JPH03276623A - Resist spreading equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent air rolling-up which may cause ununiformity of resist film thickness, by a method wherein resist in a resist vessel is sucked from an introducing hole to the inside of a pipe via the inside of a small vessel. CONSTITUTION:An introducing hole 11a penetrates the side surface in the vicinity of the end portion of a pipe 11. A small vessel 12 constitutes a cup type, and bonded with the lower end surface of the pipe 11 at the bottom inner surface. The end portion of the vessel. 12 is closed. When resist is spread, the pipe 11 to the lower end of which the small vessel 12 is fixed is firstly inserted from the port of a resist vessel B. Next, when a pump 13 is operated, the resist in a resist vessel B is sucked from the introducing hole 11a to the inside of the pipe 11 via the small vessel 12, and drips from a resist nozzle 3 on a substrate W in a stationary state, through a filter 14 and the pump 13. A resist film is formed on the substrate surface by rotating the substrate W. When the pipe 12 is extracted from the initial resist vessel, the small vessel fixed to the pipe end portion is filled with resist, so that the resist in the pipe 11 does not flow out.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Summary) Provided is a resist coating device capable of preventing air entrainment into the resist, which causes non-uniform resist film thickness, regarding a resist spin coating device for manufacturing semiconductor devices, etc. In a coating device that sucks the resist in a resist container B, drops it onto the substrate W, and rotates the substrate W to form a resist film on the base FiW, the resist in the resist container B is There is an introduction hole 1 on the side near the end of the pipe 11 that sucks the resist.
1a, and the end of the pipe 11 is a cup-shaped small container 1.
2, and the resist in the resist container B is sucked into the pipe 11 from the introduction hole 11a through the small container 12.

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a resist spin coating apparatus for manufacturing semiconductor devices and the like.

Electrodes and wiring of semiconductor devices are formed based on a resist pattern obtained by exposing a resist coated on a wafer to ultraviolet light, an electron beam, etc., and then developing it. Therefore, the pattern accuracy of the electrodes and wiring depends on the accuracy of the resist pattern, but it is known that the accuracy of the resist film thickness has a large influence on the width accuracy of the resist pattern. Strict control of process conditions is required to suppress these variations in resist film thickness, but as semiconductor device patterns have become increasingly finer in recent years, controlling process conditions alone is not enough to achieve the desired film thickness uniformity. It's becoming difficult to obtain. Since further miniaturization is expected in the future, it is desired to develop a resist coating device that can obtain good film thickness uniformity.

[Conventional technology]

A conventional resist coating apparatus will be explained with reference to FIG. Second
The figure is a schematic diagram of a conventional resist fabric device. In the figure,
W is a substrate (wafer, etc.) of the object to be coated. Reference numeral 1 denotes a chuck, which vacuum-chucks the substrate W. Reference numeral 2 denotes a rotating means consisting of a motor or the like, which rotates the chuck 1 holding the substrate W by vacuum suction at a desired number of revolutions. 3 is a resist nozzle, one end of which is connected to the resist supply section 20, and the resist nozzle dripped onto the substrate W from the other end. A cup 4 accommodates excess resist that is scattered when the substrate W rotates.

The resist supply unit 20 includes a resist container B, a pipe 21, a filter 14, a pump 13, a pipe 15 connecting these, and the like. As the resist container B, the container used when the resist was delivered is used as it is, and therefore the resist is not transferred.

To apply resist with this apparatus, first insert the pipe 21 from the mouth of the resist container B. Next, pump 13
When activated, the resist in the resist container B is sucked from the lower end of the pipe 21, passes through the filter 14 and the pump 13, and drops from the resist nozzle 3 onto the substrate W in a stationary state. Next, the substrate W is rotated to form a resist film on its surface.

By the way, if resist is applied to a large number of substrates W and there is little resist left in the resist container B, the resist container B
must be replaced. At the time of replacement, the resist inside the pipe 21 once flows out from its lower end, so when the pipe 21 is subsequently inserted into a new resist container B, air is sealed inside the pipe 21. If air is introduced into the resist supply system, it will cause a variation in the amount of resist dropped or a variation in the amount of suckback during resist dropping, that is, a variation in the coating film thickness. Therefore, the pump 13 is operated to collect this air in the filter 14, and the air vent 14a provided in the filter 14 is opened to remove the air.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, this air bleeding operation takes a long time, resulting in a decrease in the operating rate of the resist coating device, and if the air bleeding is incomplete, it may cause fluctuations in the amount of resist dripped or There was a problem in that the amount of suckback during dripping varied, that is, the thickness of the coating film varied. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a resist coating apparatus that can solve such problems and prevent air from being entrained in the resist, which causes non-uniform resist film thickness.

(Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention, this object is to suck the resist in the resist container B, drop it onto the substrate W, and rotate the substrate W to form a resist film on the substrate W. In a coating device that forms
The pipe 11 that sucks the resist in the resist container B has an introduction hole 11a on the side near the end thereof, and the pipe 11
The end of the resist container B is closed at the bottom inner surface of the cup-shaped small container 12, and the resist in the resist container B is sucked into the pipe 11 from the introduction hole 11a through the small container 12. By using a resist coating device with special features,
achieved.

[Effect]

Since the container used for resist is used without transferring it to another container, if resist is applied to a large number of substrates and there is little resist left in the resist container, the resist container must be replaced. In the conventional device, the resist inside the pipe flows out from the end when the pipe is removed from the original resist container, but in the device of the present invention, the resist inside the pipe flows out from the end when the pipe is removed from the original resist container. Since the fixed small container is filled with resist, the resist inside the pipe 11 does not flow out. Therefore, even if the pipe 11 is inserted into a new resist container, air is not trapped in the pipe, and there is no need to bleed air.

(Example) An example of a resist coating apparatus based on the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. (a) is a schematic configuration diagram of the apparatus, and (b) is a perspective view of a resist introduction part. In the figure, W is a substrate (wafer, etc.) to be coated. 1 is a chuck that vacuum-chucks the substrate W. Reference numeral 2 denotes a rotating means such as a motor, which rotates the chuck 1 that has vacuum-adsorbed the substrate W at a desired rotation speed. Reference numeral 3 denotes a resist nozzle, one end of which is connected to the resist supply unit 10, and the other end of which is connected to the resist supply unit 10. A resist is dropped onto the substrate W from the cup 4. A cup 4 accommodates excess resist that is scattered when the substrate W is rotated.

The resist supply unit 10 is composed of a resist container B, a pipe 11, a small container 12, a filter 14, a pump 13, and piping 15 connecting them. As the resist container B, the container used when the resist was delivered is used as it is, and therefore the resist is not transferred. Near the end of the pipe 11, an introduction hole 11a penetrates through the side surface. The small container 12 is cup-shaped, and its bottom inner surface is glued to the lower end surface of the pipe 11.
The end of the pipe 11 is closed.

To apply resist with this device, first, a pipe 1 to which a small container 12 is fixed to the lower end from the opening of the resist container B
Insert 1. Next, when the pump 13 is activated, the resist in the resist container B is sucked into the pipe 11 from the introduction hole 11a of the pipe 11 via the small container 12.
After passing through the filter 14 and the pump 13, the liquid is dropped from the resist nozzle 3 onto the stationary substrate W. Next, the substrate W is rotated to form a resist film on its surface.

Two introduction holes 11a each having a diameter of approximately 4 mm are provided at a position approximately 2 cm from the end of the pipe 11 having an inner diameter of approximately 6 mm, and each having an inner diameter of approximately 15 mm.
As a result of applying resist to a large number of substrates W using the above-mentioned apparatus in which a small container 12 with a depth of about 20 mm was glued to the end of the pipe 11, and replacing the resist container B when there was little resist left in the resist container B, Original resist container B
When the pipe 11 is removed from the pipe 11, the resist inside the pipe 11 does not flow out (therefore, even if the pipe 11 is inserted into a new resist container B, air is no longer trapped within the pipe 11. 50c inside the pipe
It used to take several tens of minutes to completely remove air entrainment of around 100 m, but this is no longer necessary.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be implemented with various modifications.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a resist coating device that can prevent air from being entrained in the resist, which causes uneven resist film thickness.
It greatly contributes to improving yields and equipment operating rates in semiconductor device manufacturing processes.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a resist coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional resist fabric device. In the figure, 3 is a resist nozzle, 10.20 is the resist supply section, 11.21 is a pipe, 11a is an introduction hole; 12 is a small container; 13 is a pump, 14 is a filter; 15 is piping, is the board, is a resist container, It is. 10 resist supply section Figure 1 of the resist coating device according to the example of this research

Claims (1)

[Claims] The resist in the resist container (B) is sucked and the substrate (W
) and rotates the substrate (W) to form a resist film on the substrate (W), in the vicinity of the end of the pipe (11) that sucks the resist in the resist container (B). has an introduction hole (11a) on the side surface, and the pipe (
11) is closed at the bottom inner surface of a cup-shaped small container (12), and the resist in the resist container (B) is connected to the small container (12).
From the introduction hole (11a) through the pipe (11)
A resist coating device characterized by being suctioned inside.