JPH01302819A - Spray development device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent readhesion of a development waste liquor to a substrate to be treated and to reduce development defect by providing a nozzle for spraying the development liquid at a specific angle to one side from the rotary center of the substrate to be treated from the upper rear part in the direction of traveling of the one side. CONSTITUTION:A spray development device for performing development treatment by spraying a development liquid 25 to a pattern-exposed photoresist on a substrate 23 to be treated while rotating it is provided with a nozzle 24 for spraying the development liquid 25 in a fan shape at an incident angle theta of 20 to 30 degrees from the back upper part in the direction of movement of one side at the one side from the rotary center of the substrate to be treated 23 and a discharge port 21a at the upper part of the side wall of a cup 21 in approximately cylindrical shape enclosing the substrate to be treated 23. If the incident angle theta of the above development liquid is greater than 30 degrees, reflection to the upper surface side of the substrate to be treated increases. Also, if it is smaller than 20 degrees, the central opening part of the reflection-prevention plate 26 becomes larger if it is smaller than 20 degrees so that the reflection-prevention effect is reduced. Thus, the incident angle theta should be 20 to 30 degrees.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding the improvement of a developing device for developing photomasks, wafers, etc. for semiconductor device manufacturing, development defects are reduced by preventing development waste from re-adhering to the substrate to be processed. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a spray developing device that performs a developing process in which a developing solution is sprayed onto a pattern-exposed photoresist on a substrate to be processed while rotating the substrate to be processed, wherein the center of rotation of the substrate to be processed is a substantially cylindrical cup surrounding the substrate to be processed, having a nozzle on one side thereof at an incident angle of 20 to 30 degrees from the rear and upper side of the moving direction of the one side part; The configuration has an exhaust port at the top of the side wall.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an improvement in a developing device for developing photomasks, wafers, etc. for semiconductor device manufacturing.

In the manufacture of foot masks and wafers, the development method for developing selectively exposed resist has changed from the conventional immersion development method in which the substrate is immersed in a developer solution to spray development. This is easy to automate, has high uniformity of development distribution,
This is due to the fact that fresh developer can be supplied to the surface to be developed, and only a small amount of developer is required, and various spray developing devices have been put into practical use for this purpose. It is desired that fewer developing devices be used.

[Conventional technology]

In the manufacture of photomasks used in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices, a conventional developing device of this type for forming a pattern on a mask has a cylindrical cup 11 with an open top, as shown in the schematic structure of FIG. A rotating mounting table 12 is provided inside the mounting table 12, and a substrate 13 to be processed, such as a photomask substrate or a wafer, coated with a resist and selectively exposed on the mounting table 12 is rotated while being held by suction. Development was performed by spraying developer 15 over the entire surface of the substrate.

In order to prevent the developer waste that has been scattered from the surface of the substrate to be processed into the surrounding area due to centrifugal force from bouncing off the inner wall of the cup and re-adhering to the substrate, an inverted funnel-shaped splash prevention +5.16 is provided that covers the area other than the substrate surface. In addition, the developer waste and droplets that have fallen to the bottom of the cup 11 are removed through the air outlet 1 provided at the bottom.
It is forcibly discharged by suction from 7.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional developing device described above, during development (while the substrate is rotating), the developer waste liquid that is scattered around the substrate 13 on the upper side of the anti-repellent plate 16 is rebounded by force and the inner wall of the knob 11 and returned to the mask substrate 13. There is a problem in that it adheres and causes development defects. Also, attaching the mask substrate before and after development.
During transportation such as taking out, the exhaust port 17 is connected to the cup 11.
Since the upper part of the repelling plate 16 is not fully vented, the developer droplets from the previous spraying are not sufficiently exhausted and are floating around, and may adhere to the substrate to be processed during transportation. There was also the problem of generating defects.

The present invention was created in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a spray developing device that reduces development defects by preventing developer waste from re-adhering to a substrate to be processed.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above-mentioned problem is that the spray developing device performs development processing by spraying developer onto the pattern-exposed photoresist on the substrate while rotating the substrate. , 20~ from the rear upper part in the moving direction of the one side part
This book is characterized in that it has a nozzle that sprays developer in a fan shape at an incident angle of 30 degrees, and has an approximately cylindrical force surrounding the substrate to be processed and an exhaust port provided at the upper part of the side wall of the knob. This is solved by the spray developing device of the invention.

