JPH03181118A - Developing device for semiconductor wafer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent developer or rinse liquid from adhering to the upside of a wafer or liquid from dropping irregularly from a supply nozzle by holding the semiconductor wafer with the face to be treated down in the developing treatment. CONSTITUTION:A chuck 36 sucks and holds horizontally a semiconductor 37 with the treatment face 37a down, and is driven to move vertically or rotate by driving mechanisms 31 and 34. A control body 23 is arranged in opposition under chuck 36, and a developer supply nozzle 26 and rinse liquid supply nozzle 27 are provided to pierce the control body and come out on the surface, and the developer is controlled properly by the temperature regulated water in space 23. The wafer 37 is driven to the specified interval to the upside of the control body 23, and is developed by the developer and the rinse liquid, but since the treatment face of the wafer 37 is downward, the liquid never turns behind the upside, and also the liquid can be prevented from dropping carelessly to the treatment face from the nozzle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) This invention relates to a developing device for developing a circuit pattern on a semiconductor wafer.

(Prior Art) Photoetching is known as a means for forming circuit patterns on semiconductor wafers. In this photoetching, a photoresist is applied to a predetermined portion of a semiconductor wafer, and then the photoresist is printed through a photomask and developed to form the circuit pattern.

Conventionally, a developing device used for such photoetching has been constructed as shown in FIG.

That is, numeral 1 in the figure is a cup having an open top and a pair of waste liquid ducts 1a connected to the bottom. A guide body 2 is provided below the bottom of the cup 1 along the vertical direction. A slider 3 is slidably provided on the guide body 2, and the slider 3 is driven by a first motor 4 provided at one end of the guide body 2.

One side of an L-shaped bracket 5 is fixed to the slider 3. A second motor 6 is attached to the other horizontal side of the bracket 5.

A rotating shaft 7 of the second motor 6 projects inward from a through hole 8 formed in the bottom of the cup 1, and a chuck 9 is attached to the projecting end with the top surface horizontal. A semiconductor wafer 11 to be developed is horizontally attracted and held on the upper surface of this chuck 9.

Above the cup 1 facing the upper surface of the chuck 9, a developer supply nozzle 12 and a rinse solution supply nozzle 13 are arranged with their tip openings facing each other.

These nozzles 12 and 13 are connected to a developing solution supply source and a rinsing solution supply source (not shown), respectively, so that these solutions can be appropriately supplied to the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 11. .

In the developing device having such a configuration, the semiconductor wafer 11
To perform the development process, first, the semiconductor wafer 11 is suctioned and held on the chuck 9, and then a developer is supplied onto the semiconductor wafer 11 from the developer supply nozzle 12, and the development process is performed for a predetermined period of time. Next, the second motor 6 is operated to rotate the chuck 9, and the rinse supply nozzle 1 is rotated.
A rinsing liquid is supplied from step 3 to clean the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 11.

After cleaning with the rinsing liquid for a predetermined period of time, the chuck 9 is rotated while the supply of the rinsing liquid is stopped, thereby drying the semiconductor wafer 11.

By the way, in such a development process, since the developing solution and the rinsing solution are supplied to the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 11, these solutions inevitably flow to the lower surface of the semiconductor wafer 11 and stain the lower surface. Further, the developer supply nozzle 12 and the rinse solution supply nozzle 13 are connected to the chuck 9.
These nozzles 12.13
For example, a developing solution or a rinsing solution may inadvertently drip onto the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 11 during the drying process.

Furthermore, the rinsing liquid scattered around during drying after rinsing collides with the inner surface of the cup 1 and tends to bounce onto the upper surface of the semiconductor wafer 11, so that the drying process may not be carried out well.

(Means and effects for solving the problem) As described above, in the conventional developing device, the semiconductor wafer was held by suction on the chuck so that the surface to be developed was facing upward, but the lower surface of the semiconductor wafer was Not only can the developer and rinse solution get passed around, but the solution can also drip onto the top surface of the semiconductor wafer being dried from the developer supply nozzle and rinse solution supply nozzle placed above the chuck. During drying, the rinsing liquid sometimes splashed onto the top surface of the semiconductor wafer 1.

This invention was made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent the developer and rinsing liquid from flowing around to the surface of the semiconductor wafer opposite to the surface to be processed. A developing processing device that prevents liquid from accidentally dripping from the supply nozzle of the developing solution or rinsing liquid onto the surface of the semiconductor wafer, and also prevents the rinsing liquid that splashes during the drying process from adhering to the processing surface of the semiconductor wafer. It is about providing.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a rotatable device that horizontally attracts and holds a semiconductor wafer with the surface to be processed of the semiconductor wafer facing downward. A chuck, a drive mechanism for vertically driving and rotating the chuck, a control body disposed facing below the chuck, and a developer supply nozzle and a rinsing liquid provided in communication with the upper surface of the control body. A supply nozzle, and a control means provided on the control body to control the temperature of the developer supplied from the developer supply nozzle.

