JPH03124017A - Treatment and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent development of treatment irregularities and to enable high precision treatment by supplying treatment solution to a treatment object and allowing it to stay thereon, and by relatively heating and cooling a central part and a peripheral part of the treatment object to realize a uniform treatment temperature. CONSTITUTION:A wafer 1 which is a treatment object is mounted and fixed on a treatment device. A nozzle is provided above a central part of a circular part of a chuck 3 which is fixed to a rotating axis of a motor 2 and whose upper side is a circular supporting base. The nozzle is connected to a developing solution supply system 6 and a scanner 5 allows the nozzle to move freely, which is provided to retire it from above the chuck 3 to the outside position. A cup 13 is provided, surrounding the chuck 3 as a treatment container. A ultraviolet ray lamp 14 which is a heating means to keep a treatment temperature uniform is provided in a loop above a peripheral part S of a wafer 1 so that it can heat to compensate to a central part of the peripheral part S of the wafer 1. The ultraviolet ray lamp 14 heats the peripheral part S weakly during development to prevent occurance of development irregularities during development.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a processing method and a processing apparatus.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in the manufacturing process of semiconductor wafers, there has been a process of developing the wafer. That is, a resist is uniformly applied to the entire surface of a thin film such as Sin, film, or polysilicon formed on a wafer using a CVD or sputtering device, and a photoreaction is caused in the resist by shining light through a pattern called a mask. After that, a developer is used to perform the development process. As for the developer, there are two types: a positive type, which forms a pattern on the wafer by removing the resist that has become soluble in the developer due to a photodecomposition reaction in the exposed area, and a positive type, which forms a pattern on the wafer by removing the resist that has become soluble in the developer due to a photolysis reaction in the exposed area, and a positive type, in which the exposed area has undergone a crosslinking reaction and has become insoluble in the developer. There is a negative type that takes advantage of this fact and removes the unexposed portions of the resist to form a pattern. In addition, the developer supply method can be a dip type, a spray type in which a spray of liquid is discharged onto the wafer surface from a nozzle at the tip of the pipe of the developer supply system, or a spray type in which a spray type of liquid is discharged onto the wafer surface using the back side of the developer surface. There are paddle shapes that can be used to heat up the food. Current VLSIs require miniaturization of resist patterns, and as a resist, novolak resin-naphthoquinone diazide is used as a resist, which has excellent resolution and strong resistance to etching following lithography, and has good adhesion to the surface to be coated. Positive type resists such as are mainly used. These resists are decomposed by light irradiation and become soluble in alkaline aqueous solution.
An alkaline aqueous solution is used as the developer. As a developing device, a paddle type is the mainstream due to uneven development and device aspects.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, with the paddle type, it is important to quickly and uniformly apply the developer onto the resist film, control the temperature of the developer, and eliminate uneven development, and the development time and Liquid filling timing etc. must be adjusted to match the characteristics of the resist and developer. Furthermore, in the case of a positive type developer, since it is an aqueous solution, water evaporates during the development time and the heat of vaporization is taken away, resulting in a decrease in the temperature of the developer. At this time, there is a difference in the area exposed to the atmosphere between the center and the periphery of the wafer, resulting in different vaporization rates. Therefore, the temperature at the center and the periphery of the wafer becomes unrestricted. This temperature difference causes uneven development,
It has been very difficult to maintain a constant film thickness of the resist pattern.

The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and an object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus that eliminates processing unevenness caused by temperature differences in processing liquid during processing.

[Means to solve the problem] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a processing method.

When a processing liquid is supplied onto the object to be processed and treated, the object to be processed is relatively heated or cooled so that the processing temperature is uniform in the center and the periphery of the object.

In addition, the processing apparatus that realizes the above processing method is an apparatus that supplies and retains a processing liquid on the object to be processed, and has a relative position so that the processing temperature is uniform in the center and periphery of the object to be processed. It is equipped with means for heating or cooling.

[Function] Since a means is provided to offset the temperature drop that occurs in the periphery of the object to be processed, the entire surface of the object to be processed can be maintained at a uniform temperature, and uniform processing can be performed without causing processing unevenness. Can be done.

[Embodiment] An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a paddle type developer will be described with reference to the drawings.

