JPH02194618A - Processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent contamination of environment and decrease in safety by providing a constitution wherein the sidewall of an abutment member by which a wall member can be inserted into the inside always overlapped with the sidewall of a processing container in a contact state or in a noncontact state. CONSTITUTION:A spin chuck 22 which is used when a treated body, e.g. a semiconductor wafer 21, is transferred and when it is rotated and processed is provided. The upper part of the chuck 22 has a planar shape whose area is smaller than the diameter of the wafer 21, and the cross section is formed in a T shape. A sucking and holding mechanism is provided at the upper end part, and a spin motor 23 is provided at the lower end part. The chuck 22 and the motor 23 can be lifted and lowered. A processing container is formed so that the chuck 22 is made to pass through the central part. The processing container comprises a ring shaped inner cup 24 and a lower cup 25. A chuck ring 26 which holds the peripheral part of the rear surface of the wafer 21 is provided at the upper end of the cup 24. A rear surface cleaning nozzle 28 and a pre-wet nozzle 29 are arranged at the inside of the ring 26. The inner cup 24 can be brought into contact with an abutment member, e.g. an outer cup 38, which is fixed at the upper part.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a processing device.

(Prior Art) In general, in the pattern forming process of semiconductor integrated circuits, process 1, in which the entire surface of the object to be processed, such as a semiconductor wafer, is uniformly coated, for example, as a developing device for a photoresist film, unmanned processes, continuous processing, etc. From this point of view, single-wafer type spin developing apparatuses are used that process wafers one by one.

In this single-wafer type spin developing device, the developer is usually dropped onto the wafer surface using a liquid discharge nozzle or a sprayer, but the amount of liquid that can be deposited on the wafer surface is limited by the action of surface tension. There is a limit, and if the liquid is discharged using five nozzles or a spray, it is impossible to prevent liquid unevenness on the wafer surface and impact of the discharged liquid on the wafer.

Additionally, developing solutions that have come into use in recent years tend to contain surfactants or solutions with low surface tension in order to improve resolution. Since it has become difficult to fill up the required amount of developer, an immersion type developing device has been desired.

FIG. 5 shows an apparatus that takes the above points into consideration.

This is done by holding the periphery of the back surface of the wafer (3) with an annular chuck (2) provided on the annular inner cup (2), and then lifting the inner cup and attaching it to the circular surface of the annular outer cup (A). A processing tank 0 is formed by bringing the outer edge of the chuck (2) into contact with the sealing member 0 that is attached.

Then, by supplying a developer to this processing tank 0, the wafer 1 is subjected to immersion development processing. After this treatment, the inner cup ② is lowered and the waste liquid from the treatment tank 0 is drained into the chaff 9.
0 Discharge downward from the periphery.

Here, the discharged waste liquid is discharged to the outside from a drain pipe (to) at the bottom of the lower cup (2) connected to the lower part of the inner cup (ω). Then, the wafer (2) is transferred to a spin chuck 0 inserted through the center of the inner cup (2), and the wafer (2) is rotated by a motor (10) to be cleaned and dried. At this time, the scattered developer or cleaning solution
The liquid is discharged to the outside from the drain pipe via the inner wall of the outer cup and the inner wall of the lower cup. At this time, in order to prevent the mist-like developer or cleaning solution scattered from the wafer (■) from flowing out by rotating the wafer (2), the inner surface of the side wall of the lower cup (■) and the outer periphery of the outer cup (to) The cylindrical upper cup (11), which can be moved up and down without contact, is raised to maintain the side wall of the device at a high position.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the above conventional technology, the upper cup (11) is
Processing is performed with the temperature raised.

When this upper cup (11) is raised, this upper cup (
11) The overlapping area between the side wall and the lower cup (11) side wall becomes smaller, and as a result, the mist flows out from the gap between the upper cup (11) side wall and the lower cup (11) side wall, and this mist flows out to the outside. It has become difficult to prevent the leakage of When this mist leaks outside, it causes environmental pollution.In particular, since semiconductor wafer manufacturing equipment is used in a clean room, it can lead to contamination of the clean room and the equipment installed in the clean room, reducing the yield of wafers. There was a problem that caused the .