[Effect]

Since the developer is sprayed onto the surface of the substrate to be processed at a small angle of incidence from diagonally backward in the direction of movement, the relative velocity of the sprayed liquid when it collides with the substrate surface is reduced, causing it to scatter around and above the substrate. This reduces developer waste.

When the spraying is finished, the droplets of developer waste at the top of the cup are quickly exhausted from the exhaust port, so that they do not contaminate the substrate being transported.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional side view of a main part of a spray developing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a developer is sprayed.

In FIG. 1, the spray developing device of the present invention is installed inside a substantially cylindrical cup 21 having an exhaust port 21a at the top of one inner wall and an exhaust port 21b at the bottom, and is rotatably driven by a motor (not shown). A substrate mounting table 22 is provided on the side opposite to the exhaust port 21a with respect to the i1 device 22 and on the opposite side of the mounting table 2.
Nozzle 24 that injects developer 25 at a position diagonally above Nozzle 2.
is provided. Then, the inverted funnel-shaped rebound covering the substrate 23 other than the upper surface is forcibly discharged by suction.

As shown in Figure 2, this nozzle dispenses developer solution in a fan shape.
The developing solution 25 is sprayed onto a portion 23a on one side from the center of rotation of the substrate 23 to be processed at an incident angle θ of 20 to 30 degrees from diagonally above and backward in the moving direction. Therefore, the configuration is such that the developer is not sprayed onto the portion 23b that is moving in the opposite direction on the opposite side (the lower half in the figure) of the center line of the substrate to be processed.

In the developing process using the developing device configured as described above, the substrate 23 to be processed, such as a photomask substrate or wafer, coated with a photoresist and selectively exposed on the mounting table 22 is held by suction, and the nozzle 24 is rotated in the direction of the arrow. This is done by injecting the developer 25 from. At this time, the developer 25 is applied to the moving target substrate 2.
Since the developing liquid 25 is incident on the substrate surface from the direction chasing the developing liquid 3, there is little reflection toward the upper side of the substrate, and most of the developing waste liquid 25 is scattered forward and downward, so it bounces off the inner wall of the cup 21 and re-attaches to the substrate 23 to be processed. The percentage decreases.

According to the study results, when the incident angle θ of the developer is larger than 30 degrees, the reflection on the upper side of the substrate to be processed increases, and when it is smaller than 20 degrees, the central opening of the anti-repellent plate is enlarged to prevent the repelling. Since the effect is reduced, θ is 20~
It was found that 30 degrees is appropriate.

Since the bottom surface of the cup 21 is inclined toward the discharge port 21b, the developing waste liquid that has fallen onto the bottom surface of the cup 21 is smoothly discharged from the discharge port 21b without being retained.

In addition, droplets of developer waste generated in the space above the splash prevention plate 21 in the cup 21 are constantly sucked from the upper exhaust port 21a, so they are less likely to remain after the spray operation is finished, and are not sprayed when the substrate is transported. The probability that residual droplets will adhere and cause development defects is reduced.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the spray developing device of the present invention,
It is possible to reduce the chances of the development waste liquid re-adhering to the substrate to be processed and the chance of splashes of the development waste adhering to the substrate to be processed during transportation, reducing development defects in the resist development process of semiconductor wafers and photomasks. It becomes possible to improve the quality of products.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a spray developing device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of injection of a developing solution, and FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a conventional spray developing device. In the figure, 21--Cup, 21a-Exhaust port, 21
b - Discharge port, 22-...i1212 degrees 23
- Substrate to be processed, 24 - Nozzle, 25 - Developer, 25' - Waste developer, θ... - Incident angle. ',F',,,'! -i in one S-I 2nd n

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A spray developing device that performs development processing by spraying a developing solution (25) onto a pattern-exposed photoresist on a substrate (23) while rotating the substrate, the device comprising: A nozzle (24) is installed on one side of the center of rotation of (23) to inject the developer (25) in a fan shape at an incident angle (θ) of 20 to 30 degrees from the upper rear in the direction of movement of the one side. a substantially cylindrical cup surrounding the substrate to be processed (23);
21) A spray developing device characterized in that an exhaust port (21a) is provided at the upper part of the side wall.