JPH02246319A - Developer and developing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively enable development free from development irregularity by constituting a developer tank of a rotary plate and a frame type body which surrounds the rotary plate and can move up and down, and performing development while the surface, of a substrate, to be developed is surrounded by the frame type body and rotated. CONSTITUTION:After resist is applied, a base member A exposed to light is arranged on a rotary plate 2; a frame type body 4 is made to ascend up to a position where the upper end surface 40 is situated higher than the thickness of the base member A; the body 4 is set in this state. Developer is supplied to the surface, to be developed, of the base member A; a developer tank B is constituted by the rotary plate 2 and the frame type body 4: the base member A is dipped in the developer C (intial stage of development): during the above period, the rotary plate 2 stands still or slowly rotates. After the above state is maintained for a suitable period, the rotary plate 2 is rotated at a high speed; at the same time, the frame type body 4 is made to descend up to a height lower than or equal to the thickness of the base member A; superfluous developer is removed by the effect of centrifugal force. Thereby the developer can be effectively used, and development free from development irregularity and excellent in resolution can be performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a developing device and a developing method used in a developing process when manufacturing photomasks, etching members, printed circuit boards, and the like.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, for photomasks, etching members, printed circuit boards, etc., a resist agent is applied to the base material, the resist agent is exposed in a predetermined pattern, the resist agent is developed to remove unnecessary resist agent, and then a rinsing process is performed. It is manufactured through an etching process.

Typical developing methods used in this manufacturing process include the immersion method and the spinner method. Developing is done by spraying a developing solution onto the base material (one method using a spinner). In the above-mentioned dipping method, the agitation is not uniform and unevenness tends to occur, and the resolution of the image is poor, making it unsuitable for microfabrication, so the spinner method is generally used these days.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the spinner method had some drawbacks. First, the amount of developer used is large. This uses the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the rotary plate on which the substrate is placed to supply the developer, so a considerable amount of developer is required to evenly develop the entire surface of the substrate to be developed. This is because The second problem is that uneven development is likely to occur. Although this is determined by the structure of the spray nozzle that supplies the developer, it has been difficult to achieve uniform development because the development speeds are generally different between the center and the periphery. Temperature control was also difficult. This is because, especially when a low boiling point developer is used, the heat of vaporization causes a rapid temperature drop, making it impossible to control the temperature of the developer. As a countermeasure to this problem, the rotary plate is operated idly to maintain the temperature of the chamber before work is performed, or the entire chamber is kept warm, but these methods have the disadvantage of reducing work efficiency and increasing the size of the apparatus. Furthermore, there is the problem of wetness.

This is because if the developer does not wet the photosensitive material, the degree of development tends to be influenced by the way the spray is applied, and unevenness tends to occur.

Therefore, it has been an issue to ensure that development can be performed reliably without causing these defects.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and includes a rotating plate on which a substrate having a surface to be developed is placed, which is disposed below a developer supply section. The developing device is characterized in that the rotary plate is provided with a vertically movable frame-like body arranged to surround the rotary plate and forming a developer tank together with the rotary plate. The present invention also provides a developing method, which comprises: supplying a developing solution into the enclosed interior with the surface of the substrate to be developed surrounded by a rod-shaped body, and developing while rotating the substrate and the frame-shaped body. This solves the above problem.

[For production]

In the present invention, a developer tank is formed by a rotary plate on which a substrate is placed and a rod-shaped body, and the base material is developed by an immersion method by pouring a developer into the developer tank, and the rotary plate is rotated. By doing so, the dripping developer spreads and the substrate can be developed using a spinner alone.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail based on an embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a developing device, and a rotary plate 2 of the developing device 1 is supported by a shaft 3 located at the bottom and rotationally driven by this shaft 3. A frame-shaped body 4 is arranged around the rotary plate 2 to tightly surround the rotary plate 2. The rod-shaped body 4 is attached to the rotary body 2 so as to be movable up and down, and when raised, the upper end surface 40 of the frame-shaped body 4 becomes larger than the thickness of the base material A placed on the rotary plate 2. The raised frame-like body 4 and the rotary plate 2 form a full-length developer tank B. Further, when necessary, that is, when rotating, the frame-shaped body 4 is provided so that it can be lowered and the developer can be scattered.

Development using the developing device 1 having the above structure is performed as follows. First, the base material A to be developed is placed on the rotary plate 2. Next, the frame-like body 4 is raised and set until its upper end surface 40 becomes higher than the thickness of the base material A. Then, the developing solution is uniformly showered onto the developing surface of the base material A from a developing solution supplying section (not shown), or the developing solution is supplied by overflowing the rod-shaped body 4 without direct contact. At this time, the rotary plate 2 and the rod-shaped body 4 constitute a developer tank B containing the developer C, and the substrate A is immersed in the developer C (initial stage of development). During this time, the rotary plate 2 is stationary or rotates at a low speed.

After maintaining the above state for an appropriate period of time, the rotary plate 2 is rotated at high speed (usually around 500 to 3000 rpm), and at the same time, the height of the frame 4 is lowered to below the thickness of the base material A.
Excess developer is removed by centrifugal force. Next, the rotation of the rotary plate 2 is maintained at an appropriate rotational speed as required, and rinsing is performed by supplying a rinsing liquid. Thereafter, the film is dried again by high-speed rotation, and when this drying is completed, the developing process and the rinsing process are completed. Then, the rotation is stopped and the base material A is removed.

Note that a temperature control device may be attached to the above-described embodiment, and by attaching this 4-degree control device, temperature control can be performed at the most important stage, and stable development can be obtained. In addition, the influence of vaporization can be avoided, and the atmosphere (temperature, vapor pressure, etc.) in the chamber can no longer be affected.

Furthermore, in order to improve the uniformity during dipping, a stirring action such as ultrasonic waves may be added.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, in a developing device in which a rotary plate on which a substrate having a surface to be developed is placed is disposed below a developer supply section, the rotary plate has Since a vertically movable frame body is arranged to surround the rotary plate and together with the rotary plate forms a developer tank, the immersion effect can be produced while the substrate is fixed in the initial stage of development. Furthermore, by adjusting the height of the frame, the amount of developer supplied can be adjusted to the size of the substrate, allowing efficient use of the developer. Then, once the development has progressed to some extent in the immersion state, it is easy to shift to rotation, and by this rotation, the resolution etc. become equivalent to that of the spinner method. On the other hand, even if wetness is poor or the developer is quick-acting and tends to cause unevenness in the conventional method, it can be adequately handled by supplying the developer without directly touching the substrate.

Furthermore, the developing solution was supplied into the enclosed area while the surface of the substrate to be developed was surrounded by a frame-like body, and the development was carried out while rotating the substrate and the frame-like body, so that the development progressed to some extent in the immersion state. Since the rotation is performed in stages, online processing is facilitated and the development process can be automated.

Even when used for developing a silver emulsion, it becomes possible to combine contrast adjustment (static development and stirring development) by adjusting the stirring state, and it becomes possible to freely control the contrast.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an immersed state in an embodiment of the developing device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the frame-like body is lowered in the same embodiment. l...Developing device 2...Rotating plate 4...Frame-shaped body A...Base material B...Developer tank C... ...Developer

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a developing device in which a rotary plate on which a substrate having a surface to be developed is placed is disposed oppositely below a developer supply section, the rotary plate is arranged so as to surround the rotary plate. A developing device characterized by being provided with a vertically movable frame-like body that forms a developer tank with the rotary plate. (2) A developing method characterized by supplying a developer into the enclosed area with the surface of the substrate to be developed surrounded by a frame-like body, and developing while rotating the substrate and the frame-like body.