Furthermore, since the developer is flammable, it is extremely dangerous to leak it outside, resulting in poor safety.

The present invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a processing device that is capable of preventing environmental pollution and deterioration of safety by preventing mist from flowing out of the device. It is something.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a processing container having an installation stand for an object to be processed, a contact body that comes into contact with the processing container to form a processing section by moving up and down relative to the processing container, and a A side wall of the processing container is provided with a wall that can be raised and lowered and is provided to prevent the processing liquid from scattering from the container to the surroundings, and that allows the wall to be inserted into the processing container. The present invention provides a processing device characterized in that the processing devices are configured such that they always overlap in a non-contact state.

(Operations and Effects) That is, 1 the present invention provides a processing container having a stand for placing an object to be processed, a contact body that comes into contact with the processing container to form a processing section by moving up and down relative to the processing container, and a A wall body provided to prevent the processing liquid from scattering to the surroundings and which can be raised and lowered, and a side wall of the abutting body that allows the wall body to be inserted into the interior thereof, and a side wall of the processing container are brought into contact or non-contact with each other. Since the processing container side wall and the abutting body side wall always overlap with each other in contact or non-contact state, no matter where the wall body is located, the processing liquid from the processing container is Splashing can be performed more reliably. Therefore, it is possible to suppress environmental pollution and improve safety.

(Example) An example in which the apparatus of the present invention is applied to a development process of a semiconductor wafer will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of the developing device will be explained.

A holder, such as a spin chuck (22), which is used as appropriate when transporting and rotating a processed object, such as a semiconductor wafer (21), is provided. This spin chuck (22) has a flat plate shape with an upper end having an area smaller than the diameter of the wafer (21) and a T-shaped cross section.
A holding mechanism such as a suction holding mechanism (not shown) is provided at the upper end of the flat plate to hold the wafer (21) from the back side.

Further, the spin chuck (22) is connected to a rotation drive mechanism, for example, a spin motor (23) at its lower end, and is thereby capable of rotating at a predetermined rotation speed and acceleration.

This spin chuck (22) and spin motor (23)
can be raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism (not shown), such as an air cylinder. This lifting and lowering causes the above wafer (
21) is a transfer position for passing the wafer (21) to an external device, a rotation processing position for holding and rotating the wafer (21), and a support body for passing the wafer (21) to a support described later. The spin chucks (22) can be installed at standby positions where they are not in contact with the wafer (21).

In addition, a processing container is constructed in which the spin chuck (22) is passed through approximately the center thereof, and this processing container includes an annular inner cup (24) and a lower part connected to the lower part of the inner cup (24). It consists of a cup (25). At the upper end of the inner cup (24), a mounting table, for example, an annular chuck ring (26), is provided to hold and install the peripheral edge of the back surface of the wafer (21).

This chuck ring (26) is made of a material with good thermal conductivity, such as metal, coated with a hydroplastic material such as tetrafluoride resin, and has a tapered outer peripheral portion. A groove (27) for suctioning and holding the wafer (21) is formed on the upper surface of the chuck ring (26), and a vacuum mechanism (not shown) is connected to this groove (27), and the wafer (21) is
21) can be maintained. This chuck ring (
A back cleaning nozzle (28) and a pre-wet nozzle (29) are arranged inside the back cleaning nozzle (28).
) enables cleaning by supplying a cleaning liquid such as pure water to the back side of the wafer (2I), and a pre-wet nozzle (29)
is the chuck ring (26) by supplying the processing liquid.
This makes it possible to remove cleaning liquid etc. remaining on the surface. Inside the inner cup (24), for example, the chuck ring (26)
) A temperature control mechanism, for example, a flow path (30) through which temperature-controlled water whose temperature is controlled to a predetermined temperature flows, is formed. At the bottom of such an inner cup (24), the above-mentioned lower cup (25) is placed.
) are permanently connected. The vicinity of the side wall of the lower cup (25) has a downwardly projecting shape, and a waste liquid groove (31) for collecting waste liquid is formed inside this projecting part. Further, inside the lower cup (25), there is provided an annular partition ring (32) in which a plurality of rectifying holes (not shown) are formed for uniform exhaustion. An exhaust port (not shown) is provided at the bottom of the inner cup (24) inside the partition ring (32) to enable exhaust.

Such a lower cup (25) is connected to the inner cup (24). Additionally, an exhaust leak prevention plate (33) is installed in the space to prevent the exhaust gas from leaking to the outside from the space of the spin chuck (22) and the inner cup (24).
is provided. This exhaust leak prevention plate (33
A lifting plate (34) is fixed to the lower end of ) with screws (35), etc., and this lifting plate (34) is connected to a lifting mechanism (not shown), such as a shaft (36) connected to an air cylinder. However, the inner cup (24) and the lower cup (25) can be moved up and down as one unit. Here, the exhaust leak prevention plate (33) is attached to the height adjustment screw (37).
), thereby making it possible to adjust the height of the inner cup (24) and the levelness with respect to the wafer (21). Inner cup like this (24)
is a contact body fixed above, for example, an outer cup (38
) and can come into contact with it.

The outer cup (38) elutes due to adhesion of the processing liquid.

In order to prevent corrosion, it is made of resin such as fluororesin or PVC and is formed into an annular shape. This annular outer cup (3
8) has an inverted tapered shape corresponding to the shape of the upper end of the periphery of the inner cup (24), and
), it forms a side wall of a processing section, such as a processing tank (39), in which the wafer (21) is processed. In order to maintain liquid tightness of this processing tank (39), the inner cup (24) of the outer cup (38) is
) A sealing member (4o) made of an elastic material such as nitrile rubber or fluororesin is provided at the contact portion. On the inner wall of the outer cup (38) above the sealing member (4o), that is, on the side wall of the processing tank (39), processing liquid, for example, developer supply holes (41) are provided at approximately equal intervals along the inner wall of the outer cup (38). Multiple pieces are formed. This developer supply hole (41
) is connected to an external developer supply source (not shown), so that a predetermined amount of developer can be supplied into the processing tank (39). In order to maintain the developer supplied from the developer supply hole (41) into the processing tank (39) at a predetermined temperature, the outer cup (38) is provided with a temperature control mechanism, such as the outer cup (38).
A temperature control mechanism is provided in which temperature-controlled water whose temperature is controlled to a predetermined temperature by an external temperature controller circulates through a flow path (42) formed inside. In addition, the above outer cup (38)
An annular skirt ring (43) constituting the outer cup (38) is provided on the outer periphery of the lower surface of the cup to protrude downward. This skirt ring (43) has a double ring structure and has an inner ring (43a) and an outer ring (43b). The upper end of this inner ring (43a) is connected to the outer cup (38), and the outer ring (43b) is arranged in parallel with the inner ring (43a) with a slight gap. and inner ring (43a)
The lower ends of each are sealed. The upper end of the outer ring (43b) is connected to the base plate (44), for example.
) is attached and fixed. This fixes the outer cup (38). A wall body such as an upper cup (45) is provided which can be inserted into the skirt ring (43) having such a structure, that is, between the inner ring (43a) and the outer ring (43b). This upper cup (
45) has a cylindrical structure to prevent the processing liquid etc. from scattering from the processing container to the surroundings.

It can be raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism (not shown). Further, the outer surface of the skirt ring (43) and the inner surface of the side wall of the processing container, that is, the inner surface of the lower cup (25) side wall, are always sufficiently overlapped with each other in contact or non-contact state, and can be moved up and down relative to each other. has been done.

