JPH0311617A - Treating method of substance to be treated - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the concentration of a treatment solution uniform substantially and thereby to enable execution of stable treatment without being affected by the concentration by a method wherein the treatment solution filled up in supply tanks is detected and registered for setting in sequence and is supplied in sequence from the supply tanks. CONSTITUTION:A vessel mechanism 3 placed on a holdup tank, a supply means 4 for supplying a developer to the holdup tank and a control means 5 for controlling the vessel mechanism 3 and the supply means 4 are provided. The supply means 4 comprises a pressing mechanism 7 for applying a pressure to a liquid surface in at least three canisters 6 wherein the developer is held on standby and a detecting mechanism 8 detecting that a treatment solution is filled up in the canisters 6. When the developer is filled up in each of the canisters 6, the time when the developer is filled up is registered for setting in the sequence of filling up, and the developer is supplied to a wafer from the canister in the sequence of registration for setting. According to this constitution, the time of staying in the canisters becomes equal substantially, the developer having stayed equally substantially in this way is supplied to the wafer, and thus execution of stable developing treatment is enabled.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Purpose of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a method for treating an object to be treated.

(Prior Art) In the manufacturing process of semiconductor wafers, there is a process of developing a photoresist film. In this step, after exposing a wafer on which a resist film has been formed, the wafer is transported to a developer tank in a processing chamber of a chip developer, and is developed in the developer tank.

As shown in FIG. 7, the method of supplying the developer to the processing chamber, for example, the container mechanism (g), involves the step of supplying the developer to the container mechanism α) using a plurality of canisters
becomes empty one after another. At this time, it is necessary to fill the canisters (1) with developer in the order in which they are emptied. Normally, when filling the developer into the empty canister (■) above, the operator checks the supply tank each time.
If the empty canisters found are empty in the order of ■, for example, the second canister (2b), the first canister (2a), and the third canister (2c), fill them with developer in this order. .

However, supplies such as the first canister (2a), the second canister (2b), and the third canister (2b) that supply the developer to the container mechanism (2) in which the wafer is disposed, for example,
c) It is set in advance so that the processing liquids are supplied in order.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional processing method, the operator may not supply the canisters according to the order in which they are filled with the developer, so the concentration of the developer may vary depending on the residence time. When developing with developer solutions of different concentrations, it was difficult to achieve a constant and stable development process.

In addition, since the surface of the developer filled in multiple canisters is all pressurized, when the pressurized gas melts into the developer and performs the development process, bubbles are generated from the pressurized gas that penetrates the solution. Therefore, in the present invention, a plurality of supply tanks are provided, the processing liquid is filled in the supply tanks, and the processing liquid is supplied from the supply tanks to the processing chamber to process the object to be processed. At this time, the processing liquid filled in the supply tank is detected, the times of detection are registered in the order of settings, and the processing liquid is supplied from the supply tank in the order in which the settings are registered.

In addition, a plurality of supply tanks are provided, and when the processing liquid filled in the supply tank is pressurized and supplied to the processing chamber, the pressure in the supply tank is reduced during the period among the plurality of supply tanks. It is characterized by the fact that

(Effects) That is, in the present invention, the processing liquid is supplied to the processing chamber from the supply tanks in the order in which the processing liquid is filled into the supply tanks, so the processing liquid supplied to the processing chamber remains in the supply tank for a certain period of time. The processing liquids are sequentially supplied to the processing chamber.

Therefore, since the concentration of the processing liquid is approximately constant, stable processing is possible without being affected by the concentration.

Moreover, since the pressure inside the supply tank is reduced at certain times among the plurality of supply tanks, it is possible to reduce the amount of pressurized gas dissolved into the processing liquid.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example in which the method of the present invention is applied to a development process in a semiconductor manufacturing process will be described with reference to the drawings.

The apparatus for the above-mentioned development processing, for example, the depth developer,
As shown in the figure, an object to be processed, such as a wafer (not shown), is transported by a transport means, such as a transport belt (not shown) stretched between pulleys, and a wafer chuck (not shown). ) Container mechanism (3) placed on the retention tank via
, a supply means for supplying the developing solution to the reservoir tank), and a control means 0 for controlling the container mechanism (1) and the supply means (1).

The supply means (a) is a pressurizing mechanism (i) that pressurizes the liquid level in at least three canisters that supply the developer.
and a detection mechanism (8) for detecting that the canister 0 is filled with the processing liquid.

As shown in FIG. 2, the above-mentioned container mechanism
Temporarily fix the back side of the wafer, such as a wafer chuck (
10) A cylindrical cup (11) with a bottom is provided coaxially with the shaft so as to surround it.

Furthermore, the inside of the cup (11) and the wafer chuck (
10) A donut-shaped upper cup (12) is provided coaxially with the wafer chuck (10) axis between the outer sides.

An inner cup (14) forming a developer tank (13) is provided below the upper cup (12).

Further, an introduction path (15) through which a developer flows into the developer tank (13) is formed on the upper surface of the upper cup (12).

This introduction path (15) connects the supply pipe (16) to the supply means.
It is communicated with.

The other end of this supply pipe (16) is connected to the detection mechanism 0. As shown in FIG. 3, this detection mechanism 0 is divided into at least three supply paths, for example, a first supply path (17), a second supply path (18), and a third supply path (19).

The first supply path (17) is branched from the supply pipe (16) and includes a first supply air-operated valve (20a) and a first buffer tank (22a) having a first detection sensor (21a).
The first canister (6a) is connected to the first canister (6a) via the first canister (6a).