With this configuration, development processing is performed on the processing surface of the semiconductor wafer with the processing surface facing downward, so that the developer and rinse solution are not applied to the surface opposite to the processing surface. There is no looping around, and there is no possibility that the liquid will accidentally drip from each nozzle onto the surface to be treated, and the rinsing liquid will not splash back during drying.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The developing processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a cup 21. The developing processing apparatus shown in FIG. This cup 21 has a bottomed shape with an opening 21a formed in the upper surface, and a pair of waste liquid ducts 22 are connected to the bottom. Further, the peripheral wall portion of the cup 21 is formed into an inclined wall portion 22b that slopes inward.

A control body 23 is provided at the inner bottom of the cup 21 . The control body 23 has a cylindrical shape with an open lower surface, and the open lower surface is closed by the inner bottom surface of the cup 21. Thereby, the internal space 23 of the control body 23
a is sealed.

The cup 21 is provided in the internal space 23a of the control body 23.
A discharge pipe 24 and a supply pipe 25, which are provided through the bottom of the pipe, communicate with each other. This supply pipe 25 is connected to a supply source of temperature-controlled water (not shown), and temperature-controlled water whose temperature is controlled to a predetermined temperature by the supply source 3 is supplied from the supply pipe 25 to the internal space 23a of the control body 23. Thereby, the internal space 23
A is always filled with temperature-controlled water. Further, the temperature of the temperature-controlled water is set within a range of 45°C or lower to 15°C.

The upper surface 23b of the control body 23 has an internal space 23a therein.
a developer supply nozzle 26 provided to liquid-tightly penetrate the
One end of the rinsing liquid supply nozzle 27 is open. The other ends of these nozzles 26 and 27 are respectively connected to a developer supply source and a rinse solution supply source (not shown). Therefore, from each nozzle 26,27 the upper surface 23 of the control body 23
A developing solution or a rinsing solution can be supplied to b. Control body 23 of these nozzles 26,27
The part that penetrates the internal space 23a of
The upper surface 23b of the control body 23 is also controlled to approximately the same temperature as the temperature-controlled water. As a result, the temperature of the developer supplied from the developer supply nozzle 26 to the upper surface 23b of the control body 23 is controlled to be approximately the same as that of the temperature-controlled water. In other words, the internal space 23a of the control body 23 to which temperature-adjusted water is supplied serves as a control means for controlling the temperature of the developer.

A first rotating shaft 28 is disposed above the opening 21a of the cup 21, with the axis C1 being horizontal. This first
One end of the rotating shaft 28 is connected to a first motor (not shown), so that the first rotating shaft 28 is driven to rotate about the axis C1. A guide body 29 is attached to the other end of the first rotating shaft 28 along a direction perpendicular to the axis C1. A slider 31 is slidably provided on the two guide bodies, and the slider 31 is moved along the axis CI in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG.
It is designed to be driven in the vertical direction orthogonal to the vertical direction.

One end of an L-shaped bracket 33 is attached to the slider 31. A third motor 34 is provided on the other side of the bracket 33, which is horizontal in the state shown in FIG. 1, with the axis C2 of its second rotating shaft 35 being vertical. A disc-shaped chuck 36 is attached to the second rotating shaft 35 with its suction surface 36a orthogonal to the axis C2. A plurality of suction holes (not shown) are opened in the suction surface 36H of the chuck 36. These suction holes are communicated with a vacuum source (not shown), thereby generating a suction force in the suction holes, which allows the semiconductor wafer 37 to be suctioned and held on the suction surface 36a of the chuck 36. There is.

Next, the semiconductor wafer 37 is
The process of developing the film will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2(A) to (1). First, FIG. 2(A) shows a standby state, in which the chuck 36 has its suction surface 36a facing upward, and the slider 31 is located at the lower end of the guide body 29. In this state, when the semiconductor wafer 37 is fed above the chuck 36 by the fork 38 with the surface 37a to be developed facing upward, the slider 31 is moved as shown in FIG. 2(B).
is driven upward, and the chuck 36 holds the semiconductor wafer 37.
Adsorb one side of the.

Next, after the slider 31 is driven in the downward direction as shown in FIG. 2(C), the slider 31 is driven in the downward direction as shown in FIG.
The rotating shaft 28 of is rotated 180 degrees around the axis C1. As a result, the other side of the semiconductor wafer 37 that is attracted to the chuck 36, which is the surface to be processed 3, is
7a is spaced apart and faces the upper surface 23b of the control body 23 in a horizontal state.

Next, the slider 31 is driven in the downward direction until the gap between the processed surface 37a of the semiconductor wafer 37 and the upper surface 23a of the control body 23 is approximately 0.2 to 2 sm, as shown in FIG. 2(E). After that, the gap is filled with the developer L1 supplied from the developer supply nozzle 26, and the surface to be processed 37a is developed. At this time, the developer L1 supplied to the upper surface 23b of the control body 23
The temperature is controlled to a temperature suitable for development by temperature-controlled water supplied to the internal space 23a of the image forming apparatus. For example, semiconductor wafer 3
Since the processed surface 37a of No. 7 can be developed at a low temperature,
Not only can the resolution be improved, but the longer development time reduces variations in the development state.

In this way, after the development process on the non-processed surface 37a has been carried out for a predetermined period of time, the supply of the developing solution is stopped and the rinsing solution L2 is supplied from the rinsing solution supply nozzle 27 as shown in FIG. At the same time, the second motor 34 is operated to rotate the chuck 36 and the semiconductor wafer 37 at high speed. Thereby, the rinsing liquid L2 is applied to the semiconductor wafer 3.
Due to the centrifugal force of 7, the upper surface 23b of the control body 23 and the semiconductor wafer 3
Since the particles pass through the gap between No. 7 and the surface to be treated 37a and scatter around, the surface to be treated 37a is cleaned.

After the surface to be treated 37a has been cleaned for a predetermined period of time, the supply of the rinsing liquid is stopped, and the upper surface 2 of the control body 23 is
The chuck 37 is raised so that the gap between the surface 3b and the surface 37a to be processed of the semiconductor wafer 37 is about 5 cm (this state is not shown).

As a result, the rinsing liquid L2 attached to the surface to be processed 37a
is scattered around by centrifugal force, and the surface to be treated 37 is dried. At this time, the rinsing liquid L2 scattered from the surface to be treated 37a to the surroundings collides with the inner peripheral surface of the cup 21 and bounces off. However, since the surface to be treated 37a is facing downward, it does not bounce off the inner peripheral surface of the cup 21. The rinsing liquid 2 hardly ever adheres to the surface to be processed 37a.

In this way, once the cleaning of the surface to be treated 37a is completed,
As shown in FIG. 2(G), the slider 31 is driven in the upward direction, and the semiconductor wafer 37 is largely separated from the upper surface 23b of the control body 23. Next, as shown in FIG. 2(H), the first rotating shaft 28 is rotated by 11110 degrees about the axis C0, so that the processed surface 37a of the semiconductor wafer 37 faces upward. In this state, the slider 31 is driven in the upward direction as shown in FIG.
The entire process will be completed by receiving 6 from.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the upper surface 23b of the control body 23 is formed into a conical slope that slopes downwardly from the center toward the periphery.

In this way, the surface to be processed 37a of the semiconductor wafer 37
Since bubbles are less likely to be generated in the developer supplied between the upper surface 23b of the control body 23 and the upper surface 23b of the control body 23, the development of the surface to be processed 37a can be carried out reliably, and no liquid remains on the upper surface 23b. Since the treated surface 37a becomes dry, the surface to be treated 37a can be dried quickly.

Although not shown, if it is possible to transfer the semiconductor wafer to and from the fork with the surface to be processed facing downward, the chuck can be moved vertically 180 degrees by the first rotating shaft.
No need to rotate it.

Further, the temperature of the developer may be adjusted by providing a heater in the control body instead of supplying temperature-adjusted water to the internal space of the control body.

Furthermore, a plurality of developing solution supply nozzles and a plurality of rinsing solution supply nozzles may be provided, so that the solution can be supplied quickly.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, in this invention, since the semiconductor wafer is developed while being held with the surface to be processed facing downward, the surface of the semiconductor wafer opposite to the surface to be processed is It is possible to prevent the developing solution and the rinsing solution from adhering to the upper surface. In addition, it prevents liquid from accidentally dripping from the developer supply nozzle or rinsing liquid supply nozzle on the surface facing downward, for example during drying, and also prevents liquid splashed during rinsing from adhering to the surface. It can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a developing device showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2(A) to (1) are explanatory diagrams showing the developing steps in sequence, and FIG. 3 is another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a control body showing an example, and a schematic configuration diagram showing a conventional developing device. 23... Control body, 26... Developer supply nozzle 1.2
7... Rinse liquid supply nozzle, 36... Chuck, 3
7... Semiconductor wafer, 37a... Surface to be processed.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A rotatable chuck that holds the semiconductor wafer horizontally by suction with the surface to be processed of the semiconductor wafer facing downward; a drive mechanism that drives the chuck vertically and rotationally; and a drive mechanism disposed below and facing the chuck. a control body, a developer supply nozzle and a rinsing liquid supply nozzle that are provided in communication with the upper surface of the control body, and a control that is provided on the control body and controls the temperature of the developer supplied from the developer supply nozzle. 1. A semiconductor wafer developing apparatus comprising: means.