This prevents the internal processing liquid and the like from flowing out. The developing device is configured in this way.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned developing device and the method of developing the wafer ω will be explained.

First, the spin chuck (22) and the spin motor (23)
) is raised by a lifting mechanism (not shown), and the upper surface of the spin chuck (22) is set at the transport position.

This transfer position is a position where the wafer (21) is transferred between the spin chuck (22) and an external device.
It is located higher than the top surface. At this time, the inner cup (2
4) and the lower cup (25) and upper cup (45) fixed to the inner cup (24) are kept in a lowered state, and the wafer (21) is The above spin chuck (2
2) Transfer the wafer upward, and with the rotation center of this spin chuck (22) and the rotation center of the wafer (21) aligned,
A wafer (21) is placed on the upper surface of the spin chuck (22), and the wafer (21) is held, for example, by suction (
Figure 2).

Then, the spin chuck (22) and the spin motor (23) are lowered and the wafer (21) is set at the rotation processing position (Fig. 3). At the position where the wafer (21) is rotated, the extended surface of the wafer (21) intersects with the inversely tapered inner wall surface of the outer cup (38).

At this time, the above inner cup (24) and this inner cup (24
) is kept in a lowered state, and the upper cup (45) is raised. Then, the wafer (21) is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed by the spin motor (23) via the spin chuck (22), and a developer is sprayed from a spray (not shown) placed above the wafer (21). The wafer (2I) is pre-wetted by jetting it. At the same time, the developer is flowed out from the pre-wet nozzle (29), and the developer removes moisture such as the rinse liquid present on the surface of the chuck ring (26) and replaces it with the developer.

Then, by raising the inner cup (24) and the lower cup (25) fixed thereto by a lift mechanism (not shown), the wafer (21) installed on the spin chuck (22) is lifted up by the chuck ring ( 26) Uke is passed on. Moreover, the inner cup (24) further rises to meet the tapered peripheral edge of the chuck ring (26) and the seal member (
40) are brought into contact with each other to form a liquid-tight processing tank (39).

Inner cup (24) to make this treatment tank (39) liquid-tight
In order to bring the cup into contact with the outer cup (38), the height of the outer cup (38) is adjusted using a height adjustment screw (not shown) provided on the base plate (44).

Also, the wafer (
21) is attracted and held by a vacuum mechanism connected to the groove (27). At this time, the upper cup (45) is kept raised.

Then, a predetermined amount of developer (46) is supplied from a plurality of developer supply holes (41) provided on the inner periphery of the outer cup (38).
the above treatment tank (39) at a rate of, for example, 3 to 6 Q/min.
(Fig. 4). With this, the rewafer (
21) A developer (46) is stored on the surface of the wafer (21).
) immersion type development processing is performed. At this time, the developer supplied from the developer supply hole (41) is as follows.

A channel (42) formed inside the outer cup (38)
) is circulated at a predetermined temperature, for example, room temperature, so that the wafer (21) is brought to the above room temperature.
Supplied to the surface. This prevents uneven development of the wafer (21) and makes it possible to perform uniform development processing.

After a predetermined time has elapsed, by lowering the inner cup (24), the holding of the wafer (21) is switched from the chuck ring (26) to the spin chuck (22), and the wafer (21) is set at the rotation processing position. In the case of (FIG. 3), the upper cup (45) is also kept in an elevated state. At this time, the developing waste liquid stored on the surface of the wafer (21), that is, the developing solution stored in the processing tank (39) and used for the developing process, is removed by the inner cup (24) being lowered, and the developing solution being stored in the processing tank (39).
When the liquid tightness is released, open the tapered inner cup (2
4) Waste liquid groove (31) in the lower cup (25) along the outer periphery
will be promptly removed. Here, the above spin motor (
23), the wafer (
21) at a predetermined rotational speed, and in this rotating state, a rinsing liquid such as pure water is supplied from a rinse nozzle (not shown) disposed above the wafer (21) to clean the wafer (21).
)Clean the surface. At the same time, a cleaning liquid is supplied to the periphery of the back surface of the wafer (21) from the back surface cleaning nozzle (28) provided on the inner periphery of the inner cup (24) to
21) Clean the back side. Here, use this back cleaning nozzle (
The cleaning liquid supplied from 28) passes between the back surface of the wafer (21) and the surface of the chuck ring (26),
After cleaning the back side of the wafer (21), a waste liquid groove (3I) is formed along the tapered outer periphery of the inner cup (24).
and is discharged to the outside. In this case, in order to simultaneously remove the cleaning liquid adhering to the surface of the chuck ring (26), the rotated wafer (21) and the chuck ring (26) are removed at the same time.
The gap 26) is set to, for example, 0.5 to 2 mm, and the cleaning liquid is removed by the airflow generated by the rotation of the wafer (21).