Here, when the developer in the first canister (6a) flows into the first buffer tank (22a), the first detection sensor (21a) is configured to detect the developer.

Further, an exhaust passage (24) having a manual valve (23) is provided to discharge unnecessary gas accumulated in the buffer tank (22), for example, the first buffer tank (22a).

The above supply path (17, 18, 19) is the first supply path (17)
Although we have only described the configuration for the other two systems, the explanations are omitted since the other two systems are the same.

In order to supply the developer filled in canister 0, for example, the second canister (6a) of the supply path (17, 18, 19) to the container mechanism (3), the developer solution surface is pressurized. There is a need.

The pressure mechanism ■ that pressurizes this developer is in each canister 0.
It is set in.

As shown in FIG. 4, this pressurizing mechanism (2) is piped so that a pressurized gas, for example, N2 gas, pressurizes the inside of the canister 0, for example, the first canister (6a). Also,
2nd canister (6b), 3rd canister (6c)
are similarly piped.

This piping route includes a canister 0 that passes through the piping path.
, for example, a regulator (25) that adjusts the gas pressure introduced into the second canister (6b), and a pressurizing air operated valve (26) that shuts off or opens the introduction of gas based on a command from the control means 0. It is installed in the piping route.

Further, the pressure mechanism (2) is provided with at least three canisters 0, and the developer is supplied from one canister (for example, the first canister (6a)) to the container mechanism (2). When the other canister 0, e.g.
Since it is unnecessary to pressurize the liquid level while the canister (6a) and the third canister (6c) are supplying, the pressure is reduced.

As shown in FIG.
It is composed of a controller (5b) that controls each driving part in response to a command signal from the pu (5a), and a solenoid valve (5c) that opens and closes an air-operated valve or the like using pneumatic pressure using the controller (5b).

The CPU (5a) is programmed to time-register the detection signal detected by the detection sensor (21) in advance, and supply the developer to the canister (0) in the order in which the settings are registered.

Next, the operation will be explained. As shown in Figure 1, first,
After opening the manual valves (23a, 23b, 23c) provided in each buffer tank (22a, 22b, 22C) and discharging unnecessary gas etc. accumulated in the buffer tank (22), open the manual valve. Close.

The canisters (6a, 6b, 6c) are selected in random order, for example, the second canister (6b), the first canister (6a), and the third canister (6c) are selected in random order and filled with developer. do.

Second detection sensor (21b), first detection sensor (2
1a) The third detection sensor (21c) detects in order.

The detected detection signal is sent to the second canister (6b) at the detected time according to a pre-stored program.
The settings are registered in the order of the first canister (6a) and the third canister (6c).

From this state, the operating switch of the depth developer is turned on.

The detection mechanism (8) checks whether a detection signal is input from each detection sensor (21). As a result of this confirmation,
If there is no change in the detection signal, it is assumed that there is no developer in all the canisters, and an alarm is displayed to notify the operator. Next, if there is a change in the detection signal, the canister that has emitted the input signal - 0, for example, the first
Determine whether the canister (6a) is full or empty. This first
If the canister (6a) is full, set the first supply air operated valve (20a) according to the priority order, that is, to supply the developer from the first canister (6a).
Open.

If the first canister (6a) is empty, it is determined whether the next canister, for example, the third canister (6C), is full or empty.

If the third canister (6c) is full, the priority order is reset.

That is, the third supply air operated valve (20c) is opened so that the developer is supplied from the third canister (6c).

During this time, if you fill the already empty canister 0 with developer, all the canisters will not be filled.
The signal is supplied from the canister that received the input change signal from the detection sensor (21).

In this way, when each canister 0 is filled with developer,
The filling times are set and registered in the order in which they were filled, and developer is supplied to the wafer from the canisters in the order in which they are filled, so the time spent in the canisters becomes approximately equal. The accumulated developer is supplied to the wafer, allowing stable development processing.

Also, while one canister is supplying wafers, the other canisters are waiting, but during this waiting period, the other canisters are not pressurized, so N2 gas is used for developing. It also becomes possible to reduce the amount dissolved in the liquid.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a depth developer for explaining one embodiment of the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a container mechanism for explaining a developer tank for developing the wafer of FIG. 1, 3 is an explanatory diagram of a detection mechanism for explaining the means for detecting the developer filled in the canister of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a mechanism for pressurizing the inside of the canister of FIG. 1. An explanatory diagram of the pressurizing mechanism. FIG. 5 is a control section explanatory diagram for explaining the control section of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional depth developer. 1.3 Container mechanism 2.6 Canister 4 supply means 5 Control means 7 Pressure mechanism 8 Detection mechanism 1] 13 Developer tank 16 Supply pipe 17 First supply path 18 Second supply path I9 Third supply path 20 For supply Air operated valve 21 Detection sensor 22 Buffer tank 23
manual valve 2

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Provide a plurality of supply tanks, fill the supply tank with a processing liquid, supply the processing liquid from the supply tank to the processing chamber, and process the processing liquid filled in the supply tank when processing the object to be processed. A method for processing an object to be processed, characterized in that the liquid is detected, the times of detection are registered in order, and the processing liquid is supplied from supply tanks in the order in which the settings are registered. (2) A plurality of supply tanks are provided, and when the processing liquid filled in the supply tank is pressurized and supplied to the processing chamber, the pressure inside the waiting supply tank among the plurality of supply tanks is reduced. A method for processing an object to be processed, characterized in that: