located outside (Fig. 7A). The nozzle 23a supplies the treatment liquid A to the front surface of the substrate 12, and at the same time, the nozzle 24a supplies the treatment liquid A to the rear surface of the substrate 12. As shown in FIG. The processing liquid A supplied to the back surface of the substrate 12 flows out to the cover portion 15, further flows out to the ring body 21 located at the outer peripheral position of the cover portion 15, and is scattered by the ring body 21 into the recovery tank 52. As a result, when the substrate 12 rotates at a low speed (for example, several tens to 100 rpm), the processing liquid A, which conventionally falls into the waste liquid tank 51 between the side wall portion 13a and the partition wall 51b due to the small centrifugal force, is removed. However, in the present embodiment, by rotating the ring body 21 at a higher speed than the substrate, the treatment liquid A can be scattered into the recovery tank 52, so that the treatment liquid A can be recovered separately from other treatment liquids.

Next, when the treatment of the substrate 12 with the treatment liquid A is completed, the supply of the treatment liquid A from the nozzles 23a and 24a is stopped, the nozzle 23a is retracted from the center upper part of the substrate 12 to the standby position, and the movable liquid receiver is moved. The part 22 descends to a position where the opening of the collection tank 52 is closed. Then, the nozzle 23b is moved from the standby position to the central upper part of the substrate 12. Then, as shown in FIG. In order to effectively clean the substrate 12 with the treatment liquid B, the rotation speed of the substrate 12 is set to a medium rotation speed (eg, 500 rpm). At this time, since the treatment liquid B contains the treatment liquid A, the rotation speed of the ring body 21 is set to the same middle rotation speed as the substrate 12 rotation speed. (Fig. 8A). The processing liquid B is supplied to the center of the substrate 12 from the nozzles 23b and 24b, and spreads evenly from the center of the substrate 12 to the periphery by centrifugal force to uniformly clean the substrate. The processing liquid B that has reached the edge of the substrate 12 flows out from the edge of the substrate 12 to the cover portion 15 and then to the ring body 21 located on the outer periphery thereof. Since the ring body 21 rotates at the same medium rotation speed as the substrate 12 , the processing liquid B scatters over the movable liquid receiver 22 due to the centrifugal force, and the processing liquid B flows into the recovery tank 52 . can be prevented. At this time, the processing liquid B passes over the movable liquid receiving section 22 at the lowered position and scatters into the waste liquid tank located on the outer periphery of the movable liquid receiving section 22 (not shown). and the partition wall portion 13 and flows into the waste liquid tank 51 .

Next, when the cleaning process of the substrate 12 with the treatment liquid B is completed, the supply of the treatment liquid B is stopped and the nozzles 23b and 24b are retracted to the standby position. At this time, the movable liquid receiving portion 22 is maintained in a state of being lowered to a position blocking the opening of the recovery tank 52 . Then, the nozzle 23c is moved from the standby position to the central upper part of the substrate 12. Then, as shown in FIG.

Then, the substrate 12 is rotated at a high speed (for example, 1000 to 1500 rpm) by the driving motor 35, the rotating body 13, etc., and the processing liquid B is scattered from the substrate 12 to dry the substrate 12. FIG. The cylinder rod 75a of the cylinder 75 is not extended and is in the retracted position so that the ring body 21 has the same rotational speed as the substrate 12. FIG. The processing liquid B scatters due to the centrifugal force, but since the movable liquid receiver 22 is lowered to the position blocking the opening of the recovery tank 52 , the processing liquid B is prevented from flowing into the recovery tank 52 . At this time, the treatment liquid B passes over the movable liquid receiver 22 at the lowered position and scatters into the waste liquid tank located on the outer periphery of the movable liquid receiver 22 (not shown).

After a predetermined period of time has elapsed, when the drying process is completed, the rotation of the rotor 13 is stopped, and the holding (locking) state of the substrate 12 by the clamp pins 25 is released. After the holding state of the substrate 12 is released, the processed substrate 12 is transported outside by a transport robot (not shown).

As described above, in the substrate processing apparatus 11a of the present embodiment, it is possible to set the number of rotations of the ring body 21 to be the same as or higher than the number of rotations of the substrate 12 with a simple apparatus configuration. That is, when the rotation speed of the substrate 12 is low, the rotation speed of the ring body 21 can be higher than that of the substrate 12. Therefore, the centrifugal force of the ring body 21 rotating the processing liquid causes the recovery tank 52 to move. It is possible to disperse to Moreover, since the cylinder mechanism is used in this embodiment, the configuration can be made simpler than in the first embodiment in which the drive motor is used.

Several embodiments and modifications of each part of the present invention have been described above, but these embodiments and modifications of each part are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. . These novel embodiments described above can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims.

Reference Signs List 11, 11a Substrate processing apparatus 12 Substrate 13 Rotating body 15 Cover part 17 Rotating plate 18 Upper disk 21 Ring body 22 Movable liquid receiver 23 Nozzle 25 Clamp pin 27 Disk shaft 29 Pin rotating body 30 Base plate 31 Pinion gear 32 Parent Gear 33 (33a to 33f) Support cylinder 34a Rotor 34b Stator 35 Drive motor 36 Power transmission body 41 Parent gear bearing 42 Clamp spring 43 Chuck release cylinder 51 Waste liquid tank 52 Recovery tank 53 Waste liquid pipe 55 Recovery pipe 60 Support cylinder 61 Lower disk 62 Synchronous rotor bearing 63 Synchronous rotor 65 Drive motor 75 Ring speed increasing cylinder 75a Cylinder rod 76 Connection member

Claims (4)

In a substrate processing apparatus that processes a substrate by supplying a processing liquid to the surface of the substrate,
a rotor that holds the substrate;
a rotary drive unit that rotates the rotating body;
a processing liquid supply means for supplying the processing liquid to the surface of the substrate;
a ring body provided rotatably relative to the rotating body portion, the ring body having a larger radius of rotation than the radius of rotation of the substrate held by the rotating body portion;
a ring body rotation mechanism capable of rotating the ring body at a rotation speed different from the rotation speed of the substrate;
The ring body rotation mechanism has a variable speed rotation drive section capable of changing speed and an interlocking mechanism section for interlocking the variable speed rotation drive section and the ring body,
The interlocking mechanism includes a first disc member that is rotatably mounted on the rotating body portion and engages with a groove formed on the inner surface of the ring body; and a synchronous rotor engaged with the second disc member, wherein the synchronous rotor is rotated by the variable-speed rotation drive unit. . 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said ring body is an annular member having a flat upper surface. 3. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ring body has a plurality of grooves formed on its outer surface. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the synchronous rotating body is provided on the rotating shaft of the rotating body portion via a bearing portion.

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