Then, the wafer (21) is rotated at a higher speed, and the rinsing liquid and cleaning liquid adhering to the front and back surfaces of the wafer (21) are scattered by the centrifugal force of the wafer (21) and dried. Also, during each operation, the partition ring (
32), the exhaust is controlled from an exhaust port (not shown).

Collection of waste liquid after the above-mentioned immersion type development process, and recovery of developer solution, rinsing liquid, and cleaning liquid after rotation process.

The lower cup (2
5) is collected into the waste liquid groove (31), and a part of this collected liquid becomes a mist. However, since the skirt ring (43) and the side wall of the processing container always overlap sufficiently, it is possible to prevent the flow from flowing through this gap.Furthermore, the upper cup (45) is a skirt ring whose lower end is sealed. (43) This upper cup (
45) is not affected by the elevation.

After the above series of operations are completed, the spin chuck (2
2) and the spin motor (23) are raised to set the wafer (21) at the transfer position, and the wafer (21) is transferred to an external device.

In the above embodiment, the outer cup (38) is fixed and the inner cup (24) is movable up and down, but any cup may be used as long as it can be moved up and down relative to each other.

In addition, although the above-mentioned processing vessel side wall and contact body side wall are explained only in a state where they overlap in a contact or non-contact state, even if a slidable sealing mechanism such as an O-ring or a magnetic fluid seal is used in that part, even more reliability can be achieved. Can perform high seals.

Further, in the above embodiments, an example of a semiconductor wafer was explained as the object to be processed, but the object is not limited to this. For example, the same effect can be obtained with an LCD board, a printed circuit board, etc. used in a screen display device such as a liquid crystal TV. It will be done.

As described above, according to this embodiment, there is provided a processing container having an installation stand for the object to be processed, a contact body that comes into contact with the processing container to form a processing section by moving up and down relative to the processing container, and the processing container A wall body that can be raised and lowered to prevent the processing liquid from scattering to the surroundings, and a side wall of the abutment body into which the wall body can be inserted and a side wall of the processing container are in contact with or not in contact with each other. By configuring so that they always overlap in a contact state, the processing container side wall and the abutting body side wall always overlap in a contact or non-contact state, regardless of the position of the wall body, so that the processing liquid from the processing container can be dispersed more reliably. Therefore, it is possible to suppress environmental pollution and improve safety.

Further, since the processing liquid supply hole is provided in the fixed outer cup, the piping thereof can also be fixed, improving durability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a developing device for explaining one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are operational explanatory diagrams of the developing device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a conventional one. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a developing device. 21... Wafer 22... Spin chuck 24... Inner cup 25... Lower cup 26.
... Chuck ring 38 ... Outer cup 43 ... Skirt ring 45 ... Upper cup patent applicant Tokyo Electron Co., Ltd. Chill Kyushu Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A processing container having a stand for installing an object to be processed, a contacting body that comes into contact with the processing container to form a processing section by moving up and down relative to the processing container, and a contacting body that prevents processing liquid from scattering to the surroundings from the processing container. A wall body that can be raised and lowered as shown in FIG. processing equipment.