A paddle-type developer, which is a processing device shown in FIG. 1, uses a vacuum suction or the like to place and fix a wafer 1, which is an object to be processed, on a chuck, which is a support base with a circular upper surface that is fixed to the rotating shaft of a motor 2. A nozzle 4 is provided above the circular center of 3. The nozzle 4 can perform dummy dispensing if necessary due to breaks in lots, etc. That is, nozzle 4
It is movable by a scanner 5 for retracting it from above the chuck 3 to an outside position. A developer supply system 6 to which this nozzle 4 is connected includes a filter container 10 and a pump 9, such as a bellows pump, which uniformly supplies a developer 8, which is a processing solution, stored in a developer storage container 7.
Valve 11. which is opened and closed in conjunction with. Apply developer 8 to nozzle 4
It is comprised of a suck-back valve 12 and the like to prevent the developer from dripping or solidifying. The developer supply system 6 is provided with a temperature adjustment mechanism (not shown), and is configured to adjust the temperature to an appropriate temperature depending on the type of developer and resist. Further, a cup 13 is provided surrounding the chuck 3 as a processing container in order to prevent the developer and cleaning solution from scattering to the outside of the apparatus when supplying the developer and cleaning the developer. The cup 13 is movable up and down, and when the wafer 1 is carried in by a transport mechanism (not shown), it is lowered from the position shown in the drawing.
The chuck 3 is exposed to facilitate loading and unloading of wafers.

An exhaust pipe or the like (not shown) is connected to the lower part of the cup 13. Furthermore, a far-infrared lamp 14, which is a means for heating the wafer 1 so that the processing temperature is uniform, is a feature of the present invention.
The wafer 1 is heated so as to compensate the peripheral part S of the wafer 1 with respect to the central part, and is preferably provided in an annular shape above the peripheral part S of the wafer 1 .

Next, the developing method will be explained.

When the wafer 1 is placed on the chuck 3 by a transport mechanism (not shown), the wafer 1 is attracted and supported by the chuck 3, and the cup 13 is raised as shown in FIG. A certain amount of the developer 8 is dropped from the nozzle 4 within, for example, 2 to 5 seconds, and is applied to the wafer 1 due to the surface tension of the developer 8 and stays on the pattern-exposed resist film R as shown in FIG. let At this time, if necessary, the motor 2 may be rotated at a very low speed (for example, 10 rpm) to rotate the wafer 1 so that the developer 8 is quickly spread over the wafer 1 and is not scattered due to surface tension. Apply developer 8 on wafer 1 for 30 to 120 seconds.
The image is left for 0 seconds to proceed with development. The development time is appropriately selected depending on the type and thickness of the resist film, the type of developer, and the temperature. For example, when using choline as a developer, choline can be developed in a very short time if it is developed at 50° to 60°, but uniform development cannot be achieved and control is difficult.

However, if the development is carried out at 30° C. for the above-mentioned time, uniform development can be achieved. During this development time, the far-infrared lamp 14 is activated to produce a very weak beam of light, heating the periphery S of the wafer 1 in a compensatory manner with respect to the center. By slightly heating the peripheral area S in this way, as shown in FIG. 3, during the development time of the wafer 1, a temperature decrease gradient C at the center of the wafer 1 occurs when the peripheral area is not heated. The difference from the temperature decrease gradient S1 of the peripheral portion S of the wafer 1 can be canceled out, and the same temperature decrease gradient C as that of the center portion of the wafer 1 can be maintained in the peripheral portion S as well. Therefore, by making the temperature uniform over the entire area of the wafer 1, uneven development does not occur.

The above description is one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto.In other words, the present invention is not limited to heating the peripheral area 9 of the wafer with a far-infrared lamp, but also maintaining the temperature of the entire surface of the wafer uniformly. As shown in FIG. 4, the chuck 3 that supports the wafer 1 is made large enough to be in contact with the entire back surface of the wafer, and a heater 15 is provided in the part that contacts the periphery to heat the periphery. Alternatively, a cooling device may be provided in the center to cool the center and attempt to make the temperature uniform over the entire surface of the wafer. Furthermore, it is preferable to seal the cup surrounding the wafer to prevent vaporization of the developer and prevent a temperature drop due to heat of vaporization, since the entire surface of the wafer can be maintained at a constant temperature.

In the above embodiment, the explanation was limited to the development processing apparatus, but
This includes, but is not limited to, resist coating equipment, cleaning equipment,
The present invention can be applied to a device such as a coater that processes a liquid applied to a wafer surface at a desired temperature or at a uniform temperature.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the processing method and processing apparatus of the present invention, the processing object can be heated to a desired temperature by providing a means for canceling out the temperature non-uniformity occurring in the center and the periphery. , the entire surface of the object to be processed can be maintained at a uniform temperature, and uneven processing will not occur. Therefore, highly accurate processing is possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams explaining the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the main parts of another embodiment. be. (Heating or cooling means) 15... Heater (heating or cooling means) S...
...Peripheral part R...Resist film

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When processing the processing liquid by supplying and staying on the processing object, relatively heating or A processing method characterized by cooling. 2. An apparatus for processing an object by supplying and leaving a processing liquid on the object to be processed, comprising a means for relatively heating or cooling the object so that the processing temperature is uniform in the center and periphery of the object. A processing device characterized by: